City Meetings and Updates Week of August 4
posted- City Meetings
- Common Council 8/5
- Board of Public Works 8/6, District 3 Streets Project on Agenda
- National Night Out at Galaxy and Acewood Parks 8/5
- Capital City Path Extension: Vondron Rd to I-90, Public Meeting 8/7
- Events & Announcements
City Meetings
Common Council
The Common Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, August 5, at 6:30 p.m. in hybrid format. Agenda items include:
- Items 10 and 50 approve rezoning and lot line changes for the Eastmorland Community Center and housing reconstruction project (see details in last week's blog post for more information). The Plan Commission voted to recommend approval.
- Item 47: a resolution changing ordinances related to filling vacancies on the Common Council, requiring candidates to gather elector signatures as part of their application to fill a vacancy on the Common Council (I’m a cosponsor). This is currently required of candidates who seek election on the ballot, but not of candidates being considered to fill vacant seats. I think it’s a good thing for candidates to be talking to their neighbors/potential constituents.
- Item 53: a resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation promissory notes to pay for borrowing authorized in the City’s Capital Budget
- Item 55: a mid-year appropriation resolution which authorizes the transfer of 2025 funds within and between agencies to “make technical adjustments and address projected deficits”. Here’s the presentation Finance staff shared with the Finance Committee with more details about the mid-year budget outlook, which agencies are projected to over- and under-spend, and why.
- Item 58: a resolution revising the sequence and timing of future Area Plan processes. The timing of the Southeast and Southwest Area Plans (which are underway) would not be affected. Other plans will be moved back or up by less than a year and a full Comprehensive Plan update is proposed to be pushed back from 2027 to 2033, with an “interim update” (smaller-scale changes) to take place in 2028 instead. Here’s a diagram showing how the plan timelines would shift, here’s a map of the proposed new sequence, and here’s a Planning staff memo explaining the changes in more detail.
Meeting info:
Board of Public Works
The Board of Public Works meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 6, at 4:30 p.m. in virtual format. The agenda includes a resolution (item 13) establishing the MacArthur Road, MacArthur Court, Larson Court, and Sycamore Avenue Assessment District which will be used for the 2026 street reconstruction project in this area of Alder District 3.
Image credit:
City Engineering
From the resolution: “…the contemplated purposes of this assessment district is to remove and replace the sanitary sewer main and laterals, water main and services, base course, driveway aprons, asphalt pavement, pavement marking, signs, as well as improve pedestrian crossings, spot replace sidewalk as needed, and install new storm sewer, stormwater features, curb and gutter, and sidewalk on MacArthur Road from East Washington Avenue to south end, MacArthur Court from MacArthur Road to the east end, Larson Court from west end to MacArthur Road, and Sycamore Avenue from MacArthur Road to Mendota Street.”
More information is available on that project’s Engineering webpage, including a survey for residents of this area and a public meeting tentatively scheduled for August 27th. I will share more information about this project in upcoming posts as it proceeds through the input, design, and approval process.
Meeting info:
National Night Out Tuesday at Galaxy and Acewood Parks
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. The Madison Police Department will be hosting neighborhoods across the city with the main event being outside Warner Park on August 5.
National Night Out is a nationwide campaign to strengthen community-police partnerships and enhance neighborhood camaraderie. It provides a unique opportunity for our officers to increase visibility in their neighborhoods and meaningfully engage with community members, free from the usual demands of calls for service. By partnering with the community to organize these events, MPD aims to deepen the relationships that are crucial for effective policing and community safety.
Stop by either of the two MPD East District’s National Night Out Events coming up between 5 and 8pm on Tuesday:
- Acewood Park, 1402 Acewood Boulevard
- Galaxy Park, 132 Milky Way
Capital City Path Extension: Vondron Rd to I-90, Virtual Meeting August 7th
The City of Madison is in the planning/design stages for the East Side’s Capital City Bike/Pedestrian Path – Glacial Drumlin Trail extension project in coordination with Dane County. While this project isn’t in District 3, it is in neighboring District 16 and represents a major improvement to the connectivity and usefulness of both the East Side’s and Madison’s bike network. The City portion of the project will extend the Capital City Path to the east-side of Interstate I-39/90.
Image credit:
City Engineering
The City has acquired a 35-foot wide corridor for the path by easement from the adjacent WisDOT-owned World Dairy Wetland Mitigation site. The overall project is envisioned as a multi-phase effort that would initially use a combination of separate path and on-street route north of the railroad corridor. Ultimately additional land would be acquired either from the railroad or from properties south of the railroad to complete a separate, off-street path.
When complete it will become part of a continuous 140-mile path across the State. Completion of this gap is the goal of a 1996 Memorandum of Agreement between the City of Madison, City of Fitchburg, Dane County and the Wisconsin Department of natural Resources. Note: segment 4 of this project (Vondron Road to Wagon Trail) has been postponed and will be part of a future project once the City is able to negotiate the necessary land acquisitions from adjacent properties.
A virtual public information meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Aug. 7, 2025, via Zoom. Registration prior is required: link for meeting registration. More information is available:
- City of Madison’s webpage for this project
- Dane County’s webpage for the larger Glacial Drumlin to Capital City connector project
Events & Announcements
- CARES Achieves 10,000 Calls for Service: The Madison Community Alternative Response Emergency Services (CARES) program responded to its 10,000th call for service last week, a milestone that further cements the program’s place as a valued service in our community. [posted July 28, 2025]
- Homebuyer Education Course Part 3 of 3, Tuesday, August 5: This HUD-Certified Homebuyer Education Course assists aspiring homeowners with making informed decisions and to potentially qualify for specialized loan programs.
- Live @ Lake Vista: Louka (singer-songwriter/guitarist), Wednesday, August 6: Join us at Lake Vista Café on the rooftop overlooking lovely Lake Monona for live music in a relaxed atmosphere. Louka Patenaude is a veteran of the Madison music scene and is a performing guitarist, teacher, songwriter and composer. His music is grounded in acoustic roots with influences from jazz, classical and old world Mediterranean traditional music.
- Brat Fry Friday, Friday, August 8: Come join us for lunch at the links! The grill will be fired up from 10am-3pm for a delicious afternoon treat. Brats are $5.00 each or choose to make it a meal and add chips and a soda for $8.00 or chips and a beer for $10.00. This event is open to all to participate!
- Dane Dances: Orquesta Salsoul Del Mad /Soul 2 The Bone, Friday, August 8: Dane Dances is a free, family-friendly event held every Friday evening in August on the beautiful Monona Terrace rooftop. The much-anticipated summer music series promotes inclusivity for all ages and is a great way to get down and dance with your friends, family, or coworkers.
- Ride the Drive 2025, Sunday, August 10: Since its inauguration in 2009, Ride the Drive has continued to celebrate Madison’s commitment to healthy living by focusing on the environmental and economic impacts and the importance of social integration. Imagine thousands of happy, healthy people coming together to experience parks and open streets in a single, one-day, free, community event.
Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted. Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.
