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City Meetings and Updates Week of Sept 1

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  • Holiday Service Schedules for Labor Day 9/1:
    • No Streets Division Collections Monday
    • Metro Transit Service Reduced
    • Street Closures for Taste of Madison
  • City Meetings:
    • Common Council 9/2
    • Community Development Block Grant Committee 9/4
  • John Patterson Named New Chief of Police
  • Park Planning Meeting for Woods Farm and Canter Parks 9/4
  • Reminder: East and North Side Alders Meet and Greet 9/3
  • Events & Announcements

Holiday Service Schedules for Labor Day 9/2

No Streets Division Collections or Drop-off Sites on Labor Day, September 1, 2025: The Streets Division will not perform trash, recycling, brush, or large item collection on Monday, September 1, 2025, in observance of the Labor Day holiday. The drop-off sites will also be closed.

Metro Transit Service Reduced on Labor Day, Monday, September 1: Due to the holiday, Metro operates Sunday schedules on Monday, September 1. Sunday service is available on Routes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, L, O, P, R, S. Route 80 operates weekday recess schedules. Last trip of the day departs from Memorial Union at 11:20 p.m. Routes 81-84 do not operate.

The Office of the Common Council will be closed on Monday, September 1 in observance of Labor Day. The Office of the Common Council will reopen on Tuesday, September 3 with regular business hours.

Street Closures for Taste of Madison: The streets surrounding the inner loop of the Capitol Square will close at 5:00pm on Friday, August 29th for the Taste of Madison. The closure will last until the end of the event on Monday, September 1st. A detailed map showing the affected streets can be found on the Taste of Madison website.

City Meetings

Common Council

The Finance Committee meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 2, at 6:30 p.m. in hybrid format. Agenda items include:

  • Item 1: an honoring resolution proclaiming September to be National Recovery Month
  • Item 2: a presentation, Performance and Activity Update from Destination Madison CEO Ellie Westman Chin (slides will be uploaded as an attachment to this Legistar item by Tuesday evening)
  • Items 15 and 16: two zoning code changes that I’m sponsoring:
    • One amending ordinances to allow for additional stories for downtown affordable housing, in the Planned Development zoning district specifically - the original previous changes to implement this story bonus weren’t applied to PD zoning. Here’s a staff memo explaining.
    • One amending ordinances related to alterations to property in the Planned Development zoning district that allows improvements to go forward if a non-City entity (such as a Homeowner’s Association) review is required but the reviewer is inactive or declines to make a recommendation. Here’s a staff memo explaining.
  • Item 37: a resolution declaring the City’s intention to establish the MacArthur, Larson, Sycamore assessment district for 2026 street reconstruction (find more information on the project webpage).
  • Item 45: a resolution authorizing the Board of Public Works to advertise and receive bids for the upcoming demolition of the temporary, pandemic-era urban campground at 3202 Dairy Drive in nearby District 16 now that the federal funding supporting the City’s share of the site’s operating cost has run out. Here’s a staff memo explaining the background on the funding situation. Per that memo, demolition costs ($200k) will effectively be paid using federal ARPA funds from 2024 thorough the general fund.
  • Item 57: a resolution accepting the Economic Development Division’s 2025 Small Business Assistance Policy Paper setting the direction of the City’s future small business assistance programs.
  • Item 65: a resolution authorizing the Planning Division to lead the preparation of the Downtown Area Plan and adopting a public participation plan. Downtown’s Area Plan will undoubtedly be the most interesting and most impactful on the community overall. Here’s a map of the planning area. Here’s a page with various public participation strategies across three phases of plan development. This process is expected to run from fall 2025 through spring 2027.

Meeting info:

Community Development Block Grant Committee

The Community Development Block Grant Committee meeting will take place on Thursday, September 4, at 5:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include a resolution authorizing the allocation of approximately $3.5 million of combined City and Federal funds among seven non-profit agencies to support the provision of homeless services and housing resources beginning in 2026. Here is the Community Development Division staff recommendation for the allocation of this funding. 

Notice that Madison Street Medicine applied for continued funding for “Dairy Drive 2.0” to continue the encampment at Dairy Drive but this proposal was not recommended for CDD's Street Outreach service funding – there is not enough money to fulfill all of these requests.

John Patterson Named New Chief of Police

From the Madison Police and Fire Commission’s press release on the news: 

New Chief of Police John Patterson
Image credit: Madison Police Department

“Following a comprehensive process and after thorough deliberations, the PFC has selected Acting Chief John Patterson to be the City of Madison’s next Chief of Police. The PFC expresses its support and confidence in his leadership. As is standard practice, the PFC will now be issuing a Conditional Offer of Appointment.

“I want to congratulate Chief Patterson on being selected by the Police & Fire Commission to be Madison’s next Police Chief. I’ve been impressed by the leadership he’s shown as acting chief and his many years with MPD,” says Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. “We share a commitment to data-driven policing that focuses on a holistic approach to public safety. Chief Patterson is committed to serving our community and I look forward to continuing to work with him to finetune an already strong department.”

Chief Patterson says he’s had the privilege of being a member of the Madison Police Department for 27 years and is honored by this opportunity.

“I can’t quite put into words how incredibly humbled I feel right now to be named the next permanent Chief of Police of the Madison Police Department. I love our community and this police department,” says Chief Patterson. “I look forward to furthering our commitment to improving trust and relationships with the community, reinforcing our commitments to community policing and the principles of procedural justice, prioritizing effective communication and transparency, and ensuring that data-informed decision making and effective problem solving are always at the foundation of our everyday operations.”

The PFC would like to thank all applicants for being part of this process, especially the finalists. The PFC is grateful for all of the input that it received from the community throughout this process. The PFC also wishes to thank the Dane County Sheriff’s Office for its professional background investigations.”

Park Planning Meeting for Woods Farm and Canter Parks on Thursday

How Woods Farm and Canter park properties look right now
Image credit: Madison Parks
Not-yet-developed park properties at Woods Farm and Canter Parks

Park improvements are coming to two new City parks are coming to District 3! On Thursday, September 4th, Madison Parks is starting the design process for both Woods Farm Park and Canter Park on the far northeast side of the city. Each park is approximately 5 acres. In anticipation of further growth in the neighborhood, a master plan will be written with resident input to guide the development of these two park properties. There will be a virtual public information meeting to discuss both parks this Thursday. Postcards have been sent to residents who live in these developing neighborhoods, Woods Farm and Jannah Village, both northeast of the Badger Interchange. 

  • When: Thursday, September 4, 2025, 6:00 - 7:30pm
  • Where: Virtual, please Register Online!

The recording of the meeting will be available on the Parks webpage for the project after the meeting.

As a heads up, another meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 29th at 6pm to review and get feedback on design ideas for both parks. I’ll share more information in a future blog post prior to that meeting.

An online survey will open after this first public input meeting. Please provide your input on these parks! Link to Survey, which is open September 4 - 18, 2025.

Reminder: East and North Side Alders Meet and Greet Wednesday

Meet your Eastside & Northside Alders!, Wednesday, September 3: Join us for an exciting event where you can connect with your local representatives in a casual setting. This in-person gathering will take place at Madison Area Technical College, giving you the opportunity to chat with your alders and learn more about their work in the community. Don't miss this chance to engage with the people who represent you and make your voice heard. We look forward to seeing you there! Please register in advance. 

Flyer with all six alders' headshots plus event details
Image credit: Common Council's Office

Events & Announcements

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.

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District 3 - Alder Field

Alder Derek Field

Alder Derek Field

District 3
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