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City Meetings and Updates Week of January 5

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  • City Meetings
    • Finance Committee
    • Transportation Commission
  • Christmas Tree Collection by the Streets Division Begins 1/5
  • Candlelit Hike at Aldo Leopold Nature Center 1/10
  • Neighborhood Grant Program Workshop Scheduled for 1/14
  • Events & Announcements

City Meetings

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee meeting will take place on Monday, January 5, at 4:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include

  • Item 2: a resolution authorizing the use of $125k in federal Community Development Block Grant funds to implement path lighting in Sycamore Park (I’m a cosponsor). This improvement was identified as the highest-priority improvement in the Northeast Area Plan’s list (on p. 79) of Community Action Strategy projects for the Burke Heights neighborhood in District 3. The neighborhood has been hoping for this for a long time. This improvement is contingent upon the City's receipt of its FY25 CDBG formula grant allocation from U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
  • Item 4: a resolution authorizing the Madison Police Department to accept training grants on an ongoing basis without requiring separate resolutions to accept individual grants.
  • Item 6: a resolution authorizing the City to apply for and accept $6.75 million passenger rail grant from the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (I’m a cosponsor). If awarded, the $6.75 million grant would fund planned safety improvements and identify additional needs at at-grade railroad crossings that support the proposed extension of the Amtrak Hiawatha service to Madison. Existing funding available in Engineering’s Railroad Crossings and Quiet Zones capital program would be used to support the 20% local match of $1.35 million. If awarded, the grant amount will be appropriated through a separate resolution or future budget request.

Meeting info:

Transportation Commission

The Transportation Commission meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 7, at 5:00 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include:

  • Item 2: a resolution authorizing the City to apply for and accept $6.75 million passenger rail grant from the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (I’m a cosponsor). If awarded, the $6.75 million grant would fund planned safety improvements and identify additional needs at at-grade railroad crossings that support the proposed extension of the Amtrak Hiawatha service to Madison. Existing funding available in Engineering’s Railroad Crossings and Quiet Zones capital program would be used to support the 20% local match of $1.35 million. If awarded, the grant amount will be appropriated through a separate resolution or future budget request.
  • Item 4: a presentation and discussion of Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s ongoing Beltline Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study. Per WisDOT’s website for the project, this effort was authorized in 2011, paused in 2016 “due to reevaluation of statewide priorities”, and resumed in 2020 with an estimated completion timeline of 2026. WisDOT says this about the current phase of the Beltline PEL study: “The Beltline PEL Study is a planning-level analysis of the effectiveness of all possible solutions to the Beltline's current and long-term needs; in particular, determining to what extent possible solutions would address the existing safety, capacity and geometric issues as well as meet identified study objectives. In addition to improvements to the physical Beltline or crossings of the Beltline, changes or improvements to alternate modes of travel, other area transportation corridors, and existing Beltline connections to the adjacent road network are being analyzed.” The presentation slides are not yet posted but will be available as an attachment on this Legitar item.

Meeting info:

If you would like more information about becoming a member of a City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.

Christmas Tree Collection by the Streets Division Begins Monday

Starting Monday, January 5, the Madison Streets Division will begin Christmas tree collection.

The first round of Christmas tree collection will begin on Monday, January 5. The second round of Christmas tree collection will begin on Tuesday, January 20. The actual date your tree is collected will depend on weather conditions because plowing and other snow and ice control takes priority.

Note that wreaths, evergreen rope, garlands, and boughs will not be collected with Christmas trees because these items regularly contain wire that can jam wood chipping equipment by becoming entangled. Please place these into your tan refuse cart or private dumpster.

Candlelit Hike at Aldo Leopold Nature Center Next Saturday

Madison Parks and Aldo Leopold Nature Center present this wonderful hiking event next Saturday, January 10th from 4:30pm-7:00pm. Hundreds of softly glowing lights illuminate the trails through Aldo Leopold Nature Center (330 Femrite Drive) and Edna Taylor Conservation Park. Take a walk through the parks and then enjoy a roaring bonfire outside. 

All ages are welcome. See Map for more information.

  • Parking information and free shuttle service: Only handicapped parking is available at Aldo Leopold Nature Center. Plan to park along a nearby street, or at Edna Taylor Conservation Park, and walk to the start of the event OR at Ahuska Park, 400 E. Broadway and take the FREE shuttle. The shuttle runs approximately every 10 minutes. See Parking Map.
  • Borrow Snowshoes: If conditions allow, we'll have snowshoes available to borrow during the event. Quantities are limited.
  • S'more kits are available for $4 each and make 2 s'mores.
  • Restrooms are available inside the Aldo Leopold Nature Center.
  • Please no pets, skiing, or sleds allowed.
  • If there is no snow, the event will be a walk/hike.

Volunteering Opportunities: Assist with placing the many lights along the trails prior to the sun setting. Meet at Aldo Leopold Nature Center at 2pm. Volunteers can also help with clean-up or picking up the lights starting around 6:30pm. Here's a link to sign up to volunteer. If you can come early or stay late to help, please email John at: Jweichelt@cityofmadison.com.

Neighborhood Grant Program Workshop Scheduled for January 14

In 2025, the City awarded 9 neighborhood grants to neighborhood associations in Madison, including one to the Hiestand Park Neighborhood Association in District 3 to support capacity-building events and resident engagement.

The Planning Division will host its Neighborhood Grant Program again in 2026. If you have a project idea and want to ask staff questions, or if you are simply interested in learning about the program, please consider joining the workshop:

What: Neighborhood Grant Program Workshop

When: January 14, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Hybrid

Where: two options,

  • Virtual: zoom - link and additional program information will be posted to the city’s webpage and sent via this Neighborhood listserv by early January
  • In-person - Conference Room 151, Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

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

Portrait of Alder Derek Field

Alder Derek Field

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