Common Council

Updates November 2, 2020

1. Vote tomorrow |

2. Tuesday, November 3: Prescribed burn at Heritage Prairie Conservation Park |

3. Place pumpkins in yard waste piles |

4. City budget process continues |

5. Former Karmenta nursing home zoning changes |

6. Meeting highlights for this week |

7. Family programming by MSCR |

8. Free course on basic computer skills at Madison Public Library Central Branch |

9. Public Health Madison & Dane County expands eligibility criteria for drive through flu clinic |

10. COVID-19 updates and resources |

11. City meetings schedule |

Vote tomorrow

Polls are open 7 am to 8 pm. Polling locations will be practicing a myriad of precautions to protect your health, including offering curbside voting. See the top ten things the City Clerk's Office wants you to know on Election Day.

Several polling locations have recently changed in Madison, in our district that includes Wards 8 and 9:

Wards 8 & 9 polling location: Steamfitters Local 601 Training Ctr, 6310 Town Center Drive

Ward 10 polling location: Kennedy Elementary School,  221 Meadowlark Dr

Ward 11 polling location:  American Family Insurance, 302 N Walbridge Avenue

Ward 12 polling location: New Beginnings Church, 602 Acewood Blvd

Voters who still need to return their absentee ballot may deliver it to their polling location or have a friend, neighbor or family member deliver their ballot to the correct polling location. The ballot must be sealed in its certificate envelope bearing the voter's signature, the signature of a witness, and the witness' address. Curbside poll workers will accept the absentee envelope and take it into the polling place to be processed.

Tuesday, November 3: Prescribed burn at Heritage Prairie Conservation Park

Madison Parks will be conducting a prescribed burn tomorrow, Tuesday, November 3, at Heritage Prairie Conservation Park, 5401 Queensbridge Road. They anticipate arriving between 1 and 2 pm and being done by 3 pm.  

Place pumpkins in yard waste piles

Streets Division crews will collect pumpkins along with other yard waste when crews pick up leaves. This includes other compostable decorations like corn stalks and hay.

When placing your pumpkins, corn stalks, hay, or other natural compostable decorations out for yard waste collection, please set them on top of your leaf pile or leaf bags.

Remove any non-compostable items like wire, tea candles, or electric lights.

Crews are following a new schedule for yard waste collection. Before you start piling yard waste and leaves at the curb, check the Streets Division's yard waste website to learn when to set out your material for pickup. 

City budget process continues

The mayor introduced her 2021 Operating Budget on October 6, and the Finance Committee voted on amendments on October 26. Both the Capital Budget and the Operating Budget will be discussed and voted on by the full Common Council on November 10 and 11. 

Please see this budget overview video that includes a presentation from budget manager Laura Larsen talking with Alder Foster and me.

The non-partisan Wisconsin Policy Forum also provided this brief of the Mayor's Budget.

District 19 Alder Furman has provided a helpful overview of the budget as well. 

The below graphic explains the key differences between the Capital and Operating Budgets. 

Former Karmenta nursing home zoning changes

There are two zoning changes coming before Plan Commission and the Common Council that would allow for the potential use of the site as a "mission house" for families experiencing homelessness. A Mission House is defined in the City's Zoning Code as 'A facility operated by a religious institution or nonprofit organization that provides lodging. May also include the provision of meals, worship services, or other supportive services.' 

There will be a public hearing for these items at the November 9 Plan Commission and November 17 Common Council meetings.

This zoning change would allow for this site to be potentially used as a mission house for families experiencing homelessness, but it is not certain at this time that this would happen. This change would just make this an option for this site. Please note that Karmenta falls in District 15. There is further information on this zoning change in Alder Foster's recent blog post. 

Meeting highlights for this week 

Dogs in Parks

The Board of Park Commissioners will be discussing dogs in parks and possible dog-free zones at their meeting on Wednesday.

• Meeting details
• Agenda
• Register for public comment

Discussion of the Feasibility of Body-Worn Cameras

The Body-Worn Camera Feasibility Review Committee will be discussing research and policies related to body-worn cameras for police officers at its Thursday meeting.

• Meeting details
• Meeting agenda
• Register for public comment

Metro Transit Bus Storage at Oscar Mayer

Hosted by City of Madison Staff
Thursday, November 5 - 6 pm
Virtual via Zoom
Learn more about the Oscar Mayer proposal 

Safe things to do with your family outdoors 

MSCR is offering several outdoor program opportunities geared toward elementary- and middle school-aged participants and their families.  To register, search for activities by course number on mscr.org, or call MSCR at 608-204-3000.

November 1, 9am-12pm
Nature Exploration: All About the Season at Warner Park
All ages
Course #28118

November 6 & 20, 6pm-8pm
Night Experience at the School Forest
All ages
Course # 28126 and 28127

November 7, 6pm-8pm
Winter is Coming at the School Forest
All ages
Course # 28135

November 15, 9am-12pm
Nature Exploration: Animal Signs at Tenney Park
All ages
Course # 28119

Free course on basic computer skills at Madison Public Library Central Branch

A free, 5-week course for basic computer skills will be held in-person at Madison Public Library's Central Library location from November 2 - December 11, 2020. Learn more and sign up.
 

Public Health Madison & Dane County expands eligibility criteria for drive through flu clinic

The free drive through flu clinic at the Alliant Energy Center is now open to all Dane County adults and children who do not have health insurance, or who have BadgerCare, Medicaid, or Medicare. 

COVID-19 updates and resources

The City has released a COVID-19 recovery dashboard, a tool to track local indicators in order to better understand how our residents and community are doing throughout the pandemic. You can explore this interactive dashboard with 50+ indicators organized into 9 categories here.

• Madison COVID-related news and service updates, Español: COVID-19 and Hmoob: COVID-19

• Public Health Madison and Dane County COVID data and orders

• Dealing with job loss

• Childcare, food, jobs, housing and low-cost internet access 

• Community-aggregated COVID resources

• From the City's Economic Development Division: Business & Non-profit Information Covid-19, including Streatery Program

• WI Dept. of Health Services Cases by Neighborhood (Census Tract)

City meetings schedule

City weekly meeting schedule

The Mayor's meeting schedule

The County weekly meeting schedule