Common Council

Updates March 22, 2021

In this update:

• Neighborhood updates
• Spring election news
• Public safety
• Meeting highlights for the week of March 22
• Parks
• Community 
• COVID-19 
• City meetings schedule

Neighborhood updates

Tuesday: Neighborhood meeting for 6321 Town Center Drive development

Tuesday, March 23, 6:30 pm

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://cityofmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpc--gqTwuGdcN8m5_eYA9Uo7_kxQTC_QB

The plan calls for multi-family residences in the currently vacant lot directly across from Madison Fire Station #13, located on the south side of Town Center Dr, along Metro Terrace. These are market-rate units with a mix of studio, one and two bedrooms, and the buildings would be three stories. They were originally approved back in 2005, but never constructed.

City Planning and Traffic Engineering will both also be on hand to answer your questions.

Brush collection starts April 5

Learn when to set out your brush for pickup by visiting the Streets Division website, www.cityofmadison.com/brushcollection. By placing brush out on the dates given on the website, your material will be out on time and will only sit on the terrace for one week at most.

Yard waste pickup also starts April 5

Madison residents get two curbside collection opportunities for yard waste in the spring. Learn when to set out your yard waste for pickup by visiting the Streets Division website, www.cityofmadison.com/yardwaste.

Prescribed burns in Grandview Commons

The City of Madison Parks Division and Engineering Division will be conducting prescribed burns on areas of existing native vegetation on Saturn Drive, Venus Way andd Rustic Drive.. Prescribed burns are an important management tool for Wisconsin's native plant communities. Prescribed burns are the intentional use of fire, under specific environmental conditions, to manage and suppress invasive vegetation, and promote native vegetation.

Project contacts and more information

Spring election news

Polling locations for the April 6 Election

The polling locations for our district for the April 6 election are as follows. Please note that the location for Ward 10 changed. If you normally vote at Kennedy Elementary, you will be voting at Messiah Lutheran Church for this election. 

Ward 8: Door Creek Church, 6602 Dominion Drive

Ward 9: Steamfitters Local 601 Training Center, 6310 Town Center Drive

Ward 10:  Messiah Lutheran Church, 5202 Cottage Grove Road

Ward 11: American Family, 302 N Walbridge Avenue

Ward 12: New Beginnings Alliance Church, 602 Acewood Boulevard

In-person absentee voting starts Tuesday

In-person absentee voting will begin Tuesday, Mar. 23, at several locations throughout the City of Madison.

Secure drop boxes now open

The City of Madison's secure ballot drop boxes are now open for the April 6 Spring Election. The boxes provide a secure way for City of Madison absentee voters to return their ballots to the City Clerk's Office. 

If you requested an absentee ballot for the Apr. 6, 2021, Spring Election, you should see it in your mailbox in the next few days. Follow the instructions included with your absentee ballot to make sure your ballot is counted.

Voters weigh in on size and structure of the Common Council on April 6 ballot

The April 6, 2021 Spring Election ballot will ask Madison voters four advisory referendum questions about the size of the Madison Common Council, the amount of alderperson pay, the length of alderperson terms, and whether alderpersons should be subject to term limits.

A new episode of District Reports also provides an overview by City Attorney John Strange of the non binding referendum questions.

Public safety

Roadmap to reducing violence plan released

Plan outlines five goals for Madison & Dane County to reduce violence

Public Health Madison & Dane County released a comprehensive violence prevention plan that provides a roadmap for collective community action. Madison Dane County Violence Prevention: A Roadmap to Reducing Violence is a five-year plan guided by a public health approach to violence prevention and provides five evidence-based goals and accompanying strategies and objectives.

The five goals of the plan include:

• Understanding violence in our community through data

• Supporting community engagement with children, youth, and families

• Fostering strong neighborhoods

• Bolstering and increasing intervention and continuous healing for those affected by violence

• Strengthening community capacity, collaboration, and coordination of violence prevention efforts

Meeting highlights for the week of March 22, 2021

Street Tree Canopy and Conditional Use

The Plan Commission will discuss a proposed change to the front yard setback amount in order to support a street tree canopy, as well as proposed housing ordinance amendments, as at its meeting on Monday.

• Meeting details

• Agenda

• Register for public comment

Updates on BRT, Metro Transit Network Redesign, Vision Zero, and more

The Transportation Commission and the Transportation Policy and Planning Board are receiving staff updates on a variety of topics, including BRT, Metro Transit network redesign, and Vision Zero, at their joint meeting on Wednesday.

• Meeting details

• Agenda

• Register for public comment

For additional information about meetings scheduled for this week, please consult the City Meeting Schedule online here.

Parks

Earth Day Challenge - 45 Parks, 650+ volunteers needed

Celebrate Earth Day with your neighbors and friends by volunteering to clean up your local park. Join this community-wide volunteer effort to help make a difference on Saturday, April 24.

All four City of Madison golf courses are open

All four courses opened this weekend for walking only through Monday. Parks will evaluate the weather and course conditions for the subsequent days and post an update on golfmadisonparks.com

Driving ranges remain closed at this time.

Dog Park Cleanup Day is April 3

Do you love your dog park? Volunteers are needed for Dog Park Cleanup Day to assist with picking up trash and scooping up dog poop. Madison Parks will supply trash bags, gloves, scoopers, and buckets. 

COMMUNITY

Respond to racist harassment

Hollaback!, in partnership with Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), is offering three free, virtual bystander trainings on how to safely respond to anti-Asian/American harassment when you witness it or when you experience it yourself: Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment Training; Bystander Intervention 2.0: Conflict De-Escalation Training; and How to Respond to Harassment for People Experiencing Anti-Asian/American Harassment Training. Learn more about and register for each training.

Online directory of Black-owned businesses

ConnectBlack directory, a free, online directory of 100 Black-owned businesses in Madison has been launched.

Renter assistance

Are you a Dane County renter in danger of eviction due to COVID-19?  You may be eligible for rental assistance from Dane CORE Emergency Rental Assistance Program. See if you're eligible.

If you need in-person assistance to complete the Dane CORE rental assistance online application, Tenant Resource Center (TRC) staff is available to help. Check the online scheduler to schedule an appointment or call the TRC main line at (608) 257-0006. 

Driver License recovery info clinics

The YWCA is currently offering virtual info clinics for individuals who are experiencing licensing issues in the Dane County area. Appointments can be made on their website or contact Aneesha Mitchell at (608) 395-2188 or amitchell@ywcamadison.org.

Announcing the Master Recycler Program

Individuals who sign up to become a Master Recycler will learn the intricacies of our local recycling program. You will learn not only how to be a better recycler at your home, but you will have the tools to go out and teach your family, neighbors, friends, and coworkers how to improve their recycling habits.

COVID-19 Information

Project Recovery is a cost-free resource for COVID-19 stress

Counselors with Project Recovery, Wisconsin's implementation of the FEMA Crisis Counseling Program, are providing cost-free and over-the-phone crisis counseling focused on non-judgmental listening and helping folks navigate their emotions and reactions to stress caused by the COVID-19 public health crisis. Anyone can be connected by dialing 211 or, by contacting Project Recovery 

Amendment adjusts some face covering and distancing requirements for people who are fully vaccinated

Public Health Madison & Dane County released an amendment to Emergency Order #14 which went into effect on March 18.

On March 8, the CDC issued new guidance for people who are fully vaccinated. Given this new guidance, Order #14 has been amended to include the following:

Fully vaccinated individuals do not need to maintain six feet of physical distancing or wear a face covering:

• When in an enclosed space where all individuals in the enclosed space are fully vaccinated.

• When in an enclosed space with individuals from a single household who are not fully vaccinated and are not at an increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

COVID resources

• Data Dashboard

• Financial Navigators hotline

• Close Contacts Now have Quarantine Options

• UW-Madison's rapid testing

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

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

• 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.

• 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

City meetings schedule

City weekly meeting schedule

The Mayor's meeting schedule

The County weekly meeting schedule

Special Note from Lindsay: Due to a determination by the WI Elections Commission, alders running for reelection in the April 2021 election are advised not to use city resources to communicate with constituents using mass emails and posts. For that reason, emails are not being sent when I post these updates. I typically post an update weekly by Monday night, please check this space for my update each week.