Common Council

Updates April 19, 2021

Updates:

• Neighborhood 
• Meeting highlights for the week of April 19
• Parks
• Transportation
• Community
• COVID-19

Neighborhood 

2021 City of Madison property assessments

The 2021 property assessments are now available on the City website at cityofmadison.com/assessor. Property values increased 5.9% overall from the 2020 assessments. Commercial property has increased 4.3% and residential assessments increased 6.7%.

Information about the COVID-19 impact on Madison assessments is available in this Madison Assessor's Office video.

A period for "examination of the assessment roll" - what is referred to as "open book" - is provided. This period of time is an opportunity to discuss property value and provide reason for changing value, if appropriate. This "open book" period is set aside for property owners to discuss their assessments with Assessor's Office staff prior to completion of the assessment roll. Property owners who wish to compare assessments may also view assessment data posted on the Assessor's website. Available information includes owner's name, property address, legal description, sale information and property characteristics.

The open book period will begin Monday, April 19 and close Friday, April 30 at 4:30 p.m. Due to the pandemic, open book contact this year will be telephonic or virtual. The Assessor's Office remains closed to the public for everyone's safety. Property owners must initiate contact with the appraiser for their property in one of two ways:

• Email: openbook@cityofmadison.com
• Call: (608) 266-4531

Support staff fielding the initial contact will direct you to the appropriate appraiser and provide helpful information about the process and resources available. The appraiser will then contact you based on the initial information provided.

Twisted Grounds seeking approval for live music at this Wednesday's Alcohol License Review Committee Meeting
 

At this Wednesday's Alcohol License Review Committee meeting, Twisted Grounds is seeking approval to have live music in their outdoor area. Specifically, they would like to have live music until 8 pm on Friday evenings over the summer, and in the late morning (10 am to noon) on Sundays. They are also seeking approval to add more picnic tables.

Please share any thoughts on this with me, or send them to the committee at licensing@cityofmadison.com. You can also register your support or opposition at the meeting at  https://www.cityofmadison.com/MeetingRegistration. 

Public input meeting for new shelter at Door Creek Park

The City of Madison Parks Division will hold a community meeting for a new multi-season park shelter at Door Creek Park. The design team will introduce the project and review existing conditions, site opportunities and constraints, and the current building program. This is the first of a series of meetings for the project. More information and meeting registration are available on the project website.

Door Creek Park Shelter
Public Input Meeting #1
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 @ 6:00 pm
Virtual via Zoom
Meeting Registration: https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/projects/door-creek-park-shelter

Dog Den seeking to continue operations at Atlas Ave

The Dog Den will be seeking a conditional use permit to continue their operations at their 410 Atlas Avenue location at the Monday, April 26 Plan Commission meeting. They were notified by the city that their operations require a Conditional Use permit which has not been previously applied for at this location. 

Rolling Meadows Neighborhood Association Board Special Election - Virtual meeting

Seats up for election: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and four at-large members.
When: Thursday May 13, 7 pm
Where: Zoom tinyurl.com/RMNAElect21

The Rolling Meadows Neighborhood Association is holding a special meeting where they will be electing new officers. They are seeking a diverse group to more accurately represent the neighborhood as a whole. Let's work together to make this the best place to live for all who reside within it.

Questions? Email rolling.meadows.na@gmail.com

Ride the Drive - around Kennedy Park

This year's Ride the Drive is slated for Sunday, June 6, 2021 and the event will look different than the traditional downtown Ride the Drive.

As a COVID safety precaution, the city has made several significant adjustments. This year's Ride the Drive will offer four simultaneous neighborhood events. As in previous years, the focal point remains a park with surrounding vehicle street closures allowing participants to stroll, roll, pedal or glide along the less than 3-mile route in a free event.

One of the routes is around Kennedy Park (5202 Retana Drive).

The other parks included are Marlborough Park (2222 Whenona Drive), Warner Park (2930 N. Sherman Avenue) and Wingra Park, 824 Knickerbocker Street.

Updates in the coming weeks can be found on RideTheDrive.com.

Meeting highlights for the week of April 19, 2021

New Council and Parking Enforcement Transition Proposal at Tuesday's Common Council meeting

The new Council will be sworn in Tuesday afternoon. After saying goodbye to outgoing alders, the Council will elect new leadership and then recess until 6:30 pm and take up their agenda. One of the higher interest topics on Tuesday's Common Council agenda is transferring Parking Enforcement from the Madison Police Department to the Parking Division. 

Meeting details

Meeting agenda

Register for public comment

Land banking and Housing Forward Initiatives

The Housing Strategy Committee will be discussing a draft land banking policy and the new City Housing Forward initiative at its meeting on Thursday.

Meeting details

Meeting agenda

Register for public comment

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

Plastic bag recycling ending

The Streets Division's plastic bag recycling program is ending. Residents should no longer place plastic film and plastic bags into their recycling carts. Instead, residents who accumulate plastic bag and film should return them to the retailers that offer plastic bag and film recycling programs.

Parks

Earth Day Challenge 

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.

Transportation

Bus Survey

Metro Transit is working on a complete network redesign to create a new system of bus routes that better serves the needs of Madison area residents and businesses and they need your input.

Please fill out the Transit Choices Survey to help them better understand your goals and priorities for the future redesigned transit network. 

For additional information on the Metro Transit Network Redesign project, visit mymetrobus.com/redesign. 

Questions and comments can also be emailed to MetroRedesign@cityofmadison.com. 

Community

• On April 24 at 7pm, the Mead Witter School of Music will stream Verisimilitudes: A Journey Through Art Song in Black, Brown, and Tan, a theatrical event concert that unveils the archive of Black women and men who have explored music through the genre of Classical Art Song. 

• Madison International Partners continue to offer two citizenship classes a week.  The classes are free and held virtually via Zoom on Tuesdays from 5pm-6:30pm and Saturdays from 9am-10:30am.  Join by registering here.

• In partnership with United Way of Dane County, JustDane's Journey Home program presents a virtual Reentry Service Fair for individuals recently released from prison to get connected to resources on April 20 from 3pm-4:30pm. For more information, contact Ron Burford at JustDane at ron@justdane.org, call the JustDane offices at 608-256-0906, or visit the JustDane website.

Beyond the Page and Dane County Libraries seeking applications for year of programming around themes of race and equity

Beyond the Page is seeking applications for humanities-based programs from across Dane County that will take place in 2022. 

Beyond the Page is seeking proposals for programs in the following areas:

• Art/music/culture with a humanities focus (performances, workshops, etc.)

• Understanding race and racism through a humanities lens (history, storytelling, etc.)

• Programs designed by and for people of color (wellness, empowerment, community-building, etc.)

Strong applications will make a clear connection to the humanities and will engage audiences in connection with others. Programs may be targeted at children, teens, adults, seniors and/or families.

Applications will be accepted through June 1, 2021 or until project needs are met. https://www.beyondthepage.info/apply 

Save the date

Make Music Madison - June 24 (Deadline for New Registrations – Midnight on Tuesday, May 25th) Info can be found at https://www.makemusicmadison.org/

COVID-19 updates

Vaccine appointments at the Alliant Energy Center, transportation available

Dane County residents age 16 and older can sign up for COVID vaccine appointments at the Alliant Energy Center and other locations. Transportation is available for those who need it. More information in English and Spanish.

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.

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