Common Council

Week of July 4th - No trash pickup Monday, Fireworks, and more

A reminder that trash pickup is not happening on Monday, be smart and safe with fireworks, July is disability pride month, the Mad Lit downtown concert series is back, save the date for upcoming Coffee with a Cop and a neighborhood development meeting, and more!

• Holiday Schedules for this week
• Fireworks
• City Meeting calendar
• July is Disability Pride Month
• Mad Lit Concert Series is back
• Learn about Small Scale Composting
• Splash Pads are Open
• Save the Dates: Coffee with a Cop July 18th and August 23rd, 102 S Sprecher Neighborhood Meeting July 28th
• More Events
• Other Announcements

Holiday schedule for this week

City offices are closed on Monday, July 4

Administrative offices are closed on Monday, July 4, for Independence Day. Emergency services will be open; please call 911.

• Emergency water issue: Call Madison Water Utility, 608-266-4665, 24/7.
• Sanitary sewer backup: Call 608-266-4430. An emergency crew will respond to your call.
• Report a Problem: Report non-emergencies that can wait until the next City working day.

There will be no trash, recycling, brush, or large item collection on Monday, July 4, in observance of the Independence Day holiday. The Streets Division drop-off sites will also be closed. Residents who normally have their refuse and recycling collected on Monday should instead place their carts to the curb for collection by 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 5. Refuse and recycling pickup for residents that have a regularly scheduled Tuesday collection day will also occur on July 5. These residents should have their carts out by 6:30am on this date to ensure collection as well. More holiday schedule information about large item work orders, brush collection, and drop-off sites can be found here.

Metro Transit will run holiday schedules for several routes on Monday, July 4. All standing paratransit rides are canceled on Monday, July 4. Paratransit passengers must call and schedule a casual ride to travel on the holiday. Rides are eligible according to fixed route holiday service. Read more here.

Fireworks

Please remember that fireworks that leave the ground/shoot up in the air are illegal in Madison, with the exception of professional pyrotechnic displays, which have a permit and are inspected. Sparklers, snakes, caps, and party poppers may be used with caution. As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, the City of Madison Fire Department reminds everyone to enjoy the holiday safely. Read here for safety tips and more information.

To report illegal fireworks in your neighborhood, please call the police non-emergency number (608-255-2345) and give the most accurate location you can for where you are hearing the fireworks.

The Wisconsin State Journal has a list of different Fourth of July events and fireworks shows.

Meetings

• For information about City meetings scheduled for the week of July 4, please consult the City meeting schedule.

July is Disability Pride Month

This Friday, July 1st, begins Disability Pride Month. The Madison Disability Pride Festival will be on July 30th at Warner Park, and you can find out more about it on their website.  Another series that you may be interested in is the Power in Pride Celebration.  This a series of virtual conversations for and led by Disabled people using the Clubhouse app.  Allies are welcome to join, listen, and learn.

Each conversation is at 1:00 PM Central time:

7/1: Power in Pride Kick Off - Link to join
7/5: Exposing the Ableist Society - Link to join
7/12: Accessible Activism- Link to join
7/14: Ask a Disabled Adult - Link to join
7/19: Dynamic Disability - Link to join
7/23: Disabled Entrepreneurship - Link to join
7/26: Discrimination at Work - Link to join
7/30: Trauma Healing from the Ableist Society - Link to join

Mad Lit Summer Concert Series is Back this Summer

Last summer, the first annual Mad Lit summer concert series filled the 100 block of State Street with music, poetry and joy on Friday nights. This groundbreaking concert series created a downtown spotlight for more than 80 musicians, visual artists and small business owners of color.
 
Starting July 1st, Mad Lit will return to the top of State Street with shows every other Friday from 8-11 pm. A list of this year's performers is available now at https://ourgmmc.org/madlit . The first night will feature KIC, Alise Mosely, RSHN 6 and DJ Terrence J.
 
The Mad Lit event series was started last year to revitalize State Street businesses and culture, which took a hit during the height of the pandemic. Mad Lit is a part of Greater Madison Music City  and supported by the Urban Community Arts Network  and the Madison Arts Commission. These organizations wanted to make a safe and fun way to enjoy downtown that intentionally centered artists and vendors of color. The social justice murals that covered State Street in 2020 brought more diverse groups of people to downtown; Mad Lit builds on that energy by showcasing music, art and small businesses run by people of color, using the outdoor spaces around the 100 block of State Street for fun, inclusive events designed to bring the community together.

"These events provided paid opportunities for musicians, visual and performance artists and dancers to showcase their work," said Rob Franklin, the principal organizer of Mad Lit. "We wanted to intentionally combine arts and culture with commerce to give people a safe and fun way to enjoy downtown and support local business."
 
Mad Lit aims to increase foot traffic downtown and put the spotlight on local businesses run by people of color. Last summer, pop-up shops utilized sidewalk space to showcase unique products from local, lesser-known small businesses that appeal to all.

Learn About Small-Scale Composting

We've partnered with Rooted and UW-Extension to offer this free class held at the community garden at Reindahl Park on Tuesday, July 5. Learn about small-scale composting, which can be used to convert garden debris and household food waste to improve soil fertility and quality.  

DATE: Tuesday, July 5, 2022 @ 5:30pm
LOCATION: Reindahl Park Community Garden 
AGES: Family-friendly, children should be accompanied by an adult
WHAT TO BRING: No equipment is needed 
REGISTRATION: Advanced registration is required and may be done online or by phone (608) 266-4711

Splash Parks, Free to Use & Open Daily

Cypress, Elver and Reindahl parks each offer a free-to-use splash park open daily 10am – 8pm through Monday, September 5. See locations. (Reindahl Park is the closest to District 3, right off of East Washington Ave)

Save the Dates: Coffee with a Cop and Neighborhood Development meetings

We don't have links for these yet, but put them on your calendar:

Coffee with a Cop - Please join our Neighborhood Resource Officer on July 18th and August 23rd at Pinney Library from 10am-noon for "Coffee With a Cop". There will be a virtual option for you to join via Zoom, we'll get that included in future updates, and on the East Madison Police District website.

Virtual Neighborhood Meeting for the development of 102 S Sprecher (Corner of Milwaukee and Sprecher) on Thursday, July 28th at 6pm. Watch for a link for this in the near future, and for postcards for neighbors who are within a few blocks of development. Alder Lemmer held a neighborhood meeting for this project back in December, now that the project has submitted its plans we'll have a refresher before the project goes before the various City boards and commissions. 

More Events

• We're celebrating the reopening of The Glen Golf Park with a Sunday afternoon of family fun! The community is invited to join Madison Parks and Madison Parks Foundation at The Glen for the Grand Reopening Celebration on Sunday, July 10 (rain date Sunday, July 17), from 3pm-7pm. Read more here.
• One of the Midwest's most popular and highly regarded outdoor celebrations of the arts will return to the Capitol Square on Saturday, July 9, and Sunday, July 10, as the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art presents the 64th annual Art Fair on the Square. Admission is free! Details can be found here.
• Madison Public Library invites you to enjoy child-led play at Reindahl and Meadowood Park this summer on Wednesday evenings from 5-7PM. These outdoor play events are based on the educational approach of AnjiPlay, which focuses on letting children explore and take risks. The library will provide special play equipment to spark your children's imagination. Messy clothes and a water bottle are encouraged. If you'd like, bring along a picnic dinner and make an evening of it! All ages and abilities welcome. There will be eight Wild Rumpus events throughout the summer.
• Madison Contemporary Dance, a Madison-based nonprofit dance company, will perform at Art Fair on the Square on Saturday, July 9, at 3:30. Contemporary and professional street-style dance will perform pieces created together. This is an opportunity to see ballet and modern-based contemporary dance, and street styles such as hip hop, krump, house, popping, breakdancing, and more.

Announcements

• The Common Council has an open and competitive opportunity for a Legislative Analyst with the City of Madison's Common Council Office.
• As the upcoming school year quickly approaches, the City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division is hiring a number of qualified candidates to work part-time as a School Crossing Guard. Though vacancies exist in several areas, the city sees the greatest need for applicants on the west side of Madison. Learn more here.
• Kids aged 6 months to less than 5 years old are now eligible to be vaccinated. Public Health Madison & Dane County recommends that you first check with your child's pediatrician to see if they are able to vaccinate. However, there are other options available if you're not able to get into your pediatrician for an appointment. Many local pharmacies are offering appointments as well as our Public Health clinics. Learn more about vaccines for children aged 6 months to under 5 years.
• As part of Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway's MetroForward >> initiative, the City of Madison has teamed up for the second year with the Madison Metropolitan School District to distribute a summer Metro Transit pass to ALL middle and high school students, providing a safe and easily accessible way to navigate our community this summer. Details can be found here.