Common Council

Week of Jan 16: No trash pickup Monday, a lot of neighborhood plan updates, MLK event, and more

This week, info on the MLK holiday in Madison, last Xmas tree pickup round starts Tuesday, a lot of neighborhood planning events coming up later in the month, neighborhood grants area available, and lots more this week.

• MLK Holiday and City Services
• MLK Event at Overture Monday at 5:15pm
• Christmas Tree Pickup - last round starts Tuesday
• 2023 Neighborhood Grants - here's what got funded last year if you want inspiration
• Planning Save the Dates:
  • Hawthrone Truax Jan 24th
  • Sycamore Park Master Plan Jan 26
  • Northeast Area Plan Jan 31st - first plan in the new Planning Framework
  • Some information on the new Planning Framework - Rolling Meadows, Heritage Heights, and Heistand in 2024
• Council Meeting on Jan 17th - filling the District 12 vacancy and Transit-Oriented-Developemt Overlay District
• Other City Announcements
• Other City Events

Note that there's a winter storm maybe on the horizon for Thursday-ish. Unless that storm leads to some major disruptions like trash pickup getting rescheduled, I'm unlikely to post anything about it - but I'd encourage you to subscribe to the City's Snow Plowing Updates email list or just check out the City's 'Winter' website as the event unfolds.

Martin Luther King, Jr holiday and City Services

• No trash pickup Monday: If your trash and recycling is collected on Mondays by the Streets Division, you should place your scheduled cart(s) to the curb for collection by 6:30am on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Only residents that have a Monday collection day will experience a delay in refuse and recycling pickup services. If you have a Tuesday collection of trash and recycling by the Streets Division, you should also place your scheduled cart(s) out for emptying by 6:30am on January 17.
• Metro Buses are following a Saturday schedule for the holiday, and all standing paratransit rides are canceled.
• City offices, the drop-off sites, and all public libraries are closed. 

38th Annual City/County MLK Day Observance Event, Monday, Jan 16 At Overture

The King Coalition of Madison & Dane County is welcoming Donzaleigh Abernathy, daughter of Ralph Abernathy/goddaughter of MLK, to Madison as keynote speaker marking the return to an in-person event at the Overture Center. MLK Day is Monday, Jan. 16 with the City/County Observance starting at 5:15 PM with Freedom Songs and the Observance at 6:00 PM.

Ms. Abernathy is the Goddaughter of Martin Luther King , Jr., Daughter of Rev. Ralph Abernathy, and an award-winning actress and writer. She was born in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement as her Father and his best friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. established the nonviolent social movement which changed the course of American History. Her life began with the bombing of her parents' home and her Father's First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. She and her siblings witnessed and participated in all of the major Civil Rights Movements and Marches. She and her siblings, along with the King children integrated Spring Street Elementary School which led to mass integration of schools in the South in 1965. She authored, Partners To History, Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and the Civil Rights Movement. She was a contributing author to the Smithsonian Institute's book In the Spirit of Martin. Her play Birmingham Sunday is a winner of the Tanne Foundation Award.

The program will also include presentation of the MLK Humanitarian Awards by Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and County Executive Joe Parisi, performances by the MLK Community Choir, and more. See this release for information on the Award Winners, Dr. Charles ("Chuck") Taylor and the late Wayne Strong.

Christmas Tree Pickup - Final Round starts on Tuesday the 17th

The final round of holiday tree collection begins after the Martin Luther King Jr, holiday. If you have yet to place your tree out for pickup, now is your last chance. For more information about the schedule, check the Holiday Tree Collection page at www.cityofmadison.com/Winter (If you don't get it out in time for this round, it will probably be around until brush pickup resumes in the spring)

NEIGHBORHOOD GRANTS APPLICATION OPEN - WORKSHOP THIS THURSDAY!

2023 Neighborhood Grant Program guidelines and application are now available on the City's webpage! Grant applications will be due February 20 by 4:30 p.m. What will you and your neighbors do? Start exploring ideas for physical improvements and leadership and capacity building initiatives. There is an optional workshop on Thursday Jan 19th with two ways to attend - a virtual version at 12:00 p.m. via Zoom and an in-person version 5:00 p.m. at Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Room 206. (You only need to attend one)

You can find some inspiration from the 2022 awards, which included funding to the Lerdahl Park Neighborhood Association to support a new sign for Troy Gardens, supporting a Multi-Cultural Festival with the Junction Ridge Neighborhood assocation, Zoom and website support for the Campus Area Neighborhood Association, garden upgrades for Tenney-Lapham, a public art guide for the Marquette Neighborhood, community building workshops in across several southwest neighborhoods, and retention pond beautification in the Elderberry Neighborhood Association. 

Save the Date: Hawthorne-Truax Neighborhood Plan draft and upcoming meeting Jan 24th!

Sycamore Park Master Planning in 2023 - Thursday Jan 26 Save the Dates!

Save the dates for a set of upcoming virtual meetings on updates to the Sycamore Park Master Plan. The meetings will be at 6pm, and you can find out more on at the Parks website as well as register for the Zoom:
https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/projects/sycamore-park-master-plan

• Meeting #1: Park background information, planning process overview, public input
  • Thursday, January 26
• Meeting #2: Present draft master plan for feedback
  • Monday, February 27
• Meeting #3: Present revised master plan for feedback
  • Thursday, March 30

One last Save the Date: Northeast Area Plan Kickoff on January 31st

The Northeast Area Plan will be one of the first planning processes following the City's new Planning Framework.  The Planning Framework is a shift in how Madison approaches planning for areas of the city. The new framework will simplify and standardize the City's sub-area planning and it is intended to achieve more equitable outcomes by covering the entire city with 12 discrete Area Plan geographies. The City is inviting residents, community organizations, neighborhood associations, businesses and others to chart course of action for the next 10 years.  The Plan will cover land use, transportation, parks and open space, and other elements of the City's Comprehensive Plan.

To get started, there will be public kickoff meetings at the end of the month on January 31st. There will be two options that day:

• Virtual Meeting (Zoom only) noon-1pm
• Hybrid Meeting (in-person at the Nakoosa Trail Fleet Facility, with a Zoom option) 6-7pm

The Northeast Area Plan covers the parts of the 3rd district that are north of Highway 30, so it does overlap a bit with the new Hawthorne-Truax plan. It also covers areas that are outside the City of Madison but that will eventually come into the City.  Here's a map:

New Planning Area - looking ahead to 2024 and beyond

The new Planning Framework is meant to harmonize the City's neighborhood planning process. Currently some neighborhoods keep their plans updated frequently, other plans are decades old, and some neighborhoods (like Rolling Meadows) don't even have any subarea plan except what's in the city's Comprehensive Plan. 

Over the next decade, 12 Framework Area Plans will be developed to cover the entire city and future growth areas. Starting with the Northeast Plan and the West Plan in 2023, the plans will focus on guiding changes to the physical aspects of our community, such as development initiated by the private sector and infrastructure improvements typically carried out by the public sector. Each Area Plan process provides an opportunity to consider older sub-area plans for retirement to reduce the number of outdated and overlapping plans. After the 12 Area Plans are established, they will be updated each decade to reflect an ever-changing city and keep Plan recommendations in synch with other City initiatives.

The City will refresh one or two areas a year. The order of the updates is on the map below. Of note to District 3 - the Southeast Plan is scheduled for 2024, and will include Heritage Heights, Rolling Meadows, and Heistand.  

Meetings

The Common Council will meet in hybrid format at 6:30pm on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023. Agenda includes appointing Barbara Vedder as District 12 Alder; commemorating Jan. 27th as International Holocaust Remembrance Day; amending Chap. 28 of the Madison General Ordinances to implement the Transit-Oriented-Development Overlay District; & more.

• Meeting details
• Meeting agenda
• Watch online

Announcements

• Mayor and Alders Introduce Program to Save Energy and Cut Carbon Pollution in Commercial Buildings
• U-Haul ranked your fine city of MADISON as the No. 3 U.S. Growth City of 2022!!!
• Plow Naming Suggestions Opportunity Has Ended; Election Begins January 23, 2023
• County Executive Parisi and Madison Mayor Rhodes-Conway Announce the Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award Honorees 
• City of Madison Clerk's Office Moving Temporarily to the Madison Municipal Building
• Metro Transit Announces New Staff Chiefs 
• Membership and leadership changes at the Police Civilian Oversight Board
• Fleet Recognizes 2022 Employee of the Year Andrew Harrison
• Transportation Office Closed on Monday, January 16

Events

• Public Information Meeting - Oak Park Heights Park: January 19, 2023
• MMB Blood Drive: There are still spaces available to donate blood at the Madison Municipal Building, Room 215 on January 17, 2023 from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Schedule your appoint today! 
• FREE HUD-Approved Homebuyer Education Class (In-Person)-Saturday, January 21, 2023: The City of Madison, in partnership with the Home Buyers Round Table of Dane County and Consumer Credit Counseling Service, want to share with you the first HUD Approved Homebuyer Education class of 2023!
• MADISON METRO: SAFETY, SECURITY, AND PREPAREDNESS PLANNING: In partnership with Madison METRO's Safety Coordinator, Public Health's Violence Prevention Unit is hosting a virtual session on transportation safety. The session takes place on Wednesday, January 18th from 12pm to 1pm.