D6 Items of Interest Week of December 21, 2020

Highlights: The BODY-WORN CAMERA FEASIBILITY REVIEW COMMITTEE meets Monday and Tuesday to complete their report. This is a short week for city meetings. I hope everyone has been having a safe holiday season.

On Friday December 18, the Police and Fire Commission announced they selected Dr. Shon F. Barnes to be the next Chief of Police. As is standard practice, the PFC will issue a Conditional Offer of Appointment. The PFC has statutory authority to hire and fire the Chief of Police per Wis Statutes 62.13 (3).

Madison Metropolitan School District has a parent survey to gather input on rest of school year plans.  The survey is in English, Spanish and Hmong.  Deadline is December 20.

This week, with the news that healthcare systems in the United States and Wisconsin have begun administering the Pfizer vaccine to frontline healthcare workers and employees who care for and treat COVID-19-positive patients, there is understandable excitement. The bottom line is the public must remain vigilant even with vaccinations underway.  The vaccine will not be a magic formula to eliminate COVID-19 from our lives completely, and is not likely to be broadly available for months. Therefore, it is important that the public continue to follow safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus and avoid further strain on local hospitals, especially now that we are in the holiday season. Read more about preventative measures here.

·    Public Health provides new guidance as local schools consider reopening.  Due to a Wisconsin Supreme Court injunction, Public Health cannot make decisions about opening schools. This updated guidance is intended to help districts inform their decision-making about when they are ready to safely open their schools.

·    Public Health Madison & Dane County has issued Emergency Order #11 PDF  as COVID-19 cases decline in Dane County. The order goes into effect December 16, at 12:01am and will be in effect for 28 days. Read the press release here. 

·   UW–Madison is updating its COVID-19 health and safety program for spring 2021.  The two main components of this new program are expanded rapid result testing on campus and a new app called "Safer Badgers," which students, faculty, and staff will use to participate in testing and to access campus facilities and services. Read more here.

The  City of Madison announces new Healthy Community Food Systems Fund.  In the face of rising food insecurity brought on by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, the Common Council, City staff, and members of the Madison Food Policy Council have created the 2021 Healthy Community Food Systems Fund, which seeks to assist in addressing food access and security issues in the City of Madison. Lots more about the three different funds here.

Share your creative projects with Madison Makes.  Madison Makes is a new virtual event on March 6, which will showcase videos of Madison area people who love to create and want to share it with others.   Click on the link for details on how to submit your ideas.

Metro Transit service decreases December 24 and 25.  Read more here.

Update on airport test results for PFAS were released last week.  Read more about the levels of PFAS in surface groundwater (not water from deep aquifers) and soil at the two burn pits where fire fighting foam was used here. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has determined that the City, County, and Wisconsin Air National Guard share responsibility for the sites as historic owners or users of the sites. A report of test results can be found on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website here under Activity # 02-13-583366. On Wednesday December 16,  the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced the release of a statewide PFAS Action Plan created to address growing public health and environmental concerns regarding PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in Wisconsin.  The PFAS Action Plan was developed by WisPAC, a group of nearly 20 state agencies and the University of Wisconsin System. As part of the statewide initiative to ensure Wisconsinites have access to clean, safe drinking water, Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order #40 in August 2019 to address the issue of PFAS across the state. Wisconsin is now one of fewer than a dozen states in the nation to have developed a plan to address the use of and contamination caused by PFAS.  Executive Order #40 also directed the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to lead a group of state agencies to build an action plan to serve as a blueprint for how Wisconsin can address the use of and contamination from these forever chemicals.

Thanks to City Engineering, Parks and Community Development Division staff, the Mayor's office, and our nonprofit partner Porchlight and other agencies who helped plan the new temporary homeless men's shelter at the former city Fleet Services Building at 200 N First St. The facility opened on Wednesday. What a relief to be able to shelter more unhoused people and huge appreciation to Porchlight for pausing (and reconsidering) rules about 90 day stays and intoxication. Now the city and county and our partners need to find a new location for a permanent shelter. Madison men's homeless shelter moves into 'spacious, safer' facility

Mitchell Turino, the owner of I/O Arcade Bar has applied for a new license and plans to relocate the bar from 720 Williamson to 924 Williamson, the former home of Plan B. I will hold a virtual neighborhood meeting sometime early next year before the January ALRC meeting. I/O Arcade Bar owner plans to move two blocks down Williamson Street to former Plan B spot

Monday December 21, 2020

SUSTAINABLE MADISON COMMITTEE

4:30p You can send comments on agenda items to SMC@cityofmadison.com

https://madison.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=743664&GUID=23C3EBCC-438F-4B5C-B1C2-4B7D9712EC83

2. Dane County – Climate Action Plan Presentation & Discussion

Monday December 21

BODY-WORN CAMERA FEASIBILITY REVIEW COMMITTEE

5p You can send comments on agenda items to BCFRC@cityofmadison.com

https://madison.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=828202&GUID=711DDD18-0D86-41E7-B193-F211A57BDE72

2. 62870 Discussion of Draft Policy on Body-Worn Cameras

3. 63302 Discussion of Final Recommendation and Report

61164 Documents for the Body-Worn Camera Feasibility Review Committee

Lots of good resources listed.

Tuesday December 22

BODY-WORN CAMERA FEASIBILITY REVIEW COMMITTEE

4p You can send comments on agenda items to BCFRC@cityofmadison.com

https://madison.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=825953&GUID=6E882E20-0F95-44D0-9543-C419AB727652

Same agenda items as Monday

Marsha Rummel

District 6 Alder

City of Madison