Encampments, Traffic Calming, Plant Swap - D15 Update 5/17/19

Last Week

Starkweather Drive and Garver Path

Construction is underway on the new Garver Path and Starkweather Drive project. Some questions have been raised about the environmental impact of the project on trees and green space. Minimizing tree loss and environmental impact was one of the key elements of this project and the final alignment was determined in large part to avoid unnecessary environmental impact. A majority of the project will take place within the existing Starkweather Drive roadway and the path through the wetlands in O.B. Sherry will be constructed as a bridge/board walk to not impact the wetlands. There are many invasive plants/trees within the project area that will be removed as a first step in restoring the wetlands and a small number of trees have been removed for the needed bridge embankments. You can find details about the project here.  

20 is Plenty, Slow Streets, and Ped/Bike Enhancements

The Transportation Commission approved two pilot locations for the Twenty is Plenty program and also supported implementation of this year's Slow Streets sites and Ped/Bike Enhancement projects. For District 15 this means the return of the Atwood cycletrack along Olbrich Park as well as new crosswalk signage on E. Washington at Lexington, bike lanes on Milwaukee Street between Fair Oaks and Woodman's, and a speed reduction and driver feedback boards on Atwood between Sugar and Cottage Grove Road. Speed humps on Lexington Avenue and traffic calming and bike lanes on Swanton Road were previously approved as part of this year's traffic calming program.

Eastmorland board elections

Congratulations to new ECA board members and officers: Emily Mixon (president), Emily Sprengelmeyer (vice president), Jennica Skoug (secretary), Dan Zimmerman (treasurer), Cindy Colombo, Breanna Illéné, Kathy Soukup, Fred Svensson, Kris Whitman, Patrick Soukup, and Brian Juchems. See the Save the Date section below for upcoming ECA events and meeting details.

In the news:

• Survey Open: City Engineering Works to Prioritize Flood Projects
• Grow Your Green Thumb This Season
• Madison Public Library To Reopen Libraries on May 24
• Announcing New Schedule for Large Item Collection Beginning June 1, 2021
• Madison Commons, Media Digest

This Week

Encampments

On Monday, the City-County Homeless Issues Committee will receive a presentation from City staff regarding the status of TPEs and an update on the status of the men's shelter. They will also be discussing a resolution that would halt the eviction of persons from Reindahl Park until a suitable alternative site is available. I am a cosponsor of this resolution that updates the TPE (Temporary Permissible Encampments) criteria to better reflect the needs of these sites and that postpones the eviction of those currently located at Reindahl. The alternative site that was proposed by staff and the mayor's office (Starkweather) is inaccessible and not suitable to support those currently camping at Reindahl. You can find links to the agenda and to provide comment here.

Common Council

In addition to the resolution on TPEs (item 26) mentioned above, the Common Council will also consider approval of an amendment to the TID 42 project plan (item 52) and an associated capital budget amendment (item 54) that would allocate up to $9.1M of tax increment for a new parking ramp at the Villager Mall. I have significant concerns about the wisdom of spending such a large amount of public money on a parking ramp at this location. You can find links to the agenda and to provide comment here. 

The Dive at ALRC

The Alcohol License Review Committee will consider an application for a new liquor license for "The Dive" at the former Jo Beck's bar on Cottage Grove Road. This application is supported by the Lake Edge Neighborhood Association. You can find more information on this application here (item 33) and you can find a link to the ALRC meeting here.

Other city meetings

There are a number of city meetings not highlighted in this update. You can find a full schedule of city meetings here.

Save the date

• Madison Public Libraries Reopening - May 24
• 2nd Annual Eastmorland Art Walk - June 4–6 - Display art in your yard or window for all to enjoy! Fill out form to get your art on the map! 
• Ride the Drive - June 6 - Ride the Drive 2021 – In Your Neighborhood
• Eastmorland Neighborhood Meet-up - June 6, 2 pm - Walter St. Picnic Shelter, Olbrich Park
• ECA meeting - June 8 - meet the new board members and join a conversation about committee projects and events for 2021-2022
• Eastmorland & Lake Edge Garage Sale June 18–19, various locations throughout the neighborhood Sign up here to participate in the shared Eastmorland and Lake Edge Neighborhood Garage Sale.
• Make Music Madison - June 21 - (Deadline for New Registrations – Midnight on Tuesday, May 25th) More info at https://www.makemusicmadison.org/ 
• Lake Edge Neighborhood Picnic - Aug 8 late afternoon
• Eastmorland Little Free Library Tour - June 25–27 - Eastmorland has 20 (or more?) Little Free Libraries. Can you find them all? Stroll the neighborhood on this self-guided tour and stock up on summer reads. 
• Lake Edge Neighborhood Picnic - August 8
• Eastmorland Farmers/Makers Market - end of summer TBD - (learn more and fill out a vendor interest form here)

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