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Common Council

Week of January 12th

posted 

Dear Neighbors, 

This week has been a challenging one for so many. Our communities across Madison, Wisconsin, and the entire country are reeling from violence, loss, and continued attacks on our most vulnerable neighbors.

My heart breaks for all those who continue to be harmed by our federal government – a government that claims public safety is a priority while they continue to undermine what actually makes our communities safer. We know what makes our communities safe. If the federal government wants to actually help us, they should focus on lowering costs for working people, investing in affordable housing, and creating good-paying jobs and a strong public education system. 

We must continue to fight alongside each other so that everyone is able to thrive and feel safe. I encourage you to check in on your neighbors and continue to take care of one another. Together, we will get through these uncertain times. Because that is what we have always done.

Below are a number of important updates from the city, as well as upcoming opportunities to engage. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m eager to hear from you.

In solidarity,

Sean 

Madison – McFarland Intergovernmental Agreement 

The City of Madison and the Village of McFarland are considering whether to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to address issues of mutual concern surrounding our shared border and to plan for how growth may occur in the future. The City and Village previously had an agreement in place that expired in 2018. The intergovernmental agreement will not affect school districts or boundaries.

The intention is to share these concepts with elected officials and impacted community members and to gather feedback from all involved before elected officials from Madison and McFarland determine whether to proceed with a formal process to draft an intergovernmental agreement. Both Madison and McFarland are committed to listening to impacted community members and we want to hear from you – as part of this there will be a series of Public Information meetings: 

  • January 21, 2026: Residents of the April Hills subdivision

  • January 28, 2026: Residents of the Secret Places subdivision

  • February 4, 2026: All interested Village of McFarland residents and portions of the Town of Cottage Grove south of Siggelkow Road

  • Week of February 9 or 16 (date TBD soon), 2026: Residents of the Siggel Grove, Quinn Ranch, Twin Oaks, Liberty Place, Owl's Creek, and Lot Creek subdivisions, other interested City of Madison residents, and portions of the Town of Cottage Grove north of Siggelkow Road 

The first three meetings will be held at the McFarland Municipal Center, located at 5915 Milwaukee Street in McFarland, beginning at 6 p.m. The fourth meeting (date TBA) will be held at the Madison Fire Station #14, located at 3201 Dairy Drive at 6 p.m. All are welcome to attend any of these meetings to learn about the proposals, but the specific subdivision meetings will focus on the needs and questions of individuals living in the specified areas.

If you have questions or concerns that are not answered, you are more than welcome to reach out to me or the planning teams directly: 

Jeff Gregger, Planner – City of Madison
jgreger@cityofmadison.com
608-243-0181

Matt Schunke, Village Administrator – McFarland
matt.schuenke@mcfarland.wi.gov
608-838-3153

Neighborhood Grants Program

The City of Madison Planning Division will once again host the Neighborhood Grant Program in 2026. This program is perfect if you have a project or improvement idea for your neighborhood. If you have questions, or are simply interested in learning more about the program, please join the city for this workshop!

This will be a hybrid meeting. You can participate in one of the following ways:

Additional grant program information will be posted to the city’s Neighborhoods webpage and sent via the Planning Division's Neighborhoods listserv in early January.

Beltline PEL Study 

Beltline PEL Study
Image credit: Wisconsin Department of Transportation

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has extended the comment period for the Beltline PEL study though the end of January. 

Currently, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is considering several changes to the Beltline, including the addition of a new travel lane in each direction, new weave intersections, some street connections, and several pedestrian/bike connections. 

Many of these new additions would displace housing and businesses along the corridor and increase traffic noise and air pollution. At the last meeting of the Transportation Commission, we discussed many of these impacts. You can find the meeting recording here. Additionally, WisDOT hosted a virtual Public Information meeting on December 4th that you can watch a recording of here. 

Comments are due by January 31st. You can provide your comments here.

*Note* - Since this is a WisDOT study, comments must be provided through the official form. Comments that you send to me and/or city staff are not officially recorded in the PEL study.

Data Centers Moratorium

The Common Council and Mayor will be considering a one-year moratorium on issuing zoning certificates for Data Centers or telecommunication centers that are larger than 10,000sq/ft at the Common Council meeting this Tuesday, January 13th. I am a co-sponsor of this ordinance. 

Data Centers have been in the news a lot lately. In early November, a group of Wisconsin lawmakers proposed legislation to provide more transparency in water and energy use of data centers, and held a public hearing. Unfortunately, the recording of that hearing is not currently available due to Wisconsin Eye losing its funding.

Over the last few months, the Sustainable Madison Committee has welcomed folks from the Dane County Office of Energy and Climate, as well as Clean Wisconsin, to discuss the impacts that data centers may have on our community. You can view recordings of these presentations below. 

Data centers are not new – Madison already has several smaller ones. But the larger, sprawling, high-energy-consuming data centers are new, and we need to make sure that we as a community fully understand the impacts that they will have on our region.

Boards, Commissions, and Committee Meetings

Note: This is not a complete list of meetings for this upcoming week. All meetings and their details can be found at the Meeting Schedule page.

  • Common Council: The Common Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 13, at 6:30 p.m. in hybrid format. Agenda items of interest include:
    • Item #4 – 90561 – an Alcohol License for Madcity Lodging at 4802 Tradewinds Parkway.
    • Item #17 – 91135 – Establishing a one-year moratorium on issuing zoning certificates for Data Centers. (I am a sponsor)
    • Item #52 – 91201 – Allowing the City of Madison to establish the Milwaukee and Sprecher Rd Traffic Signal Assessment District. (I am a sponsor)
    • Items #59 & 60 – Establishing polling locations for both in-person and absentee voting for the spring primary. (I am a sponsor)
    • Item #73 – 90986 – Assessing cost associated with mutual aid provided by MPD for recouping extradentary expenses. (I am a sponsor)
    • Item #78 – 91102 – Requiring LEED Gold Certification for new City Building Projects and Silver Certification of Renovations. (I am a sponsor)
    • Item #79 – 91115 - Authorizing the Department of Transportation to apply for a $6.75 million Intercity Passenger Rail (FSP) Grant from the Federal Railroad Administration and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to sign the resulting grant agreement to accept the grant (I am a sponsor)
    • Item #101 – 91436 - Approving State / Municipal Agreement for Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) for Capital City Path Extension at Vondron Rd. (I am a sponsor)
  • Plan Commission: The Plan Commission meeting will take place on Monday, January 12, at 5:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items of interest include:

If you would like more information about becoming a member of a City board, commission, or committee, please visit the page linked here.

Announcements and News Releases

  • 2026 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award Honorees: Dane County Executive Melissa Agard and City of Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway proudly announced this year’s recipients of the City-County Humanitarian Awards honoring Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [posted January 8, 2026]
  • Lake Street Closure for Crane Removal: From Monday, January 12 to Friday, January 16, N Lake Street will close between University Avenue and State Street by Mortenson Construction to dismantle a tower crane. [posted January 8, 2026]
  • IM Report - Dec 17, 2025: During the December 17, 2025 meeting of the Police Civilian Oversight Board, Interim Independent Monitor, Meeka Glass provided an update to the board but was unable to share detailed information due to a technical issue. This report contains… [posted January 7, 2026]
  • 2025 Housing Tracker Year in Review: New homes surpass annual average, focus on affordability: The City of Madison’s Housing Tracker shows steady progress toward the goal of adding 15,000 new homes of all types by 2030, with its latest update providing preliminary year-end totals for 2025. [posted January 7, 2026]

Please visit the City news webpage to find additional news and announcements and to subscribe to receive notification of news releases as they are posted.

Events

Additional upcoming events can also be found on the City events calendar.

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District 16 - Alder O'Brien

Portrait of Alder Sean O'Brien

Alder Sean O'Brien

District 16
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