Meeting and Event Highlights for the Week of May 22, 2023

Meetings

• Sustainable Madison Committee: The Sustainable Madison Committee meeting will take place on Monday, May 22, 2023, at 4:30 PM, in virtual format. Agenda items include a presentation by RENEW Wisconsin, on the proposed utility rate cases from Madison Gas and Electric and Alliant Energy, and more!

  • Meeting Details
  • Meeting Agenda
  • Register for public comment
  • Watch Online
• Plan Commission: The Plan Commission meeting will take place Monday, May 22, 2023, at 5:30 PM, in virtual format. Agenda items include a resolution adopting a Public Participation Plan for the City of Madison Comprehensive Plan Interim Update (2023), authorizing the Planning Division to draft amendments to the text and maps in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan and more!
  • Meeting Details
  • Meeting Agenda
  • Register for public comment
  • Watch Online
• Transportation Commission: The Transportation Commission meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at 5:00 PM, in virtual format. Agenda items include an update on the Metro Network Redesign Implementation, adopting the Reiner Neighborhood Development Plan, a supplement to the City of Madison Comprehensive Plan, and more!
  • Meeting Details
  • Meeting Agenda
  • Register for public comment
  • Watch Online
• WisDOT and City of Madison Host Public Meetings for Interstate Study: The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and the City of Madison invite you to attend one of two meetings to discuss potential changes to the Interstate and interchanges in the Madison area. These alternatives are part of WisDOT's larger I-39/90/94 corridor study that stretches from Madison to Wisconsin Dells. View study information and the proposed alternatives, submit comments, and sign-up for email updates on WisDOT's project website: tinyurl.com/InterstateStudyPI. Both meetings will start at 6:00 PM with a brief presentation, followed by an open house.
  • Tuesday, May 23, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, American Family Insurance Headquarters, Building A, Room A2151, 6000 American Parkway, Madison, WI 53783
  • Thursday, June 1, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, Steamfitters Local 601 Training Facility, 6310 Town Center Drive, Madison, WI 53718

Events: This Week

• Fire OPS 101 - Wednesday, May 24, 2023: Join us for Fire OPS 101 and experience a day in the life of a firefighter! Fire OPS is a program that allows community leaders and elected officials to experience a day in the life of a firefighter. You will dress in turnout gear and participate in realistic scenarios that we face on a day-to-day basis. The scenarios will include fire attack, search and rescue, vehicle extrication, and emergency medical services.
• Madison Fair Housing Rental Management Training - Wednesday, May 24, 2023: The Fair Housing Center of Greater Madison is offering a free in-person fair housing training seminar for owners and managers of rental properties or staff operating shelters or residential programs, in Madison on May 24 from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM at the Madison Public Library Central Branch, 201 W. Mifflin St, Room 302. To register for this seminar, visit https://tinyurl.com/FHTrainingMadison or call 608-257-0853.
• Dane County Farmers' Market - Wednesday, May 24, 2023: The Wednesday Dane County Farmers' Market is located on the 200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, between the Madison Municipal Building and the City-County Building. While more intimate than the Saturday Market, you will still find many of your favorite Dane County Farmers' Market members, as well as a full array of fruits and vegetables, eggs, cheeses, honey, maple syrup, bakery items, cut flowers, plants, and many specialty items.
• Madison Parks & MSCR Open House - Wednesday, May 24, 2023: The community is invited to attend a ribbon cutting and open house for Madison School & Community Recreation and Madison Parks at our new lakeside offices. The event begins at 4:30 PM with a short presentation followed by an official ribbon cutting! Then stay for the games, activities, and building tours.

• Bird & Nature Adventures (Edna Taylor Area) - Saturday, May 27, 2023: Signs of Spring with Mary Binkley ~ Join Naturalist Mary Binkley for a free fun fascinating family-friendly guided walk or take a walk on your own any day in May to follow beautiful walking trails at Aldo Leopold Nature Center and Edna Taylor Conservation Park to look for Signs of Spring! Are Sandhill Cranes trumpeting their calls by the wetland? Do you see budding leaves and spring flowers emerging? Use a guidebook or apps like Merlin and Seek to help you ID birds and plants and post your findings!
• Vegan Sausage Fest - Saturday, May 27, 2023: Vegan Sausage Fest will showcase how you can have delicious, creative dishes that don't take lives. Also, you can check out local products and produce.
• The Run Madtown Twilight 5K - Saturday, May 27, 2023, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
• The Run Madtown Half Marathon & 10K - Sunday, May 28, 2023, 6:30 AM – 11:00 AM

Events: Save the Date

• West Area Plan Community Survey Ends - Wednesday, May 31, 2023: The planning team has been collecting community feedback over the past four (4) months on assets, issues, and opportunities. If you have not had the chance yet, please share what you like best about the West Area and what you would like the plan to cover by completing the West Area Community Survey! You can visit the webpage to see what others have been saying. Your feedback will be used to draft initial concepts and recommendations. The planning team will schedule community feedback opportunities for July and August to review the initial recommendations. Subscribe to the Plan's email list to receive feedback opportunities and other Plan information.
• Madison Bike Week - Saturday, June 3, 2023 - Saturday, June 10, 2023: Madison Bikes are thrilled to invite you to be part of Madison Bike Week 2023. For more information, visit https://www.madisonbikes.org/events/bikeweek.
• Friends of Madison Public Library BIG BOOK SALE: Seven library Friends' groups are pooling their inventory for a large sale of gently used and donated books. The sale takes place Saturday, June 3, 2023, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, rain or shine, at the Madison Public Library Service & Support Center at 1301 W. Badger Road in Madison. All proceeds benefit Madison Public Libraries.
• Make Music Madison - Wednesday, June 21, 2023: For the 11th year in a row, the City of Madison will become a stage with hundreds of free live performances throughout the City. Coffee shops, community centers, front porches, public libraries, and park shelters will be jamming will all kinds of music that will make you want to dance! The City is thrilled to be once again supporting this event. Registration for performers and venues is open now through May 25 at makemusicmadison.org. Registration is free.

Announcements

• May is Mental Health Awareness Month: One in five adults in the U.S. experiences mental illness each year, and less than half of them receive treatment, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness PDF.
• Metro's New "Ride Guide" Staff Will Help the Public Navigate Changes to Metro Service and Schedules Coming Sunday, June 11, 2023: Madison Metro is completely updating its service starting on Sunday, June 11, 2023.
• Violence Prevention Funding Supports Community Programs: Public Health Madison & Dane County is now accepting applications from local community organizations to receive funding that supports violence prevention efforts in Dane County. "We are taking a public health approach to tackling this complex and far-reaching issue. That means looking at things like poverty, housing inequality, and lack of social connectedness, each associated with violence. But we can't do it alone," said Director of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation, Aurielle Smith. 
• Free Summer Metro Bus Pass Program for MMSD Students: For the third year in a row, the City of Madison is giving every Madison Metropolitan School Districts Middle and High School student a free Metro bus pass for the summer. This summer, Metro has made 7,000 passes available to MMSD students.
• Madison Awarded Women's Pro Soccer Franchise in USL Super League: The City of Madison and the ownership of Forward Madison FC announced that the Club had secured the rights to a USL Super League franchise, contingent on facility improvements that would allow for a viable professional women’s soccer team in the new USL Super League, which intends to launch as a first division league in August 2024.
• Violence Prevention Funding Supports Community Programs: Public Health Madison & Dane County is accepting applications from local community organizations to receive funding that supports violence prevention.
• Madison's Annual Drinking Water Quality Report Is Now Available: Postcards are beginning to arrive in mailboxes across Madison letting people know their drinking water continues to meet or exceed all federal and state standards for health and safety.

Streets Division Updates

• The spring curbside yard waste collection is now over. Curbside pickup will resume in the fall. You should take your yard waste to a drop-off site instead at this time.

• We're still seeing a lot of folks unaware that the Badger Rd drop-off site is permanently closed. It's a tough feeling to have a car loaded with stuff only to find out upon arrival that the site is closed. Please encourage your neighbors, friends, family, and so on to check our drop-off site webpage before loading their car. The hours, locations, and restrictions are all available there. The drop-off site webpage is www.cityofmadison.com/DropOffSites.

• Remember, large item pickup is also different than in years past. Crews do not roam around looking for items the week opposite recycling. You need to fill out a work order form to get your home on our pickup schedule. When you make your work order, you set the item out on the date you choose, and collection occurs during the work week following your set-out date.

• Brush collection is still ongoing and will last into September. More information about brush collection can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/BrushCollection.

• There has been more talk in the news about how to handle your batteries due to a disastrous fire in Columbia County at their facility that handles trash and recycling. Lithium batteries are a fire hazard if disposed of incorrectly. Please follow the guidelines spelled out on the Streets Division's battery page to be sure you do it right.