Meetings and Updates Week of August 28th
postedMeetings and Updates Week of August 28th
- City Meetings: Finance Committee 8/28 and Plan Commission 8/28
- Eastside Neighbors: Let's Bus to the Farmer's Market! Event 9/23
- Vision Zero Speed Reduction on North Thompson Drive
- Meadowlands Apartments Public Information Meeting 8/30
- Events & Announcements
- Streets Division Updates (brush pick-up and yard waste/leaves pick-up)
City Meetings
Finance Committee
The Finance Committee meeting will take place on Monday, August 28, 2023 in virtual format at 4:30 PM. Agenda items include approving Community Development Block Grant funds to Madison Community Cooperative, authorizing a loan to Bayview Foundation, Inc. to help finance the construction of community center programming space, and the schedule of Capital Budget deliberations.
Plan Commission
The Plan Commission meeting will take place on Monday, August 28, 2023 in virtual format at 5:30 PM. Agenda items include development-related requests. Notable items include:
- A car wash proposed here in District 3 at 3913 Lien Rd near East Wash (I wrote in last week’s blog post about my concerns with this one).
- The Starkweather plat and plans 3420-3614 Milwaukee Street (at the old Voit farm) are on this agenda; however, Planning Staff have requested that the Plan Commission refer this one to a future meeting date to give them time to work through a few last-minute complications with the subdivision plat layout.
- Demolitions and development plans for the proposed new Wisconsin History Center museum on the Capitol Square.
- Demolitions and development plans for the proposed new Levy Hall at the University of Wisconsin – Madison campus downtown.
Eastside Neighbors: Let’s Bus to the Farmer’s Market!
Join us on Saturday, September 23rd, 2023 – meet up at 10am on MLK Blvd just east of the market
Late summer and early fall are my favorite season to go to the Dane County Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings. Isthmus traffic and finding parking can be tough during popular events like the Farmer’s Market, Concerts on the Square, Taste of Madison, and others. Have you tried taking a Metro Transit bus downtown since the June 11th network redesign changed the routes? Service is now concentrated on arterial streets (with less through-neighborhood service, unfortunately). As a bus commuter myself, I can tell you that the trip downtown takes less time from our far-east neighborhoods than before – not much longer than driving and without needing to hunt down a parking space. Neighboring district Alders Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford (D15), Jael Currie (D16), and Sabrina Madison (D17), and I invite our neighbors and constituents to join us and take a Metro Transit ride from each of our Eastside districts to the Farmer’s Market on the Square.
Mark your calendars now! Future blog posts will include more information about which bus routes and bus stops you can take from each District 3 neighborhood, how to find a bus stop near you, how to pay the $2 bus fare, and how navigate back home with your market goods. We’ll meet up at the corner of MLK Jr. Boulevard and West Main Street in front of the BMO Harris Bank at 10am for a casual meet & greet where constituents can approach any of us with their questions or concerns, bus-related or otherwise. And of course, while we’re encouraging folks to try out their nearest bus route, you don’t have to ride the bus to participate – we would love to see you at the meet-up point however you travel.
Vision Zero Speed Reduction on North Thompson Drive
Under the City’s Vision Zero traffic safety program, City Traffic Engineering is reducing the speed limit on North Thompson Drive between Swanton Road and Milwaukee Street from 35pmh to 25mph sometime this month. This news release provides more information about the next round of traffic changes around the City, including at this site. I’ve sent Traffic Engineering a few questions about the rationale for 25pmh instead of a more gradual change like 30mph, and about speed enforcement or traffic calming measures that could make it more likely that drivers will actually follow the new speed limit.
The contacts for this change are:
- Renee Callaway, City of Madison Pedestrian Bicycle Administrator, recallaway@cityofmadison.com
- Alexandra Heinritz, City of Madison Traffic Engineer , aheinritz@cityofmadison.com
Meadowlands Apartments Public Information Meeting
My colleague Alder Jael Currie (D16) is organizing a public information meeting at Pinney Library on Wednesday, 8/30 at 5:30pm. The meeting will include KCG (Meadowlands property management company) leadership, City staff, and folks from local service organizations who work at the site. Alder Currie’s recent blog post includes information about how to join virtually or submit questions for discussion in the meeting.
Events & Announcements
- East Side Farmers' Market, Tuesday, August 29, 2023: The Eastside Farmers' Market is Madison Wisconsin’s finest weekday farmers' market. Our goal is to bring the freshest Wisconsin grown food direct to the heart of the East side. Our vendor members are agricultural producers and food artisans who make value added products from Wisconsin's agricultural bounty.
- The Capitol View Farmers’ Market, Wednesday, August 30, 2023: The Capitol View Farmers Market is returning to the North Star Neighborhood! Join us each Wednesday (May 31-October 11, 2023) from 3:00-7:00pm to support local farmers and vendors, enjoy live music and food carts, and make the most of summer in Madison!
- Taste of Madison, Saturday, September 2 and 3, 2023: Join 250,000 of your closest friends at the largest end of the summer picnic, Taste of Madison. Held since 1983, the Taste of Madison features over 80 restaurants, 3 live entertainment stages, 26 beverage stands, and this year’s special attraction, Lambeau Field Live! There is no admission charge for the event, that’s right, it’s free to enter - food and beverage is available for additional charge (cash only). Consider taking a Metro Transit bus to avoid battling traffic and hunting for a parking space!
- Bird & Nature Adventures | Tenney Park, Saturday, September 2, 2023: Nature-expert guided walks in Tenney Park along Lake Mendota and the Yahara River Parkway bike path through the Madison Isthmus are free, family-friendly and held the first Saturday of each month, from 2:30-4pm. The walk begins at the Tenney Beach parking lot, 1330 Sherman Avenue. No registration is required. No pets are allowed. Co-sponsored by Madison FUN Friends of Urban Nature, Madison Parks, Madison Audubon Society , Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association and Friends of the Yahara River Parkway .
- You’re invited to the Ready! Set! Market! Open House on Sept. 12!: The Madison Public Market Foundation will host a Ready! Set! Market! event to offer a taste of what the Madison Public Market will be!
- Madison Public Library Invites Community Input for Strategic Planning: Madison Public Library leadership seeks community input through September 30 to develop a three-year strategic plan for library services.
- Public Health Offers Free Private Well Testing for “Forever Chemicals”: Public Health Madison & Dane County is providing free PFAS water testing for eligible homeowners with private wells in Dane County.
- Madison Public Library to Host Spanish-Language Book Fair to Kick Off Hispanic Heritage Month: In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Madison Public Library will host a Spanish-Language Book Fair on Saturday, September 16 from 9:30AM-2PM at Pinney Library here on the East Side.
Streets Division Updates
- Final Brush Pickup ends week of September 10 and Yard Waste & Leaf pickup begins week of October 8.
- Food Scraps Recycling thru October 31: Come to the Eastside Farmers’ Market and the South Madison Farmers’ Market to drop off the following food scraps: raw fruits and vegetables, including peelings, cores, etc., coffee grounds, grains, rice and eggshells.
- August Moving Days: How to Recycle Televisions, Computers, and other Electronics: Electronics must be delivered to the Streets Division’s drop-off sites, or to a reputable private electronics recycler in the area . These steps will protect your data and ensure the hazardous materials inside them are handled and recycled safely.
