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City-County Building
Common Council

D6 Items of Interest Week of December 2, 2024

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I hope you enjoyed safe travels and joyful gatherings with friends and family over the Thanksgiving holidays. I plan to be out of town from Wednesday December 4 until December 11 and may not be able to blog next weekend.

50th Anniversary celebration of Madison Arts marks banner fundraising year: The Madison Arts Commission (MAC) is proud to celebrate 50 years of dedication to public art and community art-making and invites the community to join in on the celebration at the Madison Children’s Museum on December 5th at 4:00pm. This event will be family-friendly and include live performances by VO5 and others, as well as arts activities with artists.

Boards, Commissions, and Committee Meetings

  • Finance Committee: The Finance Committee meeting will take place on Monday, December 2, at 4:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include removing the paid parking pilot program and an update on internal audit projects.

    35. 86251 Amending the Parks Division 2025 Adopted Operating Budget to remove the paid parking pilot and associated revenues and expenditures.

    Fiscal Note

    “The proposed resolution amends the Parks Division 2025 Adopted Operating budget by removing authorization for a paid parking pilot and associated revenues and expenses. The paid parking pilot was adopted by the Finance Committee on October 28, 2024. This amendment anticipated the pilot would cost $15,100 in staffing, supplies, and equipment, and generate $39,000 in agency revenues.

    Removing the expenses and revenues from the Parks Division budget results in a net reduction of the Parks budget of $23,900. The total general fund budget for the Parks Division in 2025 is $17.27 million. The reduction of $23,900 would be in addition to a 1% budget reduction that is required from all general fund agencies ($170,440), and a 3% salary savings rate ($325,810), for a total reduction target of $520,150. The Parks Division and Finance Department will monitor the budget throughout 2025 to determine how Parks is achieving its reduction targets and if any transfers are needed.”

    During budget deliberations at the Finance Committee, before we knew the outcome of the referendum, I put forward an amendment for a pilot to look at paid parking in selected parks whether the referendum passed or failed. I thought finding additional revenue sources was an idea worth exploring. The pilot would undergo a public engagement process led by the Board of Parks Commissioners who would come up with an implementation plan. The idea would be to review event-based parking like Badger games, commuter parking and potential metered parking as potential sources of revenue for the parks system. The amendment passed Finance without a lot of debate and the media picked up the issue in November but did not fully explain the pilot. Since the budget passed, the Council has received over a dozen emails from residents who object to the pilot and one email in support which generated this amendment to remove the pilot. For background- the Parks Division explained the idea Parks paid parking proposal and I blogged about it.

    If the amendment is rescinded at Council on December 10, I think we should find another strategy to study commuter impacts and non-park users who park in lots in city parks. You can send comments on agenda items to financecommittee@cityofmadison.com

  • Plan Commission: The Plan Commission meeting will take place on Monday, December 2, at 5:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include implementing revisions to the Urban Design Commission ordinance and development-related requests in District 1,4, 7, 12, 14, and 17.
  • City-County Homeless Issues Committee: The City-County Homeless Issues Committee meeting will take place on Monday, December 2, at 5:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include presentations on evictions and eviction resources, as well as the implications of the Grant Pass v. Johnson SCOTUS ruling.
  • Committee on Aging: The Committee on Aging meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 4, at 2:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include approving funds to support older adult programming.

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.

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

Public Information Meetings

  • Nakoma Road Sidewalk 2025, Monday, December 2: This project will install a sidewalk on the south side of Nakoma Road, closing a gap in the pedestrian network. This will involve bumping out the curb and removing most parking spots on the south side of Nakoma Road. There is no sanitary or water work anticipated, but storm sewer work will be necessary. No properties will be assessed for this project. There is a virtual public information meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Dec. 2, 2024, via Zoom. Registration prior is required.
  • Meyer Avenue Reconstruction, Tuesday, December 3: A public information meeting is scheduled for this project at 6 p.m., Dec. 3, 2024, via Zoom. Registration prior is required. Details on the project design, construction schedule, residential impacts, and special assessments will be discussed.  The presentation will be posted on this website for anyone unable to attend.
  • Playground Workshop, Thursday, December 5: Madison Parks will replace five existing playgrounds in 2025, and neighbors are invited to attend a virtual playground workshop!  Parks staff will present an overview of the playground replacement program and ask for input on design decisions. Join Parks staff at a virtual community meeting on Thursday, December 5 at 6:00pm via Zoom - REGISTER IN ADVANCE.

Announcements and News Releases

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

  • Virtual Open House: Southwest Area Plan, Tuesday, December 3: If you are unable to join the in-person open house to kick off the Southwest Area Plan process, you can join Planning, Engineering, Transportation, Parks, and others in a virtual open house on December 3, 2024, from Noon to 1:00pm. There will be a brief presentation at the start, but feel free to drop in and stay for a few minutes or the entire time to ask questions about the process.
  • Mobile Vaccination Clinic: Catholic Multicultural Center, Tuesday, December 3: We're hosting mobile vaccination clinics throughout the county in partnership with community organizations! All vaccines are free to those eligible. Read more to learn more.
  • Virtual Open House: Southwest Area Plan, Tuesday, December 3: If you are unable to join the in-person open house to kick off the Southwest Area Plan process, you can join Planning, Engineering, Transportation, Parks, and others in a virtual open house on December 3, 2024, from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. There will be a brief presentation at the start, but feel free to drop in and stay for a few minutes or the entire time to ask questions about the process.
  • In-Person Open House: Southeast Area Plan kickoff event, Wednesday, December 4: Join Planning, Engineering, Transportation, Parks, and others at an open house on December 4, 2024, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at LaFollette High School Cafeteria and Commons, 702 Pflaum Road. There will be a brief presentation at the start, but feel free to drop in and stay for a few minutes or the entire time to learn about the Southeast Area Plan and other upcoming projects in the Southeast Area.
  • Virtual Open House: Southeast Area Plan, Thursday, December 5: If you are unable to join the in-person open house to kick off the Southwest Area Plan process, you can join Planning, Engineering, Transportation, Parks, and others in a virtual open house on December 5, 2024 from Noon to 1:00pm. There will be a brief presentation at the start, but feel free to drop in and stay for a few minutes or the entire time to learn about the Southeast Area Plan and other upcoming projects in the Southeast Area.
  • Madison Arts Commission 50th Anniversary Celebration, Thursday, December 5: The Madison Arts Commission invites you to its 50th Anniversary celebration at the Madison Children’s Museum on December 5th at 4:00pm. This event will be family-friendly and include live performances by VO5 and others, as well as arts activities with artists.
  • HolidayFest Arts & Crafts Fair, Saturday, December 7: Join us for the 25th annual HolidayFest Arts & Crafts Fair held the first Saturday in December each year. Over 80 vendors from the Midwest will be selling their handmade goods. Shop for a variety of jewelry, baskets, garden art, cards, pottery, woodwork, baby gifts, soaps, balms, lotions, knitwear, paintings, home décor and more! It's the perfect place to find a unique gift for that special someone!
  • District 11 Book Club with Stu Levitan, December 11: For our next District 11 Book Club on December 11th, Stu Levitan will give an illustrated talk on Madison in the 1970s, adapted from his forthcoming book, Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History, Volume 2, 1932 to 1979.

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

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District 6 - Alder Rummel

Alder Marsha Rummel

Alder Marsha A. Rummel

District 6
Contact Alder Rummel