Month: September 2024

Good morning neighbors,

Metro Transit launches its first ever bus rapid transit route today. Metro’s Rapid Route A will offer 15-minute service Monday through Friday until 8:00 PM and until 7:00 PM on Saturdays. Thirty-minute service will be available on Sundays and holidays. Bus Rapid Transit Launches Today

• Common Council: The Common Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at 6:30 PM in hybrid format. Agenda items include applying for a zero-interest loan to assist in the remediation of contaminated soil at the Huxley Yards property, as well as honoring resolutions for Week Without Driving and Hispanic Heritage Month.
  • Meeting Details
  • Meeting Agenda
  • Register for Public Comment
  • Watch Online

Events

Please visit the City events calendar for the full list of upcoming events.

• Metro Transit – Fast Fare Pick Up (Alicia Ashman Library) – Tuesday, September 24, 2024: Pick up a Fast Fare card and get help from the City of Madison staff. To learn more about Fast Fares, please visit the Fast Fares webpage.
• Health Resource Fair – Tuesday, September 24, 2024: This annual event coincides with National Senior Center Month and reinforces the 2024 theme of “Powering Connections.” Over 30 agencies will be on hand to share information and resources. The event will wrap up with lunch and a presentation on Genetic Counseling: Why it is Important for Older Adults. Registration is required to receive lunch.

Announcements

• Secure Ballot Drop Boxes Now Open: The City of Madison’s secure ballot drop boxes are now open for the November 5 General Election. The boxes provide a secure way for City of Madison absentee voters to return their ballots to the City Clerk’s Office.
• Dane County Mayors Urge State to Fund Local Governments: Dane County’s seven Mayors met this week in Sun Prairie to discuss how to work together on a host of local issues – including reforms to state laws that artificially restrict local governments’ ability to meet the needs of their residents.
• Absentee Ballots are in the Mail: Absentee ballots for the November 5 General Election have been sent to 25,655 City of Madison absentee voters with requests on file.
• How to Vote Absentee by Mail: The City Clerk’s Office is beginning to mail out absentee ballots. If you’d like to vote by mail, here’s the easiest way to request your ballot.
• Greater Madison MPO Seeks Community Input on Draft Coordinated Plan: The Greater Madison MPO released its draft 2024-2028 Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan, the Greater Madison area’s transportation plan for older adults, people with disabilities, and people with low incomes.
• City of Madison celebrates groundbreaking for Theresa Terrace townhomes: The City of Madison is taking steps to address the shortage of “Missing Middle” housing, starting with one of its own properties.
• Madison Adds Electric Collection Trucks to its Fleet: The City of Madison Streets Division will be the first community in Wisconsin with an all-electric trash collection truck.

Electric Trash Trucks!

This isn’t recycling news, but it’s pretty buzzworthy just the same (har-har, I know).

The City of Madison unveiled two new electric collection trucks, and of course we’re going to name them.

These are the first electric trash trucks in Wisconsin, so it’s a big deal.  So they should have names befitting this momentous occasion. So something pretty cool and dignified like Stanislas Trashinski or something, I don’t know.   And, yes, Trashy McTrashface is already on the list of name suggestions.

Please submit your suggestions to dropoff@cityofmadison.com.  You have until 4:00pm on October 1, 2024.

After all of the names have been gathered, they will be winnowed down to set of finalists and we will have an election that will be hosted by Wisconsin Clean Cities.

20,000 Pounds (and Growing!)

Counting this past Saturday’s collection at the Westside Community Market (9/14), we have now collected 20,255.7 pounds of food scraps for composting so far this year.

That puts as less than a ton away from our goal of 22,000 pounds, which is roughly the weight of two adult mammoths.

This also puts us about 2,000 pounds over the amount of food scraps we collected during all of last year.

Madison!  Take a bow!

You are doing great. Keep it up.  We are so close to our goal of two mammoths, we can’t let up now. I think we might even hit our goal this week.

I wonder just how far beyond our goal we may actually get to by the end of the market season.  And it’s all because of your enthusiasm and participation.

Speaking of the end of the market…

Westside Community Market Food Scrap Drop-off Extended until November 2

Sustain Dane received a grant that will allow them to extend this market drop-off until November 2.

Sustain Dane is the organization that staffs the farmers’ market collection sites for the Streets Division. Funding that Streets was able to provide for the market this year allowed collection to run until October 5. But since Sustain Dane received this grant on their own, it’s going to go until November 2 instead.  Great news!

More details about our food scraps drop-off program can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/FoodScraps.

New Streets Division Website Coming Soon!

I don’t have an exact launch date yet, so no reason to mark your calendars, but it has been a project we have been plugging away at for several weeks here at Streets.

All of your old shortcuts should still work on the new site. Things will be in new places, though. Hopefully you’ll find the new version easier to use on mobile devices, and a little easier to have some of your recycling questions answered.

There are some other new features to the site we are excited to unveil when the time comes, so stay tuned.

Brush Collection Winding Down, Yard Waste Collection Starting Up

Brush collection for the year is winding down.  If you are unsure if you should or should not place brush out for collection, go to www.cityofmadison.com/BrushCollection.  Put your address into the form on that site and you will see the set out dates for your home.

Leaf and yard waste collection begins in October, which is rapidly approaching.  The dates when you can set those out for pickup are available on the yard waste collection website, www.cityofmadison.com/YardWaste.

New Mailing List for Trash & Recycling Schedule Updates

We recently started a new mailing list for trash and recycling collection schedule changes. You can sign up to get on this mailing list here: https://www.cityofmadison.com/contact/email-lists

Most of the time, the only thing that disrupts collection of trash and recycling are holidays. However, snowstorms have been disruptive to our collections lately as well.

We will begin using this schedule update email list to let people know of these routine holiday disruptions, but also of any unplanned weather-related delays that may come up.

Large Item Collection Changes in 2025

I’m sure many of you have seen the news that in 2025 we will stop providing large item collection for properties that have more than 8 units.

This is a big change, and requires more explanation that this space allows.  We do have more information about this change on our website.  You can find that extra detail here.

And finally…

That’s it for now.  If you’re coming out to the Trucks and Treasures event this coming up weekend you’ll be able to see the electric trash trucks up close.

Other than that, thank you for your time and attention.

Bryan Johnson

Recycling Coordinator

Alder Nasra Wehelie is excited to resume her monthly Lunch and Learns starting Thursday, September 19, from 12 – 1 p.m. This Lunch and Learn will feature staff from the Community Development Division (CDD), who will discuss how the 2025 budget deficit might affect the organizations the City of Madison supports.

This session will be led by Alder Nasra Wehelie, who will be joined by Community Development Division Director, James O’Keefe and Community Resources Manager Yolanda Shelton-Morris. CDD staff will provide an overview of how the Community Development Division allocated funds to community organizations that provide services and resources that the Common Council has identified as priorities.

Priorities include:

• Older Adult Resources
• Child and Youth Programming
• Neighborhood Centers
• Employment Training & Career Development
• Crisis Intervention & Prevention

This event is virtual via Zoom, and free and open to the public. You can join the virtual meeting using your computer, smartphone, or tablet or listen in via telephone. You will receive login information after registering at www.cityofmadison.com/LunchandLearnD7.

Event Details

• Title: D7 Lunch and Learn featuring the Community Development Division
• Date:  Thursday, September, 19
• Time:  12 – 1 PM
• Location:  Virtual Via Zoom
• Registration:  Please register in advance at www.cityofmadison.com/LunchandLearnD7

For more information, please contact Alder Nasra Wehelie by email district7@cityofmadison.com or by phone (608) 571-4919. Residents can also contact the Common Council Office, by email council@cityofmadison.com, or by phone (608) 266-4071.

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About the Madison Common Council

The Common Council’s mission is to represent the residents of Madison by promoting the safety, health, and general well-being of the community, by incorporating the following city core values: Equity, Civic Engagement, Well-Being, Shared Prosperity, and Stewardship. For additional information about the Madison Common Council, please visit: www.cityofmadison.com/council.

A researcher from UW Madison reached out to ask us to share the following survey on flooding.

You are invited to participate in a study by The Water Systems and Society research group at UW-Madison! Our study is focused on learning about flooding across neighborhoods in Madison, WI, with special interest in understanding the experiences of socially vulnerable communities. We invite all 18+ year old residents of Madison to participate. You will be asked to complete a survey to help us learn more about flooding and water management in your neighborhood. You may also elect to participate in an interview for us to learn more about flooding in your neighborhood and your personal experiences. If you choose to participate, you are eligible to receive a summary of research findings if interested. Email the research team to ask how.

Click here to access the survey.

https://tinyurl.com/2p873thn

Thank you for your interest and participation!

Please contact Marian Azeem-Angel at (azeemangel@wisc.edu) or the Principal Investigator Paul Block at (paul.block@wisc.edu) with questions about this study.

A virtual neighborhood meeting to hear about 210-Unit proposal is scheduled for Wednesday September 4, at 6:30 PM.

DSI Real Estate is working with the City to set up a discussion of the development plans for the first multifamily project within the Midpoint Meadows Neighborhood. This approximately 210-unit project is consistent with the adopted plans and will feature a range of market-rate units set within six buildings, served by a clubhouse with amenity features. The project is slated for formal review this fall, with construction starting late spring next year. 

A virtual neighborhood meeting to hear more about this proposal is scheduled for Wednesday, September 4, 2024, at 6:30 PM. You can join the virtual meeting using your computer, smartphone, or tablet or listen in via telephone. You will receive login information after registering at www.cityofmadison.com/MeetingSeptember4Midpoint. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.