Property Crime “Hotspot”

Madison West Police Department notified us today of a new property crime micro time hotspot that has developed around the area of Maple Grove Drive and McKee Rd in Aldermanic District #7. Please remain vigilant and do everything possible to keep homes and vehicles secured and belongings out of view in locked cars.

As you may know, West PD is focusing on property crime for this summer’s strategic plan and is focusing on eight historical property crime hotspots. When new and highly active clusters are identified, the PD plans to share this information with neighborhood associations. The police sectors around this intersection are accounting for 25-30% of the district’s property crime incidents over the last two weeks.

The PD is dispatching additional resources into these areas during the overnight hours and residents can expect additional check-ins when they find open garage doors.

See the attachment for more information on this micro time hotspot.

Updates from City of Madison – June 2021

  • A new set of data (2020 Edition) has been added to the City of Madison’s Neighborhood Indicators Project (NIP)—a tracking system with trend data going back to 2008.  NIP was designed by the City of Madison in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Applied Population Lab. Interested in learning more about NIP data and the NIP website?  The City of Madison Planning Division offers free workshops to local organizations.  Please contact Urvashi Martin at umartin@cityofmadison.com for more details.
  • The South Madison Planning team will have in-person conversations at It Takes a Village
    • Madison Public Library is hosting an in-person, outdoor resource fair at Penn Park on Tuesday, June 29 from 12-5 p.m. Local residents can get connected to community services in a fun, informal environment. The South Madison Planning team will be sharing information and asking for public feedback on the DRAFT Recommendations and Strategies for the area, and the DRAFT Focus Area Concepts.
  • Remember to Schedule Your Large Item Collection!
    • On June 1, the Streets Division began a new large item collection system where residents must schedule their large item pickup to guarantee collection. You can schedule your large item collection at www.cityofmadison.com/LargeItem.
  • Movies with Madison Parks and more!
    • Now that COVID Public Health restrictions have been lifted, the City of Madison, Parks Division has created a series of community events that are free and accessible to the public. To learn more, check out City Parks Calendar.

Neighborhood News and Updates – 2021-06-11

New Eye-Catching Neighborhood Projects …

  • June 12th, 9-12 noon OPEN HOUSE at Warwick Way Gardens, Whenona Dr. and Warwick Way:  https://cmnna.org/ Crawford-Marlborough-Nakoma Neighborhood received a Neighborhood Grant in 2020 to enhance a greenspace that includes the Pollinator/Butterfly Garden and Rain Garden at Warwick Way and Whenona Drive.  In the last year, neighbors have added a picnic table, bench, bird house and bat roost box, and most recently two beautiful interpretive signs, illustrating the benefits of the Pollinator and Rain Gardens.
  • Kayaking down Starkweather Creek just north of E. Washington Ave. you will happen upon the McCormick Avenue Bridge. Look up, and you will see Eken Park Neighborhood’s recent addition of freshly painted murals. The group received a Neighborhood Grant in 2019 for this project and worked with Dane Arts Mural Arts and local residents to make it happen last Saturday.

Madison Music

  • Madison neighborhoods are welcoming more outdoor amplified music this summer! This is allowing artists and musicians to more rapidly recover from the devastating economic down turn. This temporary permit was added to the Streatery Program and authorized by the Common Council on May 18th. All restaurants, bars and concerts halls are allowed to provide outdoor music all Thursdays from 3pm-8pm and Fridays/Saturdays from 3pm-9pm. This permit will only last until April 14 2022. We appreciate your patience and understanding as artists have more opportunities to work again and music fans can celebrate, support economic recovery efforts, and strengthen our music ecosystem.   
  • Make Music Madison returns in person on Monday, June 21! Patios, sidewalks, front porches, and parks all over the city will fill with song for anyone to enjoy! Schedule and Interactive Map – www.makemusicmadison.org/listings.

Update from City of Madison

Spring Election  – Madison voters elected 8 new alders this Spring: District 5 Regina Vidaver; District 6 Brian Benford; District 8 Juliana Bennett; District 9 Nikki Conklin; District 10 Yannette Figueroa Cole; District 16 Jael Currie; District 17 Gary Halverson; and Distrct 18 Charles Myadze.  Official election results can be found on the Dane County webpage:  https://elections.countyofdane.com/. Visit the city’s webpage to find your alder:  https://www.cityofmadison.com/council/.  New alders will appear on the webpage after they are sworn in at the April 20 Common Council meeting.

Ride the Drive– the City of Madison Parks Division is excited to announce that this year’s Ride the Drive will be Sunday, June 6, 2021! For COVID safety, the Parks Division is attempting to disperse participation and better control crowds by offering four simultaneous neighborhood events with limited park activities.  As in previous years, the focal point remains a park with surrounding vehicle street closures allowing participants to stroll, roll, pedal or glide along the less than 3-mile route in a free event.  Maps for each of the routes are attached and include: Kennedy Park, 5202 Retana Drive; Marlborough Park, 2222 Whenona Drive; Warner Park, 2930 N. Sherman Avenue; Wingra Park, 824 Knickerbocker Street. Notification postcards are scheduled to be mailed in mid-May to home and business owners. Updates in the coming weeks can be found on RideTheDrive.com. Thank you your support of this Madison tradition that continues to promote a healthy, active lifestyle and outdoor recreation! Tracey Hartley, Recreation Services Coordinator, 608-267-4919, MADISON PARKS, ridethedrive@cityofmadison.com

Make Music Madison – will be live and back in person on Monday, June 21 for Make Music Day, the worldwide celebration kickin’ off summer! Musicians of all ages, genres, and skills are invited to register starting this Saturday. Play at a park, in front of a restaurant or out on the porch. You can schedule one short set or book as many shows as you like from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM. 

MadiSUN Solar Program

Hello Stone Meadows Neighbors,

MadiSUN is a program sponsored by the City of Madison to make going solar easy and affordable. Since 2016, the MadiSUN Group Buy Program has helped homeowners across the area install solar-electric systems on their rooftops. Nearly 170 households have gone solar thanks to the program’s simplicity, reduced price, financing options and customer service.  

MadiSUN also offers incentives for business, nonprofits, and affordable housing providers.  Check out madisunsolar.com to learn more about how to go solar!

-The MadiSUN Team

Voting, Eviction Moratorium, Go Green

Remember that Tuesday April 6 is the Spring election! Polls will open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You may also cast an in-person absentee ballot today or tomorrow; City of Madison absentee voting information, locations and times can be found here. Election ballot will also ask Madison voters four advisory referendum questions about the size of the Madison Common Council, the amount of alderperson pay, the length of alderperson terms, and whether alderpersons should be subject to term limits.

The City of Madison Clerk’s Office has had to move many polling places since the February Spring Primary and the November General Election. Voters are encouraged to check whether their polling place has changed if they plan to vote on Tuesday, April 6.

Eviction Moratorium has been extended to June 30, 2021. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended the federal eviction moratorium, which was set to expire on March 31, 2021. The moratorium will remain in effect through June 30, 2021. The latest order specifies that individuals who have already submitted a signed declaration are notrequired to submit a new declaration. It also modifies and clarifies language around applicability of the moratorium. The portion of the order that describes who is protected by the moratorium is attached.  

 The White House coupled the announcement from CDC with a fact sheet on how the Biden-Harris Administration continues to support renters and landlords during the coronavirus pandemic. Namely, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2) provides an additional funding for jurisdictions to administer the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), locally known as the Dane CORE. Property owners and renters are able to apply.

Get Green with the City this Spring. You too can be a part of spring-cleaning in outdoor Madison, getting outside while beautifying and protecting our local environment. Click here for more information.

Announcements from City of Madison

Spring Election April 6th

The Spring Election is Tuesday April 6th. Sample ballots are available at My Vote WI:  https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/.  In-Person Absentee Voting takes place March 23 – April 3. For additional information, visit: Elections and Voting: https://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/elections-voting

Metro Transit Network Redesign

The network redesign process will reconfigure all of Madison’s bus routes to make them run faster, more frequently, and overall make them easier to use. The redesign will also incorporate bus routes into the future Bus Rapid Transit System that is expected to be implemented in 2024. Please fill out the Transit Choices Survey to help us better understand your goals and priorities for the future redesigned transit network. For additional information, visit mymetrobus.com/redesign, or send questions and comments to MetroRedesign@cityofmadison.com.

Updates re: Legistar 63902 – Housing Ordinance Amendments

Here’s an update from the city, regarding the Zoning Ordinance amendments related to allowing greater residential densities and adjusting conditional use thresholds, Legistar #63902.

In advance of next Thursday’s Housing Strategy Committee meeting, where these proposed changes will be considered for their recommendation, they’ve posted the Staff Report/Memo to Legistar. The hope is that this can provide a good overview, as well as additional resources for those who may be interested in exploring these proposed changes in more detail.

Importantly, in order to allow more time to better understand the changes, the revised schedule for formal review of the amendments is as follows:

  • 2/25      Housing Strategy Committee
  • 3/22      Plan Commission
  • 3/30      Common Council

Meanwhile, staff will offer a Zoom-based Community Q & A Session on Monday, March 1, from 5:30-7:30. At the session, they’ll play a video presentation to provide an overview, and Zoning Administrator Matt Tucker and Planning Division Director Heather Stouder will be available for questions. Folks do need to register in advance to attend the session at this link:

Housing Ordinance Changes – Overview and Community Q & A

Snow Plowing Updates

https://www.cityofmadison.com/residents/winter/SnowIce/snowPlowUpdates.cfm

Tonight’s snow will disrupt your commutes this evening and Friday. All roads will be snow-covered. Streets Division trucks will be out, but it is far too cold to apply salt.

Once the snow begins to fall, which is expected to begin sometime around dinner time tonight, Streets Division plow trucks will be dispatched to service the main thoroughfares that make up the salt route network of streets. Crews will be working throughout the night.

However, these trucks will not be applying salt. When temperatures get below 20 degrees, salt at the rate it is spread by the Streets Division is no longer effective. Instead of applying salt, crews will switch to applying sand where needed. Sand provides traction, but it does not melt snow and ice.

This means the main thoroughfares will be snow-covered as will residential streets. Roads will be slippery, especially after traffic compacts the snow down. Plows cannot peel up compacted snow from the road surface. Sand can help with traction over these areas, but conditions will be slick.

You must be cautious on the roads and make good choices. Allow for plenty of extra travel time to arrive at your destinations safely. Anticipate your stops and turns so you do not slide. Be slow. Be alert. Be patient.

As these arctic temperatures are expected to linger into next week, snowy and slippery roads will persist until temperatures rebound.

Streets Division staff will continue to monitor the roads and the weather. Additional updates will be provided as conditions change