Monday, 9/14/20 Daily Round Up

DNR news on drinking water and PFAS, music as economic recovery and the local government news rundown.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS RUNDOWN

Also on the homepage and updated more frequently.

City of Madison

• Willow Creek Public Information Meeting – Alder Arvina Martin
• Madison cuts funds in 2021 for tourism marketing, Monona Terrace, Overture Center – State Journal
• Madison Plan Commission rejects big East Side redevelopment – State Journal
• Bars and restaurants will face more scrutiny from health officials – WKOW
• Public health officials and police to increase enforcement of health order at Madison bars and restaurants – WKOW
• Meeting and Event Highlights for the Week of September 14, 2020 – Alder Barbara McKinney
• Capital Budget, CGR Redevelopment, Spaanem/Maher Traffic Calming – D15 Updae 9/14/20 – Alder Grant Foster
• City Meeting Schedule: Week of September 14, 2020 – Alder Sheri Carter
• Public Health Madison & Dane County and the City of Madison Police Department are Partnering to Increase Compliance with Public Health Orders – Public Health
• Bike Week Continues! – Madison Bikes
• Local elected officials refuse to condemn property destruction during BLM protests – Badger Herald
• Madison Police Department had big increase in “no knock”/”high risk” warrants in 2019 – forwardlookout.com
• Final Round of Brush Collection Begins Monday, September 21 – City of Madison
• Worried about the post office? Take your absentee ballot to a city park – Cap Times
• Madison to receive $7.5M grant from VW cheating settlement for new diesel buses – State Journal
• Biking at work: Madison tests electric cargo bike from local manufacturer Saris – State Journal

Projects

• Warner Beach Park Shelter

Mo’ Meetings

Dane County

• Dane County private schools make plans to re-open after Supreme Court decision – Daily Cardinal
• Dane County bars and restaurants could be fined for violations of health order – State Journal
• Suit filed in controversial Monona police incident from June – State Journal
• Dane County coronavirus spread no slowing: 253 new cases confirmed today – Madison 365
• Parisi says UW-Madison COVID-19 measures a good start, more action needed – WisPolitics
• With a spike in Dane County COVID-19, what’s next for businesses looking to reopen? – Cap Times

Madison Area Schools

K-12

• MMSD revenue projections look better than June as final budget approval nears – Cap Times
• Private schools reopen after Supreme Court halts public health order – Madison 365

Higher Ed

• “We might have just gotten unlucky:” UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank On Recent COVID-19 Spikes – WORT 89.9 FM
• Update on COVID-19 response – Chancellor Blank
• UW to eliminate spring break, lengthen winter break to prevent COVID-19 spread – Cap Times
• University eliminates UW-Madison spring break to prevent COVID-19 spread – Channel3000.com
• UW-Madison chancellor defends decision to bring students back – Channel3000.com
• UW Chancellor defends Smart Restart, addresses community COVID-19 concerns – Badger Herald
• University Housing now charging quarantined students in Sellery, Witte for meals – Badger Herald
• UW votes to cancel Spring Break 2021, start spring classes one week later – Badger Herald
• Online petition asks UW-Madison officials to reimburse students for service, campus fees – Madison 365
• UW-Madison officials defend COVID-19 response – WKOW
• UW-Madison approves changes to spring semester, eliminates spring break – WKOW
• UW-Madison retains rank as 13th best public college in America, report says – State Journal
• UW-Madison considers cutting spring break from 2021 calendar to curb COVID-19 spread – State Journal
• UW-Madison considers canceling 2021 spring break over COVID-19 concerns – Channel3000.com
• Faculty Senate considers dropping spring break at UW-Madison – WKOW
• Faculty Senate considers dropping spring break at UW-Madison – AP

MUSIC TOURISM ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

This is for the Room Tax Commission members:

Hi David,

I think there were some questions about one of the items I presented last Friday: Music Tourism Economic Recovery. I would like to explain briefly the importance of funding this project. Would it be possible for you to forward this email to the Commission members?

Thanks, Angela Puerta

_______

Dear Room Tax Commission,

First, I would like to express my gratitude to allowing City Arts present last Friday our 2021 funding request. Before tonight’s deliberation, I would like to further explain some of the changes we are proposing. I understand that a Music Tourism Economic Recovery Plan might be something new to the Commission and I would like to highlight the outcomes and the importance of investing in this project (see letter attached).

As I said in my presentation, Sound Diplomacy is “the global expert in delivering economic growth to cities and regions, and the tourism and real estate sectors using strategies focused on music and the night time economy” and I wanted to share “Your Guide to Connecting Music and Tourism, and Making the Most Out of It” (download here) done by Sound Diplomacy to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. This document further explains how a strong music economy boosts tourism in Cities from all sizes. It will also give you a better perspective of the type of work that Sound Diplomacy does and what they could bring to our tourist sector.

Respectfully,

Angela Puerta, Urban Planner, City of Madison

PFAS WEBINAR POSTPONED

Issues & Trends: PFAS Webinar Rescheduled to October

DNR DRINKING WATER REPORT CARD

DNR Publishes Annual Report Card On Efforts To Protect Wisconsin’s Drinking Water Supplies

Last year, more than 99% of Wisconsin’s public water systems provided water that met safe drinking water standards. / Photo Credit: iStock.com/Alter_photo

MADISON, Wis. – The Department of Natural Resources recently published its 2019 Annual Drinking Water Report which summarizes compliance with the drinking water requirements and highlights statewide efforts to help public water systems provide safe and adequate drinking water supplies.

Last year, more than 99% of Wisconsin’s public water systems provided water that met safe drinking water standards.

“This level of success depends on a lot of hard work by many people all over the state,” said Steve Elmore, program director of the Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater. “Managing Wisconsin’s drinking water resources and adhering to state and federal regulations would not be possible without strong collaborative partnerships between the DNR, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), public water systems, county health officials, professional associations, individual operators, other water quality organizations and water consumers.”

Helping achieve compliance takes many forms. The DNR inspects public water systems regularly and provides on-site assessments when bacterial contaminants are detected. Through the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, the DNR provided more than $60 million in assistance to 29 communities around the state in 2019 to help them make repairs and improvements to their drinking water systems.

Gov. Tony Evers declared 2019 the Year of Clean Drinking Water, focusing attention on the importance of safe drinking water and initiating new efforts to address concerns about contamination from nitrate, lead and PFAS.

“Wisconsin faces numerous challenges, including aging infrastructure, limited funding, nitrate contamination and threats from emerging contaminants,” said Adam DeWeese, DNR Public Water Supply section chief. “But the DNR and many other people are working hard to meet those challenges and protect the state’s drinking water.”

View the 2019 Annual Drinking Water Report here or call 608-266-1054 to request a copy.