Round Up 9/26 – 30

By
Brenda Konkel
-
daily round up

FAIL!  Again – over a week behind on the updates . . . for a good reason you will all hear about soon.

Saturday, September 26th

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS ROUND UP

City of Madison

Dane County

Madison Area Schools

And more . . .

COMPOST BIN AND RAIN BARREL SALE

The 27th annual Madison compost and rain barrel truckload sale is happening in a couple of weeks. This year’s sale will be held at the Garver Feed Mill on Saturday, October 10th.  The new location provides easy, contactless pick-up and experts will be on hand to answer questions.

Timing for this year’s event also corresponds with the annual leaf curbside collection which will resume the week of October 11, 2020. Composting your leaves and food waste scrapes at home reduces the burden on municipal services and prevents harm to our waterways.

More information is available here and attached:

Pre-ordering is strongly encouraged as supplies are limited.

Sunday, September 27th

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS ROUND UP

City of Madison

Dane County

Monday, September 28th

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS ROUND UP

City of Madison

Projects

Mo’ Meetings

Meeting: Madison Food Policy Council – Food Recovery and Resilience
Date: Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2020 at 3:30 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Dane County

Madison Area Schools

K-12

Higher Ed

And More . . .

COMMENTS NEEDED ON POLICE POLICY

There’s still a few days to comment on this policy.

https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/documents/sop/VideoAudioSurveillance-Draft.pdf

BIKE MADISON UPDATES

Bike Madison Updates

Cycle September Ending Soon

It’s not too late to get out to donate some food, support a local business and do some park and trail clean up as part of Cycle September’s Pedal for Good campaign. Thanks to everyone who has already participated. In the first half of September local bicyclists donated over 100 pounds of food! Thanks to the bike shop partners for supporting this cause and everyone who has made a donation. Volunteers have been out picking up trash and many local businesses are promoting Bike Benefits. And have you seen the Metro Bus with Madison Bike’s Bike Week ad? Look for it through the end of the month!

Remaining Events

MEETINGS

  • Madison Bicycle Adventure Trail Community Engagement Meetings are scheduled for Oct 13, Oct 15 and Oct 28 from 6-7:30pm. The meetings will be online. Registration is required. If you cannot attend, you can still email feedback.  Meeting and Project Information

NEWS

CONSTRUCTION, ETC 

  • The Capital City Trail is temporarily closed between Nob Hill Rd and South Towne Dr to upgrade a sanitary sewer line. Work is currently anticipated to be completed on Oct 7. The project also includes relocating an existing manhole cover off the trail to provide a better surface. The detour follows Nob Hill Dr to Industrial Dr to South Towne Blvd.  More Information
  • Phase 3 of Dane County’s Capital City Trail restoration project started Sept 21 and will be completed in November. This will close the trail between Seminole Hwy and the Dunn’s Marsh Bicycle Roundabout. The detour will use the Cannonball Path utilizing the connector path along Seminole Hwy. More Information
  • N Ingersoll St from E Washington to Curtis Ct will be closed until Oct 1. Pedestrian access will be maintained along E Washington Ave and on the east side of N Ingersoll. Please yield to pedestrians. More Information
  • East Washington Ave will have one lane closed again this weekend in an attempt to curb speeding and dangerous driving. The lane closure will not impact the bike lane. More Information 
  • E Gorham St from N Butler to N Livingston – Sanitary sewer work has started and the bike lane is detoured to E Mifflin St. More Information
  • Cottage Grove Rd from the Interstate to Sprecher Rd –  Traffic lanes will be shifting and flaggers may be directing traffic as final paving and marking is completed.  Project Information
  • Greentree-Chapel Hill Path – The path remains closed but Schroeder Rd has reopened. Please follow the marked bicycle detour.  Project Information
  • Badger State Trail and Seminole Hwy at McKee Rd – The Badger State Trail in Fitchburg is closed to finalize construction of the bridge which is expected to be completed by Sept 30. Seminole Hwy is open but with only one travel lane in each direction with no bike lane. The City of Fitchburg asks bicyclists on Seminole Hwy to follow the marked bicycle detour. More Information and Detour Map
  • Fish Hatchery Rd Reconstruction – Work is happening in the section in the City of Fitchburg. Detour at the Cannonball Path north of the beltline if traveling south from Madison. Project Information
  • West Towne Path extension and underpass of Gammon Rd – Avoid travel on Gammon Rd near the Beltline and West Towne Mall if possible. Access to the mall is being maintained in this area but it will be easier to use Mineral Point Rd entrances The tunnel is expected to be completed by late November. Project Information
  • UW Arboretum Curtis Pond Rehabilitation – Work is going on near the west entrance to the arboretum across from the Curtis Pond. New stop signs have been installed and trucks will be using the road. Please follow any signage or workers. Watch for gravel in the road.

EVENTS

  • Food Truck Friday – Through Oct 30 there will be food trucks at Willow Island from 4-8pm. Expect higher traffic on the paths in the area during this time.
  • Democracy in the Park – This event on Sat, Sept 26 and Sat, Oct 3 is happening in parks throughout Madison and will impact paths in the area. Please yield to pedestrians on the paths and take this opportunity to bike to your local park to get your questions about voting answered, register to vote or drop off your absentee ballot.
  • Dane County Farmer’s Market – The market has moved to Willow Island at the Alliant Energy Center and will be open Wednesdays and Saturdays. Expect higher than normal traffic on the paths in the area on these days. More Information

FOOD SCRAPS RECYCLING AT DROP-OFF SITES ENDING OCTOBER 2

Program will return in 2021

Food scraps recycling at the Streets Division drop-off sites will stop for the year on Friday, October 2, 2020.

The drop-off program will restart in 2021.

Food scraps recycling at the drop-off sites began this year on May 4 and nearly 8 tons of food waste was recycled into compost and electricity instead of going to the landfill.

The food scraps received at the sites was also uniformly clean. One of the persistent challenges with previous attempts at recovering food waste was items mixed in with the food waste that could not be processed – things like plastic bags, towels, and food wrappers. However, the drop-off program did not present these problems.

The Streets Division would like to thank all of those who participated in the program this year and being diligent about recycling only the correct items.

Why is the program ending now?
When the drop-off food scraps recycling program began, it was expected to last until the end of October. Due to the changes in the yard waste collection process, the Streets Division will need the truck used for food scraps as part of the leaf pickup operations earlier than initially expected.

Additional Information
For more information about the food scraps recycling program, please visit www.cityofmadison.com/FoodScraps.

EQUITY AND INCLUSION OFFICE COVID COUNTY UPDATES

Public Health Madison and Dane County Update

  • Period 9/7-21, 2020 – data snap released last Thursday.  Before that period 179 cases per day.   The number will probably or hopefully will drop.
  • % positivity is around 5% mark.
  • Community spread – Number is around 29% and it is yellow range.
  • 54% of people are getting interviewed within 48 hours from testing results.
  • 45% of lab results are received in 24 hour period.  And 75% get interview.  Interviews depends people answering phone or returning calls.
  • Much of the data spoke about during briefings can be found on data snapshot and data dashboard
  • This weekend the State Electronic database is going through an upgrade and will be down.  The dashboard won’t be updated until system is back up and running.  It also means MDCPH don’t have access to database and not be able to do contact follow up.  This will be first weekend since March the Disease Control Unit will have a weekend off.

UW

  • It is difficult to tell the effect of students return has on spread.  Looking at and reviewing this data
  • Currently, UW numbers are declining.  Make up 65% as opposed to 76% of positive cases.  It appears cases in the community at large are increasing.
  • UW students – seeing increase in the numbers of students from others university and the students were tested here.
  • UW students mostly identifying contact with others not in the household unit or had been  with others had a gathering as to how they may have been contact with the virus.

School update:

  • Recent data show – case # in school or child care facility skewed from adults.   32  cases – 15 children – 17 Adults.
  • 8 schools,  1 Child Care facility,  1 congregate community had 1 positive cases.

Testing and Alliant

  • Onboarding the first contracted staff and hours will change schedule for testing and will limit hours to 40 hours week.  When schedule finalized it will be passed on.
  • Milestone:  Alliant will likely reach 200K;  last week the number of test was about 190K

Homelessness

  • Working to find solution to homelessness in city of Madison
  • Single men – approximately 100 a night show up to Warner Park homeless shelter, 150 in hotels; and 150 are  encampments.
  • Serving about 60 families and this has been through Salvation Army mainly but right now Salvation Army is serving single women.
  • Many service centers are near capacity.
  • Looking for long term solution and solution to get thru winter for those who may be housing insecure.

Questions

Any changes to rules to ordinances/orders with the public health emergency being extended?

none so far.

Homeless – support for those outside of Madison?

Sure there are some but don’t know them right now.  Most conversation has been at the city level.  Will follow up with the housing and homeless lead on staff with MDCPH.  Can have the lead to provide updates on a future call.

Next call is MON, October 5 2020, 1:00 pm.

Additional sources for information:

Public Health Madison and Dane County: https://cityofmadison.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/e22f5ba4f1f94e0bb0b9529dc82 db6a3

Emergency Public Health Order #8

Wisconsin Department of Health Services: https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/data.htm

Dane County Emergency Management Personal Protective Equipment Requests:https://em.countyofdane.com/ppe

Executive Orders

https://evers.wi.gov/Pages/Newsroom/Executive-Orders.aspx

Wisconsin Hospital Association COVID-19 dashboard: https://www.wha.org/COVID19Update

FEMA Rumor Control: https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus-rumor-control

Health Metrics Data

Dane County Mask Makers has provided an excellent summary of sources at https://www.danecountymaskmakers.com/

Theola Carter – Manager of Policy and Program Improvement
The Tamara D. Grigsby Office for Equity and Inclusion (OEI) Department
Carter.Theola@countyofdane.com
608-283-1471

Tuesday, September 29th

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS ROUND UP

City of Madison

Mo’ Meetings

Meeting: Board of Assessors
Date: Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2020 at 9:00 am
Location: Madison Municipal Building
215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Room 206
Madison, WI 53703
Meeting: Affirmative Action Commission
Date: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020 at 5:30 pm
Location: Madison, WI
Meeting: Traffic Calming Subcommittee
Date: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020 at 5:00 pm
Location: Madison, WI
Meeting: Sustainable Madison Committee
Date: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Location: Madison, WI
Meeting: Board of Review
Date: Friday, Oct. 2, 2020 at 1:30 pm
Location: Madison Municipal Building
215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Room 215
Madison, WI 53703

Dane County

Madison Area Schools

K-12

Higher Ed

And more . . .

ALLIANT ENERGY CENTER COVID-19 TEST SITE HOURS CHANGE BEGINNING OCTOBER 5

Beginning the week of October 5th, the hours for the Alliant Energy Center COVID-19 community test site will change. The test site will be closed on Mondays beginning Monday, October 5th, while continuing to be open Tuesday through Saturday until the end of the year.

The new hours for the site are:

  • Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:00pm to 8:00pm
  • Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 8:00am to 4:00pm
  • Closed on Sundays and Mondays

“Based on demand, we know this site is a valuable resource for our community, particularly for those who don’t have health insurance, our essential workers, and for our communities of color, who are so disproportionately affected by this virus,” says Ken Van Horn, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Public Health Madison & Dane County.
Since the test site opened in May, an average of 1,643 people have been tested per day.

“Just since early July, we’ve detected 5,985 positive tests at Alliant Energy Center,” says Van Horn. “Of those people who tested positive approximately 1 in 5 were asymptomatic, meaning they were out and about in our community and able to spread the virus without feeling sick at all themselves. This is one of the reasons we feel it is important to keep the site running through the end of the year,” continues Van Horn.

Testing site details:

  • Testing is done in the New Holland Pavilion at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.
  • The site is open until the end of the year.
  • The test is free and available to those 5 years and older who may arrive by car, bike, or on foot. No appointment is necessary. Translation is available in Spanish and Hmong.
  • No identification is needed and immigration status is not asked.
  • Pre-registration is available in English, Spanish and Hmong, and is encouraged in order to get through the site as quickly as possible.
  • Free transportation is available for those that need it by calling the Public Health Transportation Line at (608) 243-0420.
  • The test is not an antibody test and does not indicate if someone has had COVID-19 in the past.
  • It is very important to limit contact with others until test results are received, especially if someone has been exposed to COVID-19 or has symptoms like fever, cough, or sore throat.
  • Test results are provided via email or phone call within 3-7 business days.

This change in hours coincides with a large decrease in staffing from the Wisconsin National Guard, who have been providing the majority of the staffing at the site alongside Public Health Madison & Dane County. “We’re sorry to see the National Guard go, but are incredibly grateful for their herculean effort in providing over 192,000 tests at the Alliant Energy Center site since it opened in May,” says Van Horn.

Public Health Madison & Dane County will staff the majority of the test site moving forward.

“We will continue to provide about 10,000 tests per week. This keeps us well above the critical testing metric that we closely watch to detect active infection and prevent COVID-19 transmission,” continues Van Horn.

Wait times at the testing site might see moderate increases with the decreased hours of operation.

Public Health recommends testing for:

  • People who have had close contact (within 6 feet for about 15 minutes) with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
  • People with COVID-19 symptoms
  • People who have regular exposure to a large number of people (e.g., people who work in grocery stores)
  • People who work closely with high-risk populations (e.g., healthcare workers, people who work with people who are incarcerated, people who work in long-term care facilities)

If a test result is negative, it means the person did not have COVID-19 at that moment. It does not mean they cannot get COVID in the future. Still follow Public Health recommendations to stay home as much as possible and keep up with prevention measures known to prevent the spread of the virus.

For more information and answers to questions about the community testing site, visit publichealthmdc.com/coronavirustesting.

NEW LEAF AND YARD WASTE COLLECTION SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE

Collection begins the week of October 11, 2020

For the fall of 2020, all neighborhoods of Madison have assigned days when they should set leaves and yard waste out for curbside collection.

The leaves and yard waste collection schedule is now available at www.cityofmadison.com/yardwaste.

Go to the Streets Division’s yard waste website and enter your address into the form provided to learn the dates when you should set out leaves and yard waste for pickup.

Residents without internet access can contact the Streets Division office that services their home to receive the set-out dates for their home.

How the Collection System Will Work
After entering your address, you will see three dates when you should set out leaves and yard waste for pickup.

You can set out leaves and yard waste for any or all of the scheduled set-out dates.

Each of the dates listed on the website is a Sunday.

Collection crews will be working through the scheduled neighborhoods the week following the date listed on the website.

Residents must get their leaves and yard waste out for collection by the dates shown on the website. Placing them out after the listed set-out dates may result in missing a collection opportunity.

Follow Collection Rules
Do not place yard waste into the street.

Placing yard waste into the street creates a nutrient-rich runoff that goes into the storm drains. The drains funnel water in our waterways, causing algae blooms other problems in our lakes. Keep our streets leaf-free and protect our lakes.

When the collection season is underway, you can pile leaves and yard waste loose on the terrace, or place the material into bags or under a tarp.

If bagging leaves and yard waste, compostable paper lawn bags are preferred. All bags should be kept open at the top so crews can identify what is inside.

More information about how to set leaves out for pickup can be found on the Streets Division’s website.

Drop-off Sites Hours Remain Limited – Expect Lines for Entry
The drop-off sites at 1501 W. Badger Rd, 4602 Sycamore Ave, and 402 South Point Rd are open to accept yard waste. The sites are open 7:30am to 2:50pm Monday to Friday, and 9:00am to 4:00pm on Saturdays.

The number of vehicles allowed into the unloading area at the sites is limited to help social distancing and the overall safety of the facilities.

Due to the limited hours and restrictions on the number of people unloading at a single time, you are likely to encounter a long line when trying to unload material at the drop-off sites – so please remember to pack your patience along with the materials you need to recycle or dispose.

Visit the Streets Division’s website for more information about the drop-off sites.

Additional Information
For additional information regarding yard waste collection or other Streets Division services, please visit our website, www.cityofmadison.com/streets.

Residents can also call the Streets Division office that services their home during normal business hours, which is 7:30am to 4:00pm Monday to Friday.

If you live east of South Park Street, you should call 608-246-4532.

If you live west of South Park Street, you should call 608-266-4681.

VOTING RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

Up until Friday there had been misinformation on the Wisconsin Elections website about voting for people who are homeless. It said those voters needed things like a birth certificate to get ID to vote, and that is NOT correct. You can get ID for free at DMV even if you don’t have any documents – DMV will do the search itself. (You get a paper receipt in the meantime.)  Correct info is here – https://elections.wi.gov/sites/elections.wi.gov/files/publication/137/idpp_palm_card_10_14_2016_pdf_15855.pdf  (getting ID without documents)

https://elections.wi.gov/sites/elections.wi.gov/files/2020-09/Homeless%20Voters-%20WI%20Voter%20Guide%202020.pdf (full brochure for persons who are homeless)

Wednesday, September 30th

LOCAL GOVERNMENT NEWS ROUND. UP

City of Madison

Projects

Mo’ Meetings

Meeting: Transportation Policy and Planning Board Canceled
Date: Monday, Oct. 5, 2020 at 5:00 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Dane County

Madison Area Schools

Higher Ed

And more . . .

  • Week of 9/28/20 – Forwardlookout.com

FLOODING UPDATES

City Engineering will be hosting two virtual public information meetings for two specific watersheds tonight and tomorrow. New flooding maps will be shared at both meetings for the respective areas. The information gathered from surveys, field monitoring systems, conversations with residents and flood reports contributed to the maps.

Tonight’s (Sept. 30) meeting is for the Dunn’s Marsh watershed.  It is scheduled for 6-8 p.m., via Zoom.

Tomorrow’s (Oct. 1) meeting is for the Greentree/McKenna watershed.  It is scheduled for 6-8 p.m., via Zoom.

Registration information for both: https://www.cityofmadison.com/news/zoom-in-for-new-flooding-maps-in-upcoming-public-information-meetings

Anyone who attends, and lives in the area of the respective watersheds, should view the maps to confirm accuracy with what they’ve experienced and share with our team. We’d really appreciate your feedback.

We look forward to you logging in for the virtual meeting,
City Engineering

LAW PARK – PRELIMINARY REPORT

The Study Area for Law Park is Expanding!

The focus of the Preliminary Report is expanding beyond Law Park to include the John Nolen Drive causeway and the northern portion of Olin Park. The revised study area now includes over 1.4 miles of Lake Monona shoreline and 14 acres of parkland.

The original project area for the report included Law Park, the air space over John Nolen Drive (east and west of the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center), and a public access easement connection to E. Wilson Street. With City Engineering’s recent announcement John Nolen Drive will be reconstructed sometime after 2025, expanding the planning scope for the Law Park project offers an opportunity for the City to develop a cohesive vision for the downtown and west shore of Lake Monona.

The previous community outreach for Law Park in 2019 is now identified as Phase 1, with the 2020 John Nolen Drive and Olin Park expansion being Phase 2. The new engagement work will build upon the previously collected community input. The SmithGroup-led consultant team is currently organizing a virtual community workshop and other stakeholder meetings for the expanded planning area. SmithGroup was hired by the Parks Division to prepare the Preliminary Report, which is a pre-design document to gather public input on desired improvements and provide a comprehensive site inventory and analysis for the study area. The report will serve as the basis of a future masterplan effort for the Law Park/Lake Monona Waterfront, which is anticipated to begin in 2021.

Revised Study Area PDF 

More information on the workshop date and other ways to participate in the process will be announced here and via social media announcements. Please join us in shaping the future of the Lake Monona Waterfront.

The Law Park Preliminary Report

The City of Madison Parks Division is working with a consultant team led by SmithGroup to engage area residents, park users and project stakeholders on future improvements to Law Park.  The study area includes Law Park and portions of John Nolen Drive for a potential overpass connection to E. Wilson Street. The community engagement utilizes a multifaceted approach including meetings with smaller stakeholder groups, neighborhood associations, on-site intercept reviews, tabling at community festivals, an on-line survey and three large community workshops. Public outreach will include information on the park’s history, previous planning efforts, current amenities and examples of how other municipalities are reconnecting with their waterfronts. The consultant team will also conduct a thorough technical and regulatory review to identify opportunities and constraints for future park development. The results of the community engagement process and site investigation will be compiled into a preliminary report that will be completed in late 2019.

Law Park Study Area PDF 

 

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