Make captimes.com your all-day, every-day, Madison news home page. Subscribe to get news updates delivered by email. Learn more.
Laptop City Hall
Kristin Czubkowski takes you inside Madison politics
Laptop City Hall: This week in the city -- AMENDED
Kristin Czubkowski —For the full schedule, check here.
Monday, Jan. 12: Board of Estimates, 4:30 p.m., Room 260 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
The biggest item on this agenda is a discussion of the Overture Center and how the city should respond to a suggested plan from George Austin of the Overture Development Corporation -- all signs are pointing to strong disagreement with the plan, which places a heavy burden on the city to forgive $12 million in payment in lieu of taxes from the center over the next 30 years, but this meeting will set the city's tone with more certainty.
Before that discussion, however, the board will be:
- Beginning the confirmation process for new economic development director Tim Cooley
- Recommending the city guarantee/reimburse three months of health insurance for laid-off and retired employees.
- Possibly arguing with staff over repealing an ordinance that guarantees the prevailing city hourly wage to stagehands working for the city/Overture Center (to be replaced with a collective bargaining agreement that doesn't seem to have been reached yet)
- Beginning the process of getting a referendum on whether to turn the Garver Feed Mill into an arts incubator on the April ballot
Sustainable Design and Energy Committee, 4:00 p.m., Room 300 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Not a huge agenda, but those interested in giving input on the new sustainability-driven northeast neighborhood that is being planned or what appears to be general sustainability goals for the city may be interested.
Plan Commission, 5:30 p.m., Room 201 of the City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Another relatively light agenda, but one item of note is a presentation by Meriter Hospital on its plan for a west campus on Raymond/McKee roads.
Tuesday, Jan. 13: Transit and Parking Commission, 5 p.m., Room 260 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Probably the biggest meeting of a fairly packed week -- the commission may vote to reconsider their December decision to reject a bus fare increase. If they do vote to reconsider, expect another lengthy discussion on the matter, complete with several attached informational pieces. It'll be an interesting situation -- at least a few votes may have changed, but whether it's enough for a reversal of the 7-2 decision is debatable. If it's not reversed, the mayor has already said he will be appealing it to a Council that essentially voted into favor of a bus fare increase during November's budget discussions.
Another interesting agenda item is potentially creating a subcommittee to discuss the proposed low-income fare, which could result in a delay on the bus fare debate (or not. Who knows, but that would be an interesting strategy. Fares are generally the domain of the TPC, although the mayor has shown a strong interest in recent weeks, as proposals like the one from last Friday demonstrate).
Public Safety Review Board, 5 p.m., Room 525 of the City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Several good items -- I'm bummed that I probably won't be able to attend.
- Discussing recommended changes to the city's generally successful chronic nuisance ordinance. The city's Equal Opportunities Commission has been working on making a few changes since before the ordinance was even passed.
- Discussing a third version of an ordinance that strengthens requirements for fire alarms for rented and owned housing in the city.
- A vague, but potentially very interesting "general discussion on 911 center issues"
Downtown Hotel Feasibility Study Committee, 4:30 p.m., Hall of Fame room at Monona Terrace (which the agenda does not make clear, by the way), 1 John Nolen Dr.
Reviewing and approving the all-important study (which is not online, from what I can tell).
Madison Arts Commission, 5 p.m., Room LL-110 of the Madison Municipal Building, 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
An update on the city's cultural plan (no links, but sounds interesting) and further discussion of creating a temporary subcommittee to address how the economy is affecting the arts.
Wednesday, Jan. 14: Zoning Code Rewrite Advisory Committee, 5:30 p.m., Rooms 1 and 2 of the Madison Senior Center, 330 W. Mifflin St.
I think this is a holdover from a December meeting that was canceled due to bad weather -- this meeting's main topic will be reviewing and discussing a draft of new commercial and mixed-use districts as well as the revised residential districts. Kudos to the agenda-maker for a more specific agenda that lays out the topics for the night.
Community Services Commission, 5:35 p.m., Outreach Inc., 600 Williamson St., Suite P-1
Not a super-heavy agenda, but updates on Transit for Jobs (which could be interesting depending on Tuesday's TPC actions), Allied Drive redevelopment and the Weed and Seed program, among other topics, could all be good discussions.
Board of Park Commissioners, 7:30 p.m., Olbrich Botanical Gardens, 3330 Atwood Ave.
A late start because of a 6:30 ceremony honoring People for Parks volunteers. Main topics include:
- Discussing a recommendation from the James Madison Park Property Planning Committee not to sell the land under the Lincoln School Apartments, but to go forward selling other buildings (but also not the land underneath).
- Discussing a request to hold a U.S. Women's Racing Series 5k/10k run/walk at Warner Park as well as a broader discussion of how many run/walk events can be comfortably held at the popular park.
- Approving an architect for the Tenney Park Shelter (which may already be approved by the Board of Estimates on Monday, among other items on the parks agenda like the Garver Feed Mill referendum)
- Amendment: The commission will also be taking up the Olbrich Park Master Plan, so those interested should try to make their way to the meeting.
PRINTCapTimes monitors comments. We reserve the right to edit or delete messages, or shut down a discussion at any time. Here are the top reasons a comment would be deleted.
Kristin Czubkowski takes you inside Madison politics.
