Willy St. Coop Worker Support, free Union Cab Rides to Northside Race Equity Forum, Close Newly Built Building in Tenney Park?, School Referendum Volunteers Needed, Snowshoe Cherokee Marsh by Candlelight, Willy St. Park Annual Meeting, Jenifer St. Bus Stop Closures, WHEDA is still here!, Petition MG&E, Central Park Update, Madison Art Lending Library – Call for Artists.
Support Willy St. Coop Workers Tonight

Community members and Co-op members concerned about a fair union vote for workers will be gathering Tuesday night:

Willy Co-op Board Meeting
Tuesday, January 20
1457 E. Washington Ave.
6:30pm

We will be urging our Co-op Board to take action to stop management’s anti-union activities so that Willy Co-op workers can decide on union representation without fear of retaliation or interference. We will let our Co-op know they can do better in ensuring a good environment for a fair vote.

The meeting is in the new Central Office of the Co-op in a red brick building between N. Dickinson and the Yahara River, on E. Washington Ave. It’s also just off the Yahara River bike path.

Your presence is needed on Tuesday, Jan. 20! Hope you can come!

Free Cab Rides to Northside Race Equity Forum
Nice job Union Cab!

If you would like to attend the Racial Equity Forum next Monday at 6:00 pm at Sherman Middle School but don’t have a way to get there, you can get a free ride from Union Cab at one of the following pick-up points:

5:15 pm, Gompers/Black Hawk schools parking lot
5:30 pm, St. Paul Lutheran Church, 2126 N.Sherman Ave.

You’ll be able to get a ride back to those locations at the end of the evening, as well.

Thanks to Union Cab for offering these rides for free!

Close Newly Built Bulding in Tenney Park

Dear TLNA, FYRP, Clean Lakes Alliance, and Alder Zellers,

I understand that due to construction activity for the planned shoreline restoration and reconstruction (expansion to 10 feet wide) of the bike path along E Johnson Street, the Wall Family Pavilion is currently planned to be closed and unavailable for reservations thru the summer.

I would like to ask your support in requesting that the the Parks Dept and City make reservations available to people with the understanding that they must walk/bike/wheelchair or otherwise reach the shelter by non-motorized means via the available bike paths for their reservation and use.

As you know shelter reservations – especially on weekends, and even more for the very few shelters with similar facilities as the Wall Family Pavilion – are in great demand during the summer. We have a very large demographic of people in the Madison area who are avid and very proficient in using multiple, non-vehicle forms of transportation who would still love to use the shelter for an event even without parking – or with low water level in the lagoon during restoration. And frankly, it seems a great shame to not make abundant use of such a beautiful facility.

I have attached an aerial photo (credit Google) that shows the three separate bike paths that access the shelter at Tenney directly, without entering the adjacent parking lot. Since Thorton Ave within the Park will be kept open for Parks summer maintenance vehicles (accessing storage and mowers in the shelter garage) and construction vehicles, there will always be bike path access to the shelter from both directions along the Yahara River (part of the Capitol City Bikeway path/network), and over the steel bridge to Marston Ave, throughout the summer.

It’s not unlikely that in spite of temporary impediments, the shelter could be booked every available summer weekend. And knowing how both active and enthusiastic about low environmental impacts many local folks are; we could anticipate the arrival of a bride and groom or two by bike carriage, roller skis, wheel chairs or unicycles. A few may just kayak, canoe or paddle board the river as well. After all, unconventional and creative is often just the way we roll here in Madison 😉

Specifically, I’d like to ask the TLNA (Patty Prime is the current President), FYRP, Clean Lakes Alliance (James Tye is Exec. Director) to consider votes of support at their next meetings. In the meantime, could you Alder Zellers share a heads up and communicate that there is interest in this with the Parks Dept and Parks Foundation? As a courtesy, I have also cc’d the former Chair of the Tenney Park Shelter Ambassadors Mary Lang Sollinger.

Sincerely,

Tim Olsen
Madison Resident, former TLNA Board, FYRP founding member and board, and former member of the Wall Family Pavilion Fund-raising Committee

School Referendum Volunteers Needed

The purpose of this email is to invite any of you who wish to be INVOLVED with planning and implementing the VOTE YES effort to an organizational meeting next Saturday, January 24.

WHERE: South Madison Goodman Library, 2222 S. Park St (Villager Mall)

WHEN: 1:00 – 2:30 PM, Saturday, January 24.

A brief description of the referendum follows below. Details SOON!

Physical buildings are part of creating an environment for great teaching and learning. This referendum addresses MMSD’s most urgent facility needs.
These include:

Constructing additions to five elementary schools
Ensuring that schools are accessible to all students, staff, families and community members
Renovating a few school buildings to address immediate physical plant concerns and improve learning spaces
Upgrading infrastructure to support students’ increasing use of technology ((this also will reduce the technology budget line in the operating budget)

Schools in all four attendee areas (East, LaFollette, West, and Memorial) will directly benefit from the referendum. We will provide a complete list/description of projects soon.

Total cost: $41M A recurring (annual, NOT cumulative) cost of about $63/year for 10 years for the average home in MMSD ($237,000).

Snowshoe Cherokee Marsh by Candlelight

Tour Cherokee Marsh by moonlight and candlelight.

Saturday, January 24, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park, North Unit, 6098 N. Sherman Ave. Follow N. Sherman Ave. north to the parking lot at the end of the gravel road.

If we have snow, bring your snowshoes. If there is no snow, the event will be a walk. If the snow cover is thin, both snowshoers and walkers are welcome. Warm up with hot cider by the fire. Sponsored by the Friends of Cherokee Marsh and Madison Parks.

Willy St. Park Annual Meeting

Willy Street Park will hold its annual meeting Sunday, Feb. 8, at 7pm in the WilMar Neighborhood Center, 953 Jenifer St. Everyone is invited to attend. The non-profit community corporation will elect directors, review the seasons’ activities, and plan for the coming year.

You can find photos, announcements and connections on the Willy St. Park Facebook page. For more information call 294-9048

Jennifer St. Bus Stop Closures

WHEDA is still here!

Good Morning WHEDA customers and partners:
I would like to take this opportunity to address the potential merger between WHEDA and WEDC.

First and foremost, nothing has changed at WHEDA.

Most importantly, all current WHEDA programs and services remain in place.

News reports about a merger involving WHEDA are about a generic idea being considered by Governor Walker. No specific details about such a plan have been announced at this time. Any merger involving any state agencies would be complex and require a great deal of time, consideration and planning before final approval and execution.

WHEDA’s valued and trusted partners and customers should be confident that WHEDA intends to and will continue to operate with the same successful practices it has utilized for over 40 years.

Sincerely,
Sean O’Brien
Director, Commercial Lending
WHEDA

Petition MG&E

As they sought increased fixed fees, MGE pledged to engage with its customers in a community conversation to guide future billing practices. Join RePower Madison in asking Madison Gas & Electric to adopt the following guidelines to ensure that an unbiased dialogue will take place. Our community should be heard regarding our clean energy future — it is too important to be left only to MGE executives.

Sign the petition by following this link. Then, invite your friends, neighbors, co-workers and social media contacts.

http://www.repowermadison.org/petitiontomge/

PETITION TO MGE
TO: Madison Gas & Electric Executives

We, the undersigned, call on MGE to act in good-faith on its pledge to respect our community values by abiding by the following provisions to establish a fair and full community energy conversation:
– A format designed, moderated and facilitated by an independent, 3rd party with no previous financial relationship to MG&E, who will record public comments and issue a final report reflecting the community conversations.
– Inclusion of a full range of community stakeholders who will be provided a fair and full opportunity to request and exchange information during public events.
– A commitment to establish a plan that will fulfill the City of Madison’s Sustainability Plan’s goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025.

Central Park Update

From the Supt’s January report:
https://madison.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2120541&GUID=9347DCCD-BD7E-4E5E-A3FB-FF994394866F​
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT – KAY RUTLEDGE

Central Park Skate Park
Bids were received for the Central Park, Madison – Skate Park project on December 12, 2014. Four responsive
contractors submitted bids for the project. Drax Construction was the low bidder with a base bid of $980,686.00 and
Alternates A and B at $10,000 and $25,000 respectively. Approval of the low bidder will go to Board of Public Works
on January 7th and Council on January 20th. The contract will then be routed for signatures. Construction is
anticipated to start in the spring of 2015 with a substantial completion date in mid August.

Central Park
The Central Park Phase 1B work is scheduled for construction in 2015. Phase 1B includes a new park entry plaza and pedestrian railroad crossing near the E. Wilson Street intersection with Few Street. The crossing is currently
open and operational; temporary asphalt has been installed until the full project can be implemented. Construction
will be coordinated with the skate park project.

Art Lending Library – Call for Artists

Dear neighborhood artists,
I’d like to introduce a new community art project called the Madison Art Lending Library (the MALL). The MALL is a website where artists in the Madison area can offer works for loan and where people who live in and around Madison can find art to borrow and live with for a while. It’s a way for artists to connect with neighbors and for art lovers to spend some serious time with a piece instead of just 10 minutes in a gallery. Borrower and lender get to meet face-to-face when the art is picked up or installed. There’s no money involved. That’s the concept—people meeting people, getting more artwork out there in circulation, getting to know your neighbors, spending real time with a piece of art.

If you’re interested, visit https://sites.google.com/site/madisonartlendinglibrary/

There are instructions for participating on the site—it’s not too hard, and let me know if you have suggestions for simplifying things. How, when, and what you loan is up to you. This site is only intended to facilitate the initial contact, and you’re responsible for any agreements you make or risks you take.

I hope that using the MALL site can help you become more visible and more connected to your community and build a fan base that will really support and celebrate you and your work. It may help us connect as artists, too. Though the MALL isn’t for sales, you’re welcome to put your web address on the site and point visitors to sales outlets in case they are interested, and you can leave business cards with the works you loan. The site is structured mainly for two- and three-dimensional artworks, but performance works are very welcome.

I’m hoping to get a group of artists signed up on the site in the next few weeks and then publicize for lending to the more general public sometime in January.

Thanks for putting your creativity out in the world!
Amy Bethel

p.s. If you’re interested in the philosophy behind the MALL, here are some thoughts…
– The buying and selling of art just doesn’t get enough art in people’s lives. Not everyone can afford to buy art. Even if you can, there’s only so much you can fit on your walls. It’s limiting. And although some artists sell everything they make, many don’t. Some of us aren’t even interested in having our art commodified. So there are people who need more art and art that needs to be experienced by more people. We need some new ways to get people and art together.
– Hooray for public art that breaks down some of the barriers, but what if all the art that’s not usually considered public (and is sitting in storage just waiting…) is allowed to run free and people can spend real time with it? It might add to the world in ways it doesn’t now.
– Artists are treasures in our neighborhoods and communities, and we should know them.
– Some of us are not a big fans of a lot of things about the traditional art world and would like some new alternatives. (For instance, I hate receptions and small talk and artspeak—I’d rather make a different kind of connection.)