The council meeting was a short 1.5 hours, with little to report. Here’s what happened of note:
1. Dick Wagner received the Jeff Erlanger Civility Award. This didn’t happen until 7:30. There were some nice speeches.
2. We honored Pat Kreitzman for her years of service to the City in the Planning Department. Verveer gave another nice speech!
5. We approved recommendations for the the Emerging Neighborhood Funds. The info was emailed to us around noon yesterday, but sorry public, its not available to you! There were $140,000 of requests for about $29,000.
Here’s who requested, the area they serve, the amount requested and the amount awarded.
(I fixed as many of the spelling mistakes as I spotted, the report was loaded with them.)
Summer Playground Program (Allied Drive, Elver Park, Penn Park) $2,925 $0
Youth Academic Development Through Athletics (Allied, Hammersley) $10,000 $0
Spanish-speaking Early Childhood Education Radio Program $6,000 $0
Family Resource & Technology Center (Allied Drive) $5,000 $0
Neighborhood Watch Program (Meadowood, Orchard Ridge, Prairie Hills & Midvale Hgts) $10,000 $0
Meadowood on the Move (Meadowood, Balsam/Russett) $7,056 $0
Girl Scouts (Allied Drive) $3,000 $0
Neighborhood Association Outreach to Latino Families (Brentwood Village) $2,500 $0
Community Build (Kennedy Heights) $2,550 $0
PRIDE (Allied Drive, Kennedy Hts, Atwood, Vera) $7,650 $0
COMVIDA (South Side) $6,500 $0
Relocation feasibility Study (Bridge Lake Point/Waunona) $5,000 $5,000
TRIAD of Southwest Madison (Greentree, Orchard Ridge, Prairie Hills, Meadowood) $9,789 $7,900
Badger Wellness Workshop (South Madison) $10,000 $5,000
Neighborhood Outreach Program -Elver Park (Elver Park, Hammersley, Schroeder, Bettys Lane, Jacobs Way, Laureen Way) $10,000 $0
Southwest Neighbor-to-Neighbor Timebank (Allied & Surrounding area) $10,000 $2,500
Strong Young Sisters Striving to Succeed (SYSSTAS) (Far West & Southwest) $7,500 $0
Omega Boys Club (Unknown) $8,000 $0
Skills Development Groups (Worthington Park, Darbo) $10,000 $5,000
Intergenerational Program (North & East)$6,650 $0
Hmong Neighbors (Allied, Northport/Packers) $9,872 $0
Driver’s License Recovery Program (Allied, South, Southwest, Darbo and other neighborhoods) $10,000 $2,500
9. The development at 1022 W Johnson was referred.
10. Minimum Parking Standards – There was a substitute and offices and professional buildings only have to provide one parking space for every 400 sq feet, instead of 300 square feet.
12. We approved the liquor license for the “Field Pass” the 550 capacity “restaurant” at 702 W Johnson. There was some opposition but strong support from the alders and it passed unanimously.
17. The billboard ordinance was referred for further work.
22. The law clarifying the law that says when you need to clear your sidewalk of snow and ice passed without comments.
28. Approving a public information officer position for the Water Utility (who does conservation work?) passed. Ironically, about an hour earlier we had heard a preliminary report from the AA department about how our terminology and process need to be more transparent. I urged them to think about how they advertise this position, as a great person for water conservation would likely look right over a public information officer position.
32. We placed the silly Affordable Housing Trust Fund changes on file without comment.
36. We approving the contract for the Neighborhood Indicators without comment.
39. We made the end of the year adjustments to the budget with a minor adjust of giving the streets department and additional $300,000.
65. We approved the annual Elections Advisory Committee report without comment.
77. We approved the rules that govern how the City Council operates without comment.
78. We approved the Police chief 3rd quarter overtime report without comment.
80. We “accepted” the Inclusionary Zoning Report with no comment on the content of the report.
81. We approved setting Council dates for 2008 without comment.
Probably the most notable thing of the evening was what did not happen. No one introduced the resolution putting the impeachment question on the ballot for this spring. Despite all the squawking on AM radio about how PD was going to introduce the resolution, it didn’t happen, because no Democrat stepped up to support it, though several said they would support it and vote for it.
