Friday Round Up!

April 16, 2010 11:22 am

8 hours off email can really mess up your day! Especially two days in a row.

CHOO CHOO
This little waiting game seems a little absurd to me. It seems to me that the neighborhood could get together without the DOT . . . 🙂

GO CAROUSEL!
I’m so glad Carousel wrote that email and the committee followed up. The rest of the committee agreed with County Supervisor Carousel Bayrd, not Council President Tim Bruer. I’m glad are on the way to fixing the report. And Tim didn’t really use the word, progressive, did he?

TIF NOT SUCH A GOOD DEAL FOR THE CITY
The chickens are coming home to roost, so to speak. Not just Keller/Monroe Commons/Trader Joe’s put possibly Alexander Company/Capitol West. I’m a little more forgiving on the second one which I can better understand, there is no excuse for Monroe Commons.

NO TIF NEEDED HERE
In fact, it seems the City did nothing, and the economic development happened all by itself. In fact, the city and business leaders taken by surprise. Very interesting.

YUP, THOSE 30 COPS WERE REALLY NEEDED
So they can go on bike rides. Not that this isn’t a good idea, it is. Problem is, it feels like we were sold a pack of lies about why we needed more officers.

UW GETS IT BACKWARDS
Cut the free bus pass program and require riders to pay more to avoid charging parkers more? Seriously? That seems like a major step backwards to reduce cars on campus.

$12M LEFT TO CUT IN SCHOOL BUDGET, YOUR VOICES NEEDED
1:00 at Warner Park on Sunday. Rob doesn’t have a link for me today, he’s slacking, but he did say this. We really need to stand up for schools, he makes this observation after reading the mis-spelled tea party signs from yesterday. His favorite. “Obama is a lier”. Ok, Rob is not really slacking, he was more of a procrastinator in getting our taxes done.

WARNER PARK PRAIRIE REVERSAL
What Lukas said.

IVEY ASKS A GREAT QUESTION
WMC says we need less regulation. Ivey asks ?But hasn’t the free market, no regulation, no tax crowd pretty much had its way the last 30 years?” He follows it up with this “I’d argue that trickle-down economics has been an utter failure, widening the gap between rich and poor while rewarding excessive greed and risk taking.”

IS THE STATE W-2 PROGRAM BROKEN?
Based on the long line of W-2 workers I’ve seen come through my office, and many who fail on the program. Yes. Yes it is.

THIS TOTALLY SURPRISES ME
With the economy the way it is, I expected the disconnects this year to be through the roof. Apparently, they are not. I saw Tim Bruer who runs Energy Services which assists people with their energy bills and asked him why. He says they have been using other funds to help people make their payments and the energy companies are doing lots of payment plans. Interesting.

DID YOU MISS NOAM CHOMSKY AT THE ORPHEUM?
No fear, you can catch him on your local community television all next week! If you appreciation this, don’t forget to donate! And call your state legislators to tell them to support the bill making its way through the legislature that would restore funding for our community and government access television stations.

KILL THE GEESE
Jim Carrier gives this update to the Northside Discuss list:

The Madison Board of Parks Commissioners approved a plan Wednesday night to round up and kill Warner Park geese in June.

The plan was requested by the Dane County Regional Airport, which called Warner Park geese a danger to flight safety, and termed the issue an “emergency.”
Attempts to delay the commission vote for a month of study and public comment were rejected.

Details of the plan presented to the commission were posted on the Parks Commission agenda here.

According to the airport study, 9 of 132 geese banded by Wisconsin’s DNR in Warner Park were caught and “dispatched” at the airport. The airport asked Wisconsin DNR to do further banding and collaring to confirm the Warner-airport connection, but DNR declined because the birds are not considered a “huntable” population.

Russ Hefty, the city Parks Department ecologist, said he surveyed and counted 14 nests, and estimated as many as 20 exist, on Warner Park’s marsh island. Each nest holds 6 eggs. Hefty said this kind of action had never been taken in Madison.
The geese will be rounded up and killed during June when they are molting and cannot fly.

Another person asks an interesting question:

I read this post with utter horror and dismay!

I find the lack of public input into this vote so contrary to what I regard as the way things should be done (and I thought were done in this oh-so-public City of Madison), and of course I would question the vote itself.

Euthanizing geese in Warner Park, because a few were found in the vicinity of the airport makes no sense to me at all. The airport reports that 14 percent of the birds they killed were tagged from Warner. As far as I can interpret this report, perhaps 9 geese over a two year period were actually from Warner Park. Will wiping out Warner’s population (of 150) do any good? What about the other 86 percent at the airport? And what about Cherokee Marsh, which is within the fly zone? Or Token Creek park, just to the north of the airport? Are they going to kill birds there too? How can you justify euthanizing nesting birds? How does this have any effect whatsoever on birds migrating back to Warner Park? I frankly see very little data in the report to support the need to kill birds at all.

Other airports use different, more humane, and longer-lasting methods to thwart birds. Washington national, for example, built along the Potomac waterway uses pop guns when airplanes land and take off. Imagine if Washington D.C. went on a campaign to kill the birds along the waterway?

I am just lost about how a decision like this can possibly go forward.

PARKS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Projects in Madison Parks that are still in need of volunteers are:

* Saturday, April 17, noon – 3p.m., Garlic Mustard Pulling led by the Madison Area Weed Warriors, Owen Conservation Park, 6021 Old Sauk Rd.
* Saturday, April 17, 9a.m. – noon, Natural Area Restoration at Turville Point Park , 1156 Olin-Turville Court
* Saturday, April 17, 9a.m., wild flower planting, mulch, invasive removals, Tenney Park and along Yahara River, led by the Friends of the Yahara River
* Sunday, April 18, 10a.m. – 1p.m., disc golf course and trail repair, led by Madison Area Disc Golf Association, Hiestand Park, 4302 Milwaukee Street
* Wednesday, April 21 , 6p.m. – 7:30p.m., Natural Area Restoration at Turville Point Park , 1156 Olin-Turville Court
* Saturday, April 24, 9a.m. – noon, Natural Area Restoration at Turville Point Park , 1156 Olin-Turville Court
* Saturday, April 24, noon – 3p.m., Garlic Mustard Pulling led by the Madison Area Weed Warriors, Elvehjem Sanctuary, 1202 Painted Post Rd.
* April 24 – EARTH DAY CHALLENGE – 260 parks locations throughout the city. Call 266-5949 sign up for a park today!
* Saturday, April 24, 9a.m., mulch trees, remove invasives and litter pick up, Burr Jones Park and along Yahara River, led by the Friends of the Yahara River
* April 24, 8a.m. – noon, Earth Day at Carpenter Ridgeway Park
Carpenter-Ridgeway Park, 1220 Carpenter Street
8a.m.-9a.m., Chicken Coop Tour, Energy Conservation, No Mow Yards, Burke Ave. Tree Planting
9a.m.-noon, Canoe Creek Clean-up (Starkweather Creek) – Take a Canoe down Starkweather Creek
9a.m.-10a.m.,Recyle Walk (Fair Oaks, Gannon Ave., E. Washington Ave., etc.)
10a.m.-11a.m.,Garden Tour, Rain Gardens, Rain Barrels
11a.m.-noon, Tree Planting (Park area), Recycle Walk (Ridgeway, Quincy, E. Washington Ave. Bike Path, etc.)
* April 24, 10a.m.-noon, Monona Bay Shoreline Clean-up for Earth Day with the Friends of Monona Bay, Brittingham Beach
* April 24, 9a.m.-11a.m., Earth Day Clean & Garlic Mustard Pulling, Hoyt Park, 3902 Regent Street
* April 24, 9a.m.-11a.m., Earth Day Clean & Garlic Mustard Pulling, Glenwood Childrens Park, 602 Glenway Street
* April 24, 9:30-11:30a.m., Earth Day Clean up and Garlic Mustard Pulling, Edna Taylor Conservation Park, 802 Femrite Dr.
* April 24, 10a.m.-2p.m., Earth Day at James Madison Park, flower bed maintenance, general clean up, James Madison Park, 614 E. Gorham Street
* Wednesday, April 28, 6p.m. – 7:30p.m., Natural Area Restoration at Turville Point Park , 1156 Olin-Turville Court

Individuals or groups are also encouraged to volunteer their time on community projects that extend beyond Earth Day. For volunteer opportunities or for more information on the Parks Division visit us at www.cityofmadison.com/parks or call 608-266-5949.