- City Meetings
- Finance Committee 2026 Operating Budget Hearings 10/13 and 10/14
- Special Policy Meeting of the Plan Commission 10/16
- Madison Water Utility Presents Rock ’N’ The Well Open House 10/18
- Tree Damage and Replacement at Honeysuckle Park
- Events & Announcements
City Meetings
Finance Committee Hearings on 2026 Operating Budget Monday and Tuesday
The Finance Committee meeting will take place on Monday, October 13, at 4:30 p.m. in virtual format. Agenda items include
- Item 4: a resolution authorizing a five-year contract with Diehl & Neumaier to recycle metals and appliances collected by the Streets Division
- Item 5: a resolution authorizing an eight-year contract with Pellitteri for the sorting, processing, and marketing of recyclables collected by the Streets Division (There’s a fun fact in the resolution: apparently the City of Madison Streets Division began a curbside recycling program in 1968, making it the first such program in the nation!)
- Items 8-12 are grant applications for funding to support a variety of projects if awarded, including a future bike/ped expansion over Stoughton Road benefiting District 3
Item 16: A briefing on the 2026 Executive Operating Budget. This is the main event. The Mayor released her 2026 Executive Operating Budget proposal on October 7th, highlights can be found in this summary and the full proposal is available here. Highlights include a historic investment of $1.7 million for the operations of the permanent men’s homeless shelter, staffing of the new Reindahl Imagination Center park/library site on the east side, and a tenth ambulance for the city and an additional nine paramedics to help keep response times low. City agency leadership will present their portion of the budget according to this schedule:
- Monday presentations: Assessor’s Office, City Attorney’s Office, Civil Rights, Clerk’s Office, Employee Assistance Program, Finance Department, Human Resources, Info Technology, Engineering (includes Landfill, Sewer, and Stormwater), Fleet, Parks (including golf), Streets, Water Utility, Fire Department, Police Department, Office of the Independent Monitor
- Tuesday presentations: Municipal Court, Common Council’s Office, Mayor’s Office, Public Health, Monona Terrace, Library, Metro Transit, Parking Utility, Traffic Engineering, Transportation, Building Inspection, Community Development Authority, Community Development Division, Economic Development Division, Planning Division
Note: the Tuesday hearing is technically a continuation of the Monday hearing, so comments on the Operating Budget proposals can only be made on Monday during the public comment period.
Meeting info:
Special Policy Meeting of the Plan Commission Thursday
The Plan Commission meeting will take place on Thursday, October 16, at 5:00 p.m. in-person in Room 215 of the Madison Municipal Building at 215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Agenda items include:
- Item 2: A presentation with Madison Metro School District leadership about the District’s future growth strategy, an overview of school sites to be reconstructed under the recent facilities referendum, and potential future school sites – including the District-owned property near Door Creek Church east of Sprecher Road
- Item 3: Updates on the Curb Management Framework
- Item 4: A discussion about Urban Design Commission Code updates
- Item 5: A discussion about Generalized Future Land Use categories found in the City’s Area Plans, the latest update in a conversation the Plan Commission and Planning staff have been having about two topics:
- Differences between Low-Medium Residential density (1-3 story buildings) and Medium Residential density (2-5 stories); slide 3 of the staff presentation on this item suggests staff are proposing to split Medium Residential into MR 1 and MR 2, with MR 1 (2-4 stories) being the next-denser step above LMR, beginning with new Area Plans
- Proactively mapping which General Commercial-designated areas are appropriate for housing, and which are not, following a difficult approval granted a few months ago in a General Commercial area along Verona Road on the Southwest Side
Meeting info:
Madison Water Utility Presents Rock ’N’ The Well Open House Next Saturday
Rocks! Water! Motion! Welcome to Madison Water Utility’s Rock ‘N’ The Well Open House 2025! Part of the 2025 Wisconsin Science Festival:
- Take a self-guided tour of a working booster pump station for a deep well that supplies water to the City of Madison.
- Learn from City of Madison Water Utility staff where our water comes from, where it goes, and how together we’re working to protect and conserve the water that rocks our world!
- Enjoy a live performance from Cosmic Flights Liquid Light’s water-induced light show DJed and produced by Marcus Johan of WVMO’s The Good Kind from 1 to 3 PM.
- Educational demos from local rock star geologist, Caty Abitz
When: Saturday, Oct 28th from noon-4pm
Where: Madison Water Utility Well 24 101 N Livingston Street…