I hope everyone survived the holidays and is adjusting to winter in Wisconsin. I'm happy to report progress in many areas over the past months.

First, the fence to screen the generator in Reynolds Park has finally been installed. A big thanks goes to Alan Larson of the Water Utility for helping this project along.

We had a very successful public hearing about the future of Breese Stevens Field. While the final decisions will not be made until spring, it seems that there is quite a bit of support for having soccer remain at Breese Stevens Field, with the potential to have more games played on the field. There seemed to be a strong desire to preserve the historic walls of the field, with many people speaking eloquently about the special feel of playing a game at Breese. I am also excited that there may be potential to open the field up for neighborhood and music events and that there is a possibility of having meeting or neighborhood space under the stands. Of course, we also heard concerns about the lights and the spill-over into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The East Washington project is moving forward. One point of concern is the plan for the Yahara River Bridge. While many are excited to finally have underpasses for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, others remain concerned about the historic aspect of the bridge and the effect it will have on the historic Yahara River Parkway.

At the request of the Tenney Lapham Neighborhood Association and the neighbors, I appealed the approval of the conditional use for the 18 N. Baldwin property. On January 7, the Common Council will be voting on this matter. The concerns of the neighbors and the association regarding traffic, storm water run off, the  inappropriateness of a 4-unit building on this site with side orientation and lack of green space remain unaddressed by the developer. One fortunate outcome of the discussion about this property is that Smart Studios has agreed to upgrade the appearance of their building next to this property.

I've been asked to report on a few issues not specific to the neighborhood. First is the compromise on the controversial Section 8 issue.  Section 8 is a program that assists low income tenants in paying their rent. Tenants receive a voucher from the Community Development Authority to assist with payment of rent. The City's Community Development Authority currently helps about 1500 families, elderly and disabled renters through this program. The Common Council finally took action on this issue by agreeing that any landlord receiving city financial assistance will not be able to reject a tenant solely because they receive Section 8 assistance. A landlord who has a tenant who is in a lease that gets a new Section 8 voucher must accept the Section 8 voucher as payment for rent. Also, a landlord may not deny a tenant because they might apply for Section 8 or are on the waiting list.

Finally, another controversial issue was temporarily put to rest: smoking. The Common Council passed a rather flawed compromise that increased the number of restaurants that would have to be smoke free. The ordinance changed the definition of restaurants that must be smoke free, having alcohol sales of  less than 33% to less than 50% or less of the establishment's gross receipts. Restaurants affected by this change must be smoke-free starting January 2, 2003. On January 2, 2005, smoking will be prohibited in full service bar areas of restaurants whose sale of alcohol beverages is less than 33% of the establishment's gross receipts. On January 2, 2006, smoking will be prohibited in full service bar areas of restaurants whose sale of alcohol beverages is 33% to 50% of the establishment's gross receipts. Many of you know I moved to reconsider this. There were enough votes on the council to kill the seriously flawed compromise ordinance, but there wasn't agreement as to if the issue should go to referendum or if we should just start over.

A quick reminder that if you have input about the time that the light at the corner of Ingersoll and E. Washington starts blinking, please feel free to contact me. Also, several people on Paterson have contacted me requesting that the city consider some traffic calming measures for Paterson by Reynolds Park and Breese Stevens Field.

As always, if you have input on any of these issues, or any other issue, please feel free to contact me by phone 345-8720 or e-mail district2@council.ci.madison.wi.us.

-Alder Brenda Konkel

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