What happened with the
parking restrictions on Castle Place?
Last February a constituent
inquired about why there were parking restrictions on one side of the street
during the day. The Traffic
Engineer responded by removing parking on one side of the street at all times
of the day. The Traffic Engineer
did so because the street was 27 1/2 feet wide instead of the 28-32 feet
required by the Fire Department’s large vehicles. The Common Council passed a resolution
requiring the Traffic Engineer to restore the original parking
restrictions. Next summer the
street is due to be reconstructed and it should be widened at that time;
meanwhile, residents can resume parking on the street overnight.
What is going on with the
18 N. Baldwin St. development proposal?
The neighborhood is stuck
between a rock and a hard place.
While most people agree that the lot is too small for development, the
residents will have trouble getting in and out of their driveway, storm water run
off is a concern and it doesn't seem fair to use this building as a buffer
between E. Washington Ave and the neighborhood, the developer is determined to
go forward, either with the plans that have been discussed or with a 2 flat
with two three-bedroom apartments.
The project will be back at the plan commission sometime in October.
The City has both an
operating and a capital budget.
The capital budget is currently available and there will be a public
hearing at the Board of Estimates on October 7th with a final hearing in front
of the council on November 12.
The Operating Budget will be
available on Octoher 1. There will
be budget hearings at the Board of Estimates on October 7-9 with a public
hearing on October 15 before the council.
On October 28 decision making will be done by the Board of Estimates and
a second public hearing will be held before the council on November 5 with a
final vote on November 12.
For more information on the
budget see http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/comp/BudgetIndex.htm
The city is getting ready to
have a contractor give us a quotation on the shielding wall for the
generator. During the
preparations, they discovered a drainage manhole just south of the wellhouse
that is right in the way of the intended wall. Due to this manhole, they will
be forced to put an 8 foot gap in the wall between the south wall of the well
house and the start of the new wall. The brick wall will still match the existing
well house. They will inspect the
wall after it is constructed to see if it adequately screens the generator from
view. If it doesn't we could fill the gap in with a cedar fence. If there are problems with people
sleeping in the park, they would secure the area with some black chain link
fence if this becomes a big problem.
This is one of those issues
that alders have little or no control over. M&E hires Hooper Construction
to "trim" trees that are in the way of the power lines. According to
Jim Morgan in the Parks Department, which is responsible for forestry in the
city of Madison, MG&E, by law, is able to prune public trees that could
cause problems with their distribution lines and interrupt vital electrical
services to homes, hospitals, or businesses. MG&E does fund the planting of replacement trees in
Madison. This money is used to
replant more appropriate tree varieties that either grow lower or are better
shaped to fit around power lines.
Placing new lines underground
is a good option for preventing the heavy trimming that utility companies do to
maintain their power lines. MG&E's forester regularly attends the City of
Madison's Tree Board and MG&E is aware of public concerns about tree
trimming.
A second kind of trimming
also went on this summer by the City of Madison. According to the department, they did some "hot
spotting" to address numerous low limb situations that adversely affected
pedestrian and/or vehicular clearance problems. Typically, the main reasons for pruning ornamental and shade
trees include public safety, health and aesthetics. Pruning for safety involves removing branches that could
fall and cause injury or property damage, trimming branches that interfere with
sight lines along busy streets or driveways or hide traffic signs and removing
limbs that bump against buses, fire trucks and garbage trucks and damage paint,
emergency lights and radio equipment on top. Pruning for health involves removing diseased or
insect-infested wood, thinning the crowns to increase airflow and reduce some
pest problems, and removing crossing and rubbing branches. Removing storm
damaged limbs encourages wound closure.
Pruning for aesthetics involves improving the natural form and character
of the trees.
As always, if you have any
questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact me at
district2@council.ci.madison.wi.us or 345-8720. If you have issues, you'd like me to write about, please
submit your questions for future editions.
-Alder Brenda Konkel
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