UPDATED—MAJOR MEETING 8.11.20 on millions of dollars of future capital spending!
The council is in the final phase of the 10 year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) process, and the final vote will take place during the City Council Meeting on August 11 at 7:30 p.m. The council will vote on amendments submitted by alders, followed by adoption of the plan.
This is an important meeting. There are several fantastic amendments related to community development, including the North Fish Hatchery Community Hub and Fitchburg Teen Center. Please read about them below and make your voice heard. Your opinion influences the decision of the council!
Options for submitting feedback or participating
Attend the 8.11 council meeting at 7:30 pm and give a 3 minute testimony telling the council where you stand. Come to city hall (5520 Lacy Road), go to council chambers (end of the hallway on the left), fill out the form (get one at the back of the room), and wait for your turn to speak for 3 minutes. Can’t attend in person? I can get you a zoom link to testify on video. Email me to ask for a link.
Send feedback and specify that you want it read at the 8.11 meeting to Council&Mayor@fitchburgwi.gov
Contact your alders by phone or email. Find their contact information here. Don’t know which district you live in? Check here.
Watch the council meetings live at the Fitchburg City website or watch the YouTube video posted the day following the meeting.
What is the CIP?
The CIP is a document that lays out a 10 year plan for the major capital projects that will be undertaken by the city, which helps with long term budget planning. By capital, we mean physical buildings, vehicles, road repairs, equipment and the like, which are significant expenses to the city. It does not represent everything encompassed by the city budget. The projects in the first five years of the document are more solid, the last five years are more theoretical. You can read the full CIP document as originally proposed here. Please note that this will be amended at the meeting on 8.11.
What is happening on August 11?
August 11 is the final meeting in the process; the council will vote yes or no on amendments and then adopt the CIP.
Notably, Alders Arata-Fratta and Maldonado submitted some new community development projects to the CIP (see below) that are well worth your time to read about, and I hope you will send feedback to the council. Additionally, I submitted a new project related to hybrid and electric vehicles. The remainder of the amendments make changes to existing CIP projects that were included in the original document.
You can see the full document with all amendments here. I’ve highlighted several key amendments below.
Community development amendments
The following two projects, the North Fish Hatchery Community Hub and the Fitchburg Teen Center, are fantastic for the people in Fitchburg. The third project listed here is an important change to an amendment that is needed to provide proper funding for the hub and teen center. Alders Arata-Fratta and Maldonado have submitted these projects, and I’m thrilled to support them.
Why are they fantastic? Alder Maldonado laid it out perfectly.
The Hub and The Fitchburg Teen Center would be located in neighborhoods that have high numbers of young people, working families, and a lack of opportunities for quality out of school time.
Out of School Time opportunities are critical for providing safe spaces for youth, developing leadership, improving academic success, and reducing risk factors such as justice system involvement and mental health issues.
Community Centers and opportunities for youth make our neighborhoods and our community safer
Our City investments in public safety dwarf our investments in human services. Investing in "root causes" such as youth reduces the financial and social costs of enforcement and incarceration.
I encourage you to read these descriptions and if you agree that this is great for the city, register your support for ALL of these projects.
1. North Fish Hatchery Community Hub (2 amendments)
PASSED (8-0 Phase 1 and 7-1 Phase 2)
This is a new CIP project to build a hub in the Nine Springs Gold Course area, which will include a community center, recreation facility, and park space.
Since the city owned Golf Course is considered a park, even though there is little access to it for the majority of residents, the city had never invested in appropriate park space for these residents, not even a playground or picnic shelter. And so this area significantly lacks recreational opportunities. This is a fantastic project that will remedy the unacceptable lack of resources in this area of town. Read the full amendment and see concept drawings.
2. Fitchburg Teen Center
PASSED 5-3
This is a new CIP project to purchase and remodel a vacant building to be a future teen center that would service the Jamestown neighborhood primarily, along with other parts of Fitchburg and Madison. The Fitchburg Area Teen Center would be owned by the City of Fitchburg and operated by a yet to be named youth serving non profit organization, and include space for other organizations to provide wrap around services such as job training, financial literacy, mental health services, and community meeting rooms. Read the full amendment.
3. #2141 Police Facility
PASSED 5-3
This amendment changes the project from a 75,000 square feet stand-alone Police Department building with a cost of $35 million to a 50,000 square feet expansion of the current City Hall for $25 million. Read the full amendment.
Importantly, this $10 million reduction of the budget will free up resources to fund two community projects, the North Fish Hatchery Road Community Hub and Fitchburg Teen Center (see above). I encourage you to register your support of this amendment along with the two community projects.
Other notable amendments
4. Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Upgrades and Related Equipment
PASSED 8-0
This is a new CIP project that I proposed to address climate change. The city purchases many cars for various purposes, and this fund is intended to provide additional capital funding to facilitate the purchase of a hybrid or electric vehicles. This is in line with Fitchburg’s commitment to address climate change, and will save the city money in the long run through gas savings. Capital expenses come from a different part of the budget than gas, and so this fund creates an easy way for departments to choose to spend more money up front to save money in the long run. Read the full amendment.
5. #4726 - Storm Sewer on Florann Drive and Lyman Lane
PASSED 8-0 + MOVED TO 2022
This amendment moves this project earlier. The project addresses a storm water issue that leads to dangerous buildup of ice over the winter. Read the full amendment.
6. Lacy/Seminole intersection projects (3 amendments)
Intersection PASSED 5-4 (design in 2021 and construction in 2022)
Storm Ponds PASSED 8-0 (design in 2021 and construction in 2022)
Storm Sewer PASSED 8-0 (design in 2022 and construction in 2023)
These three amendments concern the problematic Lacy Road and Seminole Highway intersection, moving the projects from 2025 to 2021. #3495 concerns the building of the intersection. #4723 and #4724 are two storm water projects in this area that need to be completed along with the construction of the new road. Read the full amendment.
For context, this intersection is within the Tax Incremental District #9 and the funding if financed by the TID. The reason the projects were slated for 2025 was due to financing concerns. For more info on this TID, you can read the recent annual report.
7. And the rest
The remaining amendments are as follows:
#1040 – Town of Madison FAILED 4-5
#1713 – Fitchburg Drone Program PASSED 8-0
#4717 - Curry Court Flooding FAILED 2-6
#4719 – Upsize Schumann Drive Storm Sewer PASSED 8-0
#6212 - McKee Farms Park Improvement FAILED 3-5
I hope to hear your opinion on these important projects. Your voice is such an important part of this process. Make your voice heard!