County

TOWN OF MIDDLETON–The Town of Middleton will not need to draw on its cash reserves to finish the 2020 budget year, Treasurer Megan Hughes told the town board Monday night.

The 2020 budget approved in late 2019, allocated $270,981 from cash reserves “to backfill” an income deficit caused by projected expenses exceeding revenue, said then Town Administrator Greg DiMicelli at the time.

Hughes reported on finances only through Nov. 30 so, December expenses and revenue still have to be totaled, and the audit won’t begin until February. However, it appears that trend of using cash reserves to balance the budget won’t occur in 2019, Hughes said.

“We won’t be touching our reserves this year (2019) because we didn’t have some the expenses we expected,” she added.

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Common Council approved hiring for a vacant police detective position but rejected moving forward with a referendum in the April 2021 election to raise the city’s levy limit to fund the officer and other city employees’ positions. The hire comes after the police department lost funding from the school district’s School Resource Officer (SRO) program in the 2020-21 school year. The program, which embeds officers at both the middle and high school splitting the personnel cost evenly between the district and city, has been suspended while the district reviews and decides whether or not to continue the program.

With the lack of funds from the school district, the vacant detective position can be filled using personnel savings from that position and another which have remained vacant for several months.

DANE COUNTY–Citing the need for county government to continue its coordination of the community’s response to and eventual recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Parisi announced today he is running for re-election as County Executive.

“Covid-19 has tested us, tearing at the very fabric of our physical, emotional and economic well- being,” Parisi said. “The challenges before us from this pandemic are like none we have faced in our lifetime. They also present great opportunities to do what we do best in Dane County–bring people together, get work done, and deliver tangible results. That’s how we built from scratch mental health teams for Dane County schools, started cleaning our lakes by ‘sucking the muck,’ from miles of waterways, helped young people struggling with poverty earn drivers’ licenses, and have county government on the verge of being 100 percent renewable thanks to our efforts at increasing clean, green energy production.”

WISCONSIN–A petition filed Nov. 18 by a Cross Plains law firm, along with a $3 million wire transfer, has prompted a recount in Dane County, where Democrat Joe Biden defeated Republican Donald Trump by more than three to one in the preliminary vote tally. The filing was followed by a Homeric meeting–it stretched for more than five hours–of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, at the end of which the commission, which was itself the target of an allegation in the petition, voted to proceed with the recount.

MIDDLETON–The City of Middleton Plan Commission reviewed new developments in the planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system by Madison’s Metro transit which could tie into existing Middleton routes. The plan commission also reviewed the latest changes made to the draft document for the comprehensive plan, expected to be adopted by the council by the end of the year.

City Planner and Zoning Administrator Mark Opitz said the city has a long relationship with Metro Transit and he meets regularly with the staff. Opitz is working with Metro to position the city to benefit from the system as much as possible.

He noted Metro Transit is interested in routing an alternate number of BRT busses west on University Avenue to a currently undesignated place in Middleton. The planned route currently travels south on Midvale Boulevard before cutting west on Mineral Point Road to slightly west of West Towne Mall.

DANE COUNTY–In response to a substantial, sustained growth in new COVID-19 infections throughout Dane County, Public Health Madison & Dane County (PHMDC) is issuing Emergency Order #10, which prohibits indoor gatherings of any size. Outdoor gatherings are permitted with 10 people or less, with physical distancing. The order goes into effect on Nov. 18 at 12:01 a.m.

“This virus does not spread on its own. We spread it. Every gathering–no matter the size–is an opportunity for disease spread and prolongs the pandemic,” said Janel Heinrich, Director of PHMDC. “We are hopeful that with the community’s cooperation, we can bring our numbers down and avoid more hospitalizations and deaths.”

MADISON–Gov. Tony Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes today announced a series of People's Budget virtual listening sessions as the state begins the 2021-2023 state budget process. Gov. Evers and Lt. Gov. Barnes will host four virtual, issue-based budget listening sessions to hear directly from families and workers about the issues affecting Wisconsin. The first virtual listening session will occur on Nov. 17, at 6 p.m. and will focus on healthcare and public health in Wisconsin. 

MIDDLETON–The Airport Master Plan Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for Nov. 19 is postponed allowing more time for the completion and review of drafts of the environmental overview and alternatives analysis components of the airport master plan. The city will announce the rescheduled meeting date in the near future.

City Council Expands MERL Funding

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Common Council voted to triple the amount of funding for the city’s low interest loan program to assist businesses struggling due to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The council approved the $200,000 increase in response to a surge in the number of applicants. 

The council also approved an agreement to receive a grant to reimburse expenses for marketing and promotion for businesses related to the pandemic.

The program titled Middleton Economic Relief Loan or MERL was established in collaboration with Middleton Area Development Corporation (MADC). Both the city and MADC have now committed $300,000 to the program. The city’s portion will be covered by a State Trust Fund Loan program.

City Administrator Mike Davis said the number of applications is now up to 20, which equates to about $500,000 in loan requests.

MADISON–In a statewide address on Tuesday night, Gov. Tony Evers asked Wisconsin residents to unify against COVID-19 before issuing Executive order #94, advising people to stay home.

Evers gave statistics on COVID-19 infections in the state and on the day of the address, 7,000 new cases were reported about with 66 deaths and 291 hospitalizations. At this time nearly 2,500 people in the state have died from the virus, and with current infection rates, Evers said that number could double by Jan. 1, 2021 if nothing is done He also noted that it took seven months to reach the first 100,000 infections, but only 36 days to double that number to 200,000. Evers said at this rate, it will only take 20 days to add an additional 100,000 cases.

In his address he urged Wisconsinites to stay home, even though the holidays are approaching, “We must get back to the basics of fighting this virus just like we did last spring, and it starts at home.