Monday, October 19, 2009

Request for Assistance

Hi, I have received a request for neighbors to assist with some gardening around a Village Triangle. Please see the information below and if you can help, I am sure they would love to have you!!

Hello Maple Bluff Neighbors,

I know how much we all enjoy and appreciate the beautiful plantings throughout the Village. With this being said, we're looking for some volunteers to help us save the Magdeline & McBride Triangle which was planted in 1993. This triangle has several thousands of dollars of plant material as well as hours and hours of love and hard work. While we're very thankful for the new roads and improved infrastructure that will be taking place in 2010, it will negatively impact the triangle during this upgrade. With some help from our friends and neighbors, we can save the planting and replant the triangle next spring!

A group of Village residents will be working to dig up and containerize the plant material, so that it can be saved over the winter and replanted after the improvements are completed. Your help will be greatly appreciated!

Please join us on *Monday, October 26, 2009, from 9A until 1P.

Please bring any containers that you can spare.

Please e-mail or call to confirm that you can help!
Cynthia Johnson, cynthiabjohnson@gmail.com, 230-5080
or
Elizabeth Erickson, RErick825@aol.com, 241-8618

*weather permiting...The alternative date is Monday, November 2, 2009, from 9A until 1P

Thank you and we appreciate your help!
Cynthia & Elizabeth

Meetings Tonight

Good Morning.

There are a couple village meetings tonight.

Public Works Committee will meet starting at 5pm. The agenda will mostly involve discussion and updates on the 2010 infrastructure projects and storm water projects near the MBCC.

At 6:30 tonight, there will be a special meeting of the Village Board. The Village Board will be in closed session working on a negotiation regarding the storm water projects.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

News & Info (Same as Email!!)

Good Evening!!!

It has been many weeks since I have sent email correspondence. There have been a few postings on the Blog about meetings the past couple weeks, but no emails. But, dont take the lack of emails to indicate that nothing has been happening around the Village!! There has been alot taking place, so let me provide a few snippets about these items. Please also note below 2 additional articles; one from the Boy Scouts regarding their Wreath Sale and the other from UW Habitat for Humanity doing a fundraising Rake A Thon.

CONTENTS

*Tim's Update:
Fire Department Open House
Meetings next week
H & H;
2010 Infrastructure;
Power line UnderGrounding Project;
MBCC StormWater Project;
New Home Construction;
Budget
*Boy Scout Wreath Sale
*UW Habitat for Humanity Rake a Thon

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Tim's Updates:

Dont forget the Fire Department Open House on Sunday, Oct 11th!!

Meetings Next week:

Tuesday Oct 13th
Building Board 5:15p
Village Board 7:30p

H & H: Unfortunately, the Hoses & Handcuffs Golf outing for this year had to be cancelled due to low registrations. Many people expressed an interest in playing, but that never showed up in registrations. The good fortune in this cancellation is that the date of the event, was horrifically cold, wet, and windy. Though there has been some discussion of a reschedule for spring, there is equal discussion on letting the event rest for a year or two. Regardless, we would like to express our gratitude to Kristen Carreira and Michael Browne for their coordination of the event this year. We also want to thank those residents who made donations and were kind enough to let us keep those donations even though the event was cancelled. Thanks for your thoughtfullness!!

2010 Infrastructure:
PLANS: The Village Engineer has completed construction plans and has developed new cost estimates based on those plans. We will be setting another Village meeting to be held in an Open House format to allow residents to come in and review the plans, ask questions and make any final suggestions. During our neighborhood meetings, we took the feedback we were given and incorporated what we could. It is still not too late to give additional comments or make suggestions. Large scale ideas may not be feasible but some suggestions are still possible to implement. We are looking to hold this meeting in early November. The date time will be determined soon and we will begin to advertise immediately.

FINANCING: The Finance Committee has reviewed several financing options and we continue to seek additional proposals and structures for the debt service for these projects. As an aside, I have heard several comments regarding the timing of these projects in the challenging financial/economic times. Valid comments. There are however, comparable rationales to suggest that the current economic conditions provide for an opportune bidding environment. In addition, the long term stability of our infrastructure pushes us to continue with these projects.
Power Line Undergrounding Project: Many of you who live on Farwell are well aware of the undegrounding project. That is still being planned for these projects as well. There will be an assessment hearing that will be set up soon. As this hearing may establish a policy about how the Village will approach these undergrounding projects in the future, the entire Village will be notified about this hearing and be given opportunity to be heard.


MBCC StormWater Project: Work on this part of the project for next year continues. The Village Board considered an agreement with the City of Madison at their meeting last month, however they wanted a minor language change so that agreement will be brought back again at their meeting next week (Oct 13th). The Village is still awaiting a counter proposal from the MBCC regarding their involvement; we anticipate receiving that proposal yet this week.
You may already see some work beginning. This includes the placement of stakes to outline the location of the sediment retention pond between the tennis courts of the Village and MBCC. Dont lose perspective that this will be a fairly large retention area (1.25 acres) so when you see the stakes, you get a sense of how large that area will encumber. Please provide feedback about the placement of those stakes.
Other work will include the removal of trees and shrubbery around the MBCC Tennis Court area as well as the larger trees in the area of the pond. We are still intending to bid this project in conjunction with our street projects, though they will be separate bid projects.

New Home Proposal- Many neighbors who live in the Kensington Drive/Roxbury area are aware of a new home proposal for the open lot at that intersection. That project will be before the Village Building Board next Tuesday Oct 13. That meeting begins at 5:15pm

Budget: The Village Budget is still being developed. The Finance Committee and Village Board directed staff to work towards developing a neutral operational budget change for this next year. To that end, staff have also been placed on limits to discretionary spending. Staff wages will be frozen for this next year except for those pre-determined by bargaining agreements/union contract. The Capital Equipment Budget will be fixed again this year but not fully expended. Overall budget increase will ideally be limited to 2%. The Finance Committee will be meeting again on Monday October 26th to review the next draft of the budget.


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Boy Scout Wreath Sale

Troop 5 Maple Bluff is again holding its annual rope and wreath sale. You should have received the Troop's mailing recently for this important sale/fundraiser.
The Troop is selling 25 foot balsam ropes, as well as balsam, pine cone decorated wreaths in a variety of sizes.
The quality of the products is excellent and the prices are competitive. Best of all, the boy scouts will deliver the ropes and wreaths to your door on Saturday, November 21, just in time for the holidays.
Proceeds will support the Maple Bluff boy scout troop's activities.
If you did not receive the Troop's mailing, or have any questions about the sale, please call Kim or Blaine Renfert at 241-3159.
Thank you for your support!

Troop #5 Maple Bluff



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UW Madison Habitat for Humanity RAKE-A-THON (See attached Flyer)

Thanks for your help in getting the word out about our fall fundraiser! We've had many families from Maple Bluff participate in the past and we've had lots of success. This year's Rake-a-thon will be held over three days from Nov. 6-8, and all donations will help us build our first green, LEED-certified house in Madison ever to be built by Habitat for Humanity. We're looking forward to a great year!
I've attached our flyer with all the details and contact information for people to sign up. If you have any questions or further suggestions on how to spread the word, please let me know!
Thanks again!Bridget RobyUW-Madison Habitat for Humanity
Rake-a-thon Coordinator
(651) 249-4636