Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution authorizes the use of up to $250,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for high-priority projects identified in the Hawthorne-Truax Neighborhood Plan. The funds are available in the 2024 Adopted Operating Budget, and the funds have been included for reauthorization in the 2025 Executive Operating Budget. The proposed resolution further authorizes a written agreement between the City and the Madison Metropolitan School District for the installation of exercise equipment at Hawthorne Elementary School ($110,000), and it authorizes the Community Development Division (CDD) to enter into Memoranda of Understanding with the Parks, Planning, and Traffic Engineering Divisions to execute projects specified in the body of the resolution ($140,000). The funds will remain within CDD's CDBG operating fund 1205 (project 71025) with individual project strings established for Planning, Parks, and Traffic Engineering projects. No additional City appropriation required.
Title
Authorizing the use of up to $250,000 of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and authorizing the Community Development Division to enter into agreements with the Madison Metropolitan School District and the Planning, Parks and Traffic Engineering Divisions to implement neighborhood improvement projects identified in the Hawthorne-Truax Neighborhood plan. (District 12)
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Background
The Community Development Division (CDD) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Committee, in cooperation with the Planning Division, sponsored a neighborhood planning effort in Hawthorne-Truax neighborhood. The Plan, adopted by the Common Council in March 2023, via RES-23-00270 (Legistar #76399), included implementation priorities designed to address specific objectives. While engaging in the planning process, neighborhood residents provided feedback on potential capital improvement projects that could be implemented with the use of CDBG funds. The CDD’s Adopted 2023 Operating Budget authorized the use of up to $250,000 of CDBG funds for the implementation of eligible projects in the Hawthorne-Truax plan which remain available.
To meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s national objectives, CDBG funds must be used to benefit low- and moderate- income persons residing in the Hawthorne-Truax planning area in order to meet the criteria for Low Mod Area Benefit “LMA” National Objective. Other federal regulations, e.g., Davis-Bacon prevailing wage and Environmental Review requirements, also apply. These funds must be expended by the end of December 2025.
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WHEREAS, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 permits the City of Madison to assist agencies in the development and implementation of innovative projects which provide benefits to strategically identified low- and moderate-income areas; and,
WHEREAS, in January 2022 the Common Council approved the CDBG Committee recommendation to select certain block groups in the Hawthorne and Truax area for focus of a Planning Division staffed Concentration Neighborhood Plan; and,
WHEREAS, the Common Council adopted the Hawthorne-Truax Neighborhood Plan as a supplement to the City of Madison Comprehensive Plan on March 21, 2023 (RES-23-00270), and prioritized a series of higher priority community identified projects for implementation to achieve the draft plan’s objectives; and,
WHEREAS, up to $250,000 in federal CDBG funds are authorized in the Community Development Division’s Adopted 2023 Operating Budget to implement identified eligible projects in the Hawthorne-Truax Neighborhood Plan and that authorization is carried over for use in 2024; and,
WHEREAS, the Community Development Division's CDBG Unit staff have reviewed these proposals and found them to be consistent with their Program Goals and Priorities and recommend their completion in order to promote further progress under the adopted neighborhood plan; and,
WHEREAS, the CDBG Committee also reviewed the specific funding recommendations from the Hawthorne-Truax Neighborhood Plan and recommended their adoption, in order to promote further progress under the adopted plan; and,
WHEREAS, the Board of Park Commissioners supports the implementation of the proposed projects in the interest of improving park use and access.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council approves the provision of up to $250,000 in federal CDBG grant funds for the particular projects and in the amounts identified below:
• Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) and City Planning Division (PL): up to $110,000 (MMSD) for exercise equipment stations and public art along a fitness track around the perimeter of Hawthorne Elementary School, which is parkland that is open to the surrounding Hawthorne and Truax neighborhoods;
• City Parks Division: up to $100,000 for the improvement of off-road bike facilities and related items such as pathways at Carpenter-Ridgeway Park to encourage youth recreation;
• City Planning Division: up to $10,000 for sound art and related improvements to enhance users’ experience in the pedestrian tunnel under East Washington Avenue at Wright Street;
• City Traffic Engineering and Planning Divisions: up to $25,000 for installation of murals and LED lights to beautify and brighten the space under STH 30 along the Marsh View Path improving users’ experience;
• City Traffic Engineering Division: up to $5,000 to replace LED lights at a number of locations in the Hawthorne Neighborhood; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Common Council authorizes the Mayor and City Clerk to enter into a written agreement with the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) for the purpose of implementing the approved project at Hawthorne Elementary School described above by December 31, 2025; and,
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Common Council authorizes the Community Development Division (CDD) to enter into Memorandum of Understanding agreements with the Parks, Planning and Traffic Engineering Divisions for purposes of implementing the other approved projects described above by December 31, 2025.