1. The petition for the possible governance transition has been delivered to the Probate Judge
James Ross, Co-chair of Madison Forward, announced during public comments that the petition was delivered to the Madison County Probate Judge on January 4. The Probate Judge has 15 days to validate the petition signatures before submitting the petition to Mayor Finley. If at least 900 signatures are validated, the city will have 90 days to hold a special election. Madison citizens will then cast their votes to decide whether Madison remains under a mayor-council form of government or if it transitions to a council-manager form of government.
Mayor Finley said that the Madison County Probate Judge is also verifying Limestone County signatures and that two signatures have been thrown out already because they were not legible.
To learn more about this issue, you may visit I Vote Madison's Governance Transition webpage. It is likely a special election will be held, so I Vote Madison is currently planning an in-person, citizen's debate on this issue.
2. Resolutions were passed to appropriate money from the city to grant 5 local nonprofit organizations with funds for the 2023 fiscal year
All were paid from the city's general operating account. View Madison Visionary Partners' presentation to Council by Executive Director Melanie Thorton in the video below.
Madison Visionary Partners, $50,000
Madison Chamber of Commerce, $75,000
KTECH (a workforce initiative of the Kids to Love Foundation), $5,000
3. Mayor Finley announced that an arrest(s) had been made in the recent car break-ins within Madison neighborhoods
If you have used the NextDoor app in recent weeks, you probably have seen multiple posts from residents reporting car break-ins or attempted break-ins. Many of these were caught on video via residents' home security videos. Mayor Finley announced that the police department has made arrest(s) in relation to these break-ins.
The mayor's comments on this, the resolutions to grant money to nonprofits, and the governance transition petition are in the video below.
4. There are currently several vacancies on city boards
Councilperson Denzine announced that there are vacancies on the Madison Citizens Police Advisory Committee and other boards. She encouraged residents to apply for these positions as a way to be more involved and serve their community. Learn about the various city boards and apply to serve here.
5. A bid in the amount of $448, 257 was awarded for repairs to the Madison Boulevard bridge over Bradford Creek
Council passed Resolution 2023-036-R to award Miller & Miller a $448, 257 contract to repair the bridge over Bradford Creek on Madison Boulevard. You may view the documents related to this bid in the agenda packet. This resolution is item "F" under "Engineering."