Fourth Quarter 2024

Hello Friends,

It’s hard to believe that we are now in the last quarter of 2024. The days are flying by and it’s so nice to see cooler temperatures. Your City has been very busy so let’s get to it starting with Mayor Finley’s message to our citizens regarding the condition of Dublin Park and Palner Park:

Parks & Recreation Concerns Community members, Our community has raised concerns regarding deteriorating conditions at our Parks and Recreation facilities and fields. As Mayor, our priority to provide quality services to our residents is paramount. After speaking with our Director of Recreation, we wanted to address these concerns.    First, we take full responsibility for the maintenance of our parks, and we fully agree our normal high-maintenance conditions are currently not up to par. Council has budgeted money that we will start using to improve all bathrooms at Palmer Park, add parking up at the Westco complex, and multiple other park projects. You should expect any complex we have to be maintained properly, and we have addressed this with our team.    Secondly, our entire Senior Center and Recreation management staff are in the final stages of opening our Madison Community Center, which will also house our Senior Center. This project, along with our Sunshine Oaks complex off Mose Chapel and our Town Madison Complex in Town Madison have added over 60,000 square feet of buildings and 90 acres of additional recreation space. Our Recreation team has created a mobile app to connect our community to these fantastic additions and the additional programs they will offer.  I can’t wait to unveil this app at next Thursday’s Celebrate Madison event at Toyota Field.     Lastly, while we (the City) take full responsibility for field and park maintenance, we also value the partnerships with volunteer organizations to maximize our quality of life. Please get involved in any way you can to positively impact the Madison community we call home.    Thank you and have a fantastic weekend. Sincerely, Mayor Paul Finley

Mayor Finley Updates

October 1st to 13th

City of Madison Team,

Our FY25 fiscal year has started with a bang as we have already enjoyed a great first two weeks of October. Here are just a few of the highlights.

• The City Council passed our FY25 budget, and our team is well on their way to putting action behind numbers. While there are still “next steps” to work through with the Evergreen Salary Plan, our Council again for the 8^th straight year did not pass along the 4.75% BC/BS insurance increase to our employees. For individuals, their premium stayed at $0 per month, while the city pays the additional $637/month ($7,644/year). The family premium stayed at $180/month or $2,160/year while the city pays the additional $1,193/month ($14,316/year). As someone who has had to use this a couple of times this year, I am so appreciative of this benefit.
• We held our Annual Madison Street Festival Saturday October 5^th with beautiful weather and a large crowd. Thank you to all our departments and employees who supported the planning and operation needs for its success.
• We held the Bob Jones Homecoming parade Thursday. Thanks to our Madison Police, Public Works, Madison Fire, Recreation, and multiple others for helping to keep this event safe. While it is a ton of work this is one of the events that helps to keep our small town feel.
• Thursday was also the kickoff of the Fall 2024 session of Madison’s Civic Awareness Academy with another full class. This six-week program is designed to give residents an in-depth look at the inner working of our city government, offering a behind-the-scenes view of the essential services that keep Madison running smoothly. Continued thanks to Traci Gillespie for her work in helping to make this class successful for all.
• We received the CO for our Madison Community Center and multiple departments are deep in the middle of moving in. It is truly a beautiful facility, and we are on track for our soft opening 10-23.
• Our Browns Ferry culvert project is underway, allowing us to improve the safety of a bridge crossing on a soon-to-be even more heavily travelled road.
• Revenue shared that sales tax collected in September 2024 increased by 0.19% compared to the amount collected in September 2023. The YTD FY24 collections increased by 3.34% compared to the FY23 YTD collections.
• Our Court team shared that they opened 406 cases, closed 284 cases, and issued 41 warrants during the two weeks.
• IT received 159 work orders during the two weeks, as well as multiple calls and in-person requests.
• IT worked with the Building Department setting up a new credit card machine.  This machine will enable the Building department to accept American Express and allow customers to make eCheck payments in the online building portal.
• Our Public Works team laid 120’ of pipe and formed two box bottoms on the Oakland Spring Branch Greenway Extension, finished the pond and slope work at the Palmer Parking lot, and continued hydroseeding and the parking lot build at Sunshine Oaks.
• Our Madison Police responded to 2635 calls for service, made 108 arrests, issued 201 citations, and gave 210 warnings during the two weeks.
• Our Building team shared that they created 81 permits, issued 87 permits, and the inspection division performed 236 inspections this week.
• Code Enforcement performed 23 inspections/re-inspections, created 9 new cases, and removed 32 signs out of the right of way.
• Our Fire Marshall’s office has permitted 890 new construction inspections and 163 new build-out constructions in 2024.
• Madison Fire and Rescue responded to 248 incidents, 206 of which were EMS related during the two weeks.

As with most of you I have also watched the weather events in Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina transpire. I simply can’t imagine what these communities are going through. Madison is supporting rescue efforts in Florida with six Madison Fire and Rescue members on the AL Task Force 3 team. Please keep our team members and all impacted by these storms in your thoughts.

Madison, Alabama is an incredible town and your efforts supporting our mission statement are greatly appreciated. Let’s enjoy another fantastic week.

Respectfully,

Mayor Finley

October 13th to 20th

City of Madison Team,

Happy Sunday evening! I hope everyone enjoyed this fantastic weather throughout the weekend.

Our team was busy this week, here are just a few of the highlights.

• Our Recreation and Senior Center teams continue moving into our new Madison Community Center.
• Planning staff attended the annual State Planning Conference this week and gave a presentation on the creation of Town Madison.
• The draft Comprehensive Plan has been sent to the City’s Advisory Committee for review.  Public meetings on the draft will be scheduled soon.
• Madison Blvd resurfacing continues this week. When possible, lane closures are limited to overnight hours, but as nighttime temps get cooler, they may have to switch to daytime. Occasionally lane closures will carry over from night to night. 
• Utility relocation continues at the Huntsville-Brownsferry/Burgreen roundabout project. Once all utilities are relocated, construction can begin, and the intersection will be closed. The detour route will be Holliday Blvd to Hwy 72 or Bowers Road to Powell to Burgeen.
• Bid advertising is under way for the new traffic signal at the Burgreen/Hardiman intersection. We will open the bids October 30.
• Our Facilities and Grounds team stayed busy fixing plumbing issues at Fire Station 4 and Dublin Park, installing power for a new curtain divider at the Town Madison Wellness Center, and fixing door problems at the Library and Fire Station 1, in addition to completing 36 other work orders.
• Our Community Risk Reduction team worked the inflatable house at Heritage Elementary.
• Madison Fire and Rescue responded to 119 incidents, 89 of which were EMS related.
• Madison Police shared that they responded to 1222 calls for service, made 31 arrests, gave 50 citations, and issued 53 warnings during the week.
• IT received 94 work orders this week, as well as multiple calls and in-person requests.
• Our Dublin outdoor pool air structure “bubble” was installed last week.
• We had over 800 visits to Dublin and our Wellness center last week and completed 169 MARS trips.
• Our Court team shared that they opened 138 cases, closed 172 cases, and issued 105 warrants during the week.
• Our Building team shared that they created 94 permits, issued 99 permits, and the inspection team performed 280 inspections during the week.
• Code Enforcement performed 20 inspections/re-inspections, created 11 new cases, and removed 14 signs out of the right of way.

As I close, I will ask everyone to keep our crossing guard Terri Perdue in your thoughts and prayers. She has multiple serious injuries from the accident Friday morning and recovery will take time. She is currently in Huntsville Hospital.

Thursday night we Celebrate Madison at Toyota Field. It is always an honor to present the State of our City and I know you are as proud of our Madison Community as I am.

Enjoy your week!

Respectfully,

Mayor Finley

In Closing

As always, I will be updating this blog every couple of weeks. Please check back during the the third quarter of 2024 for new information. You can also provide your email address in the box below for a subscription and be notified when the blog is updated  I can be reached at Email Maura or 256.337.2408. Thank you again for your continued support!