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It’s your paper! Friday, October 9, 2020 • Vol. 7, No. 8 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
City of Fitchburg
Inside
Alders agree to relocate polling location Verona Road location only valid for November election
To Illinois, rain or shine Page 2
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
Sports
Photos by Emilie Heidemann
Elena Wimer, 6, and her little brother, Malcolm, 3, enjoy some autumn doughnuts.
A day at the market
Crusaders cruise back to state Page 12
Schools School taxes likely on the rise for 2020-21 Page 15 5 students receive National Merit Semifinalist honors Page 16
T
he Fitchburg Farmers Market is entering its final month. That was likely evidenced by the Halloween attire, pumpkins and fall vegetables lining the tables underneath the Agora Pavilion Thursday, Oct. 1. Patrons wearing masks harvested their bounties while kids ran around eating doughnuts and cookies. One vendor sold Halloween-themed yarn. Email Emilie Heidemann at emilie. heidemann@wcinet.com or follow her on Twitter at @HeidemannEmilie.
Inside More photos from the farmers market. Page 11
Business
Third time’s the charm. After bringing up relocating the District 1 polling place at every Common Council meeting since late August, alders changed the polling location for the Nov. 3 presidential election at their Tuesday, Sept. 22, meeting. It will now be at the site of Little John’s pay-what-you-can restaurant, currently the empty A-1 Furniture store at 5302 Verona Road. District 1 Alds. Dorothy Krause and Joe Maldonado have been insistent on relocating the district’s polling place from its current location at Fire Station No. 1 on Marketplace Drive, which is outside of the district and requires residents to cross one or two busy thoroughfares to get there. “We have been proactive, and our partners have been proactive – let’s honor the work that they’ve put in to be able to make this happen,” Maldonado said. “Timing isn’t an excuse if we’ve been the reason that there’s been a delay.” Alders voted 6-2 to approve the new polling location. Alds. Sarah Schroeder (Dist. 3) and Tom Clauder (D-4) voted against, citing issues like Little John’s not having the lease signed by the time of the vote, and not having internet currently working in the building. While Little John’s representative Adam Haen reassured alders that the lease would be signed within the week and internet service would be running within two, neither felt comfortable approving the move. The majority of the other alders all spoke
Turn to Election/Page 9
Peppers that would pack a punch to any dish showcase radiant reds, greens and oranges.
Mayor’s budget: Little wiggle room Fitchburg Farms, LLC starts e-commerce store Page 19
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
The City of Fitchburg had the largest percentage growth of any municipality in Dane County last year, but even that won’t provide much flexibility in the 2021
operating budget. That tight budget is partially a result of increased debt taken on by the city for large construction projects. The two biggest, Fish Hatchery Road and McKee Road, eats up a large portion of the levy increase the city can take advantage of, mayor Aaron Richardson wrote in the introductory letter to the annual mayor’s budget, which he released Sept. 21. Richardson’s proposed 2021 operating budget, which alders will review over the next several weeks,
lists five commitments he considers the most important and pushes back seven projects alders had moved up over the summer in the city’s capital improvement plan. He wrote that the city doesn’t have the capacity to fund them. The resulting mayor’s budget would provide funding for only a fraction of department requests for staffing for a second year in a row. In his letter, Richardson notes the upcoming challenges the city
Turn to Budget/Page 9
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
The building set to house Little John’s pay-what-you-can restaurant and formerly an A-1 Furniture store, will be the polling location for the City of Fitchburg’s District 1. The Common Council approved the relocation of the polling place at its Tuesday, Sept. 22 meeting, away from the previous Fire Station No. 1 location on Marketplace Drive. 151
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