Trust The Best Scott Stewart & Kathy Bartels KBartels@StarkHomes.com SStewart@StarkHomes.com (608) 512-8487 • (608) 235-2927 adno=66784
It’s your paper! Friday, May 10, 2019 • Vol. 6, No. 3 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
Inside
Construction season begins
Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative
2019 work includes Promega, senior housing, pair of roundabouts SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Chapel Valley Church egg hunt Page 2 County board questionnaires Page 13
Business
Photo by Scott Girard
Carmen Torres-Kinerk, left, and Elizabeth Prado are the City of Fitchburg’s Neighborhood Navigators for the North Fish Hatchery Road corridor. The part-time city employee positions are funded through a grant from Dane County.
Lioness Fitness opens in Fitchburg Page 15
Sports
Acker sets discus record Page B1
Schools Shifts in OMS staff after resignation Page B11
Building a bridge
Neighborhood Navigators aim to connect people with resources SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Until mid-March, neither Carmen Torres-Kinerk nor Elizabeth Prado had heard of Joining Forces for Families or that the nonprofit was located across from Leopold Elementary School on Fitchburg’s border with Madison. Now, it’s their job to tell other people all about JFF – and any other organization or resource in the community available to help those struggling with bills, finding a job or keeping their children busy. The pair are Neighborhood Navigators for the North Fish Hatchery Road corridor, employed part-time through a Dane County grant. “We’re learning a lot,” Torres-Kinerk said. “I’m really blown away at all of the resources that are available. “I’ve never been in a community that I’ve seen that.” The county’s $19,562 in funding is related to the “Early Childhood Zone” surrounding Leopold, an area where a group of Dane County service providers helps
PRSRT STANDARD ECRWSS US POSTAGE
PAID
neighborhood families with young kids. The positions are new this year and offer 14 hours per week at $12.50 per hour to conduct outreach and connect residents to their city government. City community development planner Wade Thompson said the county has funded navigators in other areas, and it was an idea city staff had been considering for the past couple of years. When the county suggested starting the program in Fitchburg, city staff jumped at the chance. “They approached us, said, ‘We have $20,000 to pay two navigators for a year to do neighborhood work, would you guys be interested?’” Thompson said. “Of course we said yeah.” Prado is originally from Mexico, and has lived in the Fitchburg area for four years after coming to the United States 14 years ago. Torres-Kinerk moved here about a year ago after living on the west coast. So far, the pair has tried to get the word out at meetings hosted by JFF, Leopold school, City of Madison Neighborhood Resource Teams and county-run nonprofit
Centro Hispano, “trying to find a place where neighborhood residents frequent quite a bit,” Thompson said. Prado knows the importance of finding resources like afterschool programming because she has two children, one of whom attends Leopold. She also understands they need productive activities – as do rest of the kids in the neighborhood. “They can have something to do, and they need that in my neighborhood,” she said. “(I want people) to feel comfortable so they can know I’m there to help with anything that I can do for them.” Thompson, who is overseeing the program, said the two “don’t need to be the resource, they just need to know who the resource is.” He said government can be intimidating for people who don’t know what services are available or how it functions. Getting over that hurdle and increasing engagement will be key this summer, Thompson said, as the city considers plans for a “neighborhood hub” near the
Turn to Navigators/Page 12
Orange barrels, cranes and bulldozers have come out of hibernation as construction season has begun around Fitchburg. Projects planned for this year, along with the yearslong one on Verona Road, include street resurfacing on Whalen Road and in the Wildwood South neighborhood, adding a roundabout at the Nesbitt-Fitchrona intersection, new Promega facilities, senior apartments and the first housing coming to a long-planned neighborhood on the city’s far east side. The work at Terravessa, near the Lacy Road-Hwy. 14 interchange, includes construction of an elementary school, the first for the Oregon School District in the City of Fitchburg. Not too far from that development, Promega has cranes up constructing its new $190 million research and design facility, and on North Fish Hatchery Road there is already early work on a new 160-unit senior housing building. All of it adds up to plenty of action this summer, with much of the construction expected to begin in midMay or mid-June, lasting as long as mid-September. Anyone interested in updates can sign up for Notify Me notices at fitchburgwi.gov. People who live near roads that will undergo work will receive a door hanger about two weeks prior to construction.
Road resurfacing One of the most significant projects this year is Whalen Road resurfacing, along with a section that will add four-foot shoulders. That will require a detour of about four weeks, according to a Jan. 31 presentation on the project. Eleven of the 19 other projects are slated for the Wildwood South neighborhood, according to a map provided by former city public works director Lisa Coleman. The work there and on the other urban streets planned for construction will replace curb and gutter, pulverize and remove enough asphalt to create the necessary slop, adjust boxes and manhole frames and fix any defective storm sewer or utility components. Roads will remain open to traffic during construction, though if a concrete driveway is being repaired, it might be up to one week
Turn to Construction/Page 16
NOW OPEN
UNIFIED NEWSPAPER GROUP
608.441.9999 avanteproperties.com
RAVEN APARTMENTS
5116 Lacy Road, Fitchburg, WI
Studio, 1, 1+Den, 2 & 3 Bedroom Apartments adno=66731