I’m always here I’M STILL HERE!for you! 26 years in VASD Housing Market
It’s your paper! Friday, August 14, 2020 • Vol. 7, No. 6 • Fitchburg, WI • ConnectFitchburg.com • $1
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Kathy Bartels 608-235-2927
KBartels@StarkHomes.com
City of Fitchburg
Inside
Community hub, teen center added to city’s plans
Fitchburg artist wins inclusion award
Alders also reduce scope of police department expansion
Page 2 Grocery plan moves forward
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
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Photo by Emilie Heidemann
Fresh produce lines the tables of the Fitchburg Farmers Market as customers wearing masks browse the fare underneath the Agora Pavilion.
Pandemic leads to unexpected profits for some farmers
Sports
Fitchburg market vendors diversity services, adapt business models Big Eight and Badger conferences cancel fall sports competitions Page 10
Schools Police officer agreement extended Page 16
Business
New Vision Theater closes permanently Page 19
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
T
he Fitchburg Farmers Market looked like any other under the Agora Pavilion on a warm July afternoon – except for one difference. F r e s h veg e t a b l e s , f r u i t s , cheeses and spices fill vendors’ tables, and members of the public by the dozens line up to purchase their fare. Conversations echo like they normally do – except the people having them are six feet apart. Faces are muffled by masks meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 – the disease responsible for a six-month long global pandemic that doesn’t appear to have any end in sight. Many vendors the Star spoke to July 23 said they faced financial uncertainty when restaurants closed down, and grocery stores limited customer capacities in March. But as the COVID-19 health crisis resulted in an economic downturn, more people found themselves unemployed and lacking income. They turned to
Turn to Community/Page 15
The Fitchburg Farmers Market will continue through October. local pantries and farms to help keep food on the table. Some Fitchburg vendors were able to cash in on those misfortunes and diversify their services, while others experienced only slight revenue dips. John Dougherty of Farmer Johns’ Cheese told the Star vendors were able to travel around to Dane County-area farmers markets — even when they were deemed essential under the
state’s Safer at Home order in March. He said since then, he’s seen an uptick in traffic at smaller markets in particular. As a dairy farmer, Dougherty said he got lucky, even though the outlook for the season was unfavorable in March. W h e n h e s t a r t e d bu y i n g his share of cows, Dougherty explained, the demand for milk changed. Instead of bottling it
Turn to Market/Page 15
Rendering courtesy Ayres
An adventure playground and a bike track would be built as a part of the community hub project near Fish Hatchery Road. The community hub along Traceway Drive was one of the two projects approved in the Capital Improvement Plan by City of Fitchburg alders at their Tuesday, Aug. 11, meeting. The other, a teen center, would be placed in the former A-1 Furniture and Mattress building. 151
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Resident helps families with essentials
Two Fitchburg neighborhoods could soon have new community centers. One, in the Jamestown neighborhood on the city’s northwest side, would be for teens, while the other would be for the general public near Fish Hatchery Road. Both could open as early as next year. The Common Council approved adding the projects to the city’s capital improvement plan at its Tuesday, Aug. 11, meeting. The teen center would be west of Verona Road, and the community hub would be along Traceway Drive. Putting projects in the CIP does not commit the city to funding or a set timeframe. Rather, the CIP provides a framework for planning budgets 10 years out. The council must approve funding through the budget process in the fall and would borrow for the projects the following year. In order to make room for funding for the two projects, proposed by the city’s two District 2 alders, Joe Maldonado and Julia Arata-Fratta, the city would reduce the scope of its police department expansion from a standalone building to an expansion built onto City Hall, where the department is located. The city is not limited to a certain amount of borrowing each year, but financial advisers typically advise keeping the borrowing level consistent. Plans for
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