Greetings! I’m excited about some planning opportunities that are part of the 2015 city budget.

First will be a city staff-led Warner Park planning process. Here is an opportunity for community members to get together and really determine the future of Warner Park and the Warner Park Community Recreation Center. The Madison Parks Division has proposed that Jacob Tisue, Warner Park facility manager, work with other staff to develop a new parks planning process that should include plenty of community participation.

Over the past two years, many people and groups have engaged me about what Warner Park “should be.” Rather than piecemeal design, we should think ahead about what we want and, maybe more importantly, what we don’t want in the park. There are many important treasures already in the park that we all want to preserve. Let’s clearly identify and preserve them.

Alder Weier and I are working on a Northport Drive/North Sherman Avenue “block-face” planning process. Using the previously adopted Northside Plan, is there a way to be more clear and specific about how we want the commercial areas of Northport Drive and North Sherman Avenue to look? We’ll let you know more about this process as it gets going.

Also, we’re still finalizing the city-led planning process for the Northside TownCenter. Drafts clearly indicate that more infill development that hides the parking lot is not only economically sensible but would beautify the important Northport Drive/North Sherman Avenue intersection.

Finally, there’s also the Madison Public Library planning process for the Eastside and Northside branches. No fears — no one is looking at moving Lakeview outside the current area, but there continue to be questions about how all the branches work together to create a robust library system. Our library planner is working on the new Pinney Branch Library, but we should be looking at how to improve access and the experience for everyone.

I look forward to working with you on a terrific 2015.