Madison City board approves street closures for fall festivals, delays minutes approval

The Board of Public Works and Safety of Madison City on Aug. 18 approved three street-closing resolutions for upcoming fall events, approved the claims docket, and delayed final approval of the Aug. 4 meeting minutes to correct a parking description.

The board approved Resolution 2025-42B to close Broadway between Main Street and Third Street from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, for Trinity United Methodist Church’s trunk-or-treat event. Doug Walker, speaking on behalf of Trinity United Methodist Church, described the request and said the layout will use “hard cars on the streets instead of just the barricades” to increase safety.

The board also approved Resolution 2025-43B to close Vine Street between Main Street north to the alley behind Little Golden Fox from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, to host Little Golden Fox’s Art in Bloom. Kara Fox said the event will host “20 artists coming from all over the United States” and include a food truck; she asked staff to coordinate with the contractor on construction staging so the street will be available if feasible.

For Old Court Days, the board approved a closure (referred to in the meeting as resolution number 44B25) covering multiple streets, sidewalks and parking lots from 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, through 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. Angela Russell, president of the Pilot Club of Madison, outlined the club’s uses of net proceeds and said the club will distribute bicycle helmets and provide helmet fittings at Old Court Days on Saturday.

Earlier in the meeting a board member said the minutes from Aug. 4 do not clearly distinguish angled parking configurations for Vine and Elm streets; the board voted to delay approval of the Aug. 4 minutes so staff can clarify the wording. The board also approved the claims as submitted; a board member noted a Duke Energy charge shown as “campground electricity” for $56,008.77 represented a combined vendor invoice covering multiple park and facility accounts.

Public comment included resident Claude Rotay urging more regular riverfront cleanup and asking whether tax incentives could support converting upper-floor storefronts into apartments. The mayor said the city and the Madison Main Street organization have been exploring upper-floor housing conversions and that an organized river sweep typically occurs in the fall.

All three event resolutions, the claims approval and the motions recorded on the minutes were adopted by the board at the Aug. 18 meeting by voice vote; the transcript does not record individual roll-call tallies.