There is a move afoot to reschedule Tuesday's pivotal Madison Common Council meeting on the fate of the Edgewater Hotel. The stated reason is the potential for bad weather but bettering the project's chances for approval may also be playing a role.
On her blog Monday morning Brenda Konkel, a former Madison alderperson, reproduces an email from Lisa Veldran, the council's administrative assistant, asking if they'd be in favor of rescheduling Tuesday's meeting.
Forecasts are predicting eight to twelve inches of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday of this week -- the memo's claim of "a foot or more" seems hyperbolic -- so it's natural for there to be concerns about safety and the wisdom of sending council members, support staff and those hoping to observe and testify before the body out into a blizzard.
But there's also the matter of the council requiring a 14-member "super-majority" to overturn the Landmarks Commission's November 30 vote to deny the expansion of the Edgewater Hotel. Blizzard or no blizzard, alders Michael Schumacher and Larry Palm were scheduled to miss the meeting. As Konkel noted last week, without those two in attendance, the measure fails if only five of the remaining 18 alders vote against.
Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has not been subtle about his lobbying in favor of the expansion, nor has he held back on criticizing the decision of the Landmarks Commission. It would be in the best interest of the Edgewater developers to have the full council in attendance when the motion to overturn is considered.
The email to council members asks if they would prefer to postpone the meeting to December 15 or 22.
