Council approves alley and street vacation for E. Muncie early learning center after amendment

Following a recessed public hearing on March 3, the City of Madison Common Council voted to adopt ordinance 20-26-2, allowing the vacation of certain alleys and street easements at the E. Muncie site to accommodate an early learning center.

Aaron Schmoll, an attorney representing Madison consolidated schools, said the school owns the affected parcels and that no utilities currently occupy the three easements; he asked the council to strike section 3 of the ordinance (language related to existing or future utility uses) and to renumber subsequent sections. The Board of Public Works had previously given the project a favorable recommendation.

Council member (speaker 2) moved to delete the section as proposed; the motion was seconded and the council called for a roll-call vote on the amendment. The clerk recorded unanimous affirmative votes from present members (Joel Storm, Joshua Schafer, Lucy Datillo, Carla Krebs, Patrick Tavanal). After the amendment was adopted, the council held a roll-call vote on ordinance 20-26-2 as amended and recorded unanimous yes votes from the same members; the mayor asked staff to ensure the clerk received the amended language for the official record.

The mayor thanked the school and community partners and noted the city's financial contribution to the early learning center alongside the Bethany Legacy Foundation and other donors. The ordinance advances the school's site plan by removing the unused easements and enabling a parking configuration used for the new facility.

Vote tally (roll call): Joel Storm — yes; Joshua Schafer — yes; Lucy Datillo — yes; Carla Krebs — yes; Patrick Tavanal — yes. (Jim Bartlett and Josh Wilbur were absent.)