Arboretum Neighborhood Association

9/14/2023 Meeting

Present: Leslie, Alison, Nancy, Sharon, Tyler

We discussed the pros and cons of relocating the Oct. 4th meeting back to the Arb Visitor Center ultimately deciding to proceed out of concerns for needed AV equipment and possible cold temperatures.  Tyler and Alison encouraged considering to hold some future meetings at the Fraust Park shelter out of desire for accessibility and inclusivity.  This will be revisited as part of Spring meeting planning.  Leslie confirmed that the Arb Visitor Center has a room available and will confirm booking from 7-9 pm.

Reviewed current invitations to speakers for Oct. 4th meeting.  Tag Evers, Sarah Grimalkin, and Mike Hansen are confirmed.  Discussed options for a fourth speaker including the City Urban Forestry department, Wingra Watershed study, and City Housing Authority.  Tyler shared newly learned information about special funding being made available to Town of Madison residents for small home improvements through the Project Home program.  Consensus was reached to pursue inviting a speaker from this program to educate residents about this new opportunity.  Alison will reach out.  Alison will also reach out to the Forestry Department to gather an update to share via neighborhood email about the planned upcoming maintenance to street terrace trees.

Discussion was had regarding how to proceed with soliciting donations.  Leslie will make a brief comment during Oct. 4th meeting.  Alison will send a feedback poll email to the neighborhood towards the end of the year seeking suggestions for activities/initiatives  the Board can pursue in 2024 along with reactions to efforts the Board made this year.  Part of this email will include a reminder about donations and how these are needed to fund these ideas.  We briefly revisited information Nancy researched about the limitations 501c3’s have in ability to utilize electronic options for receiving donations.  This idea will continue to be explored dependent on volume of donations being received.

We reflected on reception to First Friday Socials.  Consensus was to pursue again next Summer rather than changing concept details around.  Consistency will bring more participation.  Alison foreshadowed planning a pumpkin carving gathering the week before Haloween as another social.

Alison updated Board on preliminary investigation into pursuing Sharon’s idea of interpretive signage throughout neighborhood as target of our application for annual neighborhood association grants.  The Arboretum would not want any signage placed on their lands.  The City will allow such signage on their lands dependent on exact locations respective to right of way safety concerns.  The Parks Department will allow signage placement on their designated lands.  The Board voted to proceed with interpretive signage being the project idea for 2024 grant proposal/application.  Alison will send separate email to neighborhood informing of this opportunity and calling for volunteers for a planning committee.  Alison will remain point person until committee has more structure.

7/24/2023 Meeting

We met yesterday July 24, 2023 with Leslie, Marty, Alison, Sharon, and Nancy present.  (Ryan was out of town).

The first order of business was formally filling the vacancy created by Mary Doherty’s leaving with Sharon Johnson (which was approved via majority vote over the last two weeks through email) and discussing candidates to fill the vacancy created by Kris Van Handel’s leaving.  Alison nominated Tyler Byrnes with his permission to fill the position.  The Board members present unanimously voted approval.  Leslie will reach out to Tyler to formally welcome him to the Board. 

Alison presented updates regarding concerns over Harvey Schmidt Park’s maintenance.  Recent discourse with Sarah Grimalkin from the City confirmed that the soil bore testing is further delayed which ultimately continues to delay further development for park improvements.  Alison is awaiting confirmation from Sarah if there will be a new round of more detailed schematic drawings created following the soil testing for neighborhood review and approval that will address concerns raised about the vagueness of the Master Plan drawings and subsequent disregard of their indicators by the City maintenance team.  UPDATE:  I have heard back from Sarah this morning and yes, there will be a new round of much more detailed drawings upon completion of the soil study that will allow for more neighborhood involvement in determining the precise placement of changes/improvements etc.  I have forwarded this discourse over to Ryan for review as he is leading the charge so to speak about reopening/reworking the Master Planning for Harvey Schmidt.  Ryan and I will continue to brainstorm about this and keep the dialogue going with the City and keep you all updated.

Discussion was had regarding the planning for the next First Friday Social, August 4th.  Alison will continue to secure a food truck specializing in desserts or refreshments for the date.  The Board decided the event will continue to be held at Schmidt Park this month and then move to Fraust Park for September in preparation of possibly having an outdoor movie night for families following the social hours as Fraust Park has more amenities serving this option.  Alison will send out a save the date reminder over email to the neighborhood.  September 1st event date confirmed.

Discussion was had regarding planning for the upcoming General Arboretum Neighborhood Association Meeting.  Concern was raised to move the meeting to October to not interfere with the First Friday event in September as no First Friday event is planned for October due to colder weather.  Decision made to plan for an October 4th meeting, still occurring at Fraust Park as an “experiment” to see if it yields more attendance with the change in location.  Rain date will be October 5th.  Possible items for the agenda include a “Open Q & A with your Alderman” (Leslie will reach out to Tag Evers with an invitation), a Q & A with Mike Hanson from the Arboretum along with any seasonal issues that Mike feels important to bring up (Leslie will reach out to Mike with an invitation), a brief presentation from Sarah Grimalkin to provide a general update as to current progress in the redevelopment/improvements to our parks (Alison will reach out to Sarah with an invitation).  Alison will send out a save the date email along with an elicitation of feedback from the neighborhood for other agenda items.

Marty moved to hold the general public meetings no more than twice a year vs. intentions to have them quarterly.  After discussion the Board agreed to this general plan of holding a public meeting in the fall and in the spring.

We revisited ideas about possible grant proposal ideas for the upcoming open application period for neighborhood associations just after the New Year.  Alison confirmed hearing back from the City this past week that applications for “Welcome to the ____ neighborhood” signage continue to be closed following the settlement of the signage lawsuit against the City thus necessitating continuing to pause this idea.  Nancy raised pros and cons about pursuing the idea of using a grant toward building an ice skating rink given the global warming trend.  Sharon raised a new idea about possible interpretive signage at key locations throughout the neighborhood given the rich history of this area.  Discussed utilizing QR code links.  Alison will do some preliminary research about options.

Discussion was had about reinstating neighborhood association dues to increase available funds for small neighborhood projects and fun activities.  Decision was made to refrain from calling them “dues” but to instead invite neighbors to make optional donations to the Board fund at the public meeting in October with a follow up email.

Alison provided an update about the concerns over the safety of the pedestrian crossings at Fish Hatchery Rd.  Alison was able to get a discourse going with the City and a survey of the sites opened.  A follow up meeting with the City departments will occur in September at which point they will reach back out to Alison with updates about options the City is willing to pursue to enhance the crosswalk safety.

Leslie shared with the group the email response she got confirming that our polling place is intended to remain at the UW Arboretum Visitor Center.  The email also reported that there were no intentions at this time to pursue making use of the old Town Hall building or to explore utilizing a nearby school as a polling place as the Board had suggested.  Alison will follow up on this email with the concerns raised about no public transportation being available to reach the Visitor Center for those residents that do not drive and see what options the City is obligated to provide.

I think that was everything!

6/15/2023 Meeting

Leslie introduced the idea of a series of “First Friday” social gatherings for the neighborhood outdoors at our parks while the weather is nice.  We discussed the idea of having food trucks present and costs involved.  Decision was made to contract with an ice cream or frozen treat truck and pay for it out of the ANA funds that are currently unused.  Alison will reach out to several businesses and get back to the Board with final details and pricing.  Inaugural date was set for July 7th and Alison will send out details to the neighborhood.

A discussion was had about the current placement of our polling place being at the Arboretum Visitor Center.  This placement was originally intended to be temporary while the future of the old Town Hall/original polling place was finalized as part of the annexation process to the City.  Alison expressed concern that the Arboretum Visitor Center is not on any bus route thus presenting a challenge for our residents who do not have transportation to be able to travel there and vote.  Leslie is going to reach out to alderperson Tag Evers to discuss what steps are needed to request moving the polling place to a more accessible location and ideally back to the old Town Hall building.

Along the same lines a conversation was had about continuing to hold the ANA public meetings at the Arboretum Visitor Center given it’s location might prevent some neighbors from participating in the meetings due to lack of transportation.  Decision was made to hold the late summer/early fall meeting outdoors at Fraust Park shelter and the Winter/early spring meeting at the Visitor Center.  Ideas about organizing car pooling/ridesharing for the indoor meeting were discussed.

Alison shared the continued concerns many residents along Marshall Parkway have about the lack of adequate snow plowing experienced last season and desire to find more options to address this this year.  Resident concern is focused on having one reliably cleared route that will allow them to get to Arboretum Drive which is generally well cleared and less icy.  Alison shared results of some research done to enlist the aid of non profits that seek to serve the senior citizen population.  Ideas of enlisting the aide of the Arboretum staff or the UW were shared.  Ultimately decision was made to stay proactive in the conversations with the City Streets department stressing the importance of prioritizing these routes.

Alison revisited concerns about the safety at the crosswalks over Fish Hatchery Rd.  The Board agreed to have Alison pursue contacting the Artful Crossings initiative program to create options for more pedestrian visibility while in the crosswalks.

Discussion was had about beginning to brainstorm ideas for neighborhood improvements that could qualify for the City grants available to neighborhood associations.  Grant applications are due at the beginning of February and require a thorough presentation proposal.  Ideas were discussed such as sturdier and artistic fencing around the community garden, pursuing the plans for “welcome to the arboretum neighborhood” signage once the City finalizes the litigation that has temporarily halted any new signage permits (at this time there is no forecasted date for this change from the City), and ideas about installing an ice rink “kit” every winter that can be placed and removed seasonally for neighborhood recreation.  The Board expressed most interest in the ice rink idea.  Alison will share the options available for further evaluation.

A lengthy discussion was had led by Ryan and Alison about resident concerns over the current grounds maintenance in Harvey Schmidt Park.  Several residents are unhappy with the lack of mowing and the overall lack of thoughtful planning and landscaping as part of returning the Park to a more “natural state.”  In short a decision was made to continue a bit more back and forth with our Parks contact, Sarah Grimalkin, following  our request to re open the master planning process despite plans having been approved by the Parks Commissioners last month.  Neighborhood goals are to request more detailing about the long range plan in terms of how the Park will “look” and function and what will be the intermediate steps and timeline we can expect along the way of what will likely be a slow process of Park rehabilitation.  If in the coming weeks we do not feel a more open planning process is being offered options will be revisited to get our Alderperson Tag Evers involved and a return to asking for a meeting with the Parks Commissioners.

Lastly everyone is to reflect on their intentions to remain on the Board for another year.  At our next meeting in a month or so the by laws dictate we must vote on continued Board membership.

12/1/2022 Meeting

The board discussed strategies to enhance the ANA’S presence in the neighborhood focusing predominantly on the introduction of an ANA website.  Alison will begin creating some “rough drafts” to circulate amongst the seven of us for feedback and edits as we slowly finalize a design.  

The board decided not to include an option for a public neighborhood discussion board/forum out of concern for time consuming moderating and the potential for public discussion groups to get confrontational and not very “neighborly.”  This is in response to resident Gary Davis’ suggestions for the ANA to create such a discussion venue. The board will encourage Gary to take on this project himself with our limited support but making clear the ANA is not managing or taking part in the features of it.  Alison has spoken to Gary about this since the meeting and he was accepting of this idea but ultimately declined citing concerns of feeling over extended with the Lake Forest Water Co op management. This discussion will be revisited as needed.

The board brainstormed ways through event planning that we could further encourage the neighborhood to “come together.”  Alison is going to communicate with Eric Knepp at the Park’s department about a possible “adopt an ice” idea for the pond along Carver Street.  Many neighbors free skate on that area in the winter.  With some limited city support we could encourage groups of neighbors to take charge of maintaining a cleared area as an informal rink.  We also discussed having neighbors come together to groom a cross country ski trail loop through Harvey Schmidt park.  Other volunteering based gatherings were brainstormed such as an earth day clean up and a buckthorn and garlic mustard clearing.  Leslie has since spoken with Mike Hansen from the grounds crew of the U.W. Arboretum to see how we might connect with them as such ideas will include their land.  Mike is responsive and will continue to brainstorm with us as to how to make these events happen in the spring.  Other ideas such as neighborhood wide garage sales or a Fourth of July celebration were discussed.

Mike Hansen also clarified that the arboretum staff is not responsible for the the trail closure signs blocking the “unofficial” trail often used for cross country skiing by the radio tower along Martin St.  Apparently whomever manages the radio tower has posted these.  Alison will investigate further.

Ryan introduced a new idea of pursuing creation of “welcome to the arboretum neighborhood” signage as you see in many of the other neighborhoods in Madison.  Alison has since emailed with Tag Evers to explore how to start this process and was told there is a lawsuit against the City pertaining to signage so all requests for such things are indefinitely on hold until the law suit is resolved.  Alison will continue to follow up with the City about this.

Ryan also introduced an interesting idea of exploring whether our neighborhood would qualify as a “cultural landscape” as recognized by the National Registry of Historic Places.  This could create an angle to prevent any development plans by the city to eventually install curb, gutter, and sidewalks in our neighborhood.  Ryan is going to do some preliminary research as to the expenses and process involved with nomination.   Alison found this website for us to start to gain a better understanding of the idea:  https://www.nps.gov/subjects/culturallandscapes/research.htm

The board will finalize plans to have a public neighborhood meeting toward the second half of February/early March once some of the preliminary planning meetings for the Park’s development have occurred so we have something new to report on.  Also by that time we should have had several rounds of snow plowing allowing us to check in about any neighborhood concerns to that end.