Arboretum Neighborhood Association

Hi Everyone!

Thank you all so very much for such a wonderful attendance size at the meeting on Monday.  The Board greatly appreciated your interest and respectful involvement!  On to the summary!

Mike Hansen, UW Arboretum Land Care Manager

Mike opened our meeting for the evening by providing updates about land care work occurring within the Arboretum grounds.  The crew reached their set goal of hazardous tree removals for the area this year and have been carefully evaluating roughly another 50 or so trees for future removal.  The majority of this potential future work lies along Arboretum Drive.  Mike confirmed that all trails have been fully repaired at this point from the damage from the violent spring/summer storms that we experienced.  The Arboretum is continuing to focus on developing the western area of Harvey Schmidt Park that is considered Arboretum property.  Focus will continue to be on specimen tree planting as well as working to place species identification tags on the existing trees.  Neighbors Gary Davis and Jerome Fredrickson have volunteered to assist to this end.  Three new trees were planted in this area over the past year: a hybrid Tulip tree, an Elm cultivar, and a Cucumber Magnolia. 

Mike responded to several questions from the audience:

    “Has the Arb coordinated with the telecommunication companies concerning removal of trees currently leaning on the lines going up the hill on Carver [into the Forest Park area]?”  Mike confirmed that contact has not been made with the telecommunication companies largely because the companies do not respond unless there is an actual service interruption which is not occurring at this time.  The land crew is also avoiding removing the trees as often times this results in more harm than good and will likely lead to a utility outage that may not have occurred otherwise.

“[Are there] plans for replanting in Arb plats between Martin St & service berm for canopy and in other areas for beltline noise mitigation?”  At this time the Arboretum is not planning for any immediate plantings.  A number of dead cottonwoods were removed this year from that are,but there is a sizable thicket of buckthorn present at this time providing a buffer from noise from traffic etc.  The Arboretum does have long term goals of removing invasive buckthorn as much as possible throughout all their lands.  When this area is addressed and that buckthorn is removed, consideration will be made for replacement plantings of native species. 

    “How can the ANA be more involved [with the Arboretum]?”  Mike shared that the Arboretum has regular Saturday work parties that anyone is welcome to drop in to.  More information can be found here: Restoration Work Parties | UW Arboretum.  A special work party just for our neighborhood was held in the spring this year and was very successful.  A second special work party is planned for November 30th.  More details about this event can be found here: UW Arboretum/ANA Work Party November 30, 2024 9:30-11:30 am.  Marian Farrior is the lead staff person for these work parties.  She is planning to retire next year after an impressive 22 years of working for the Arboretum!  Due to this there may be a gap in work parties occurring just after the new year, but plans to hire will hopefully prove efficient and work parties will resume in the spring.

    “Will the use of snow fencing occur again along Arboretum Dr. now that there has been such significant brush clearing in the area?”  Mike explained the limitations of the practical usefulness of snow fencing along Arboretum Dr. given the fencing would have to be so close to the road edge due to the nature of the land forestry.  Due to this, there are no plans to resume using snow fencing.  Mike also confirmed that of that significant brush clearing along Arboretum Drive, roughly 90% of it was invasive buckthorn!

Patrick Bohlen, UW Arboretum Director

Patrick joined us briefly to introduce himself to our group as the new UW Arboretum Director.  He began his position with the Arboretum this fall.  He shared with us a brief biography along with his enthusiasm for the future of his work with the Arboretum.  More information about Patrick can be found here:  Ecologist and former University of Central Florida Arboretum director named UW Arboretum director | UW Arboretum

Tag Evers, District 13 Alder

Tag graciously joined us again to engage in a Q & A with residents about local concerns.  Here are the questions that were addressed:

    “Is the current landscape [materials] dumping at [the lot adjacent to] 1481 Carver (Conservancy Park Apts LLC) allowed per city ordinance?”  Tag reached out to several of his associates within the City staff and confirmed that the lot is owned by Conservancy Park Apts.  He also confirmed that per city ordinance a property owner cannot store building materials on their property.  How this is ultimately defined and subsequently evaluated is up to the City building inspector team.  An official ticket has been pulled at this time so the building inspector will visit the property to investigate if violations are indeed occurring, and if so the property owner will be given a warning with a deadline for clean up and removal.

“Please share 2120 Fish Hatchery Rd City Facility Project updates.  Who are current end user agencies?  What future development is in the 2025 design contract?”  This property is the old Town of Madison town hall building.  Tag confirmed that the City Facilities Manager states that at this time the building is being used as the main office for the City Parking Enforcement staff and Public Health Madison & Dane County Violence Prevention Unit (Violence Prevention).  The Madison Fire Department CARES program (Community Alternative Response Emergency Services (CARES) has also been making use of the space and will likely take up office residence more permanently as part of the recently passed budget referendum.  The surrounding warehouse buildings are being used by City Engineering for equipment storage.  As for the future, this property will experience more significant changes.  The “Park Badger Redevelopment” project occurring at Park St. and Badger Rd. will eventually cause the relocation of Madison Fire Station #6 as well as Madison Police Department-South District to be relocated to this property as the project continues to move through its planned phases of redevelopment.  When this phase occurs, the existing buildings will likely be torn down and replaced.  For more information about the Park Badger Redevelopment see here: Home – Park Badger Madison Redevelopment

 “What are the latest developments in the Maurer’s Grocery Store project?”  This is referring to the planned replacement grocery store for the Pick N Save on Park St.  Tag confirmed that the City literally signed the lease with Maurer’s Market the same day as our meeting for a term of 15 years.  The new grocery store hopes to open by mid 2025.  Tag also addressed questions about the background of the land acquisition by the City from the Department of Defense (the site was a former US Army Reserve Center).  Tag confirmed that the land was sold to the City for a well below market price with the contingency that the land be used to develop affordable housing.  Refer to the press release here:  Promise Kept: City secures lease for Maurer’s Market on S. Park St.

Tag also heard concerns about hazardous trees and branches in the right of way areas of the neighborhood and agreed to follow up with Urban Forestry staff regarding this.  Concerns were also raised about the increased use of our roadways by the Parking Enforcement Staff that now has its offices at the old Town Hall building.  Neighbors are concerned that they are using our inner neighborhood roads to “short cut” through, avoiding busy Fish Hatchery Rd and thus create extra wear and tear on our infrastructure.  Tag will reach out to their office for further discussion.  (New update since the meeting: Tag heard back from the Parking Enforcement Office and they agreed to be mindful of not driving through our neighborhood unnecessarily.  They also shared that they have been told that they will be relocated out of the old Town Hall building in mid 2025 and are not aware of any immediate plans for another department to move in.)

Tag encourages everyone to reach out to him at any time with concerns or questions at district13@cityofmadison.com.

Jaala Spiro, ANA Community Liaison

Jaala introduced the topic of the future of the Lake Forest Water Co op and the proposal to join the Madison Water Utility.  A brief history of the Water Co op’s formation was given along with an explanation of “how did we get here” at this point of needing to make significant and expensive decisions regarding the water sourcing for the Lake Forest side of our neighborhood.  In the spirit of being succinct I will link to Jaala’s presentation narrative here for review: http://lakeforestwater.org/SiteFiles/LFWater.pdf

I encourage everyone to visit the Lake Forest Water Co op website:  Lake Forest Water Coop where you will find numerous documents that lay out all the facts and moving parts of this proposal.  The ANA would especially like to draw attention to how hard the water co op board and the Madison Water Utility has been working to find every possible option and savings angle they can to do their best to consider the interests and financial welfare of our residents.  

Brent Valentine, Lake Forest Water Co op Board of Directors

Brent addressed the question of “can the Lake Forest Water Co op find a way to repair the aging water mains/lines ourselves, continue operating our well, and ultimately not join the City’s water (the Madison Water Utility)?”  Here is a link to Brent’s presentation notes: http://lakeforestwater.org/SiteFiles/ReplacementCost.pdf

Key points to take from this part of the discussion:

1.  To repair the water line system ourselves, we are looking at a project costing at least 3.1 million dollars, likely more.

2.  Initial feedback from the bank is they would be unwilling to lend us such a large sum as we have no collateral to offer other than our homes themselves, and asking people to take out mortgages is not feasible for most.

3.  To repair the existing system will require significant destruction of property and landscape as the water lines currently run through private yards.  The trench digging to access the lines would require 30 foot wide swaths to be cut into private properties within Lake Forest.

4.  This would be a massive undertaking that this *volunteer* board does not feel confident that they have the time or expertise to manage.

5.  There is a strong possibility that halfway through the project unforeseen further obstacles may occur forcing abandonment and joining with the Madison Water Utility anyway, resulting in residents paying for the repairs “twice.”

5.  The Board is always open to feedback and welcomes aid from Lake Forest residents in leading investigations of other options, but to be clear this would require neighbors following up and committing to doing the leg work involved themselves.

Brent responded to the following presubmitted questions:

    “On the new map with hydrants, [see map here: http://lakeforestwater.org/SiteFiles/ReplacementCost.pdf] do you know why hydrant placement is on the short streets closer to Martin rather than Carver with more inlets?  And what alternate placements are possible (mid-block Carver or Martin, in HS park, etc.)?”   The project map was designed by  Monona Plumbing and plan for land where the water main crosses the short streets.  It’s really just a function of cost, if we wanted fire hydrants on both sides (by Martin and Carver) we would just have to pay more for it.  The hydrants are actually really expensive, so Monona Plumbing holding them to only nine was an attempt to get some in the plan without ballooning the budget number.  This is one reason why the City plan is more robust; they would lay more pipes which would allow for more hydrants.

    “Is the Replacement Cost proposal based on numbers only from Monona Plumbing & Fire Protection?  And how do members best work with the water co op board to solicit multiple vendor proposals, explore alternate funding strategies, & other planning tasks?” Yes it is a budgetary number that was put together to help us better understand what replacing our system could cost.  It is not a detailed estimate because that would take a ton of work and planning [on the contractor’s part and the contractors are not willing to put in that effort until there is assurance that the project is even financially feasible].  They looked at our current system and created a budgetary number based on the current system.  Brent also confirmed that outreach has recently been made to other contractors beyond Monona Plumbing but at this time they have not had success in obtaining other estimates/bids which is largely due to most contractors being unwilling to consider such a project without funding guarantees.

Pete Holmgren, Project Engineer Madison Water Utility (Water Utility)

Pete engaged the audience with a power point presentation outlining the details of the proposal to join the Madison Water Utility service and dissolve the Lake Forest Water Co op.  A copy of Pete’s slides are attached to this email for review.  I will highlight a few points:

1. The Madison Water Utility is estimating the project cost at 4.3 million dollars

2.  The City as the borrower is able to secure a loan of this amount.  The City is also able to negotiate an extended repayment term of 30 years vs. the standard of 8 years.  Repayment of this loan would be added to the property tax bills of Lake Forest residents spread out in increments over 30 years beginning in 2027.

3.  The Madison Water Utility has applied on our behalf for the Wisconsin Safe Drinking Water Loan Program.  This is a subsidized loan program that would reduce the interest of the 30 year loan from 5% to 2.31%.  We will not learn if our proposal has been approved/accepted until June 2025.  For more details about this loan program see here: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/sites/default/files/topic/Aid/loans/pubs/CF0038.pdf

4.  The Water Co op as an entity is not eligible to apply for the subsidized loan per the requirements.

5.  The Madison Water Utility’s construction proposal involves abandoning the existing water main lines and constructing new ones under the existing streets of Lake Forest.

6.  Homeowners would be required to employ private plumbers to set up individual connections to the new main water lines.

7.  The project would theoretically begin in Spring of 2026 and be completed by year end.

8.  Residents of Forest Park (“up the hill”) will NOT be required to connect to Madison Water Utility as there are no plans to extend any water mains into Forest Park.  As such, residents of Forest Park will not be assessed any fees related to the possible project in Lake Forest.  Residents of Forest Park can at any time request that the Madison Water Utility come and complete an assessment of project options to be connected to the water utility.  In the event of this, the proposal would go before the City Board of Public Works (Board of Public Works) for review where residents can ask questions and voice concerns and next steps determined.

Pete answered the following questions from the audience:

    “Per the new map with hydrants [as found in the proposal for the water co op repairing the water lines themselves] – How’s the 500ft (or 300-600ft) measured? Why is placement on short streets closer to Martin rather than Carver with more inlets? And what alternate placements are possible (mid-block Carver or Martin, in HS park, etc?)”  This would be a question for the Water Co op and/or the contractor who provided the scope of work and quote for that design to the Co op. Madison Water Utility didn’t lay this one out for you all, but our design would have 16 total hydrants, generally at each intersection across Martin and Carver Street and spaced such that the 500-foot requirement is met. We basically measure the separation distance in “hose length” within the right-of-way; imagine pulling a string from one hydrant to another, which would include around any obstructions, etc. if that makes sense.

“What are City right of way & easement measurements? And are they the same as illustrations on Town maps shared at previous meetings?”  The City’s work would be entirely in the right of way, so I don’t believe there are any easements of note to be accounted for on our end. Generally, it looks like the street right-of-way widths are about 60-ft with the exception of the boulevard-type of widened areas on Floyd and Catlin Place which are about 110-feet and 80-feet respectively.

  “What issues do you anticipate at DNR review/approval if the MWU plan moves forward?”  No issues are anticipated, though the DNR understandably gives some extra attention to applications that are nearest to water bodies, wetlands, and green spaces. Therefore, our intent is to get the application sent in as soon as it is ready during the planning and design process. If needed, this will allow for more time to address any further concerns that the department brings up during their own review process. We will not proceed with construction until permit requirements are satisfied.

Open Q & A directed towards the ANA Board

    “What percent of ANA members & co-op members are included on the email list to which this meeting’s information was sent?”  I am aware of 198 residences in the Arboretum Neighborhood.  Of those 198 residences I have email contacts for 131 [at the time of writing].  Of those 131, 87 are for residents in Lake Forest (vs. Forest Park).  I can’t say with certainty that all of those email contacts are accurate. People move away, adopt a new email address or messages go into spam folders.  The ANA and the water co op do NOT share contact lists.  About a year ago we provided a copy of all contacts that the ANA had at that time to the water co op per their request (after sending out an email to the neighborhood asking any resident to opt out if they did not want their information shared).  But the water co op has not ever shared their contact list with the ANA.  It is also tricky to give you a percentage of how many of those contacts are water co op *members* as to be a member of the water co op you must be a property owner, and I am not privy to who of those 87 contacts are renters and who are property owners.

To be perfectly clear, the ANA and the water co op are separate entities.  The ANA has no involvement in the business or administration of the water co op.  The ANA has no influence or bearing in the outcome of the proposals for the future of the water co op.  The ANA had no involvement in the investigative process or the negotiations with the City regarding the future of the water co op.  The ANA was loosely aware that the water co op was exploring their options and talking with the City as part of an exploration of options.  The meeting this week had NO voting component nor any part of what will ultimately be decided regarding the future of the water co op.  The goal of this meeting was to get information out there for the wider neighborhood as Forest Park residents are not invited to water co op meetings, nor are renters.  The water co op did NOT ask the ANA to hold this meeting or ask to present.  They are speaking at the meeting per the ANA’s request/invitation.

  “How and by when do ANA members request meeting agenda items?  (For example, I’d like to see UWPD liaison & Southside Community Officer have time at both Spring & Fall general meetings.)”  We would LOVE for members to express interest and have requests for meeting speakers.  Reach out anytime with ideas.  There is no specific deadline per se, but the speakers have busy lives like us all so giving them roughly 30 days notice is more likely to be successful in getting them to participate.  Typically the board starts thinking about planning for a meeting every 6 months.  We review any feedback we received from residents.  Then we reach out to the Arb to see what dates rooms are available in the welcome center, and then we start reaching out to speakers.  There are no strict preplanned dates many months in advance.  We largely do not get many responses when we elicitfeedback from the neighborhood.  

A reminder to all that there are many resources and answers to questions to be found on the ANA website, linked below my signature.  Please reach out with any suggestions about changes or new items of inclusion you would like to see on the website.  We are always striving to make it more useful!  A secondary reminder that the ANA would still very much like to develop a logo for the organization.  Those with artistic input please share!

Wishes for a happy holiday season however you choose to celebrate!

Alison Stawicki, ANA Secretary