February 14, 2025
And then…it was 3 months worth of winter in one weekend! Jimmy the groundhog lied! For those that are interested, here is the City Streets department current statement about the plowing strategy for tonight’s winter storm: 2/14: Expect a Difficult Evening Commute
On to other items of neighborhood interest:
New neighborhood WhatsApp group
Our very own ANA Board member, Jaala Spiro, has stepped up to create two Whatsapp groups to help neighbors connect to each other over specific interests: a buy/sell/trade group and a nature sightings reporting group. These groups are moderated for discussion and posting related to only these topics. Should any other neighbors want to create further social media groups focusing on other areas of interest please let us know. We would be happy to share it with everyone!
Follow this link to sign up for Whatsapp: WhatsApp | Secure and Reliable Free Private Messaging and Calling
Once Whatsapp is downloaded, go here to request to join the “Arboretum Neighbors” community group: WhatsApp Group Invite
Neighborhood Feedback Surveys
The ANA Board has been reviewing the feedback surveys distributed at recent neighborhood meetings and gatherings. There were several repeated themes. Many neighbors expressed interest in finding more ways to connect with each other, engage in neighborhood related service work, pursue further improvements to our neighborhood parks, and learn more about the history of the area. We strongly encourage anyone to step up to take the lead in forming meet up groups such as book clubs, bird watching, walking club, or oral history development projects, to name a few ideas. The ANA Board will be happy to promote such efforts and lend a hand as we are able! A reminder the the Board is planning to organize a neighborhood garage sale this coming May. Reach out to Board member Nancy Gray for more details. The UW Arboretum is in the process of hiring a new coordinator for their restoration work parties. Once that is in place we all hope to connect with them and schedule a few more neighborhood specific work parties as we took part in this past Spring and Fall. The ANA Board will also coordinate with the City again this coming Earth Day for a general neighborhood clean up of the roadsides and ditches as was done two Springs ago. As for our Parks, there are a lot of planned rehabilitation developments in the coming year by the City Parks department. I will do my best to keep everyone informed as actual schedules of changes and service work are determined.
Keep the ideas coming everyone!
Reminder of upcoming Lake Forest Water Co op Meeting February 24th 6-7 pm
The Lake Forest Water Co op is holding a meeting at the UW Arboretum Visitor Center on February 24th from 6-7 pm. This meeting will review the current proposal to dissolve the Co op and join the City’s water supply source. A member vote to proceed with the proposal will occur at this meeting. The Co op will be sending out more details via mail very soon. Please reference their website at Lake Forest Water Coop to review existing data pertaining to the proposal.
Wingra Proper Watershed Study Update
There was a very informative meeting last month regarding plans for flooding mitigation in our neighborhood. For those that missed the meeting, a recording can be found here: Wingra Proper Watershed Study
Reach out from candidate for MMSD School Board
I’m Bret Wagner – a Madison dad, Cherokee Heights Middle School PFO President, and candidate for MMSD School Board Seat 3. I’m reaching out because I believe strong neighborhoods and strong schools go hand in hand.
The success Cherokee Heights is seeing shows what’s possible when communities come together. The data shows Cherokee Heights is making significant progress in school climate (attendance above 90%, behavior incidents significantly reduced) and showing good growth, particularly in English Language Arts. These kinds of consistent achievements impact neighborhood stability and safety.
I’d like to offer your neighborhood association two opportunities:
- Join our #HelloNeighbor Virtual Town Hall series, every Tuesday at 7:00 PM
- Interactive Q&A focused on neighborhood-specific concerns
- Easy virtual participation via Google Meet
- Schedule a dedicated discussion with your association about how MMSD decisions affect your neighborhood
- Specific focus on your neighborhood’s schools
- Open dialogue about local education priorities
- Direct input into school board policy
You can register for the next town hall here: https://mailchi.mp/bretwagner/virtual-town-hall-bret-wagner-for-madison-school-board
As both a parent and PFO president, I know that our schools work best when every voice is heard. I’d welcome the chance to connect directly about your neighborhood’s priorities.
Cheers,Bret
Reminder of refuse and recycling pick up schedule
Several neighbors have been having difficulty tracking down the schedule of pickups for our area. I have attached the printable calendar to this email. The collection schedule can also be looked up here:
Free trees through the Urban Tree Alliance
The Urban Tree Alliance is continuing to offer free trees to our neighborhood as part of a grant they received from the Madison Community Foundation. I personally took advantage of this last fall and received a beautiful specimen that we look forward to watching grow this Spring! More details about how to apply can be found here: https://www.urbantreealliance.org/our-work/neighborhood-forest-project/
January 4, 2025
Happy New Year Everyone! We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday break and feels ready to get back into the usual swing of things! Here are several items of interest for our neighborhood.
Follow up from UW Arboretum/ANA work party on Nov. 30th A BIG thank you to all for turning out on such a cold Saturday morning to help out with the second Arb/ANA work party. Every time I drive by the “food forest”, I’m impressed with how much better it looks after our clean-out. Marian Farrior from the Arboretum staff thanks you too. A reminder that Marian has officially retired from her volunteer coordinator position now in 2025. We look forward to hearing more about her replacement and hopefully getting another work party coordinated with the Arboretum and our specific neighborhood soon! There were a few pictures taken at this most recent work party. They have been posted to the ANA website which can be found here: UW Arboretum/ANA Work Party November 30, 2024 9:30-11:30 am
How to properly dispose of your holiday “waste”
This timely post from Madison Minutes graced my inbox recently and I thought I would share it with you. It provides useful instructions about how to go about setting out your used Christmas trees for pick up along with other items from the holidays you may need to dispose of. How to dispose of your holiday waste
Upcoming electronics recycling event
“We wanted to let you know that the West High School Green Club, joined by teams from Memorial and Middleton, is hosting an electronic waste drive at Rennebohm Park on Sunday, January 12th, from 9am to 3pm to help recycle old electronics instead of sending them to the landfill. This is a great opportunity for everyone in the community to offload old technology. We will accept most e-waste, except very large items like televisions and ovens. Here is the link to some more specifics, and I have included a graphic with more details about the event!”
Upcoming informational meeting regarding Wingra Proper Watershed study/flooding concerns in our neighborhood The City of Madison is completing a watershed study in the Wingra Proper watershed (as shown on the project website: Wingra Proper Watershed Study). The City of Madison contracted with an engineering consulting firm to complete the study. The watershed study will identify causes of existing flooding and then look at potential solutions to try to reduce flooding.A public information meeting is scheduled for the Wingra Proper Watershed Study on January 14, 2025, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. Prior registration is required. The registration link can be found here:
https://cityofmadison.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wJrfEmqZQpKbhZbfb32eaAWebsite nature gallery
Several residents commented on the feedback forms dispersed at the most recent neighborhood meeting that they would like a way to share wildlife sightings with the neighborhood. We do have a gallery as part of the ANA website. I have moved it’s menu heading to be more prominent to help folks find it more successfully on the website. Here is a link to the page: Gallery
Reach out any time with pictures to share!
September 17, 2024
I hope this finds everyone well, enjoying these lingering summer days, and adjusting to the new “back to school” life for those it affects. Here are some items of attention for the neighborhood:
Neighborhood Tree Work
Wolfe Tree Service will be on site today completing some work for the UW Arboretum lands. The main project will be dropping a handful of large, dead cottonwoods along Martin Street. MGE will have the street light power line removed for the day while the work is being done.
Wolfe will also be cutting some stumps lower to the ground in various places along Arboretum Drive where they worked earlier this summer.
And on Thursday Oct. 3rd, they’ll be back to drop a few more cottonwoods along Martin Street.
The Arboretum crew is sizing up several additional trees for pruning or removal this fall/winter, too.
Thanks!
Michael J. Hansen
Land Care Manager
UW-Madison Arboretum
608-225-3995 (cell)
608-262-3289 (shop)
Upcoming Lake Forest Water Co-op Meeting, September 23, 2024 at 6 pm
As you may know your property [in the Lake Forest/Carver-Martin Street area of our neighborhood] receives water from the Lake Forest Water Coop. As the owner of this property you are [automatically] a member of the Coop.
The Coop was incorporated as a cooperative association under Wisconsin law on October 8, 1943. A few years ago the Board of Directors of the Coop realized that the Articles of Incorporation (AOI) from that time were out of date and needed to be revised to be consistent with the current and future operation of the Coop. To that end we consulted with an attorney who specializes in cooperative law for Wisconsin and drafted a new AOI and accompanying ByLaws. Wisconsin law provides for the restatement of an AOI in order to update it. Restatement requires that the membership of the Coop [ie the property owners of this area] approve the revised AOI and the accompanying ByLaws.
In order to seek that approval the Board of Directors has called a meeting of the membership to be held on September 23, 2024 at 6:00 PM in the shelter at Fraust Park, 1419 Martin Street, Madison WI 53713.
The agenda for the meeting: [Review] the original AOI, [Approve] the revised AOI, the ByLaws and appendices (all are available for reading at: Final AOI and Bylaws – Google Drive). We will also have copies available at the meeting and they can be provided to you on request. If you have questions before the meeting please contact the President of the Coop.
We have also sent this notice by postal mail and you should receive it soon.
Sincerely yours,
Gary Davis
President
gdavis@wisc.edu
608-239-8039
UW Madison study on flooding and water management
You are invited to participate in a study by The Water Systems and Society research group at UW-Madison!
Our study is focused on learning about flooding across neighborhoods in Madison, WI, with special interest in understanding the experiences of socially vulnerable communities. We invite all 18+ year old residents of Madison to participate. You will be asked to complete a survey to help us learn more about flooding and water management in your neighborhood. You may also elect to participate in an interview for us to learn more about flooding in your neighborhood and your personal experiences.
If you choose to participate, you are eligible to receive a summary of research findings if interested. Email the research team to ask how.
Click here to access the survey. https://tinyurl.com/2p873thn
Thank you for your interest and participation!
Please contact Marian Azeem-Angel at (azeemangel@wisc.edu) or the Principal Investigator Paul Block at (paul.block@wisc.edu) with questions about this study.
Happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thanks so much for your willingness to help!
Marian Azeem-Angel
End Of Summer Neighborhood Picnic Recap
Thank you ALL for coming out to socialize and enjoy a summer afternoon with your neighbors. We had such a wonderful turnout! Welcome to all of you that are new to these occasional emails. A reminder that there is a wealth of information relevant to our neighborhood on the Arboretum Neighborhood Association website at Arboretum Neighborhood Association
Please visit this specific page to view several pictures from the picnic: Arboretum Neighborhood End Of Summer Picnic 2024
A reminder that we are hoping to organize several fun events in the future including an invasive species plant removal work party with the UW Arboretum staff, neighborhood garage sale, a possible spring/summer neighborhood garden walk, and of course another summer picnic! Please use this link for more information as details finalize: Upcoming Events – Arboretum Neighborhood Association
A reminder that we are a “dues free” organization meaning that we are funded by donations only. We are a 501 c3 so all donations are tax deductible. Please contact ANA Treasurer Nancy Gores (nancy53703@yahoo.com) with any questions regarding donating.
Arboretum Neighborhood Association 
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