Hi All,
Sorry for the delay in sharing this summary. Spring Break week last week created a hefty interruption in the day to day flow.
Let’s get to it!:
Patrick Bohlen, UW Arboretum Director
Patrick led us in a wonderful slide show guided review of the Arboretum’s mission and current initiatives. Summary highlights:
-The Arboretum is a National Historic Landmark
-There are 17 miles of nature trails for public use
-The Arboretum’s core mission is “ecological restoration”: the process of returning an ecosystem or piece of land to a previous, usually more natural, condition. The majority of the lands that comprise the Arboretum were originally “Oak Savannahs” defined as open Oak canopies with prairie in between. This means that the goal is to return the lands to this state as opposed to a densely forested area. People have expressed concerns about the amount of tree cutting and brush removal and Patrick assures that “no, we are not cutting everything down!” The lands crews focus on removing the understory (invasive weeds, shrubs, large bushes like buckthorn and honeysuckle) as well as invasive tree species such as walnuts in specific areas where these invasives are clearly thriving and creating the most dense cover. This clearing allows the native understory to grow back in which promotes the ecological restoration and supports a native biodiverse habitat of pollinators and wildlife.
-The Arboretum is also a research facility that serves as a restoration model for other organizations attempting prairie restorations.
-The lands crew have started participating in providing prescribed burn trainings for landscape architecture students.
Patrick fielded several pre-submitted questions from the neighborhood:
1. “My concern in the arboretum is increased noise from the beltline because prairie restoration has removed trees and stormwater redirection has drowned even more. How is the arboretum working with city to address this issue?” *Vegetation clearing’s effect on noise dampening has never been officially measured so it is hard to say overall what effect clearing as part of savannah restoration has had on the noise pollution. The “Leopold Pines” area directly adjacent to the beltline area is targeted for removal eventually as they are not native to this area so it is possible that the removal of this denser area could have an effect. The Arboretum always welcomes feedback from the area residents as they consider and revise their overall land management plans.
2. “Please clarify the strategy on preserving trees the beavers are taking out in the park along Carver. [Harvey Schmidt Park]” *Last year the Lands Crew removed the beaver dam at the far end of the lagoon inlet at the end of Frazer Pl. The beaver was also live trapped and relocated. They continue to monitor any return of beaver activity and dam rebuilding. The protective barriers placed around some of the trees in the Arboretum portion of Harvey Schmidt Park are to protect those trees from beaver damage. Some of those trees were planted by the curator of the Arboretum’s Longenecker Gardens woody plant collection.
3. “I’m wondering if it would be possible to connect the satellite trail [neighbor is referring to the berm on the UW Regents piece of land along Martin St.] to either the road [Martin St.] or the main arb trail [at the end of Martin St parking lot]? This would make it easier for folks on Martin St to get on a trail quickly.” *The Arboretum does not have plans to consider such options at this time. It can be taken under advisement at future Land Management Plan revision meetings. That said the “berm” is technically considered private property under the jurisdiction of the UW Board of Regents and the City of Madison depending where you are standing, so it is ultimately not considered a “trail” within the UW Arboretum.
Lastly Patrick shared that one of the coyotes being frequently seen in the area (with a large chunky white collar) is being tracked by the Chicago Urban Coyote Project, who were able to provide us with a map of all of its tracking points heavily centralized in the areas around the lagoon adjacent to Harvey Schmidt Park in the most recent months. That furry guy walked all the way here from the Chicago area! The tracking map is attached below.
Greg Fries, Deputy City Engineer-Sanitary, Storm, and Landfill
Greg provided a brief overview of the Wingra Proper Watershed Study, it’s recommendations, and how these will likely be incorporated in to the Lake Forest Reconstruction Project. I cannot begin to summarize the scope and findings of this study any better than the actual website devoted to it so I will include the link here that I encourage everyone to explore: https://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/projects/wingra-proper-watershed-study
A few summary highlights:
-Our area is not designated as a “floodplain.” That is a FEMA designation and they use different standards for determination than what the watershed study utilized. The watershed study does consider us a flood prone risk area.
-The main proposal is to install a much larger culvert replacing the existing one under Frazer Pl to allow greater stormwater conveyance and promote more effective drainage. The new culvert would be approximately 8 feet wide and 4 feet high (that is going to be a big hole!!)
Greg fielded several pre-submitted questions from the neighborhood:
1. “Are the findings from the Wingra Proper Watershed Study indicating a benefit to having the trench remain in place along Martin Street? If the City decides to pursue sidewalk installation, and IF the sidewalk would be placed on the southern side of Martin Street, the assumption is the trench would have to be raised and ultimately removed? What would the water mitigation strategies be in this scenario?” *The study does assume the trench along the southside of Martin St. remain in place and a large box culvert be installed at the “road” access to the radio tower. If a sidewalk on the southside of Martin is pursued there will be wetland permits needed and management of the water will be looked at then, however getting those permits would be challenging so chances are the channel will remain.
This will be taken into consideration as the engineers begin to explore all the possible design options for the Lake Forest Reconstruction.
2. “Will the placement of storm water drains be evaluated for optimization or is the goal to leave all existent stormwater drains where they are and focus on other improvements to better direct stormwater run off towards them?” *the short answer is yes, all placements will be evaluated and decisions made accordingly. Greg did want to stress that it will be EXTREMELY helpful for everyone to be forthcoming if they have any “hidden” connections from their private sump pumps to the stormwater drains that may be present in their yards. The engineering team understands the “why” a homeowner would want such a connection given the high water table and the atypical nature of our area in that the streets are mostly higher than the homes instead of the reverse, so attaining effective drainage in yards is a challenge. The engineering department will work with those homeowners utilizing such a set up (openly or “otherwise”) to recreate it with any changes made to the existent stormwater drains.
Chris Petykowski, Deputy City Engineers-Public Works, and Mark Moder, Principal Engineer-Sanitary Sewer Section Manager(and several other members of their City Engineering team)
The engineering team provided a quick overview of the Lake Forest Reconstruction Project and fielded numerous questions from neighbors. The presentation from February 26th is very comprehensive and will be linked again here rather than my summarization: https://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/projects/dickson-pl-irwin-pl-dodge-st-carver-st-martin-st-reconstruction
Neighborhood questions and answers:
1. “What is the schedule of approval steps for the reconstruction project?”
*Refer to slide #15 in the presentation linked above. In short, once the preliminary design is hashed out it has to be approved by the transportation commission, the board of public works, the common council, and then reviewed by the DNR for specific permits needed. A second public information meeting will be held over zoom again in the fall most likely, to provide updates as to where things are in the overall process.
2. “can neighbors expect to receive personalized estimations at some point in the planning process before work begins?” *the engineering department hopes to be able to provide more specific estimations of cost per homeowner by the time of the second public information meeting tentatively planned for fall 2026
3. “How is design and maintenance accounting for wetland features in the Lake Forest neighborhood?” *This project will rely heavily upon geotechnical engineering services and consults (per Google: “analyzing soil, rock, and groundwater conditions to support infrastructure, construction, and environmental projects. Local experts and city engineers perform subsurface investigations, foundation design, slope stability analysis, and erosion control to ensure stable development and manage stormwater, particularly in response to flooding.”) The DNR will also be heavily involved assessing for endangered species, archaeological, erosion, wetland, and waters permitting (to name a few of the many probable permits).
4. “How will the project address the possible loss of swales (broad, shallow ditches lined with grass, vegetation, or rocks) found in many yards in terms of stormwater filtration?” *Typically in situations of needing to displace an existent swale, stormwater is redirected towards placed rain gardens, often located in medians. This clearly won’t work in many of the roadsides being considered but will be thoughtfully addressed and accounted for as the actual design plans start being developed.
5. “Is it likely that curb and gutter would be installed around the medians existent already in the neighborhood, and would the expense of that curb and gutter installation weigh into decisions about whether to keep the medians at all? How else will the medians be evaluated for remaining in place?” *At this initial pre planning stage, the goal is to keep the medians. It may be determined that placing curb around them will be beneficial but that is not a foregone conclusion.
6. “Based on projections from the last presentation, the total approximate assessment for these projects will be $70,000 over 30 years. As a recent home buyer, this is almost a quarter of the value of our property and higher for most other residents. What more will the city do to prevent displacement of current homeowners?” *The City has given the expense of this project significant thought and tried to come up with impactful ways to lessen the burden including: the loan that the City secured for this project has a significantly lower interest rate as well as an extended 30 year payoff term that is generally not offered, the special assessment period is being set up to happen all at once for the many different parts of this project to make sure this interest rate can be locked in rather than assessing later aspects of this project further into the future and risk the possibility of interest rates increasing, they have negotiated special rebates to be offered, and are still continuing to explore further opportunities for loan and grant offerings.
7. “Why are we considering sidewalks again, the previous attempts sunk!” *the City has heard from many of you about the sunken sidewalks. Again they will work closely with geotechnical engineers to explore what is realistic. Significant improvements in building techniques have developed since the time of the initial sidewalk placements. That said, installing sidewalks should be regarded as a “possibility” they are considering and evaluating for, not a confirmed plan at this time. No official design plans have been created. This is the preplanning stage.
8. “What ecological factors are being considered in the planning of this project? Because we live in a fen or marsh our soil types are especially sensitive to disruption. In Minnesota calciferous fens have special protected status. Our backyard, for example, was dug up in 2023 to investigate a water leak, and after the soil was reset by the water coop, water pools and no longer drains which has lowered our experience of our home as well as its value. What types of environmental impacts might we expect with this project?” *the goal of the project is to create as little environmental impact or disruption as possible. This is why the City will defer to geotechnical engineering experts as well as DNR rules and regulations that they will have to follow.
9. “Is a 2 year project vs. a 3 year project feasible?” *the scope of this project is quite large and the team is concerned that 2 years is not realistic. There is always the possibility that work will move along faster than anticipated.
10. “Are there plans to resurface the roads in the Forest Park area of our neighborhood (Balden, Marshall Parkway, Arboretum Dr.) similar to how the Lake Forest Roads are being resurfaced?” *At this time there are no plans for a street resurfacing project in Forest Park. That said, the engineering team always welcomes notifications of potholes or otherwise crumbling road areas that can be addressed with spot fixes. Notifications can be sent to engineering through their contact page: https://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/about/contact
or sent via the “report a problem” feature of the City of Madison website. Here is the link specific for potholes: https://elam.cityofmadison.com/CitizenAccess/COMLicensesPermits.aspx
11. “How will property owner’s possessions placed in the right of way areas be addressed should this area need to be disturbed as part of the reconstruction?” Engineering encourages all homeowners that have items place in the right of way area of their property to connect with the Engineering time starting now and onward to start discussing options. The City wants to find solutions to moving things such as fences, retaining walls, landscaping, etc that will not damage anything that the property owner deems valuable. Engineering will examine the right of way determinations throughout our neighborhood and provide exact measurements per street to help homeowners evaluate the situation. These measurements will be forthcoming soon.
12. “How do existing easements in people’s yards for existing sanitary mains affect the work to be done?” *The City has “prescriptive rights” to use the property regardless of existing easements. Regarding the existing sanitary mains running through many of the backyards of the neighborhood, it is far more costly to leave those mains functioning (due to age and risk of breakage and repair) vs. asking homeowners to create a new lateral in the fronts of their homes that will connect to the new mains being placed under the roads. It is important to clarify though that all existing infrastructure will remain functional until the entirety of the project completes. This means if your property is in the area or “phase” first to be completed in 2027, the existing infrastructure (sanitary sewer, water) will remain active and functional until the last property is completed in 2029. The Lake Forest Water Co operative remains the source of the Lake Forest neighborhood’s water supply until at least 2029. Properties within each phase of the project are being given the opportunity for 100% reimbursement by the City of the cost to reroute their sewer laterals to their front yards (up to $11,000) as long as they do it within 2 years after their phase within the project is complete.Please refer to slide #25 in the presentation linked above.
13. “Like all homeowners in the neighborhood are regularly made aware from the city about the excessive amount of wipes (and slow/nonbiodegradable items) being found in the pumping stations (and strongly encouraged not to put in the toilet) do we know if the renters are also made aware of this significant problem?” *Yes. All addresses in an area served by a lift station that is identifying concerns will be sent a notification regardless of ownership or renter status. The city has a website that has an education section for what cannot be flushed down the drain: https://www.cityofmadison.com/engineering/sanitary-sewer/education/do-not-put-down-the-drain
Mr. Moder further clarified “A lift station is a facility in the City’s wastewater collection system that stores and pumps water to a gravity sewer. They are typically located in the lowest elevation of a drainage basin where gravity sewers cannot operate without a lift station facility. The Lake Forest Lift Station on Dickson Place serves the Lake Forest area. Grease and rags (flushable wipes) are most often observed at a lift station because we maintain them the most frequently.”
Tag Evers, District 13 Alderperson
Our dutiful Alderperson joined us again to answer any questions that neighbors had for him. Below is a summary of the Q & A:
1. “Has the City modeled radical budget changes should we see big employment reductions at Exact Sciences, Epic and perhaps others such as UW Health, not to mention federal debt grant implications? We’ve seen this occur over the decades in other regions. The domino effect on housing demand, big box rentals, assessments and possible big residential hikes is worth modeling, imho. In business, we would sometimes model a 50% revenue reduction to focus on the essentials.” *A “rainy day fund” comprises 27% of the City budget for unforeseen events that impact the local economy. That said, the local economy is generally well balanced in that should one sector experience a loss, there is enough growth in other sectors to counter act the potential destabilizing effects. The City is always looking for ways to encourage and further foster growth in the small business sector to maintain this stability. For past examples of this balance one can review the closure of Oscar Meyer several years ago which ultimately had little to no lasting effect on the local economy.
2.“We got our first early plow this week with the huge dump [I believe the neighbor is referring to the fact that our neighborhood roads were plowed very early in the day where as traditionally we are one of later neighborhood serviced]. What can you do to maintain this level of service for us?” *The Streets department policy is that plowing does not begin until 3 inches of snow has fallen. The snow storm on March 16th came with a forecast indicating heavy snow fall well beyond the 3 inch mark so the plows started right away rather than waiting for the usual 3 inch layer to accumulate. Also because of the severity of the forecast the Streets department hired several subcontractors just for this event so there were more plows available and out working than what is the usual. This event overall was not typical and the order in which neighborhood snow removal was addressed was not reflective of any change in standard protocols that will remain in place.
-Tag also spent time highlighting other infrastructure improvement projects occurring near by similar to our own Lake Forest Reconstruction. Regent Street between Randall Ave and S. Park St. is slated for reconstruction in 2027. S. Park Street between Badger Rd. and Fish Hatchery Rd. is also planned for reconstruction in 2030 in tandem with the development of the North-South BRT line development.-
Lastly Tag also encouraged us to reflect on the recent tragedy of 17 year old Sasha Rosen’s death as a result of being hit by a vehicle speeding along S. Park St. He reminded everyone to take their responsibility as a motor vehicle operator seriously. Slow down. Put the phone away. Pay attention. Drive like you are in your own neighborhood with your own precious family outside near the street. https://www.safestreetsforsasha.org/
Prejudice in Places
Arboretum neighbor Marilee Wertlake passed out informational fliers at the meeting about the Prejudice in Places initiative that she is working closely with. We mentioned this program in a previous neighborhood email. A copy of the flier is attached below which also contains Marilee’s contact information should you be interested in learning more!
Other Neighborhood Announcements
1. Neighborhood Garage Sales Saturday May 16th, 2026. This is coming right up! Please sign up at this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o3M14D3Mfc65BYN7FswVCJCwnSsJDGr68x2PjamJiNQ/edit?usp=sharing
Further instructional emails will be sent to those that sign up.
2. Go Vote Tuesday April 7, 2026! There is a big election coming up. This neighborhood’s polling place is the: Uw Arboretum Visitor Center2880 Longenecker Dr, Madison, WI 53703Please visit: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/Whats-On-My-Ballot to learn more about what is on the ballot. Our polling place is open 7 am-8 pm
3. Mad City Ultra Marathon: April 11th. This race will wind its way through the UW Arboretum but promises not to affect traffic in this area. Even so, neighbors should be advised that there is the potential for more activity than usual that day along Arboretum Dr. A link to the race route and details can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QcFt5GA0hH9fNrfLBCS0BpVuDLYOS-NlC7A5XoaY9wE/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.k7djzpjj6e33
4. Neighborhood Little Free Food Pantry. The Little Free Food Pantry run by neighbor Jaala Spiro continues to thrive! The cupboard requires significant replenishing every 2 to 3 days so it is getting used! Please continue to donate! A reminder that we created an Amazon wishlist to inspire folks about what to donate: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/J53JAJ94XVO3?ref_=wl_share
The pantry also could use a new home. Due to seasonal needs that change where it is currently located, it will be looking for a new home this summer. If anyone would like to host it on the roadside of their property, please reach out!
5. No food scrap dumping in the parks!! And lastly, a friendly “request.” Recently there has been a significant increase in food scrap dumping in Harvey Schmidt Park. I get it. You have some produce that is just a little too ripe, or some other kind of “left overs” and you would rather it not go completely to waste. So you leave it out for our forest friends to enjoy. What you do on your own property is of course your business. But please do not dump food scraps in the shared use public areas of our neighborhood. We arguably have a significant coyote “problem” in the area and leaving easily accessible food out is continuing to give them an open invitation to hang around making a lot of neighbors feel pretty nervous on their daily walks. Also, speaking personally as a dog walker, this scenario is a nightmare for us. The dogs love to scramble over, lunge, and faster than you can blink scarf up whatever you may have dumped on the park lawn. Many of my immediate neighbors have spent several HUNDREDS of dollars getting treatments recently for their poor doggos suffering bouts of gastroenteritis after the dog sampled “something” along the road on their daily walk. Did you know the City of Madison has several food scrap drop off options to be used for composting?! Check out their website for more information: https://www.cityofmadison.com/streets/food-scraps/compost-food-scraps
And please, I beg you. Stop dumping the scraps in the park.
Be well everyone!
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