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| Summer Fun These are definitely the dog days of summer. It’s generally hot, humid, and bugs abound. Fortunately, flowers abound, too. And if you’re willing to brave the heat and the mosquitos, there’s also a lot of outdoor activities abounding in Middleton. National Mustard Day takes place downtown on August 2, followed by National Night Out in Lakeview Park on August 6, and Battle of the Badges on August 9 at Firefighters Memorial Park. The annual Good Neighbor Festival is the weekend of August 22 in a new location on the south side of Middleton High School. And, of course, every Thursday this month, there’s the city’s Farmer’s Market at Greenway Station and the Summer Fun Concert Series at Stonehorse Green. Check out VisitMiddleton to learn more about what’s happening in the Good Neighbor City this month and every month!  Deeper Dive into Graber Pond Master Plan Last month, I reported that a draft of the Graber Pond Master Plan was available for public comment. I hadn’t had a chance to review the plan thoroughly by the time the newsletter went out, so I shared only my initial reactions to the draft — we need to invest more funding in the conservancy and we need more people to do the work. Having completed my review, these two points remain the biggest takeaways for me. At my request, the city held a public meeting on July 23 to present an overview of the plan and to solicit feedback from the public. (If you’d like to view the meeting, it’s available here using passcode E#8FVzW#.) The people who attended were able to share their comments after hearing presentations on the plan from Kevin Short, Assistant Director of our Parks Department, and Evelyn Williams, the lead author of the plan. Perhaps the most exciting comment (for me) came from Ken Wiesner representing the Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy. Ken offered the Friends’ help (his, specifically) with organizing volunteers to work in Graber Pond Conservancy the way people currently work in Pheasant Branch Conservancy. I have long thought that we have a critical mass of people living near Graber who could be a significant force for good in helping to restore the conservancy. All we need is guidance to get us started. I greatly appreciate Ken’s offer of assistance and I look forward to taking him up on the offer. I strongly encourage any readers who care about Graber Pond to do three things, in order of increasing effort. First, submit a public comment on the draft master plan before the August 20 deadline (make sure to mention you’re commenting on the Graber plan). I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to submit a comment if you want the city to prioritize this conservancy. Numbers matter, so the more comments the city gets, the more likely it is that Graber will get the attention it needs. The plan is long and detailed, so below are some illustrated ideas for simple topics to address in your comment. Even if you say just one thing, your comment will count — literally.  Second, email the members of the Finance and Personnel Committee along with Bill Burns, the city’s Finance Director, to ask them to fund ongoing restoration work at Graber Pond for at least 10 years. The 2026 budget is being developed right now. At their meeting on July 23, the Conservancy Lands Committee, or CLC, supported the staff’s recommended budget of $20,000 in 2026 for restoration work, with future funding of $10,000 for two years and then just $5,000 for one year before zeroing out in 2030. That’s $45,000 in all. For comparison, the draft master plan estimated annual maintenance and management costs at $41,300 (see pages 55-56 of the plan). The costs just for weed management, prescribed burns, and adding native seed amount to $29,500 per year. So the proposed $45,000 over four years isn’t enough. As I noted in my written comments, the city’s Comprehensive Plan says master plans should have a minimum lifespan of 10 years. That was the timeframe covered by the 2006 master plan. The estimated costs for restoration in the 2006 plan were $15,000 per year to remove invasive species and $10,000 in ongoing costs for prairie restoration. That was in 2006, so with inflation, the cost range would be closer to $16,000-$24,000 today. I’m a firm believer in implementing the plans the city pays for. There wasn’t consistent follow through on the 2006 plan for Graber, so I’d like to see the city fund restoration work in the conservancy until it’s nearly complete, then switch to maintenance mode. I know there are other conservancies in Middleton that need master plans, but I don’t see the value of investing in new plans if we aren’t going to devote the resources needed to implement the plans we already have. Because of the growing population in this area and the significant downstream impacts on Pheasant Branch Conservancy, Graber Pond Conservancy should be a high priority for the city. Finally, if you’re willing to help with restoration and management activities, please email Kevin Short to ask him to add your name to the list of volunteers. I’m on it and I hope many readers will add their names, too. It’s a great way to meet people and either to learn about native plants or to share the expertise you already have. I hope to do all three! I’m excited to announce that the city will be hosting a Misty Valley Volunteer Seed Collecting Event on the evening of September 3 from 5:30 to 7 pm. Mark your calendars and watch for more information on the city’s website — or add your name to the volunteer list so that you’ll receive the information directly. The CLC intends to finalize the master plan at their next meeting on August 27 after getting comments from the WRMC. Then the plan will head to Council for approval in September. Complete Streets Policy versus Practice This summer, a number of sizable construction projects have shown how far we have to go to live up to our “Complete Streets” policy. Accommodations for pedestrians and bikes have been an issue with just about every construction project, including city road projects and also developer construction projects. To be clear, with projects like the Parmenter Street reconstruction, everyone is excluded — vehicles, bikes, pedestrians. No one likes the inconvenience, of course, but at least travel by all modes is treated equally. In contrast, other projects have maintained access or posted detours for vehicles, but not for bikes and pedestrians. The projects involving or affecting the Century/Allen intersection, Franklin Avenue, the High Road multipurpose path, and Misty Valley sidewalk replacement have all left pedestrians and bikes without a safe option to travel during construction. This is not acceptable. It’s somewhat understandable, though, given our society’s traditional focus on cars and other vehicles. I’m hoping this oversight is just a part of the culture and will gradually change over time. I decided to give that gradual change a boost at the Finance and Personnel Committee meeting on July 15. We were reviewing City-Developer agreements for new apartment buildings going up at Conservancy Bend Residences on Parmenter and at Middleton Shores on Century. Knowing about the recent problems we’ve had with sidewalk closures, I asked for language to be added to the agreements to refer to the city’s Complete Streets Policy and to require the developers to provide reasonable accommodations for pedestrians and bikes during construction. In other words, if access remains open to vehicles, it should remain open to pedestrians and bikes, too. Any detours should be pre-planned, publicized in advance, reasonable, and ADA compliant. I also asked for the city to revise its template for city-developer agreements and any related documents so that this type of language will always be included. On July 28, at the Public Works Committee meeting, my District 5 colleague Alder Charles Myers asked that the committee take this issue up at a future meeting. These are just first steps — adherence to these requirements will take monitoring and enforcement by the city. But I hope these changes will help us avoid the problems we’ve had this summer. One way to see firsthand the impact that a closed sidewalk can have is to take part in Week Without Driving. This year, Middleton will again be participating in this national challenge from Monday, September 29, through Sunday, October 5. Started by disability rights advocacy organizations, Week Without Driving is a way to see our transportation system from the perspective of someone who does not use a car. On July 10, the Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Transit (PBT) Committee approved a resolution to observe Week Without Driving this year, noting that, in Middleton, nondrivers make up around 30-40% of the population. Nondrivers can include older adults, students, people who don’t have the resources to own a car, individuals with disabilities, and others who simply opt not to drive. The event is designed to increase awareness about “how the lack of adequate transportation can impact people’s ability to work, access education and childcare, see doctors, make it to appointments, and procure goods, services, recreation, and entertainment.” I expect Council to approve the resolution this month. I’ll be participating in Week Without Driving again this year and will lobby my Council colleagues and city staff to join me. The PBT Committee also approved a resolution to take the first steps toward bringing the BCycle shared bicycle service to Middleton. Specifically, the resolution supports the Planning and Community Development staff applying for a “Transportation Alternatives Program” grant in 2026 to help fund BCycle in the city. The service is already available throughout Madison and in Fitchburg. I have wanted to see it expand to Middleton, too, because I think it has the potential to connect our hotels to area restaurants and stores, provide residents an option for faster access to Madison Metro bus routes, and — because BCycle uses only e-bikes — help people cycle to work, school, or wherever without having to sweat the many hills in Middleton. Council will take up this resolution in August and I intend to vote “yes.” I hope it will pass. Sustainable Middleton The passage of the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill” dealt a big, bad blow to our nation’s clean energy aspirations. Most of the incentives for individuals in the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, will expire at the end of 2025. The tax credit for new or used electric vehicles, or EVs, will end even earlier on September 30. The help from the federal government is going away, but climate change is not. So I really hope some readers will take advantage of the incentives before they expire. I had planned to add more solar to my roof in 2026 and also replace my water heater with a heat pump water heater, which would complete my home’s transition away from fossil fuels. Now I have to think about forging ahead with at least the solar this year because the 30% tax credit is too good to miss. I installed my current array in 2020 through MadiSun’s Group Buy for Homes. I highly recommend this program to reduce the hassle of soliciting and comparing individual quotes. If you’re interested in getting an EV, installing solar, or upgrading any of your fossil-fuel-powered appliances, the Dane County Office of Energy and Climate Change has an excellent webpage with information on the available tax credits. The Office recommends that residents “immediately initiate projects” if you’re able to complete them by the deadline. I agree! In other sustainability news, the city’s Planning Department likely will be requesting funding for a consultant to develop a renewable energy roadmap similar to what the school district commissioned for its own decarbonization efforts. MCPASD has been working aggressively to implement the projects recommended by their consultant McKinstry back in October. I’d like to see the city act with similar determination, even if the IRA incentives won’t be available to us. Middleton adopted a clean energy resolution well before there were significant federal incentives for moving away from polluting fossil fuels. We were working on our own back then to achieve our goal of carbon-neutrality by 2050. Now that the IRA is dead, we’ll just have to go back to working on our own. Finally, the Sustainability Committee continues to hold periodic “Sustainable U” sessions. The next one is coming up on August 21. “Balancing the Needs of Wildlife with Solar Development” will feature Meleesa Johnson, Executive Director of Wisconsin Green Fire, speaking about how we can use renewable energy while avoiding negative impacts on wildlife. This free event will take place in the Archer Room at Middleton Public Library starting at 6 pm. I hope to see you there! Protecting Our Water Resources Another aspect of living sustainably is protecting our water resources. In addition to reducing my carbon footprint, I make a concerted effort to reduce the impact I have on our surface waters, including Pheasant Branch and Lake Mendota. Some people think the city collects and treats the stormwater that runs into our storm drains. It doesn’t. That water flows right into the creek or the lake, along with whatever it happens to pick up — garbage, leaves, grass clippings, fertilizer, road salt, oil, gas, and other chemicals, etc. Yuck! Dane County’s Ripple Effects has a great short video to help residents learn about stormwater and what they can do to help keep rain where it lands and make sure that only rain goes down our storm drains. The video features a demonstration using a rainfall simulator to show the impact that various ground covers have on runoff — including traditional and pervious pavement, different types of lawn, and native prairie. I saw this simulation in person at a recent workshop and it was really eye opening. In 2020, I had my backyard converted to restored prairie, plus we installed two rain gardens. These changes help to keep rain where it lands. Plus, we have the benefit of a beautiful backyard that changes throughout the season and provides habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. Next year, we’ll turn our attention to the front yard to try to keep more rain where it lands. To help make sure only rain goes down the drain, I adopted a group of storm drains in my neighborhood through the county’s “Adopt-a-Storm-Drain” Program. I check the drains every time I walk my dogs and I make sure to clean them at least monthly. I have found sticks, leaves, grass clippings, plastic bags and other garbage, dirt, and road grit in the debris that accumulates in the grate (see before and after images below). I encourage readers to check out your neighborhood on Ripple Effects and consider adopting one or more drains near you. It’s a great activity to do as a family because it teaches kids the value of public service and also helps them become more environmentally aware. If you sign up for a drain, you can get a free bucket, safety vest, and brush with dustpan from the city, as well as a sticker to put on your drain to show that it has been adopted. In addition to the helpful resources available through Dane County, I really like the Clean Lakes Alliance’s webpage on “Top 10 Ways to Help the Lakes at Home.” If I could add one thing to that list, it would be to sweep up any fertilizer that winds up on your sidewalk instead of your lawn. This is important whether you tend your own lawn or have a landscaper do it. Also, remember to put brush and other yard waste for collection in the terrace in front of your house, not in the street, and don’t blow grass clippings or leaves or anything into the street. Remember, what goes on the street goes into the lake.   2026 City Budget It’s going to be another tough budget year in 2026, with the upcoming one being another “cost-to-continue” budget — in other words, we’ll try to address critical needs and also see if we can implement some recommendations from our forthcoming compensation study. State law imposes this austerity on Middleton and every other Wisconsin municipality by prohibiting us from increasing our property tax levies by more than our “net new construction” — meaning, the increase in property value added to the city during the previous calendar year divided by the total value of all our property that isn’t located inside a tax incremental district. It would make sense for state law to include an increase for inflation each year, but that isn’t part of the calculus (at least not yet). We can increase our tax levy above the net-new-construction percentage by asking the voters to approve the increase through an “operating levy limit referendum.” We did that in 2022 and voters approved, which helped us add two police officers, a parks crew member, and a communications manager. We’re hoping to avoid holding another operating levy limit referendum for at least a few years. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you like the services we currently have, then we need to provide wage increases to our staff so we can retain them. In addition to cost-of-living and other increases, we also need to be able to pay higher premiums for insurance. According to the budget presentation Bill Burns gave to the Finance and Personnel Committee on July 15, our net new construction in 2025 is projected to be a mere 1.5% — that’s 0.1% less than last year. This percentage means we can increase the tax levy by $232,132. Bill estimated that other projected revenues would increase our General Fund income by a total of $561,542. On the expenditure side, we’re facing an increase of $535,000 in personnel-related costs plus another $175,000+ in other expenditures for a total of $712,289. Doing the math, we’re expecting to see a shortfall in our General Fund of $150,747 in 2026. One way to plug that gap would be to start charging a fee for the recycling services the city provides. Some municipalities do this — Verona, Oregon, and Madison, for example — and in some cases residents also pay a charge for garbage collection. Middleton can’t charge a fee for garbage collection without holding a referendum, but we don’t need a referendum to start charging for recycling pickup. At our meeting on the 15th, I suggested we explore this option in 2026. Our 2025 budget includes $355,722 for recycling, so splitting that cost in half and phasing it in over two years would be a reasonable way to lessen the impact of such a transition on the 5,000+ households that use recycling carts in the city. It would also help close our projected budget gaps in both 2026 and 2027 (see the chart below).  I don’t make suggestions like this lightly. I realize every new charge, even a small one, can be a burden to someone. But given the current state restrictions on levy limit increases, we have few other options for maintaining our level of service to city residents when the costs of what we currently have and do keep going up. One of my colleagues suggested we look at a wheel tax, too, which several other municipalities have. While I’m in favor of getting all ideas on the table, I’m not a fan of wheel taxes because they’re more regressive in nature than recycling fees. Every household would pay the wheel tax for each car, so people living in apartments would feel that burden, whereas most renters wouldn’t pay a new city fee for recycling. The Finance and Personnel Committee will discuss these ideas and others as we craft next year’s budget for Council to consider. Schedule-wise, the mayor’s Executive Budget should be available on September 19 in time for the Finance and Personnel Committee to prepare for our special Budget Meeting on September 30. The committee will hear from and ask questions of each department head at that meeting, then we’ll deliberate at our meetings on October 7 and 21 and make a recommendation to Council. To finalize the budget, on November 4, Council will hold a hearing, and we’ll vote on the budget on November 21 in time for property tax bills to be sent out. If you’d like to make a public comment about the budget, please plan to do so before or during the public hearing on November 4. And, as always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about the budget. Thank you! Thank you for reading “E-News on 6.” If you’d like to read past editions, an archive is available here. Feel free to email me or call/text me at 608.630.7500 if you need help with a city matter, want to relay your thoughts on an issue, or have questions about city decisions and my votes. I try to respond within two business days, but sometimes it takes longer. I’m not active on social media, so the best way to reach out to me about anything official is by phone or using my district email. If you find this newsletter helpful, I hope you’ll share it with friends, family, and neighbors who live anywhere in Middleton. Just please make sure to ask them not to unsubscribe you and not to report this email as spam. Thanks! Not receiving this free e-newsletter directly? Sign up here. Important Stuff to Know I produce this newsletter all on my own, at my own initiative, to help District 6 residents stay informed. This is not an official city publication, I don’t speak for the city, and producing this newsletter isn’t one of my official responsibilities as a member of the Common Council. If you’d like to reproduce or create new content from this material, please ask me first and make sure to cite the source. Image credits: – Fredo admiring the prairie plants: Lisa Janairo – Graber Pond images: Lisa Janairo – Ringo before and after: Lisa Janairo – Multi-Year General Fund Budget Projection: Bill Burns |