Redistricting Committee Completes Work, Recommends 7a for Council Approval

Hi Everyone.

Yesterday afternoon the Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee met for its final meeting. A big portion of the meeting was devoted to evaluating a last-minute alternative map referred to as 7c that would have significantly impacted District 13, details of which I shared in my most recent post. 

No redistricting map is perfect as there will always be trade-offs that some will like and others will not. However, it was clear to me that 7c failed to comply with the criteria the Committee was required to follow. Many residents who had been following along apparently agreed with my assessment and accordingly offered their input and feedback to staff and committee members.

Consequently, the Committee voted unaminously to reaffirm their vote from last week in favor of Map 7a, shown below.

Council members have the option of offering amendments to be considered at our November 2 meeting, at which time a final vote will be taken. I have a minor amendment in mind that would pull in the Lost Cities neighborhood in the Arboretum, currently a part of the Town of Madison that will be joining the City a year from now. This would reinforce District 13's heavy emphasis on Lake Wingra alongside our focus on Monona Bay.

Lake Wingra Heritage Plan Update

This is a goog segue into an update on the work of the Lake Wingra Heritage Plan working group. The working group recently came up with the following Mission Statement:

The Lake Wingra Heritage Plan will develop and help implement policies and practices that celebrate the unique natural and cultural heritage of Lake Wingra. The plan will focus on three areas:

1. addressing water quality concerns by building on past efforts and promoting greater community protection of Lake Wingra;
2. preserving and enhancing the natural views of Lake Wingra and its surroundings; and
3. identifying and pursuing the creation of a Lake Wingra Heritage Trail.

I recently met with Planning Division director Heather Stouder to discuss these goals. We had a long discussion about the second goal. The working group has suffered no illusion that our efforts could or should result in some sort of veto power over new construction that may result in buildings visible from the Lake and its shorelines. However, affording the Lake some sort of protected status would provide a means for influencing what those buildings look like in terms of the color palette, materials selected, illuminated signage, and overall lighting plan for interior and exterior lights.

Ms. Stouder suggested we might consider establishing an Urban Design District around Lake Wingra, an idea I hadn't considered. I brought this idea back to the working group and it was heartily embraced. This wouldn't happen immediately due to planning staff's heavy workload, but is certainly worth recognizing as a priority and setting goals for this to be implemented in the foreseeable future.

The working group has also committed itself to working with Ho Chunk tribal elders, listening and learning from the First Nations perspective about the cultural and historical importance of the Lake and its shorelines, land that our European ancestors stole from the Ho Chunk.

More updates to follow, but in the meantime, as you can well see yourselves, the leaves are falling, and one thing we all can do to help our treasured bodies of water, both Lake Wingra and Monona Bay, is keeping those leaves out of the street. That means not only raking your yard but also sweeping leaves out of the street and up and out of the gutter so as to keep this decaying material from washing into the storm sewers when it rains.

I have one of these signs in my front yard. If you'd like one for yours, please email me at district13@cityofmadison.com and I'll make sure one is delivered to your door.

Note that you can sign up for rain alerts by going to ripple-effects.com/Leaf-free-Streets. That will be your signal to get those leaves out of the street before the rain washes them into our lakes. As you no doubt know, the decaying leaves produce phosphorous, which is a natural fertilizer. Just one pound of phosphorous can produce 500 pounds of lake weeds!

In short, if we want clear lakes, we must have clean streets. Click here to find out when your yard waste, including raked leaves, will be picked up by the City.  Click here to find out about other options for leaf management, including composting.

Take care and stay safe.

Tag