They will be considered at the Board of Estimates meeting on Monday.
Nothing earth shattering, but it might affect you, so take a look. I haven’t had time to finish the capital budget briefings that the Board of Estimates got, so these are a little out of context, but hopefully of interest to you.
It essentially includes:
– More money for Fire Station 2 (Grand Canyon Drive)
– Moves up planning for Far East Fire Station
– Removes software funding to allow “quarterly” tax payments
– Money for houses in James Madison Park (only 42K)
– Reducing Borrowing in future years in Engineering projects
– Moving various projects up in the budget
– Doing the Outer Loop of the Capital in 2011 instead of 2013
– Press Box for Breese Stevens
– Additional fundraising for Tenney Park Shelter
– Skate Park fudning in 2013
– Money for State St Parking Ramp repairs
– $25K for art in Northside TID
– Actually funding the neighborhood centers
– Increasing study area for neighborhood centers beyond the south/southwest side
– $4.5M in TIF for the Erdman project (Which I thought was dead.)
– Landmarks Plaques
Those of us who live in the Spring Harbor Neighborhood are prepared for the next round with the proposed Erdman Holdings development. The amended city budget which proposes 4.5 in TIF
money (ostensibly for parking ramps) was something BOE member and our alder Mark Clear told us a few months ago at a neighborhood association meeting had little or no chance of passage. I suspect he is now it’s chief proponent after the battering they took at two UDC meetings.
The Erdman family is one of Madison’s richest. The
pandering for 4.5 million indicates they are not seriously committed to this development. The plans they submitted according to one architect “have all the elegance of a McDonalds at the end of an airport runway”.
I think when the Univ. of Wisconsin GI Clinic which is a proposed tenant understands the environmental challenges (WHPA Zone A) and potential brown field status of the land plus already elevated sodium chloride and other issues with well # 14 they will do the prudent thing that a health provider should do and walk away.
Alder. Clear has said the Erdman project is dead, so I’m confused by his introduction of this TIF funding. Especially for a project that has been referred by the UDC twice for improvements, and has not yet presented elsewhere. Seems like the proverbial cart before the horse. And I understand if it passes the BOE it would be added to the Mayor’s capital budget and it would take 11 alders to remove it. Correct?
Mike: seems typical, many developers go to the neighborhood, say they don’t want TIF, neighbors back off, and then the TIF request comes.
Jane – I was wondering the same thing about the project being “dead”. And yes, if added at BOE (I predict a 3-3 tie, with the Mayor voting as an aye – didn’t folks connected with Erdman go on the bike trip? Perhaps that is why he didn’t put it in the budget. Rhodes-Conway, Verveer and Sanborn no, Bruer and Claussius voting with Clear, unless Bruer sees it as a threat to one of his TIF or capital budget amendments for his district.), it takes 11 votes to remove at council.
I bet you might have some allies with the Edgewater opponents. Spring Harbor folks/Erdman development TIF opponents might want to connect with them.