County Board meeting and hearing on redistricting, in less than 45 minutes.
A. ROLL CALL Notified Absent: Excuse Supervisor Willett
I think it was Bruskewitz, Hesselbein, Hulsey, Jensen, Martz, Richmond, Schlicht and Willett who were missing at the beginning of the meeting.
29 present, 8 absent. Martz and Schlicht said they would be late. Willett excused.
1. Prayer/Inspirational Message – Supervisor Rusk (Supervisor Salov next)
Paul Rusk says sort of an inspirational message related to redistricting. The first one is somewhat educational, and we’ll see what you think of the other two. The first one is from a journalist named Jeffry Tobin. “Even in Madison’s day, the practice of gerrymandering for partisan advantage was familiar. In the late 1780s there were claims that Patrick Henry had tried to gerrymander Madison himself out of the 1st congress. There term itself was coined during Madison’s presidency to mock Eldridge Gerry, the Governor of Massachusettes who in 1811 approved and election district that was said to look like a salamander.” That is the history of gerrymandering. The next quote is from 2000 and its Virginia’s representative Thomas Davis. “We saw our opportunities and we took them. Is this the way it ought to work? Of course not.” The last one was from Pamela Carlin a professor at Stanford Law School “It used to be that the idea was once every two years voters elected their representatives and now, instead, its every 10 years the representatives choose their constituents.” So, anyways . . .
2. Pledge of Allegiance – Supervisor Rusk
They did it.
B. SPECIAL MATTERS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Announcements
Tom Stoebig says at their desk is a one page summary from UW Extension about the agricultural census. For more detail go to their renovated website at dane.uwex.edu. It’s no surprise that top sales of agricultural commodities are milk and diary ($6M annually) and the other grains (corn and soy beans), but the good news is that when you go into the report vegetables (melons, potatoes) brings in $3.9M and fruits, nuts, berries another $1M and greenhouse another $13.5M. There is a lot of economic impact that agriculture brings and as they revamp the food council activities theses activities will play a part. He also has a resolution supporting UW Extension and relationship with other county office and support of the Wisconsin Idea Partnership which is the counter proposal to the New Badger Partnership.
Carousel Bayrd says when she moved to Wisconsin 10 years ago, here husband woo’d her here from New York to show us the theater here and as a New York theater snob, I told him never to take me to Broom Street Theatre again, but I tell this story because the Overture Center just announced their upcoming season, and its amazing. Wants them to support Overture. Don’t send me hate letters about Broom St. anymore. She lists some of her favorites and hopes people will support it.
Analiese Eicher has a resolution supporting the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission on the new brand, they have the same mission, but they change the name to the Dane Arts Commission. Hopefully you will sign on with Solberg and herself. She won’t reveal the new logo or anything yet, cuz still working on a role out but we should be proud of this in Dane County. The Cultural Affairs Commission has positions for three people from the board and they only have 2, so if they want to work with 10 citizens, and support great projects they would like your help.
Dianne Hesselbein apologizes for being late she was at an event. The Veteran’s Museum has Michael Sherar(?) who is a famous writer who brings the civil war to life and her husband joined him at the Concourse having a nice meal. They took pity on her for missing it and they have hors d’oeuvres from Marigolds and she invites them to have some. She appreciates the veterans, especially this week, for what they give to this country.
Patrick Downing says given the past election the voters in the county with a 3 to 1 margin said that they were dissatisfied with the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of 100 years of laws regarding campaign spending so he is circulating a resolution that would send that recommendation to the congressional delegation and let them know that the people of Dane County have taken the position that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights such as freedom of speech and would like to have a constitutional amendment to that effect. He would hope they would help him make their voices heard.
Scott McDonald announces Karen Peters has a birthday on the 11th. And no one else in May, “amazing”
C. APPROVAL OF BILLS & ACCOUNTS
1. Claims Recommended for Approval
Al Matano moves, Hesselbein seconds. No discussion. Passes on a voice vote.
E. CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Res. 322, 10-11 – Approving Natural Path Sanctuary a Cemetery Plat (Adopt)
There is no discussion and it passes.
2. Res. 1, 10-11 – Authorizing Emergency Fire Wardens for Dane County for the Year 2011 (Adopt)
McDonell says there is a typo, it should say 2011 – 2012. No discussion and it passes.
G. REPORTS ON ZONING PETITIONS
a. Map of Dane County
b. Summary of Grant as Modified Petitions
1. Petition 10170 – Town of Deerfield – FJD Farm LLC (Deny)
2. Petition 10291 – Town of Sun Prairie – Jeffrey Zimmerman (Grant)
3. Petition 10292 – Town of Blooming Grove – Michael Peper (Grant)
4. Petition 10296 – Town of Roxbury – Properties on Fish Lake LLC (Grant as Modified)
5. Petition 10297 – Town of Madison – 2121 Fish Hatchery Road LLC (Grant as Modified)
6. Petition 10298 – Town of Roxbury – Allan Breunig (Grant)
7. Petition 10299 – Town of Vienna – Eugene Larson (Grant as Modified)
8. Petition 10300 – Town of Blue Mounds – Randy Docken (Grant as Modified)
9. Petition 10301 – Town of Springdale – Thomas Rindy (Grant as Modified)
Patrick Miles separates 1, 2 and 4
McDonell calls for discussion on the rest, there is none, they pass as recommended.
Miles moves re-referral on item 1, Bob Salov seconds. Miles explains it is at the request of the petitioner. No discussion, passes.
Miles moves re-referral on item 2, seconded by Gau. Miles says that he was alerted by the Treasurer that there is some information he would like the committee to discussion. No discussion, motion passes.
On registration from Arlan Ostrang, available to answer questions. Two other registrations from Arnold Harris in opposition and Stefi Harris.
Stefi Harris says in opposition, she says the Dane County Zoning Administrator has recommended approval with a deed restriction that would say they can only build at the elevation higher than 868 feet, the problem is that Fish Lake and (?) Mud Lake are landlocked and they are rising 3 feet per decade and in 2030 they expect the lake levels to be a 868 feet and this is the elevation where the Zoning Administrator recommends. What happens in 2040 when it is three feet higher, this is no good. The documents say that ata 872 the basin will be filled with water and the breech will be made and the water will start flowing towards the Wisconsin River so she doesn’t think anything in that basin is safe under 872 feet. She thinks that is the minimum and even that is not right because you don’t want water coming to the steps and basement. Two years ago they approved something at a lower level, you probably felt sorry for the people, but here is your change to stop something bad from happening. You should not allow anything lower than 872 feet.
Arnold Harris says Stefi is a much better environmentalist than he is and he was aghast that anyone would actually sit here and debate putting in permits to build houses by a lake that is gaining that much water a decade and the houses will be flooding in 2 or 3 decades. When that time comes, we the taxpayer will be called on to partially or totally bail out the homeowners and this is the best way to save money, to prevent it from happening. It’s common sense administration of public funding. The land use policies were put there for a purpose, use them in this case, use them wisely. This is one place where reconsideration should be given to putting construction near a lake that is rising, it will chew its way across the land and eventually across Dane County and on its way to the Wisconsin River. He would encourage them to have that happen so we know where the channel will be.
Miles moves and Eileen Bruskewitz seconds for re-referral to committee.
Miles says that as one of the speakers pointed out, and Emergency Management has pointed out that there are discrepancies about where development can safely occur. He is worried there is more speculation than fact behind the numbers and he wants to hear more from staff on that but he’s beginning to regret his vote. Wants it to go back for reconsideration and to hear more on this.
Al Matano says that not only did we buy out flooded properties a year ago and that vote was not unanimous so the property owners are taking a gamble. He knows staff was working really hard to make this work and came up with 868 feet, but you can’t predict where water will be. He says that in some of his spring bike rides, in the Town of Vienna he saw bodies of water where on his map was road. He says in the Fish Lake area he carried his bike back on Fish Lake Road because is was under a foot of water. Staff said that if Fish Lake Road went away or was only usable part of the year, the residents of that area could get to Madison via Lodi, which is good to share with neighbors in Columbia county, that doesn’t sound like a good plan. Also, there was a shared driveway that was part of the plan. He doesn’t think the shared driveway is always over the 868 level, the property owners might not be able to get to the road. He says it could get wetter over the years.
John Hendrick is also in favor of re-referral. He wanted to add experience form his district, he says if you look at that petition, there is a report from Dane County Planning and Development – it says that the lake levels would have to reach 872 feet before the lake waters would begin to flow west and a couple speakers referred to the 872 so he agrees that allowing them to build to 868 is not a good idea. The outlet of Lake Monona is much lower than the level of the lake. He says that once you have an outlet all the hydrology of how much water can flow out and the rate of the water flowing in determines the height. He says 872 is the worst case scenario, 868 is worse than the worst case scenario. He says one house is ok, but not three.
Motion to re-refer passes.
H. ORDINANCES
1. Ord. Amdt. 37, 10-11 – Amending Chapter 10, Defining Small Scale Electric Generating Stations
and Requiring a Conditional Use Permit for Such Uses in the A-1 Exclusive Agriculture District
(Adopt Sub. 1)
There is no discussion, passes on a voice vote.
L. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS
1. PUBLIC HEARING ON DANE COUNTY REDISTRICTING TENTATIVE PLAN 7:30PM
They take a three minute break, there is food, perfect thing to waste three minutes on says McDonell.
They reconvene. They have three registrants.
McDonell points out where the maps are.
Stefi Harris says she is not so much concerned about redistricting, understands tied to the census data. She is more concerned about the number of the supervisors. She says that some people have criticized the board for being too big, but she says to them that Dane County is the fastest or second fastest growing county and issues are complex and frequent. Also as a taxpayer if you reduce the number we would have taxation without adequate representation. She is comfortable with the current supervisor, he knows who we are, he goes out of his way and we can get time for him. This is the government where it is dear to our heart. Not that many people vote and as a voter you have some influence over the things that will take place in the future. At the state and national level you are one of many millions or thousands and your vote doesn’t count quite as much and the issues you deal with are important to all of us. You can alter our property values with a stroke of a pen and we would like to have some say over how you are voting. So the quality of life, which is important to everyone, is impacted. She wants to keep the current number, she doesn’t think you are getting overpaid, this is not what drives the cost of government. The huge bureaucracy is what drives the costs and you don’t have that, you have a clerk and a few helpers. Per diem or per hour they pay you is hardly anything given how many hours you spend here. Sometime you stay til midnight and you don’t get paid more. You can’t make a living on this, no one is getting richer, this is volunteerism and keep doing good work and keep your numbers at the same level.
Arnold Harris, agrees wholeheartedly, looked at the maps on line and they look good. Hopes they all get re-elected, even those of you who he disagrees with, he likes a good discussion and argument sometime. He says on the number of people, you have been spurred by the Wisconsin State Journal to trim their numbers down. How many, 16, 17, 5? Bad idea. Stefi and he live in what used to be one of the worst managed jurisdictions in Dane County, the Town of Cross Plains. Famous to all. A couple of years ago we pushed the ticket and got a 5 person board and it was better because of the increased numbers, there was so much work to be done. Let’s extend that over to what is happening in the county. There are only 37 of them and they have a lot of committees and they think that will grow because they want the county to take over the role of the Capitol Area Regional Planning Commission. They want them to defund it and dissolve it. They will be pulling the plug on the Regional Transit Authority and there will be more work to do because they need to do regional planning. Time is going to come where we might want more of you, doesn’t know how many seats can fit in the room, but it would be fitting. There are some things that can’t be left to the staff, they have to be done by elected officials and that is you people. And you only have short staff to do this with anyways, you have to be your own research staff. He thinks it is easier if there are more of you. Follow the yellow brick road and don’t get distracted by the prim rose path.
Jackie DeWalt says she has questions. She lives on Jerome St and it is in the 17th district, and will soon be in the 24th. She lives in the Lake Edge Neighborhood Association which will now be split, we’ll have not only a different supervisor but also another alder. She doesn’t understand how they take district 3 and 17 and flip them. She wants to know when it will be effective if adopted. With the common council it is the next election. She is not just talking for herself, but many of her neighbors, they are confused about how you can flip and split them like you are. Neighborhoods are just so important and they are not being taken seriously and she hopes they do.
Gau moves and Schlicht seconds to close the public hearing.
Someone off camera says there are some letters, McDonell asks to have them passed out.
Eileen Bruskewitz says letters from Waunakee and Westport. Scott says those are being handed out. They wait, he doesn’t want to adjourn because people will get up and not get the letter. He says the process is that there will be a joint Executive Committee and Subcommittee of the Redistricting Committee meeting on Wednesday at 7:30. He strongly suggests that if there are amendments to 37B that they bring them to that committee. It will be on the agenda for the second meeting in May and all amendments need to be in writing. If there is a change, and he has heard there are one or two. They should get those to the staff, preferably for the Wednesday meeting, but certainly by Friday so there is time before the board meeting. A week from tomorrow please have your requests in to the county board staff because changes have to comply with the deviation of 5% up or down, so he doesn’t want to have to rule any motions out of order at the next meeting.
They vote to close the public hearing.
M. SUCH OTHER BUSINESS AS THE COUNTY BOARD IS AUTHORIZED TO CONDUCT BY LAW
N. ADJOURNMENT – Until Thursday, May 19, 2011, 7:00PM, Or Call of Chair
No other business.
deFelice moves, Gau seconds adjournment.
