A surprise victory

Good news!

In a surprise move, a city committee Monday night reversed course and decided to recommend not selling the land under the former Lincoln School to generate an estimated $600,000 or more that could then be used to improve James Madison Park.

I've written about my opinion on this matter before, and it's good to see that serious thought and consideration was given to the issue by the committee in charge of recommendations. Their reasoning:

...supporters of the decision in the 4-1 vote said it would be wiser to wait until the real estate market improves before making any decisions. They noted the city's current lease of the land to building owner Urban Land Interests expires in 2034, at which point the building, now being used for apartment rentals, could revert back to the city.

Ald. Brenda Konkel apparently even surprised herself by voting not to sell the land:

I was also kicking myself for not thinking of the rental housing as an asset to the neighborhood as it is one of the few places you can rent that is not trashed over-rented housing.

And, we had heard that many of the people in the rentals would not be able to live in the new condos because they could not afford them.

For once, it would seem, testimony from the people most directly affected by a potential land sale made enough of a difference to change some minds.

Solving the budget shortfall is a serious and important issue, and one without any easy fixes. But pawning off our public lands wasn't and isn't going to do more than provide a very small and very temporary boost to that effort. I'm happy to see that cooler heads prevailed.

Hooray for new parks!

This news is most welcome:

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk today announced the purchase of approximately 172 acres, the largest park purchase ever, in the North Mendota Natural Resource Area, calling it one of the most picturesque and most accessible of all the new county parks.

Rolling terrain of woodlands, pasture and wetlands, with some steeper slopes offering postcard panoramic views of surrounding landscape -- including the State Capitol – mark the property. Large, ancient open-grown oaks still are prominent on the slopes adjacent to Six-Mile Creek that runs through the property. The open-grown nature of the oaks presents a clear vision of the once-common savannas in this part of the state.

The property also provides a link for the proposed North Mendota Bicycle Trail, a regional trail similar to the Capital City Trail on the southern half of the county that will link Schumacher Farm County Park, Governor Nelson State Park and Pheasant Branch Conservancy.

This is great, and I applaud Falk and whoever else was involved for making the move. As far as I can tell, they're talking about the large stretch of land just north of Governor Nelson State Park and highways K and M.


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Not only does this add to the open space around the city, provide environmentally sound recreational, educational and research opportunities, but the fact that it could be used to help provide a link for the proposed North Mendota Bicycle Trail is excellent.

The more we do to preserve our natural resources and help keep sprawl to a minimum, the better. I'm now of a mind to go and check out the land to see for myself what the county has just bought for itself.