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Dear Friend, Yes, you guessed it! The CARPC has not yet decided on the fate of the Northeast Neighborhood, the Waubesa Wetlands, and Lake Waubesa. As
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 Working to preserve the land west of Lake Waubesa from poorly planned development |
Dear Friend,
Yes, you guessed it! The CARPC has not yet decided on the fate of the Northeast Neighborhood, the Waubesa Wetlands, and Lake Waubesa. As you can read in the Capital Times article, on Nov. 13 they will hear the staff report, discuss and decide.
Very sadly, the CARPC passed the North Stoner Prairie Neighborhood USA amendment. |
 Lilies and vetch in the NEN
Photo by Nadia Olker |
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Nov. 13 – come out once more!
Please put this on your calendar now – the attendance so far has been astounding, but we need to keep up the support for those considering a NO vote.
What: CARPC discussion and vote on the Northeast Neighborhood
When: Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
Where: to be announced, but likely in Fitchburg |
Amazing public support for clean lakes and wetlands
It is so gratifying, after almost 9 years of work on this issue, to have so many thoughtful and dedicated people on our side! Here are the figures from the last two hearings.
Sept. 11 CARPC meeting
North Stoner Prairie Neighborhood
Registered in opposition: 73 total
Spoke in opposition: 5
Signed up to speak in opposition but had to leave before their turn: 4
Registered in support: 18 total
Spoke in support: 5
Northeast Neighborhood
Registered in opposition: 126 total
Signed up to speak in opposition but the hearing didn't happen that night: 36
Registered in support: 11 total
Signed up to speak in support but the hearing didn't happen that night: 2
Oct. 9 CARPC meeting
Northeast Neighborhood
Registered in opposition: 43 in total
Spoke in opposition: 18
Were there in opposition but didn't sign in: ~ 30
Registered in support: 10 total
Spoke in support: 2 |
 Democracy at work: citizens testifying at a hearing |
And really there were more...
It was frustrating that CARPC did not bring to the Oct. 9 meeting a list of all those who had registered at the Sept. 11 meeting. Many people didn't sign in, either because they already had on Sept. 11, or because (two different people told me this) the staff at the registration table told them that if they didn't want to speak, there was nothing for them to sign!
And what great statements we heard! Truly you are some of the best educated, most thoughtful, and eloquent people it's ever been my pleasure to work with.
Were you there?
I wrote down the name of every person I knew to be a supporter, but some of you I don't know by sight yet. So please, if you're not absolutely sure that I know your name, drop me a line and let me know if you were at the Oct. 9 meeting, or if you were at the Sept. 11 meeting but didn't register. |
 The blue area drains into a closed depression. If enough water falls, it will be exported to Greene Prairie in the UW Arboretum. |
Hightlights of the meeting
The North Stoner Prairie Neighborhood (NSPN)
The meeting started with a long CARPC staff report supporting passage of the NSPN USA amendment. There were many charts and graphs showing that Fitchburg has really been growing lately, and should therefore keep on growing. There were many assurances that all the stormwater problems can be taken care of with engineering solutions.
Then the commissioners discussed the issue. Commissioner Peter McKeever proposed an amendment to greatly reduce the USA amendment area, to about 100 acres south and southwest of Sub-Zero, so that they could expand. Though Commissioner Eric Hohol said "That's not an amendment" and Commissioner Zach Brandon said that such an amendment would be unprecedented, Commissioner Ken Golden cited a precedent from when he was on the old Regional Planning Commission. The amendment did not pass, and when the whole NSPN issue was voted on, only two voted against it: Commissioners McKeever and Minihan. |
Northeast Neighborhood (NEN)
Then we moved on to the public hearing for the NEN. There was quite a squabble when the Chair (Commissioner Larry Palm) told the others that the WWPC had collected 6 people to each yield their three minutes so that we could watch our video, and that three of us (Cal DeWitt, Joy Zedler, and myself) would be speaking for 6 min. each, thanks to others yielding their minutes to us.
Commissioners Brandon and Jason Kramar were outraged at the very concept of yielding minutes, and said it was unprecedented and unfair. I had to stand up and yell "It's on your agenda that we can do this!" and then Commissioner McKeever read out loud the statement which has been on every agenda for years:
"The time limit for testimony be each registrant will be 3 minutes, unless additional time is granted a the discretion of the Chair. However, for public hearings on USA/LSA amendments… other groups of registrants may pool their time of 3 minutes each up to a maximum of 15 minutes." So the Chair ruled that we could do it. |
 Dr. Joy Zedler
Video image by Matt Hill |
After our amazing 18 speakers testified, and we showed our video, the public hearing was closed. By that time it was almost 11:30, and first one commissioner and then another announced that they had to leave, so the remaining members voted to table the matter til the Nov. 13 meeting.
While it was good that the commissioners rearranged the agenda order to allow us to go first, the disadvantage is that Nov. 13 will begin with a 45 min. pitch for approval by the CARPC staff, and we'll have no opportunity at all to respond or rebut anything that they say. But Dr. Joy Zedler didn't let that stop her… |
 Image of a swale, though not one from Dr. Zedler's study |
Dr. Zedler: stormwater controls fail tests
When Commissioner McKeever asked "Does anyone ever measure what stormwater facilities actually do?" Dr. Joy Zedler took note. She wrote a letter to the CARPC exploring this question plus another: "Do stormwater facilities actually do what they are designed to do?" Her answer:
"Not in our 2-year test of three wetland swales that were designed to trap nutrients in urban runoff entering the Arboretum."
Click here to read her entire letter, which contains this stunning sentence, "Despite being designed to remove nutrients, all three swales discharged more nitrogen and phosphorus than they received." |
Her concluding paragraph reads,
"Stormwater facilities are not cure-alls. The can reduce Total Suspended Solids, but many contaminants that degrade wetlands pass through. The best way to protect downstream Waubesa Wetland gems is not to release contaminants upstream. I urge Commissioners to reject the NEN project until Fitchburg restores enough wetlands upstream to keep nitrogen and phosphorus from converting downstream wetland gems to invasive weeds." |
 Fitchburg Mayor Shawn Pfaff |
Keep this in mind…
Staff people do not make policy. They do the best they can with the projects and policies made by their bosses. So we shouldn't hold it against them when they find ways to paint a rosy picture of a development that we believe will be very damaging.
Our disagreement is with the elected leaders in Fitchburg, Mayor Pfaff and his council allies, who have pushed these unneeded and harmful development proposals. And now the CARPC has a chance to stop the NEN proposal, and we hope that they will. If you haven't yet, you can email them at allcommissioners@CapitalAreaRPC.org. |
Spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and the newspapers
We need another big crowd on Nov. 13, and we need to keep this issue in the news, and keep building opposition to it. The more commissioners hear that people are concerned, the more attention they will pay to our excellent arguments.
So please use any and all of the social media buttons at the top of this newsletter to send it on to your circles of friends. And if you were at the Oct. 9 hearing, why not write a short letter to the editor of the Capital Times at tctvoice@madison.com, in response to their informative article on Oct. 15? (250 words is their limit.) |
 An image from the "Accelerated Innovation" scenario, one of 4 for 2070 in the Yahara watershed. |
Watershed Workshop Yahara 2070, Nov. 19
As you may have noticed, we're not alone in wanting to preserve and restore our lakes to health. It's a movement, and you can learn lots more at a free event coming up soon.
What: "Our Future Watershed and Well-Being: A Watershed Network Workshop"
Sponsored by: Yahara 2070, a project of the UW-Madison Water Sustainability and Climate project.
When: Wednesday, Nov. 19, 6 0 8 p.m.
Where: Union South, University of WI-Madison campus
Plus: Snacks provided! Food and mingling start at 5:30 p.m.
Cost: free, but please register in advance by clicking here. |
 An image from the "Abandonment and Renewal" scenario, one of 4 for the Yahara watershed in 2070 |
Here's a short description from their brochure.
"Join the Dane County Office of Lakes and Watersheds and scientists from the UW-Madison's Water Sustainability and Clmate Project for a discussion of possible futures…
This workshop will present Yahara 2070, a set of scenarious about the Yahara Watershed in the year 2070. Attendees will discuss the scenarious and how they could be useful to watershed groups in working toward desirable futures." |
Thank you for all your help, activism, donations and support!
If you can give a donation at this point it would be most welcome, as we have used up what we had and would like to send out one more postcard mailing.
Click here to give via Paypal or to get the address where you can send a check. Thanks! Many small donations can make a big one. |
 The southern end of Lake Waubesa, looking northwesterly towards the Northeast Neighborhood.
Photo © Nadia Olker |
Yours for restored and healthy wetlands and lakes,
Phyllis Hasbrouck
Chair of the West Waubesa Preservation Coalition
www.westwaubesa.org
westwaubesa@gmail.org |
P.S. Please come to one more meeting, to let the CARPC Commissioners know how important this is to you. Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., probably in Fitchburg. Watch for a later e-newsletter to tell you! |
 The Waubesa Wetlands after a storm. Thanks for helping us to protect them!
Photo by Cal DeWitt |
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