County

The Middleton Common Council on Jan. 15 approved The Carey Group’s request for $400,000 in developer-financed Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The deal is designed to attract Affiliated Construction Services (ACS) to a yet-to-be-built facility in the Good Neighbor City.

ACS currently has locations in Verona, Madison, China and the United Kingdom. A representative for the company said the Verona facility is undersized, as well as being too far from the company’s Madison office.

The Madison-based developer’s formal request for TIF, dated Jan. 2, said The Carey Group Real Estate Services, LLC is pursuing a 40,000 square foot build-to-suit development for ACS on Lot 19 within the Middleton Corporate Center. (The parcel is on the northwest corner of Nursery Drive and Deming Way.)

The City of Middleton held a public informational meeting Tuesday on a project to realign the Terrace Avenue and High Point Road intersection and reconstruct Terrace Avenue from just west of High Point Road to just east of Parmenter Street.

The purpose of the project is to create a “stronger link between the Greenway Center development area and the Downtown Business District and to replace aging infrastructure and utilities along Terrace Avenue,” according to  Abby Attoun-Tucker, Middleton’s assistant director of community development.

Phase I of the project is scheduled to take place in 2013 and includes a realignment of the intersection of Terrace Avenue and High Point Road along with construction of a public parking lot at the intersection.

The arrival of the New Year ushered in fee and rate increases for most local citizens. Higher sanitary sewer rates and EMS fees, which went into effect January 1, were approved by the Middleton Common Council in December.

The Common Council first changed its general ordinances to include higher rates for most sewer customers. For many, the rates are up between five and eight percent.

Quarterly service charges are dependent on meter size. Those with a 5/8” meter saw charges rise from $18.51 to $19.55, with similar increases for sizes all the way up to 6”, for which the rate went from $336.53 to $355.39. Those with meters that are 8, 10 or 12 inches will see their quarterly service charges remain flat.

The sanitary sewer volume charge (per 100 gallons) increased from $0.218 to $0.237 for all customers.

A new person will join the Middleton Common Council this year.

The filing deadline revealed that District 1 alderman Paul Kinne will not seek a third two-year term. Miriam Share, 7781 Elmwood Ave., filed to run for Kinne’s seat.

Assuming no successful write-in candidate emerges, Share will sit across the table from District 4 alderman Jim Wexler, the man against whom she launched an unsuccessful campaign in 2010.

Incumbents JoAnna Richard (District 3, 1720 Mayflower Dr.), Howard Teal (District 5, 7134 Companion Ln.), and Hans Hilbert (District 7, 3209 Cedar Trail) will all be unopposed on the ballot.

Dane County has reached an agreement with the Middleton-based Bruce Company to acquire and permanently protect hundreds of acres south of Verona along the Sugar River, County Executive Joe Parisi announced today.

Details of the proposal to purchase and preserve 466 acres and over 2.5 miles of riverfront on the Sugar River were announced at a press conference on the Bruce Company.  Pending review and approval of the County Board of Supervisors in the weeks ahead, Dane County hopes to close on ownership of the property this spring.

This purchase is the largest acquisition of river frontage in Dane County’s history and the second biggest in terms of acreage, according to a statement issued by Parisi’s office.

The Dane County Board on Thursday, Jan. 10 approved Resolution 206, calling for President Obama, the United States Congress and the Wisconsin legislature to enact a list of measures intended to curb gun violence.

The board approved the resolution, which was introduced by Supervisor Sharon Corrigan (District 26, Middleton) and co-sponsored by 27 supervisors, by a margin of 29-2.

Supporters said the resolution is part of an effort to counterbalance the National Rifle Association’s political sway. It calls for action to curb access to certain kinds of firearms and to reduce the number of guns in the hands of criminals “in order to decrease the number and impact of mass shootings in the United States.”

Those who voted against it said the non-binding resolution won’t do anything to prevent future tragedies.

Some supervisors abstained from voting, saying state and federal gun laws fall well outside the jurisdiction of the Dane County Board of Supervisors.

The middle school science teacher who wants to run for school board filed a response yesterday to the incumbent’s challenge to his candidacy papers.

David Dahmen filed a Declaration of Candidacy last week. He initially turned in photocopies of the signatures that are required by state statute. Jim Greer, the sitting Area 1 school board member against whom Dahmen hopes to run, on Jan. 7 filed a challenge based on the fact that Government Accountability Board rules require original signatures rather than facsimiles.

Dahmen had until the end of Thursday, Jan. 10 to submit a verified response with Annette Ashley, the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School Board’s clerk.

Ashley will now decide whether to place Dahmen’s name on the April 2 ballot.

A teacher, union grievance chairman and longtime critic of current school district leadership has filed to run for a seat on the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District (MCPASD) Board of Education.

All three incumbents on the Middleton Town Board will face challengers on the April ballot.

Greg DiMiceli, a former plan commission member, will oppose incumbent Milo Breunig for town chair. Cynthia Richson, a current plan commission member, will oppose incumbent Tim Roehl for Seat 1. Troy Alton will oppose incumbent Bill Kolar for Seat 2.

Richson is an attorney who was worked for the Wisconsin Investment Board, in the insurance industry, and has served on the Plan Commission for more than two years. She said she was inspired to run after the town board renewed a conditional-use permit for the Madison Central Montessori School in 2011.

“It was a very controversial decision - more than 200 people signed petitions opposing it,” said Richson.

The Middleton Town Board is considering creating a tax increment financing (TIF) district to attract redevelopment to a 28-acre portion of the town along Seybold Road.

In a 4-1 vote Monday, with board supervisor Bill Kolar dissenting, the board asked Vierbicher Associates to prepare estimates of the increase in tax base that could result from redevelopment of Seybold Road.

The town can create a Tax Increment District (TID) under state statute or, under its intergovernmental agreement with the City of Madison.

TIDs are often used to attract redevelopment of blighted areas. The several blocks  of Seybold Road between the Beltline Highway and Gammon Road would be considered blighted and qualify for TID financing, according to backers of the plan before the town.