October 2021

MIDDLETON–The Middleton Common Council approved a $1.2 million TIF agreement for a 54-unit apartment which will include 45 subsidized units for people earning less than the area median income (AMI). The council also got a first look at a new long-term plan from Madison Metro for bus service and approved funding for the design of an asphalt bicycle pump track part of the city’s newly expanding bike and cross country skiing park. 

The affordable housing project, which is part of Tribeca Village, located at3 725 Tribeca Dr., was originally approved by the council in late 2019. The project, titled 38ten and proposed by JT Klein, a local developer specializing in Section 42 tax credit projects, consists of two three-story buildings with a combined total of 125 multi-family units in the Tribeca Village development between Parmenter St. and Tribeca Dr. Ten units would be market rate while the rest would be income-restricted for a period of 30 years.

TOWN OF MIDDLETON–Town of Middleton Board Supervisors Monday approved for public presentation the proposed 2022 town budget that will need $1.38 million from cash reserves in order to balance revenue and expenses.

The proposed budget will have a virtual public hearing on Nov. 16 beginning at 6 p.m. 

The 2022 proposed budget deficit is down from this year’s $1.65 million deficit and town’s financial picture should continue to brighten, said Town Treasurer Megan Hughes.

The salt shed construction loan was retired this year, the town’s portion of the Fire Station #1 debt is scheduled to be retired next year and borrowing for 2022 road projects declined from a projected $1.2 million to about $880,000.

Total revenue for 2022 is a projected $5.165 million while expenses are estimated at $6.648 creating the $1.38 million deficit to be financed from cash reserves.

MIDDLETON–The City of Middleton Plan Commission approved a finalized building plan for a proposed 161-unit multifamily development at 1312 John Q Hammons Dr. across the street from the Marriott hotel. The commission also set a public hearing for a proposed 44-acre development project with more than 800 homes and multifamily units east of Parmenter Street and north of Graber Pond.

Developer, Bret Newcomb, proposing the John Q Hammons project titled ‘The West Edge’ said the development will bring the feel of the recently built high density projects on East Washington Ave. in Madison to the suburbs.

Newcomb said his team made several changes to the building plan since it was approved at the general level. The original design included 171 residential units and a 100,000 square foot office building. Newcomb said because of COVID-19 pandemic the demand for office space has disappeared. Newcomb said the new design is closer to his vision of urbanism in the suburbs.

MIDDLETON–When Middleton resident Ben Schumaker started Memory Project in 2004 as a grad student, his idea was to pair children in other countries and underserved American communities with teenaged artists draw their likeness, helping them learn about other cultures. Little did he know 17 years later, he would be helping Afghan families flee their country when its government fell, and it was taken over by the Taliban.

Schumaker employs locals in other countries to find schools and photograph children for the project. In Afghanistan he hired Ramesh and Roya to help with these tasks as a non-governmental organization (NGO).

Ramesh, 31, a father and photographer, and Roya, 20, a college journalism student have both been outspoken against that Taliban. They have been vocal on local media and their social media, which put their lives in danger, especially Roya because she is a woman. This meant it was not safe for them to stay in the war-torn country they called home.