Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Brownfields Cleanup topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee authorizes application for DNR brownfields loan for Huxley Yards remediation; neighborhood speaker urges independent appraisal
Summary
The committee authorized the City of Madison to apply for a Wisconsin DNR Ready for Reuse brownfields cleanup loan up to $329,000 for remediation at Huxley Yards; a neighborhood co-chair urged the city to require an independent appraisal and expressed concern about developer risk and contamination.
The City of Madison Finance Committee voted unanimously to authorize the city to apply to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for a Ready for Reuse Brownfields cleanup loan in an amount not to exceed $329,000 to assist remediation of contaminated soil at Huxley Yards, 2007 Roth Street (Legistar 87,067).
Jennifer Argelander, co-chair of the Sherman Neighborhood Association, spoke in opposition to authorizing the loan application without additional due diligence. "The city needs to do their due diligence and plan for a risk that Lincoln Avenue Capital might default on the loan," Argelander said, and urged the committee not to approve the loan without an independent real estate appraisal of the developer’s properties.
City staff clarified that the item before the committee authorizes the city to apply for DNR funding and does not commit the city to a negotiated loan or award. Director Miklodjewski explained that the resolution authorizes an application only: "We haven't actually been awarded the funding, and we haven't negotiated the loan agreement with either the developer or the DNR. This is a resolution to authorize us to apply at this point."
Staff described that environmental remediation costs affect a project's financing and that DNR funding passed through to the city could later be structured as a city loan to support cleanup costs. Alder Rummel asked how contamination had affected design changes for earlier buildings on the site; staff said some design changes occurred for the first two buildings and that remediation costs influence overall project viability, though staff did not tie specific design changes directly to particular remediation steps.
The motion to adopt the authorization was moved by President Figueroa Cole, seconded, and recorded as a unanimous vote in favor.
Public testimony focused on contamination concerns, the developer structure (Lincoln Avenue Capital and affiliated entities), and the request for an independent appraisal to assess market risk before the city loans funds for remediation. Staff emphasized that approval at this meeting does not equal loan award or executed contract with the developer.
