Council postpones Town of Middleton cooperation agreement, schedules closed session

The Middleton Common Council voted to postpone action and move into a closed‑session discussion on an amendment to its intergovernmental cooperation agreement with the Town of Middleton.

Alder Opitz moved to postpone consideration until the council’s next meeting and to discuss the matter in closed session, citing the agreement’s recent expiration and concerns raised by testimony in a neighboring proceeding that had criticized the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction practices. The motion was seconded for the purpose of discussion and passed by voice vote.

City Attorney (unnamed in the transcript) confirmed the town had already approved an extension of the agreement and said that approving another extension now would not materially harm the city in the short term. Several aldermembers said the substantive provisions remaining in the agreement appear limited (including a non‑challenge pledge related to annexations and a narrow extraterritorial plan‑review provision) but that the council should confer internally before taking further action.

Alder Crow, who served on the negotiating committee, said extending the agreement could be a goodwill gesture toward the town. Alder Lohrmann and others said they supported more internal discussion, noting this is the third time the council has extended the agreement after its expiration and that some members would like to review the matter among themselves first.

The mayor framed the decision as a question of whether immediate extension would help or hinder intergovernmental relations; after the motion passed the mayor said the item will appear on the next agenda and that the council will meet in closed session to review the matter before any public vote.

Next step: the matter will return to the council agenda with a closed‑session discussion scheduled prior to any final action.