VNA Council Meeting Minutes
July 28, 2021
Council Members
o Sarah Bahauddin (present)
o Pat Scheckel (not present)
o Ben Biltz (present)
o Bonnie Gruber (present)
o Hans Borcherding (not present)
o Jim Corkery (present)
o Wendy Fearnside (present)
o Karie Krantz (present)
Call to Order (meeting was conducted via Zoom)
Approval of Minutes - previous minutes were approved.
Announcements
o Communications
o A reminder that our neighborhood website is www.vilasneighborhood.com
o Email address for the VNA: vnapresident@gmail.com
o The Vilas Ink newsletters are now being posted on the web site at https://www.vilasneighborhood.com/vilasink
o The VNA August 25, 2021 meeting will be held via Zoom.
Existing Business
o Treasurer’s Report and Vilas, Ink – Sarah Bahauddin reporting for Pat Scheckel
o There is approximately $5,100 in the bank account, with no major changes in the past month.
o Submission deadline for the next Vilas, Ink is August 20th.
o Block Captains - Roz Woodward
o No updates
o Social Report – Bethany Nelson
o The VNA social chair e-mail address is: socialchairvilas@gmail.com. Details of all events will be shared on the Listserv.
o The 4th of July bike parade was a success.
o Book club meetings are anticipated to occur in August, October, and December.
o The Vilas neighborhood block party is being planned for Saturday, August 14th in the 1900 block of Jefferson Street. Advertising flyers will be distributed by Block Captains.
o Bethany suggested other possible social activities to include a neighborhood rummage sale, a neighborhood walking tour of historic homes and a charity event to benefit the Monroe Street library.
o District 13 Alliance – Dana Scheckel and Sarah Bahauddin
o The 2nd Good Neighbor gathering is scheduled for Saturday, September 25th at Brittingham Park from 12:00 noon until 5:00 pm. The gathering will include a Panchromatic Steel drum band, an Inflated Slide, a Bike Brigade, an ART activity presented by the Monroe Street Arts Center, Madison Mounted Horse Patrol demonstrations, Madison West Poms Team with Reggie the Regent Lion, AND MORE! There will be Food Trucks on site and Free NON-alcoholic beverages. VNA is contributing $250 towards this event, but more donations and volunteers are welcome and encouraged. The coordinating committee is meeting weekly and is planning for 400 attendees. Information tables will be provided at the event for each neighborhood association within District 13. More information can be found at https://dmna.org/GNG2021.
o Joint Campus Area Committee
o No updates
o Edgewood Liaison Committee Report - Shawn Doherty, Craig Stanley, and Sarah Bahauddin
o Sarah is working to re-establish communications with Edgewood.
o Alder Update – Tag Evers provided the following updates:
o Tag reported on a murder that occurred in the Braxton Place apartments on 7/27.
o Lucky’s 1313 would like to meet with VNA to discuss raising the capacity in their banquet hall.
o Tag reported on the work of OWN IT: Building Black Wealth.
o Tag reported that Todd McGrath’s plans for an 18-story development on the Coliseum Bar and the Wonder Bar site has been “Placed on file, without prejudice” by the City’s Plan Commission. Issues that were raised by opponents of this development include: the building’s height which would be seen throughout south Madison, demolition of the Wonder Bar, light pollution, bird strikes and increased traffic.
o Tag is working with a number of working groups/committees on:
o The Lake Wingra Heritage Trail
o Lake Wingra’s watershed and viewshed
o Sustainability incentives and energy audits for property owners
o Sustainable Madison
o Raising money for affordable housing
o Tag continues to work to improve digital access in the City’s low-income communities. This work is nearly finished and the group plans to submit recommendations to the City Council.
o Vilas Park Master Plan - Wendy Fearnside and Ann Rivlin
o No firm date has been set for closure of Vilas Park Drive. The City is working on plans for creating asphalt and crushed gravel biking and walkway paths that are separated from the roadway.
o The City is not planning to implement any of the permanent features outlined in the Master Plan for at least five years.
o Zoning Committee - Ben Biltz and Wendy Fearnside
o Lorraine’s Café has closed.
o Hong Kong Café has applied to the ALRC for an increase in up to 888 people to be allowed in their outdoor area on Football game days.
o The City’s Plan Commission is looking into creating District-wide plans in lieu of the current Neighborhood-wide plans. These would likely not be developed for review until 2022 or 2023.
o Construction at the Lucky’s site has not started and it is currently unclear when construction will start.
o The neighborhood survey results are being analyzed and a brief presentation is planned for the August VNA meeting. A separate meeting will likely be scheduled for a deeper dive into the survey results. Approximately 250 people submitted survey responses, which is about 14% of eligible individuals in the Vilas neighborhood.
New and Other Business
o Mary Clare Murphy, Wendy Fearnside and Bonnie Gruber have continued to provide significant work on revisions to the VNA Bylaws. Progress was made in discussing the proposed revisions at the meeting, but due to the significant number of changes, more discussion will be required at upcoming VNA meetings.
o Drafts will be shared with the VNA council prior to the next meeting so that more progress can hopefully occur at the next council meeting.
o It was noted that the changes need to be voted on (and approved) by the September VNA Council meeting if they are to be in place prior to the next election cycle.
o Sally Lehner has received the grant from the City to paint storm drain murals (scheduled for August 25th at 5 pm) by the stone arch bridge in Vilas Park.
o Sarah indicated Ankur Desai has agreed to serve as the Listserv co-moderator – thanks Ankur.
o Sarah indicated we could use assistance with the following committees. Please email vnapresident@gmail.com if interested or for more information.
o Election Nomination chair/co-chair
o Help with website and possible social media
Adjourn
Next Meeting: 8/25, via Zoom.