Westport unveils incorporation boundary agreement
By: Ethan Ferrell // // Hometown News Group
The co-operative boundary agreement related to the Town of Westport’s ongoing incorporation into a village was presented via a public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Representatives from the The cities of Madison and Middleton, as well as the villages of DeForest and Waunakee, were in attendance that evening. All four are the parties that Westport has been negotiating with on the agreement.
“The boundary agreement can be summarized in three maps,” Westport’s Professional Planner Gary Becker said on Feb. 11.
Westport would be transferred some land, yet would see its total boundaries shrink, following its successful incorporation.
“Just about three and a half square mile reduction in territory for the Town of Westport, future Village of Westport,” Becker said, “but, providing room for growth for the neighboring municipalities and evening the boundaries.”
He explained that in working with the surrounding municipalities it shares boundaries with, Westport can help secure its future incorporation by working in good faith to facilitate land transfers in the interest of every community’s future growth.
In addition to this, the proposed boundary changes would eliminate any islands of land that fall under Westport’s jurisdiction but are regionally surrounded by another community. Currently, the town has several in Waunakee, Middleton and Madison.
Some lands will be transferred immediately upon the town’s incorporation, others will transfer to the agreed upon municipality after a transfer of ownership or after 20 years.
Only one resident came to speak on Feb. 11, calling for Westport leaders to remove his 300 acres of land’s boundary protection area designation after his land is shifted into the would-be village upon incorporation.
He reasoned that the distinction has stopped he and his family from splitting and developing separate parts of the land and that they would be willing to work cooperatively to find a solution that works for everyone.
The short public comment period came as somewhat of a surprise to Westport Town Administrator Dean Grosskopf who said the town had “prepared for a crowd.”
He added that residents of any of the involved municipalities have 20 days following the meeting to submit comments or questions about the agreement.
Grosskopf welcomed any messages to be sent his way and said that he is more than willing to set up a time to talk with anyone interested. Comments received will be shared with the other parties involved.
Following the 20-day comment period, each of the municipalities will be able to sign the boundary agreement, according to Grosskopf. As a part of their signatures, each municipality agrees to support Westport’s incorporation.
The Westport Administrator mentioned that the boundary agreement and incorporation petition go somewhat hand in hand. Having a plan that all surrounding municipalities have agreed upon, prior to incorporation will most likely help Westport’s case in the review process.
The town will send the appropriate documents to Wisconsin Department of Administration (DoA) and its Incorporation Review Board following every party’s signature of the agreement.
After that point, the DoA has 180 days to adopt or deny the incorporation petition, a decision that could be expected around mid-April, according to Grosskopf.
From that point forward, the petition approval would go through circuit court review and, if successful, would then need to be approved by a voter referendum within 60 days thereafter.
While there are still some hoops to jump through, the reveal of the boundary agreement marks the end of several months of negotiations between Westport and its neighbors.
Grosskopf seems content with how the process has gone so far.
“It was a great meeting in the sense that everyone stuck around to chat afterwards. We ended on as positive a note as possible,” Grosskopf said.