Westport boundary agreement approved by all communities
By: Ethan Ferrell eferrell@hngnews.com // Mar 26, 2026 Updated Apr 14, 2026
The Town of Westport’s pursuit of incorporation into a village continued with a wave of approvals for the cooperative boundary plan between the town, villages of DeForest and Waunakee and the cities of Middleton and Madison in the latter half of March.
All five of the participating municipalities’ governing bodies have unanimously approved the agreement, with Madison being the last to do so on Tuesday, March 24.
The agreement establishes which portions of land will remain in Westport upon incorporation and which will become a part of the previously mentioned municipalities.
These approvals don’t guarantee Westport’s incorporation, though they are a key step. The municipality must receive approval for its incorporation from the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DoA), and then its voters must support the move via referendum.
Westport Town Administrator Dean Grosskopf said that the town will need to wait until at least April 11 to submit itself for incorporation, 60 days after the previous public hearing was held.
The cooperative boundary agreement contains a provision in which the other four municipalities voice their support for Westport’s incorporation. Grosskopf said that this support will most likely be a key component for the DoA when it considers the submittal.
The administrator is optimistic about the outlook for eventual approval, considering the amount of work that’s gone into the boundary agreement negotiations.
“It feels like we’ve been pushing a rock all the way up to the top of the hill and we’re just now starting to roll down the other side. So, I think we’ve got this,” Grosskopf said.
Waunakee Village Attorney Brian Kleinmaier described the milestone as the “50-yard line” for the situation.
“We do believe at a staff level that this is consistent with the discussion that we’ve had to date,” Kleinmaier added about the state of the agreement as it appeared before the board on Monday, March 16.
The attorney continued by saying that the involved municipalities have been working on the agreement for roughly 15 months, after Westport filed its petition to incorporate in September 2024.
“I think while arduous, it’s always seemed like we’ve been moving forward… We’ve all learned a lot about incorporation,” Kleinmaier said.
The DeForest Village Board and Middleton City Council both similarly approved the agreement unanimously just a day later on Tuesday, March 17.
Middleton City Alders chose to include a clause in their approval for the agreement that directs staff to come up with future plans to address some concerns of individual landowners whose parcels currently reside in Westport but would eventually be transferred into Middleton.
This comes after some residents had expressed concerns over how their utility service requirements, property taxes and authorized land uses would possibly change if their lands were to transfer to another community, according to Middleton City Administrator Bryan Gadow.
The cooperative boundary agreement does entail some lands changing municipalities immediately upon Westport’s incorporation. This is being done to eliminate existing islands of land that are surrounded by the boundaries of another municipality.
In turn, landowners of these subject properties can benefit from municipal services more efficiently, and boundaries become more clear.
However, some other parcels in relation to Waunakee and Middleton have been identified to change hands with much longer timeframes.
For the parcels to be detached from Westport and into Middleton, this would take place upon the sale of the property to another owner.
Meanwhile for such lands being attached to Waunakee, this would occur after 20 years post-incorporation, a change of ownership or if the owner requests the action, whichever occurs first.
In the case of DeForest, the two communities have agreed to establish a 250-acre preservation area between themselves at Westport’s northeast most boundary. The area’s portions in DeForest are mostly owned by the village or reserved for conservation.
“This Plan includes provisions allowing for cooperation in preserving agricultural and other undeveloped lands in that area and establishing permanent open space creating visual community separation,” the boundary agreement states.
While some property owners may be disappointed with having to become a part of a new community, Grosskopf sees this as an indicator of good compromise.
“Everybody had some heartburn over these boundaries, and when that’s the case, then it must be a fair deal,” Grosskopf said. “I think that everybody felt like they gave some stuff up and they got something in return. Everyone’s okay with the deal; they’re not thrilled and we’re not either, because we didn’t want to give anything up. But, it was the best we could do to preserve Westport.”
The administrator, while acknowledging the disappointment some individuals might feel, expressed a sliver of pride in how the communities were able to navigate the process.
To Grosskopf’s knowledge, this is the only co-operative boundary agreement to be agreed upon by more than four municipalities without legal intervention in state history.
“No matter what happens at the state level, I can say that our five municipalities have cooperated 100%,” Grosskopf said.
He added that the village is hopeful the petition will pass the Dane County Circuit Court and DoA Incorporation Review Board in time for the final referendum question to be voted upon in late 2026 or in the 2027 spring elections.
All of the boundary plan provisions going into effect are dependent on Westport’s incorporation; the agreement is null and void if the incorporation does not take place.
