Sustainability Campus next steps
In May, the Dane County Board authorized the purchase of land presently owned by the City of Madison, with the vision of placing a new Sustainability Campus on the land.
What is the Sustainability Campus?
With less than 10 years of landfill space remaining at Dane County's Rodefeld Landfill, we need to figure out where we’re going to take our waste once Rodefeld is full.
The County’s vision for the next site includes development of a sustainable business park or “Sustainability Campus” to divert waste and create local circular economies. This will be accomplished by attracting reuse, repair, and recycling businesses; new waste management technologies; and research. The intent is to design the site for safe public access, education, and recreation where visitors can examine their relationship with waste and the Dane County community can move towards a future where waste is not a liability, but a resource and an opportunity.
More here.
Where is this going to be?
The present vision is to site the Sustainability Campus adjacent to Rodefeld (across 12/18 to the south) on a portion of the present Yahara Hills golf course. That’s the land we’re purchasing from the City of Madison. Separately, Madison had planned to decommission this golf course.
It’s not certain that this plan will work out. In fact, there are detailed studies of the area geology and ecology that need to be done in order to determine feasibility. We could not move forward with these without owning the land, though.
Why is this a good idea?
It isn’t certain that it is—we need to do more studies. We can’t do that until we own the land.
But there are a few key advantages to this site: One, its adjacency to Rodefeld would allow us to continue to use the assets at Rodefeld that will not shut down once the landfill is full (for example, the Renewable Natural Gas processing facility). Another is that it’s pretty close to the City, where most of our waste is generated. That means it costs less—and takes less carbon—to get waste to it for processing. And, its proximity to the City means that the other assets on the Sustainability Campus—materials recycling (e.g., mattresses), organic waste drop-off, education jobs, business opportunities—are close by.
For all of these reasons, I voted in favor of authorizing the purchase. But I also think we need to do more to engage the public throughout the process, and I will do my part in that.
If you’re feeling as though there hasn’t been enough transparency to this point, I understand where you’re coming from. I will do more. I may be new to the Supervisor position, but I’ve lived adjacent to Rodefeld for some time (and still do), and I know how important it is to be transparent and highly communicative.
What’s next?
Stay engaged—here, on social media, and on local outlets—for upcoming opportunities to have your voice heard. (You can also contact me directly, of course.) As the process of assessing and studying the site gets under way formally, I will provide updates, too.