Denounce Discriminatory Deeds Three Ways

Planning staff are actively researching data centers—an emerging land use in Wisconsin and the greater Midwest region. Large data centers projects are being proposed in Beaver Dam, Port Washington, Menomonie, and in here in the Town of Vienna. The state’s abundant water resources and cold climate are a draw for these types of facilities.

Data centers provide space for servers and other digital infrastructure operated by tech companies like Microsoft, META, and Google. Some facilities, including the QTS proposal in the Town of Vienna can be “hyperscale” in size, with massive buildings totaling hundreds of thousands of square feet in area and spread across campuses encompassing hundreds of acres, some the largest reaching over 1,000 acres in size. Developments of this scale can have local and regional impacts, both positive and negative.

Staff are investigating best practices for local land use planning and regulation of data centers as well as the experiences of other communities around the nation. More information will be provided in the months to come. 

Image below: Architect, Corgan, rendering for approved data center in Port Washington, WI.

Gov. Evers and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) announced another major milestone in the State’s efforts to expand high-speed internet. On Sept. 3, the PSC submitted the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Final Proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for approval. The proposal details preliminary awards intended to expand access to high-speed internet to more than 174,000 homes and businesses across the state.

The BEAD Program’s overarching goal is to provide high-speed internet to all Wisconsinites. BEAD will support the deployment of qualifying internet technology that provides service of at least 100/20 Megabits per second (Mbps) download/upload to all households and businesses in Wisconsin that lack access to 100/20 Mbps. State and Territories were allocated a portion of the BEAD funds through a formula. Wisconsin’s allocation was $1,055,823,574.

In Dane County, the preliminary BEAD results are favorable. In total, 2,881 locations (2,801 to Bertram Communications and 80 to Brightspeed) were awarded funding to deploy fiber technology. These awards will bring $17,046,931 in federal funding to Dane County.

Note that the BEAD Final Proposal, as approved by the PSC, is preliminary and requires NTIA approval before awards can be finalized and construction of high-speed internet infrastructure can begin. A detailed map of these preliminary awards can be found online at the PSC’s website.

Contact Dane County Broadband Coordinator, Jaron McCallum, via email at McCallum.Jaron@danecounty.gov or phone at 608-206-6316 with questions.

By Melissa Agard, Dane County Executive

Did you know that many homes in Madison- and across Dane County - still have racially restrictive covenants buried in their property deeds?

These covenants, dating back to the early 20th century, barred Black, Jewish, Asian, Italian, and other non-white families from owning or living in certain neighborhoods. They were tools of segregation, and while no longer legally enforceable, the language remains in property records, echoing a painful legacy.

I was surprised to learn that my own home had one of these discriminatory restrictions. I was proud to become the first person in Dane County to formally renounce this language using a new legal process. Thanks to a law I helped pass while in the State Senate, homeowners can now file a “Discharge and Release of Discriminatory Restriction” form to reject this history and help chart a new path forward.

That’s why Dane County created Prejudice in Places, a public education and action initiative led by our Planning & Development Department in partnership with the Office of Equity & Inclusion and community advocates. We’re helping residents identify these covenants and take steps to legally renounce them being in their deeds.

This work is about recognition, responsibility, and remediation. We must acknowledge our past, take responsibility for its lingering effects, and actively build a more inclusive future.

To see if your home is impacted and learn how to take action, visit: www.danecountyplanning.com/Prejudice-in-Places

This is a tangible step we can take together. Equity work starts at home, and every home matters.