Fiscal Note
No City appropriation required. Future leases and lease renewals of City-owned lands for agricultural purposes are subject to Common Council approval.
Title
Revising City of Madison leases on lands being used for row crop agriculture
Body
WHEREAS, for the past 10 years, the City of Madison has recognized the need for best management practices of its publicly owned lands through the establishment of multiple task forces and work groups; and,
WHEREAS, in April 2019, the Mayor requested that City staff and the Urban Agriculture Work Group explore updating and revising its language when a particular lease appeared on the Common Council’s agenda, Legistar #55210; and,
WHEREAS, the City’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan identifies appropriate “lenses” through which to view our community and contains language in nearly every chapter supporting a strong, and healthy, local food system; and,
WHEREAS, the Regional Agriculture & Food Sovereignty (successor to Urban Agriculture) Work Group requested the list of City-owned lands currently being leased for agriculture and a sample lease, then held meetings with local experts to discuss possible revisions; and,
WHEREAS, the Work Group reviewed Dane County agriculture leases and learned that Chapter NR 151 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code sets statewide standards of practice, administered at the county level, that are not currently included in the City’s leases; and,
WHEREAS, the experts and best management practice resources suggest there are important factors to be considered when evaluating lands for agricultural leases including location, future use and timing of that use; and,
WHEREAS, the duration of leases should be negotiated based on these factors rather than being routinely renewed annually as most have been to date; and,
WHEREAS, the rental fees for these lands have historically been well below market rate; and,
WHEREAS, the pandemic interrupted and slowed progress on this project and suspended ...
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