January 9, 2019
Press release
Documents Raise Questions About Edgewood High School’s Honesty in Push for New Stadium
MADISON, WI. (January 9, 2019) -- Emails obtained via Open Records Requests reveal a pattern of bad-faith negotiating tactics and misinformation on the part of Edgewood High School with regard to its proposed Master Plan amendment. The proposed amendment, which will be reviewed by the City of Madison Plan Commission on January 14, would allow the private Catholic high school to build a 1,000-person stadium with 80-foot tall light poles and amplified sound less than 100 feet away from the nearest private residence.
Open Records Requests have yielded numerous documents related to aspects of Edgewood High School’s proposal for a new stadium. Public-facing, open source information has also shed light on EHS’s proposal.
All emails obtained via Open Records Request.
Ten key pieces of information have been revealed:
Want vs. Need: Edgewood High School clearly wants a home stadium and argue they need a stadium by asserting it is no longer feasible for them to play their home schedule on Middleton’s field. This appears to be false. In emails obtained via Open Records Requests, Middleton officials indicate that EHS is welcome to continue the arrangement they had with Middleton.
Crowd Noise Impacts: EHS’s second claim in support of a new stadium is that “technological improvements” will minimize the impacts of stadium sound, when there is no way to mitigate crowd noise. EHS included a discussion of crowd noise in their 10/17/18 public neighborhood presentation but then left it out of their proposal to the city to amend the Master Plan. Their proposal includes seven pages on lights but nothing on crowd noise, probably because Edgewood knows crowd noise will likely exceed allowable decibel levels in the city’s noise ordinance.
Sound Data: EHS has estimated the impact of stadium sound in terms of average dB levels, which is not the industry standard. In a 1/2/19 letter to Mayor Paul Soglin, sound engineer Michael Oliva wrote, “Citing average sound levels, rather than peaks, is a completely unprofessional and misleading conduct in Edgewood’s description of the stadium’s impact.”
Goodman Negotiations: It appears that Edgewood High School signed an agreement with the Goodman Foundation that stated the athletic field would be used by numerous outside groups, without receiving City and neighborhood association approval.
Violations of Master Plan: Edgewood has been holding games and competitive sports events on the practice field, in non-compliance with the Master Plan, which is documented in EHS’ 2016-17 and 2017-18 reports to the Goodman Foundation. As a consequence, EHS has run afoul of the city, as attested by City of Madison Zoning Administrator Matt Tucker’s email to EHS after their 10/17/18 public, Foley & Lardner’s response, and the city's response indicating its disagreement with F & L's position.
Intentions for Field: In June 2015, Edgewood High School claimed that they were upgrading the field for practices and Phys Ed classes only. However, a 6/15/15 WSJ article entitled “Edgewood breaking ground on $1.5 million athletic practice facility” quoted EHS Mike Elliott saying, “‘We’re between two neighborhood associations. They have been vehemently opposed to us having lights or playing games here,’ he said. ‘We’re really building this to be able to give our athletes the practice facilities that provide the best surfaces possible and to expand the amount of outdoor practices we can hold especially in the spring. That is our focal point.’” At the same time, Elliot was negotiating with Goodman for a gift that would require the field be used for games and community events.
Number of Events: Edgewood has provided misleading and unclear information in their communications to the public, not acknowledging that they plan to host any number of daytime games and events with amplified sound, plus lighted practices until 7p.m. on a consistent basis. They have not been clear about the actual number of events they plan to host in their proposed stadium.
Misrepresenting their dealings with the neighborhoods: The publicity items Edgewood has been sending out regarding the stadium give the impression that Edgewood always works with the neighborhood in their decisions, but at both the neighborhood information sessions in 2017 and 2018, the overwhelming majority of neighborhood speakers opposed a stadium. Despite this, EHS has largely ignored neighborhood concerns. Attempts to reach out to Mike Elliott by Rachel Fields, Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association Vice-President, have gone unanswered.
Misrepresenting WIAA Rules: EHS cites WIAA regulations that Friday night games with lights are obligatory, but they are merely customary. EHS also claimed in the public meeting that WIAA mandates 1,200 seats for a stadium but then downgraded the number to 1,000. WIAA in fact only requires 1,000 seats for playoff games. Edgewood is under no obligation to build a stadium with 1,000 seats or to have lights.
Inappropriately Trying to Influence Alder Sara Eskrich: Claiming he was “in a heap of trouble” from parents because the school had not yet scheduled a home game for Senior Night on October 5, on Thursday, July 26, 2018, Edgewood High School President Mike Elliott asked former District 13 Alder Sara Eskrich to help get City approval to host a football game on the existing athletic field, with “temporary lights and sound” and sign off on a minor amendment. Eskrich responded on July 27, “I cannot sign-off on the stadium lights as a minor alteration because we’ve discussed, very publicly, that this requires a master plan amendment.” Elliott made this request after learning of neighborhood opposition to the stadium, knowing that this was not permitted by the Master Plan.