Local
McFarland Village Board Votes Unanimously to Annex April Hills, Adding Nearly 400 Residents
The McFarland Village Board voted unanimously Tuesday to annex the April Hills subdivision from the dissolving town of Blooming Grove, adding nearly 400 residents who petitioned to join the village rather than be absorbed into Madison. The move complicates ongoing border talks between Madison and McFarland, but village officials say it secures a key growth opportunity.
MCFARLAND â The Village Board voted unanimously Tuesday to annex the April Hills subdivision from the town of Blooming Grove, adding nearly 400 residents to the village and reshaping a contested stretch of the Madison-McFarland border.
The decision followed a petition signed by roughly 90% of April Hills homeowners asking to join McFarland rather than be absorbed into Madison when Blooming Grove dissolves next year. Residents said their ties to the village â including where their children attend school â made McFarland the natural fit.
"Having that feeling of joining the neighborhood or the community that we better represent â especially since our kids go to the school in McFarland â makes so much more sense to us than trying to go into Madison," said April Hills resident Justin Verhulst, who helped organize the petition, before the vote.
Board members spent about an hour weighing the financial implications of the annexation, including infrastructure and utility costs that would fall on new versus existing residents. But Village Administrator Matt Schuenke cautioned that rejecting the opportunity to grow carried its own risks, describing a potentially high "cost of inaction" for the village.
The petition has complicated negotiations between Madison and McFarland over a renewed agreement intended to clarify future annexation boundaries and simplify the border between the capital city and the village. Village Board President Stephanie Brassington said she hoped the two governments could resume discussions following Tuesday's vote.
April Hills residents in the audience cheered after the board's decision.
The annexation marks a significant expansion for McFarland as the village positions itself for growth amid the broader restructuring of local government in Dane County. Blooming Grove is set to dissolve next year, and communities across the region have been jockeying to absorb its territory. For April Hills residents, the vote settles a question that had loomed over their neighborhood for months: which municipality would provide their services, set their taxes and shape their future.
Village officials will now need to integrate the subdivision's infrastructure and utility systems, a process that board members acknowledged will require careful financial planning. The unanimous vote signals broad support on the board for welcoming the new residents, even as the details of the transition remain to be worked out.