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Lack of Appreciation

I recently discovered some information you might find important if you are thinking of donating land or money to the town of Madison, particularly if there are stipulations you might want placed on that gift. There is the possibility your wishes may very well be ignored at some point in the future.

Sadly, I’ve discovered this is the case with Island Avenue School. A family graciously donated the eight-plus acres of land its located on, but had some stipulations on the gift. One, the family wanted it to remain a school. Two, the family wanted to keep most of the trees intact. There were also a few other stipulations put on the deed.

Now, a little more than 50 years later, the Town of Madison has chosen to ignore the donor’s wishes. I don’t know if it’s because neither the current nor former administrations looked at the deed before they decided to act, or worse, if they decided to ignore the deed and its restrictions entirely. Whatever the case, the donors wishes are clearly stated on the deed. And either way, the Island Avenue Committee has foolishly spent tens of thousands of dollars, without first finding out what the deed restrictions are or seeing if they can get the deed restrictions removed before spending that money.

These are our taxpayer dollars they’re throwing away. Squandering money is wrong at any time, but even more egregious during these difficult times. So, in closing, I would just like to say that I’m shocked by the lack of appreciation being shown for the generosity of a Madison family whose members decided they wanted to help the town, and whose wishes are now being ignored.

Amanda Stiewing

Madison