Hello petition signers, We would like to thank each of you and everyone else in the community for supporting and unifying against this apartment proposal. This petition has seen nearly 300 Facebook shares, hundreds of thoughtful comments, a Tribune Letter to the Editor, countless Twitter, email, and Google+ shares, and an outpouring of local, regional, and national support. We would like to highlight some comments that hit home for us. One comment from Cole Wohler of DeForest got the point across perfectly. "Gentrification is already a huge problem in Madison and there's no reason it needs to spread to the cozy towns around Madison where middle and lower class families live to avoid such issues and still commute to jobs in the area." Families that have been here for generations, including many of ours, have seen this problem not only here, but in many other parts of the county such as Verona, Sun Prairie, DeForest, and Madison itself. So far, nothing has been done to address this issue, and we need to continue spreading the word so there will be changes. Feedback from Meaghan Kuehn of Madison: "My dad lives right behind where this complex will go. He has expressed concern about what this will mean in the future for his home. You can’t destroy people’s homes. And these properties wouldn’t get filled so it won’t bring in the money they think it will." Our village officials have already approved and demolished many homes and businesses in our town. The Hovde Building, even though it has been up for 3 years, is still over half empty. The farm families of southern Westport could sadly not stop Bishop's Bay and other neighborhood proposals (you can help them at this link: https://www.change.org/p/gurdip-brar-stop-the-bishop-s-bay-subdivision-development-in-middleton-wi), but we can stop this proposal and many other subdivision proposals that will continue to come before our Village Board in the next few years. Our village is sending a clear message that they are not interested in keeping affordable housing in the central core of our town. We have no intention of stopping this petition on any conditions until the village votes the proposal down. We want to continue spreading the word and ensuring that the proposal does not proceed. The Village is holding several meetings related to this proposal and many others in January. These are the dates of the meetings. Community Listening Session - Thursday, January 4th, 2018 (5:30-7 pm; Village Center). This meeting will give residents an opportunity to meet with Village Administrator Todd Schmidt and Village Board President Chris Zellner in a casual setting to ask questions and discuss local issues. Village Plan Commission Meeting - Monday, January 8th, 2018 (6 pm; Village Hall). This meeting will be related to the creation of a TIF district for downtown Waunakee. Some of the investment would go towards the Wall apartment complex that this petition is against. There will be an opportunity for public comment. Westport Joint Plan Commission Meeting - Tuesday, January 9th, 2018 (6 pm; Village Hall). This meeting will be related to Westport for areas within the Waunakee ETZ. There will be an opportunity for public comment.