Dane County’s second-largest city is growing fast, adding about 1,000 residents per year. Sun Prairie City Administrator Aaron Oppenheimer spoke about the city of 36,000 that is projected to grow to about 40,000 residents by 2030.

One of the major initiatives is to make the city equitable. That was the mayor’s pledge when he ran for election and recognized that as Sun Prairie grew, so did its diversity. Aaron said people of color make up 20 percent of the population; 60 different languages are spoken in the schools.

The challenges for the city are housing, particularly workforce housing, and transportation.

The past year was busy in Sun Prairie as it began a $20 million library expansion and added nine new positions to keep up with the new growth.

It now has a pedestrian safety task force and hosts a Multicultural Fair to celebrate all of the different ethnicities.  A Did You Know series features Black leaders sharing personal experiences about their lives in Sun Prairie.

Some other initiatives are aimed at sustainability and transportation. Sun Prairie is working to see the Bus Rapid Transit route extended to the city and studying the addition of a local bus service.

In 2020, the city created an affordable housing fund by extending the life of Tax Incremental District and has several projects starting.

The city is also beginning a city-wide branding process and encouraging community engagement on the city’s identity.

Aaron said he is looking forward to an organizational equity audit happening in 2022 that will ensure policies are enacted through an equity lens. It will offer action steps to help the city’s organization become more equitable.

 

Guests: ?? Aaron Oppenheimer, speaker.

Visiting Rotarians: None.

 

 Other news:

-The club voted Dr. Bill Ranum to receive the honor of business person of the year.

-The Waunakee High School Pay It Forward club members will be the bunnies for the Easter Egg Hunt this year, Phil Willems reported.

 

Birthdays: March 17, Ellen Schaaf; March 22, David Dargenio; March 23, Phil Simon; March 23, Austin Endres

 

Anniversaries: None.

 

Greeters: March 17, Carol Bleifield and Paul Carderella; March 24, Kathy Cefalu and Scott Cochems; March 31, Tegan Counihan and John Cullen.