PRESCOTT – The Prescott City Council held a lengthy workshop meeting Wednesday night, Sept. 21, working to align an ambitious schedule of capital improvement projects into budgets over the next several years.

One idea brought up to be looked at down the road – after completion of the current list of capital projects – is a new combined city hall/ police department building. City ovces are combined with the library at 800 Borner St. N. The police department is just to the east at 1601 Pine St. If that were to happen down the road, talk was that the current city building could allow for library expansion with a community room where the city council chambers are located.

The police department, especially, is short on space.

“We’re running out of room,” Chief Eric Michaels said.

“A pole shed isn’t necessarily great for recruiting new ovcers,” said City Ad ministrator Matt Wolf. “The whole idea is to throw it out there now.”

Alderperson Thomas Oss said the city ovce/library building was intended initially to be just for the library.

“This building historically was built by money given by the DOT (Wisconsin Department of Transportation) for a new library,” he said.

Wolf floated the idea, po tentially to be looked at in 2030-31.

Wolf said that everything the council talked about that evening would still need to be voted on by the group prior to any projects getting underway.

“This is just a roadmap,” he said. “Everything has to come before the council.”

One initiative the city hopes to get underway for 2023 is to start a parks improvement fund with the idea that improvements in the future will be funded through it. Money from the fund will come from park fees required in developments that don’t set aside park land, room tax dollars, grant money and unused park upkeep funds not used in current years. The city currently has $29,000 in park development dollars, and Wolf said he’s anticipating $10,324 from the new room tax, based on what was collected in its first couple months. A share of the room tax can be used for parks, while the rest goes to the city Tourism Commission overseen by the Prescott Area Chamber of Commerce.

Revenue for projects can come from the two tax in- cremental financing districts where the city can borrow money, and tax revenue generated within the district pays the debt. The city also has $409,551 in federal COVID American Rescue Plan Act funds, most of which is earmarked to getting its Well No. 3 back online. The well was shut down last year by order of the Department of Natural Resources because of higher-than-normal nitrate levels.

The city will borrow for road projects, coupled with funds from grants and other sources. Locust Street is set to be rebuilt in 2023, and Elm and Washington Streets in 2024. There will also be mill and overlay work on Orange and Cherry Streets in 2023 and other roads in future years.

In 2023, a range of funds will go for police department and public works department improvements. The police are in need of new radios, because of technology changes. Three new body cameras would be purchased, and upgrades are needed in the training room. Starting in 2024, a new squad car would be purchased every other year, with $40,000 to be set aside for the first one.

In public works, in the plan for 2023 are a brush hog extension, a lawn mower replacement and the purchases of a Bobcat and plow truck. A street sweeper would be on the table for purchase in 2024.

New shelving and a circulation desk are planned in 2023 for the library.

There was significant talk about parks improvements. In its budget for 2023, $74,619 will be included for Public Square Park. In 202425, more than $300,000 are planned in Magee Park. Other parks will see dollars spent in them in future years as well.

In Public Square Park, plans for pickleball courts and other improvements are planned in 2023, with the Prescott Pickleball raising funds for half the cost of the project.

“There’s a lot of people showing up at my parks meetings for pickleball. They’re still up for paying 50 percent,” said alderperson and parks committee chair Bailey Ruona. “We’ve had a lot of community outcry for this.”

The parks committee plans to tour parks in the near future to prioritize improvement projects.

For the work needed on Well No. 3, the city hopes to get funding through a new DNR program targeting PFAS contaminants, which were also discovered in the well. The city had hoped for funding through the DNR Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, but it was informed that its median household income is too high.

The well project is expected to cost $1.7 million. The city has also made a pitch for a s$260,910 of Pierce County’s ARPA funds for the project. In the best-case scenario, the city’s water utility would have to devote $349,539 to that project. However, if outside grant/ARPA funds don’t materialize, the city would have to come up with nearly $1.3 million additional.

That brought up discussion about potential water rate increases. The city will conside a Public Service Commission water rate study.

“We’re going to need one,” said Deputy Clerk/ Treasurer Beth Lansing said.

The overall capital plan will move to the council for approval once it’s refined, said Wolf.

“It’s good work,” said Oss. “This is such a hard time to look forward. It’s pretty foggy.”