“You can’t just put a business out of business that’s been in business for 38 years or 50 years. It’s a family livelihood. We have put millions of dollars in that marina.””

Tom Anderson, Leo's Landing

Leo's Landing
137 Front St. S.
Prescott, WI 54021
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PRESCOTT – The Prescott riverfront revival project may be moving forward without Leo’s Landing as part of the landscape.

The Prescott City Council began the Monday, May 8 meeting with all members present except alderperson Bailey Ruona who arrived shortly after it began. During public comment, the council heard from Tom Anderson, financial partner of Leo’s Landing Marina, a family-owned marina and indoor storage business located at 137 Front St, S., and his sister-in-law, Jan Anderson. Tom Anderson spoke on their behalf as he asked for clarification regarding the letter they received stating that the city would not be renewing their permit after December 2023.

“It was totally out of the blue,” Anderson commented. “We’d like to see what we can do to resolve this.”

Alderperson Darlyn Hintz answered, “We took several things into consideration. This has been something that we have been looking at for a while. Our biggest motivator with this is we are looking forward with the next stage of building our waterfront.”

As there was a disagreement between council members and Anderson over who owned the land, Anderson recommended hiring a surveyor to explore the property further and continued to question why the ity Council came to this decision regarding Leo’s Landing.

“In my opinion I see the better of the bigger of having that whole community down there developed for more people to use,” Alderperson Pat Knox answered. 

Anderson questioned if it would be fair to contact the business owners along the riverfront and see what a good resolution is for everyone.

“You can’t just put a business out of business that’s been in business for 38 years or 50 years. It’s a family livelihood,” he said. “We have put millions of dollars in that marina.”

He then remarked that it would be good stewardship to approach the business owners affected by this decision regarding a business transaction.

Referring to the city buying out the business, Knox mentioned that he did not think it was in the best interest of the city residents to do that.

“But then it would be running us out of town,” Anderson remarked.

“Well, for that I am sorry,” Knox shrugged and remarked that he didn’t feel there was a way to satisfy both parties. 

As there was a time limit on the discussion, Mayor Rob Daugherty interjected that the council will put the issue on the agenda for the next meeting so it can be further explored.

Development incentives

City Administrator Matt Wolf proposed that the council discuss written draft guidelines specifically tailored to the City of Prescott to be formally adopted in the future regarding providing land or cash incentives, installation of public improvements, or other assistance for builders and land developers in the city. This would give city staff a baseline before requests would be brought to council.

“I think this is a really good thing to have,” Otwell commented and referring to the incentives added, “I think it’s really handy to have it in writing.” 

Ruona began, “I’m indifferent. I think parts of it are good. I think parts of it are actually putting us at risk.”

She expressed concern for the City of Prescott losing out financially if agreements are made with businesses that go bankrupt or don’t fulfill their end of the agreement.

Wolf explained that, generally speaking, they will be looking at how much the investment will generate for the community and the benefits of the community on top of the jobs that are created and the other things they will bring. Ruona said she would be less concerned offering incentives for commercial businesses than for residential investments.

Ruona reiterated, “I’m not against giving incentives to people. I just want to make sure that it’s well thought out to where we’ve not going to be in a half-built construction.”

“We can make the decision on a case-by-case basis,” Wolf remarked.

The motion to approve future discussions on the issue was passed by the council.

Locust Street

Wolf updated the council on the reconstruction project of Locust Street. Cedar Corporation stated that Haas Sons, Inc. has given them a start date of July 24 for construction to begin. Despite the delayed start date, they anticipate the reconstruction to be finished by the Nov. 17 completion date.

An informational meeting with residents of Locust Street will be held on June 8.

Other business

• The resolution for the site plan, with a few recommendations from the plan commission, was approved for 1003 Campbell St. which is the site of the future Ace Hardware store.
• A quick overview was shared from the Prescott Plan Commission and the Health and Safety Committee meetings, including the measures taken to slow down drivers on Kinnikinic Street.
• An overview was shared from the Personnel Committee meeting regarding future staffing for Parks and Public works if recreation in the city continues to be expanded.
• Alderperson Maureen Otwell stated it has been difficult to hire police officers and with another officer recently leaving, they now have two positions to fill. She mentioned that the police chief recommends sponsoring a candidate through the academy to hopefully resolve the officer shortage issue.