PRESCOTT – At the Nov. 27 Prescott City Council meeting, Cable Coordinator Lawrence Imm informed councilmembers that Prescott Cable Television Channel 6 is terminated and will no longer be in service.

“Channel 6 has equipment located at the school and that’s the one that will be going off air,” he said.

Alderperson Maureen Otwell asked Imm, “Is there no teacher any longer at the school for broadcast?”

Imm explained that all the negotiations were done with the principal or superintendent.

“We’ll be down to one public access channel,” he replied. “That means that what used to be called the franchise fee, that still comes in to help our operation. We just won’t have a second output.”

He cited changing times and coordination as contributing factors to the decision. The 1220 St. Croix St. school building that contains the broadcast equipment previously housed the high school and indoor sports were played there. Now the building houses the middle school, and the equipment is no longer needed. The Channel 6 station “will be off-cable for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Well update

Alderperson Dar Hintz asked for an update on the city wells.

“I have a couple residents who reached out to me, and they just would like an update as to where we’re at today,” she said.

City Administrator Matt Wolf said they turned off Well 3 in September 2021 due to a nitrate reading of 12.1 mg per liter. The Department of Natural Resources required the city to remedy the situation and go through mediation. An engineering study completed in 2022 looked at all the options and they ended up moving forward with treating the well through reverse osmosis. Testing on the water for PFAS came under the 70 parts per trillion standard that the State of Wisconsin currently has.

“However, the US EPA is looking to lower that standard all the way down to four parts per trillion. So, if that were to go into effect, a number of our wells would be out of compliance” Wolf said.

He added that as Well 3 is being treated, a system should be created that can serve residents so they’re not taken offline again and that doesn’t continuously spend money. He explained that is one of the reasons why it’s been taking “so long to do remediation on Well #3.” He noted that Well #3 is not back online, but is still part of the system because if there was a major natural disaster that took out Well #4, then Well #3 would be turned back on.

“The DNR would require us at that time if we did turn on Well #3 to send out letters to all of our residents notifying of that event of turning it on,” he said.

The DNR gave full approval for the treatment of Well #3. The city is hoping for a response from the DNR for final approval soon so it can move forward with the project in hopes to be completed by 2024.

Police Department

The council approved Ordinance 08-23 to include a police lieutenant position if the police chief cannot fulfill his/her duties. The wording of the ordinance was amended to include that if the chief is unable to complete his/her duties, then the lieutenant would become the acting chief until the chief is able to return.

The lieutenant would be expected to fill the role with no additional pay unless they fill the role for an extended period, at which time the council would need to vote on a temporary or interim pay increase.

Spring election

The Spring Election will be held in April 2024. Nomination papers are available at City Hall for anyone who wishes to run. 

“We do have four City of Prescott elections this upcoming April,” said Wolf.

The four positions are mayor, alderperson for Ward 5 for the three-year term, alderperson at large for the three-year term and municipal court judge. An interactive map is available on the Prescott website for anyone who wishes to see which ward they are located in.

In other news

Mayor Robert Daugherty said there will be an opening on the Planning Commission in February as David Hovel is moving to River Falls.

“If you know anybody that would be interested in being on the Planning Commission, you can contact City Hall or you can call me. I’d be happy to talk to you,” he said.

Daugherty said applicants don’t need a resume.

The Tourism Committee will soon welcome two new members to fill the vacancies left by Angie Miner and Mitch Wormington. The council approved the appointments of Cortney Franklin of Bodhi Studios and Melissa Bolle of Prescott Roadhouse.

The bimonthly council meeting scheduled for Monday, Dec. 25 has been cancelled.