Todd London, member of the Prescott Tourism Committee, gave a presentation of the Tourism Committee’s year in review and the proposed budget for 2024 at the Prescott City Council’s Dec. 11 meeting. He reminded the council the Tourism Committee formed in July 2022 and said monthly meetings have been held to discuss how the city is going to drive tourism.

 “The vision of the Tourism Committee is beds and heads,” he said.

He explained they want to “drive traffic to Prescott” and have them stay overnight so they participate in everything the city has to offer, including lodging. Some of the accomplishments this year that were highlighted include helping to fund all the Christmas lights, hosting Winterfest in January 2023, holding a wedding fair, hosting a grant learning event and offering a grant to the Freedom Park Fundraiser and Festival. Based on advice from the state Department of Tourism, the Tourism Committee hired the marketing group, Meraki Marketing, to “put the tourism dollars to the best use.”

 “We’re very excited about this change. This is new news, and we are starting to work with Meraki this year, so you’ll see a lot more coming in the next year around social media and everything that Prescott has to offer with the intent again of spending our money,” he said.

London said they hope to give away all the money next year, aside from keeping a reserve.

“We’re not giving away enough money,” he said. “We need to shift our focus to spending the money. We need people to help spend that money for us.”

“You guys did not spend much for this last year so that’s not a bad thing; at least you have it next year for other events,” Alderperson Bailey Ruona said.

“We have it for a rainy day,” London agreed. “I would say our biggest failure is, we know how to get people to know that we had the money to give them and that’s why we’re moving into Phase Two of the Prescott Tourism Committee. We’re really excited about what 2024 will bring.”

“I like the way that it can tailor to your needs,” Alderperson Maureen Otwell said.

Ruona said she enjoyed the Winterfest event the Tourism Committee hosted.

“The ice carvings were super cool. That was fun to watch,” she said.

This year’s Winterfest will be held Jan. 13.

The council unanimously approved the Tourism Committee’s 2024 Budget.

Riverfront Phase 2

The Council reviewed the Riverfront Phase 2 concept plan with a public informational meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 18. At their Nov. 29 meeting, Parks and Public Works committee recommended a few changes to the concept plan including adding a crosswalk and sidewalk at Second and Front streets, removing two trailer parking spaces for easier access to the boat launch, and removing the outfitter designation at 256 Front St.

As Ruona made a motion to approve the plan, Otwell spoke up with a question. “Why did we decide to remove the outfitter?”

“It’s just out of scope because basically we’re looking at it from a cost perspective,” Ruona said. “If we were going to do an outfitter for there, we would have to get it up to commercial code and that would be substantial so we’re like, let’s just pause on this for now because we didn’t want to halt the whole project since we have momentum going behind it.”

The concept plan also included adding a bathroom/shelter at Jacques Park at the boat launch. 

With no other questions, the council approved the proposed concept plan that is expected to begin construction in 2025.