PRESCOTT – The Prescott City Council approved a trio of items March 23 related to a new development in town that will provide improvements to the Coulee River Trails project.
The council …
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PRESCOTT – The Prescott City Council approved a trio of items March 23 related to a new development in town that will provide improvements to the Coulee River Trails project.
The council unanimously approved (with alderperson Maureen Otwell and Ben Bettis excused) a $100,000 grant agreement with Friends of Freedom Park Inc. for Coulee River Trails improvements, a preliminary plat for Walnut Circle development, and a development agreement with Walnut Circle Development LLC.
The proposed property for the Walnut Circle project is located at the corner of Walnut and Dexter streets, containing two parcels totaling 45.55 acres, owned by Doug Erickson (the developer).
The Plan Commission approved a concept plan for a nine-lot subdivision Sept. 11, 2024 and council approved Sept. 23, 2024. The development is unique in that it addresses low density with large lot sizes, a large land dedication for public parks and it incorporates stormwater design that remediates water runoff from Dexter Street.
“It is an infill in terms of that it’s a cul-de-sac, so it’s filling in an area that really is not going to be developed further,” Wolf said.
Lot sizes will vary from 0.96 to 3.87 acres. A path proposed for one of the outlots would skirt a stormwater retention pond, then eventually connect with Magee Park as part of the CRT system. The street would be 24 feet wide with a 600-foot cul-de-sac and no parking signs.
The homes will be served by individual sewer laterals that will be served by a grinder pump at each residence, eliminating the need for installation of a costly lift station. Each property owner will be required to sign a grinder pump agreement with the city acknowledging the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain their system up the city’s manhole. According to city documents, storm sewer has been a longstanding issue due to Dexter Street draining into this property since it was developed in the 1980s. To address the issue, the city and the developer have collaborated on a hydrology study to evaluate long-term stormwater solutions. The study was approved by the DNR, which mitigates water runoff from Dexter Street, the proposed Walnut Circle development and keeps the proposed pond out of the floodplain.
The city code requires the developer to dedicate 10% of the land area for future parks, playgrounds, recreation and open space. The developer is proposing dedicating 23.3 acres for this purpose, specifically for the expansion of the proposed Coulee River Trails system and due to the city participating in stormwater improvements.
The development would include an 8-foot-wide path from the intersection of Walnut and Dexter down the hill to the stormwater pond. The city would work with CRT to make a connection between the development and Magee Park. This part of the proposal is not finalized and would return to council at a later date. To support the trail development, Friends of Freedom Park and CRT would supply a $100,000 grant to the city to assist with planning, design and construction of trails on the newly dedicated property once the final plat has been recorded. They have also agreed to fundraise for an additional $20,000 that would be matched by the city from the Parks Improvement Fund.
Recent public input from Comprehensive Plan survey supports the end goal of conservation and trail development:
Public comment
Resident Matt Wolf, 564 Flora St., addressed the council with a list of complaints, beginning with the approval of adding the school district property and the parcel at 1452 Glenridge Drive to Tax Increment District No. 6.
He spoke first about Capital Investment Partners’ proposed apartment buildings’ value being $15.7 million, with property taxes in the first year totaling $231,000. He said the amounts that would go to each taxing jurisdiction if the property were not put into a TID, include 45% to Prescott School District ($104,000), 28% to the city ($64,000), 23% to the county ($53,000) and 4% to the technical college ($9,000).
“I don’t think that everybody, at least everyone in town that I’ve talked to, knows all these facts,” he said.
He described the Planning Commission as “lost” about these numbers. He wanted to know why the other taxing jurisdictions would be okay losing that tax revenue for the next 20 years and said prime real estate close to businesses, schools and parks doesn’t need to be in a TID to sell. He described it as “completely stupid” to give a tax break to a developer when the school district continues going to referendum for operating costs. He claimed the superintendent shouldn’t be for the project if tax revenue from it may be diverted from the school district for 20 years.
Citizen Wolf also expressed his disapproval for a potential new city services building, saying the library will probably be extinct in 15 years, a possible new fire station and sewer treatment plan. He accused the city of being secretive and shady and said he can’t find information on the city website.
“I had to buy a Pierce County Journal to find all this stuff,” he said.
When he was done, Alderperson Lindsey Sorenson praised Library Director Carissa Langer for her outreach efforts and program growth and suggested Wolf check out the library.
Alderperson Dar Hintz told him all agendas and minutes are on the city website.
“You can go through every single council meeting and all of the minutes,” she said. “Send me an email if you’re finding discrepancies. I would love to read it.”
Alderperson Mike Gerke corrected the citizen’s comment about how the sewer project would be paid.
“The sewer project does not come out of property taxes; it comes out of utility fees,” he said.
Administrator Matt Wolf took issue with some of citizen Wolf’s comments as well.
“I don’t know any time where I’ve said in any meetings and I guess maybe that’s the challenge where I’ve said we’re trying to hide anything,” Administrator Wolf said. “Every single item that’s on your agenda tonight, every single packet has a memo. They’re all on our website. I’ve never called for us to hide any sort of referendum. I just want to speak for that and make sure that that’s known. I don’t know where that’s coming from.”
Gerke also addressed the citizen’s comments about the Prescott superintendent’s comments, saying he is hoping to see more students attending Prescott schools thanks to the apartment proposal.
“The State of Wisconsin pays for every student that goes there a certain amount, and what he’s looking at, he’s got schools that are not near capacity anymore, even to a point where they’re going to close one of them in ’27 if everything stays the same,” Gerke said.
When the citizen interrupted and kept talking to the council, Mayor Rob Daugherty repeatedly asked him to be quiet since he’d already said his piece.
“I know we’ve had a decline in enrollment in our city, too,” Aldperson Adam Granquist said. “So providing housing is going to help with that growing consistent issue. And I know that since I’ve come onto this council, the whole reason why I ran, the whole reason why I wanted to was to increase transparency and ability for the city, for the community, to see what’s going on, the good, and the ugly, and especially the good, because there’s a lot of good and it’s really easy to lose sight of that, especially when misinformation is so incredibly prevalent these days.
“I’ve seen a very concerted effort to increase that transparency, as well as reaching out to other avenues to get the word out there.”
Other business
