By John McLoone

PRESCOTT – Pickleball is the real deal – or dill – in Prescott.

The fast-growing racquet sport is currently played on makeshift courts taped down on the tennis courts at Public Square Court. They’re often at capacity, and pickleball players approached the city about developing permanent courts at that site.

The plan would be for four pickleball courts. The Prescott Pickleball Association would pick up half the cost of developing the permanent courts in place of the tennis courts at the park.

City Planner Carter Hayes told the Parks and Public Property Committee of the Prescott City Council Monday night that the city’s share of the project could be in the $90,000-range, and that brought pause from committee chair Bailey Ruona.

The proposal before the committee was to have the pickleball project included in the 2023 budget.

City Administrator Matt Wolf said that with the 50-50 split on court construction, other components of the plan – such as resurfacing the basketball court – are already part of the city comprehensive plan. He said $100,000 could be placed toward the project in the city 2023 capital budget. The city would carry over $8,000 it intended to spend this year to fence the tennis courts. The remaining $32,000 would come from general fund reserves, Wolf said.

That got Ruona’s attention. "When I first saw it (the project outline and cost), I was kind of taken aback, I’m not going to lie – the dollar amount,” she said. “I just need to be real about our current situation. We started the Riverfront project. We started the Fairy Wonderland project. We have the Coulee River Trails going. From a priority standpoint and where we put our money right now, it’s the Riverfront project.”

She said the city council has a workshop set (Sept. 14) to talk about funding capital improvements. The city also has to resolve how to pay for a large project involved in getting its Well Number Three back in service. It was taken owine last fall because of nitrates in water samples.

"We have to talk about water first. We have to have clean water. That’s one of the things we have to provide the city,” she said. “I don’t know where this is going to land now. We might have to look at paring it back. With what we have on our plates now, I don’t know where this is going to end up.”

Wolf pointed out that the Riverfront project is funded through a city Tax Incremental Financing District, and the city has applied for grant funding to augment its American Rescue Plan Act funds to get the well operational again.

Ruona told the pickleball players in attendance that she likes the idea, but not the timing.

"I don't think it's going to be a flat no. With everything we have on our plate for 2023, I don’t know how we’re going to do it,” she said.

It will be discussed as part of the capital project discussion at the work session.

The Prescott Pickleball Association would like a timeline so they can start fundraising for the project.

They were hoping for the project to happen next summer.

“I think you have the right location, but I don’t know about the timing. Depending on what gets brought up at the workshop and what we do, I don’t know that’s all going to balance out,” Ruona said. “I’m not saying no. I think that’s the right spot. It’s just how we’re going to do it and when is the right time to do it with everything that’s on our plate.”

The Prescott Pickleball Association is running a tournament and free clinic during Prescott Daze (the weekend after Labor Day) for anyone interested in learning more about the sport.

Moving the mussels

The committee forwarded a recommendation to the council for approval of a mussel survey and relocation at a cost of $15,200. The mussel relocation is a necessary first step as part of development of a new boat launch and fishing pier. The 2022 city budget has $125,000 earmarked for those projects as part of the Riverfront redevelopment. The boat launch is to be replaced, and there will be a walkway leading to a new floating fish ing dock.

Daguna Consulting of Rochester, Minn. will handle the surveying and species iden- tification of the mussels, per Wisconsin De partment of Natural Resources requirements. Then, they will be relocated. Daguna scuba divers will search for the mussels around the approximately .35-acre project footprint.

Ruona said the boat launch will need to be closed while divers are present.

The firm then will survey sites for reloca tion of the mussels. The company will work with both the Wisconsin and Minnesota DNR and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for help finding transplant sites that are close to the collection areas and have similar habitat.

The work is set to be done by the end of September.