Council OKs agreement with Fairy Wonderland Park, mayor concerned about UTVs on streets

By John McLoone

PRESCOTT – Benches to be installed as part of Prescott’s riverfront project to be completed this summer can be dedicated for a price of $4,000.

The Prescott City Council unanimously approved the proposal at its meeting Monday, May 23.

City Administrator Matt Wolf told alderpersons that the city has already received four requests for the six park benches in the project area. The price of dedicating the bench covers the complete cost of their installation. The benches will have a bronze plaque avxed with a dedica tion message.

The city opened registrations for the dedications last week, and they will be closed June 30. At that time, a lottery drawing will be held if there are more than six requests. The benches need to be paid for by July 10 and will be ordered that month.

With revenue from the benches, money that was budgeted for their installation can now be used for other project improvements. The proposal was recommended for approval by the council’s Parks and Public Property Committee.

“We talked about if people want a bench dedication, they can cover the cost of the bench. That money then could be used in additional spaces. That could go back into that section of the park project,” committee chair Bailey Ruona said. “We could have that money freed up to go to additional items in that project.”

The benches will be the same as the new bench at the courtesy dock.

“Moving forward, that’s what all the benches are going to look like,” said Ruona.

Fairy Wonderland Park

The much-anticipated Fairy Wonderland Park will have its first phase of equip ment installed later this summer.

The council approved a memorandum of under- standing with the non-profit Healing Play, Inc. outlining responsibilities in the park plan. Fairy Wonderland Park will be developed within Saint Croix Bluus Park. The plan is for the park to look exactly like a life-size fairy garden with interactive elements.

The genesis of the park concept was a way to honor three Prescott youth who passed away, Ellery Ennenga, Ava Christianson and Tyler Orpen. The Fairy Wonderland websites states, “We are a group of parents who have a vision of honoring some pretty special children who left this earth way too soon….Ava, Ellery and Tyler. After the loss of a child, there is nothing worse than the thought of people forgetting your child. So, we put our broken hearts and minds together and have come up with a way to remember our children while creating joy for others.”

The tribute to these children comes through in the park’s meaning and background. This park is a way for people to remember loved ones after they have passed or to honor loved ones still with them today. The park’s website features fairies inspired by real people. The fairies featured on the website are a special way to donate to the project. When someone buys a fairy, the money goes toward building the park and in return for the donation, they receive a fairy inspired by a real person. They are given a hand drawn representation of that person along with a short bio on who they are. These fairies are available for anyone to see on the website and will be incorporated into the real park.

The plan is for the Dreamcatcher Cove area of the project to be installed this year. Wolf said the equipment should be delivered by Sept. 15. Under the agreement, the city and Johnson Construction of Prescott will install the equipment.

The rubberized flooring for the playground will also be installed this year, Wolf said.

"The first pad is going to look awesome,” said Ruona.

In total, there are 13 lettered phases to the Fairy Wonderland plan.

Under the memorandum of understanding, ownership and operation of Fairy Wonderland Park will be the responsibility of the city. The city will request money raised through fundraising from Healing Play.

Funding for future phases will come from Healing Play.

Utility Terrain Vehicles

Mayor Rob Daugherty expressed concern about the number of UTVs driving Prescott streets. The council’s ordinance committee will study the matter.

“There’s lots of chatter on word of mouth (the Prescott Word of Mouth Facebook page) on side-by-sides on our streets,” said Daugherty. "They are ou-road vehicles. They go very, very fast. They’re not made for roads.”

Daugherty said the problem is other communities allow them, so people may assume Prescott does as well.

“I’m here to tell you, put a 16-year-old in a side-by-side, and you know what’s going to happen,” said Daugherty. “My personal opinion is I don’t want to see them on our streets. It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

Prescott Police Chief Eric Michaels said there is no permit available that allows for the “non-licensed” vehicles on city streets. The police do allow them for a few instances.

“There are two times UTVs are allowed on city streets, the Prescott Daze parade and snow removal in the wintertime. We allow them if they have the flashing light and the plow on the front. They can help people plow out driveways, but that’s it,” said Michaels.

Alderperson Thomas Oss commented, “I see a lot of them on Halloween pulling trailers.”

“We also allow them on Halloween evening pulling trailers,” Michaels said to laughter.

Under the current ordinance, golf carts are allowed with registration from the city and many residents are not registering theirs.

“I don’t think all our golf carts are registered, nor are our dogs,” commented City Clerk Jayne Brand. “I think we have more than 40 dogs in the City of Prescott. That’s all we have licenses for. I think I’ve seen more than 52 golf carts too.”

“We’ll look at it,” Ordinance Committee Chair Darlyn Hintz said.

Compost site

The Parks and Public Property Committee will discuss city compost site hours, after a citizen complained at the limited time it is open.

The compost site is located at W1200 620th Ave., 1.5 miles east of the city ou Hwy. 10. The compost site is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 4–7 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mark Woychik, 120 Gibbs St., said the compost site should be open every day.

“We can’t burn in town. We aren’t supposed to have junk around. I think it should be open seven days a week,” he said. “I’ve heard concerns that people are dropping ou things they shouldn’t be. Put up a camera.”