Elm, Locust reconstruction surveys in 2022

By Melissa Thorud

PRESCOTT – The Prescott City Council at its Monday, Dec. 12 meeting approved a site plan review for the Two Rivers restaurant expansion, appointed a new community member to the Police Commission and approved an update for the city’s Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (CORP).

The council approved a site plan review for an expansion at Two Rivers Bar and Grill (117 Broad St.), which includes building a two-story deck.

“The proposed addition would be a two-story deck … there are a number of conditions in this resolution that they must abide by,” City Administrator Matt Wolf said. “The one item I will mention that was added per Planning Commission is that they are required to have their garbage containers be stored within an enclosed structure.”

The deck’s first level will be 3,472 square feet while the second level will be 3,750 square feet. The deck will look out onto the St. Croix River.

The council also approved an update to the CORP, which was amended to add the Coulee River Trails project into the comprehensive plan.

“I’d like to thank Cedar Corporation, Bailey, all the Parks Committee people, and the Coulee River Trails group for doing a great job. This is a very comprehensive document and it is wonderful,” said Alderperson Thomas Oss.

The addition of the CRT initiative to the CORP will allow for a firm foundation and longevity for the project. “Basically this is something we have discussed including last week during our workshop for the Coulee River Trails and we are putting together a long term plan for trail development,” said Wolf.

The city will also be doing a compensation study, comparing its current compensation for city staff and faculty to other comparable cities within a 65-mile radius with a population within 2,000 of Prescott. It will include cities in both Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“One of the things that we discussed at the Personnel Committee meeting on Sept. 9 was conducting a compensation study to determine if our employee pay and benefits are meeting current market standard within communities of similar size,” said Wolf.

The compensation study also comes alongside a proposal to update the employee handbook. “The city handbook that we currently operate under was adopted in 1995 and there hasn’t been any major revisions or updates since 2014, so one of the things that we are looking at and being proposed tonight is a compensation study and an employee handbook update,” said Wolf.

Elm & Locust streets

Cedar Corporation Engineer Greg Adams and Wolf explained the survey proposal for Elm and Locust streets’ planned reconstruction. The two streets are next on the list in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan for complete reconstruction (sewer, water, storm water, street light, street, curb, gutter and sidewalk along Elm). The plan is two survey both in 2022, reconstruct Elm Street (from Kinnickinnic to Walter) in 2023 and reconstruct Locust Street (from Orange to Walter) in 2024.

“For Elm Street, Cedar Corp and Greg gave us an estimate of about $2.95 million for the construction and for Locust Street an estimate of about $1.57 million for a total cost of about $4.5 million,” Wolf said. “Currently the schedule as proposed would have us surveying both of those streets in 2022 and then looking into grant opportunities to help us fund those costs in 2022.”

The construction on the streets would not start to take place until 2023.

“The proposal I have in front of you is just the field survey work, so the thought being there that we could get that work done and it could give us some time with planning,” Adams said. “We can use that data and have that year ahead planning and allows for some more input for the project so it would just be the survey work at this time.”

The council approved Cedar Corp’s engineering services proposal for the survey work at a cost of $26,200.

Other business

•The council appointed Lisa Johnson to the Police Commission.

•The first date to circulate nomination papers for the upcoming April 2022 City Council election was Dec. 1. Papers are due Jan. 4, 2022. Ward 1 alderperson, Ward 2 alderperson and the mayor’s position are up for election.

•The council approved election inspectors for Jan. 1, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2023: Andrea Bjork, Kate Killian, Charlene Malueg, Shelley Glasspoole, Cindy Huppert, Chris Stanke, Carrie Falkofse (special voting deputy), Elizabeth Lansing, Rashel Temmers, Dawn Harris, Jennifer Neumann, Mary Sigerson and Dion Carpenter.

Two Rivers Bar & Grill, located at 117 Broad St., plans to add a two-story deck this summer, totaling more than 7,000 square feet of outdoor space overlooking the St. Croix River. File photo by Sarah Nigbor