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_07132026-1153

City of Prescott · Pierce County · meeting of Jul 13, 2026 · Minutes

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HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES JULY 13 , 2026 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a meeting of the Health & Safety C ommittee was held on Monday, July 13 , 2026, at 800 Borner St., Prescott, WI 54021. 1. Call to O rder/Roll Call : Meeting was called to order by Chair Dar Hintz at 5: 0 0 PM . M embers present were Dar Hintz , Maureen Otwell , and Bailey Ruona . R epresent ing was City Administrat or Matt Wolf , Clerk Rashel Temmers , and Police Chief Eric Michaels. Also present was Mayor Mi chael Gerke 2. Approva l of Health and Safety Committee Minutes from May 11 , 2026 . Committee Member Ruona motioned to approve the minutes from May 11 , 2026 , seconded by Committee Member Otwell . Motion passed unanimously by a voice vote , 3 -to-0. 3. Review of City Code 435-9 Loud and Unnecessary Noise City Administrator Matt Wolf stated that a complaint was received from a resident regarding construction activity occurring at The Bluffs development. According to the resident, heavy equipment began operating before 7:00 a.m., whic h is not allowed per the City ’s noise ordinance 435-9. City staff contacted the contractor about the complaint and advised that construction activity may not begin before 7:00 a.m. The development team was also notified of the applicable start time. In addition to requesting enforcement of the existing 7:00 a.m. start time, the resident asked the city to consider amending its noise ordinance to reduce the permitted time for construction activity from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Construction projects are oft en subject to strict schedules, weather-related delays, contractual deadlines, and potential financial penalties for failing to complete work on time. Wisconsin ’s limited construction season may also require contractors to work extended hours when weather and site conditions are favorable. The city has experienced these circumstances on several municipal projects. Staff have received prior complaints regarding contractors beginning work before the permitted 7:00 a.m. start time and are not aware of any s imilar complaints regarding the 10:00 p.m. end time. With the residents ’ request to amend the end time to 7:00 p.m., it would limit the contractor ’s ability to respond to weather delays, complete time-sensitive work, or maintain project schedules. Committee Chair Hintz believes this should be addressed on holidays and weekends as well and would like to see a 9:00 p.m. end time. Committee member Ruona asked if this was being considered for all construction projects, including indoor projects. She also st ated that the summer months are too short and crews need to get work done when they can. She did not see an issue with construction crews working indoors until 10:00 p.m. if needed. Committee member Otwell thought that a 9:00 p.m. end time would be good but does not believe the city should change an ordinance like this based on only one or two complaints. She takes no issue with revisiting this again if complaints continue to come in to staff. Committee member Ruona motioned to approve keeping City Cod e 435-9 Loud and Unnecessary Noise as is. Committee member Otwell seconded the motion. There was no further discussion on the motion. Motion passed unanimously by a voice vote , 3 -to-0. 4. Two Rivers Restaurant (117 Broad Street) a. Handicap Ramp b. Dumpster Request City Administrator Matt Wolf presented concerns from Two Rivers Restaurant at 117 Broad Street regarding their handicap ramp and dumpster enclosure. Two Rivers requested permission from the mayor to utilize a third dumpster during the summer months. Under City Code, any additional dumpster(s) must also be screened and incorporated into an enclosure consistent with the existing structure. As part of the December 13, 2021, approved business expansion, the Plan Commission required that all garbage, rubbish, and recycling containers be stored within a screened enclosure. To accommodate the business, the city authorized placement of a dumpster enclosure within the Front Street right-of-way, which resulted in the loss of one public parking space. Since the enclosure was installed, staff have experienced multiple issues with the enclosure being left open and trash being placed outside of it. After repeated attempts to resolve the issues through discussions and emails with the owners, a formal letter was issued on September 6, 2024, advising that the arrangement could be terminated if compliance did not improve. With the addition of a third dumpster, the city would lose another public parking space. Regarding the handicap ramp, the site plan that was subm itted in 2021 showed an accessible sidewalk extending along the front of the parking stalls on Front Street before terminating at a curb ramp located beyond the last parking stall. However, during construction, the city ’s building inspector found that the ramp was instead being constructed to terminate directly into the middle of two existing parking stalls. This issue was discovered on the morning the concrete was scheduled to be poured. At that point, requiring the contractor to remove and reconstruct the forms would have resulted in significant additional cost and potentially delayed completion of the project. Because the existing accessible ramp terminates within two parking stalls, the ramp becomes inaccessible whenever vehicles are parked in those spaces. After a brief discussion, there was no motion , but it was decided that Two Rivers knew they would be expanding their deck space and should have included calculations in the current enclosure to accommodate the extra trash . T he committee decided n ot to allow an extra dumpster to take up another parking stall. Committee member Ruona motioned to shift the handicap parking stalls to the end of the handicap ramp to include two handicap parking stalls and a loading /unl oading area. Committee member Otwell seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously by a voice vote, 3-0. 5. Update to 1054/154 Wacota Street City Administrator Matt Wolf briefly reviewed prior property-maintenance issues with this address. Wolf informed the committee that Cedar Corporation has completed the land survey, which identifies the property lines, adjacent right-of-way, existing buildings, and other relevant boundary information surrounding the property. With these boundaries now established, staff can more accurately determine which materials, equipment, and other items are located on private property and which are encroaching upon city-owned property or the public right-of- way. The overall condition of the property remains relatively unchanged. The noticeable change is that several items located near the front of the property have been moved and stacked into piles. While some of the materials have been consolidated, the underlying property-maintenance concerns have not been resolved, and the property is still not in compliance with the city ’s prior notices and deadlines. After a brief discussion, t here was no motion on this item , and the committee recommended tabling any further discussion until after the Municipal Court trial is completed . 6. Other Business : a. Discuss Drafting an Ordinance for E-Bikes, Sc ooters, and Electronic Motorcycles Chief Michaels discussed some recent issues with E-Bikes, Scooters, and Electronic Motorcycles. The city currently does not have an ordinance addressing these new forms of transportation and is currently working on drafting an ordinance. Recently, River Falls implemented an ordinance addressing these, along with many other cities, as everyone is having issues with misuse and safety concerns. There was no motion on this item, and the committee asked Chief Michaels to move forward with drafting an ordinance for E-Bikes, Scooters, and Electronic Motorcycles, and to bring it back to the committee for review once it is completed. 7. Adjournment : Committee Member Otwell made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Committee Member Ruona . Motion passed unanimously ( 3 -to-0); meeting adjourned at 5:4 4 p.m . Respectfully Submitted, Rashel Temmers Rashel Temmers City Clerk

Source: City of Prescott website. First collected Oct 9, 2026.