Quad Cities Business News

Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, & Dewey/Humboldt

You are here: Home / Archives for Prescott City Council

Prescott City Council

Celebrating Open Space and Sister Cities

By Leave a Comment

Prescott City Council approved the purchase of more than 300 acres of property for the purpose of natural open space in the Granite Dells.

August was an important month for the City of Prescott, as council took several steps to ensure a prosperous future for our citizens, while looking back on a half century of partnership with one of our Sister Cities.

Prescott City Council approved the purchase of more than 300 acres of property for the purpose of natural open space in the Granite Dells. The land was acquired from the Storm family, following a letter of intent approved by council on Nov. 9, 2021. This strategic acquisition of property meets the criteria as set forth in the 2009 council-adopted Open Space Master Plan and will provide for outdoor recreation and use for generations to come. Acquiring this last segment of the Storm Ranch is a monumental accomplishment that demonstrates the city’s ongoing commitment to open space preservation. This will be a true legacy in the long run. Thank you to Joe Baynes, the Storm Family, and everyone involved.

City Council confirmed membership of the Prescott General Plan Committee. Council selected seven members, who will serve through the approval of the new General Plan, which is due by 2025. The General Plan was last adopted in 2015 and must be updated every 10 years in accordance with Arizona Revised Statutes. The purpose of this committee shall be to coordinate with city staff for updates to the City of Prescott General Plan. Citizen participation is required for the creation of a plan to be adopted by the City Council for the General Plan updates, which will then be approved by voters by 2025. Congratulations to our Citizen Appointees: Ralph Hess, Rod Moyer, Jim Huffman, Deborah Thalasitis, Gary Worob, Terry Sapio and Andre Carman.

Following the discovery by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) of two PFAS chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in two city wells in the airport area in early July, which were immediately turned off, the city requested that ADEQ sample the additional city production wells located in Chino Valley. At the same time, the city employed an independent lab to test all city water production wells. Those results came back and were reported Aug. 19, resulting in barely detectable levels of PFOA in three of four operational Chino Valley wells and detectable levels of PFOS and PFOA in Airport Well No. 5. PFAS were not detected in Chino Valley Well No. 4, Airport Well No. 2, and Airport Well No. 3. Consequently, Airport Well No. 5 will remain off-line. Since Airport Well No. 3 came back as non-detectable for the chemicals, it will be placed back into service.

Since PFAS were detected for the first time in three of four Chino Valley wells, City staff will make operational changes to minimize levels of PFAS in city potable water supplies by turning off Well Nos. 3 and 5 and blending water from Well Nos. 2 and 4 before sending it to customers.  It is expected that this blending plan will result in non-detectable levels of PFAS in city potable water supplies. The city will regularly test for PFAS in its potable water supply to continue to maintain adequate quantities of safe, clean drinking water. As test results are received, city staff will immediately inform the public and quickly make operational changes to minimize the introduction of PFAS into city potable water supplies. For more information, go to the city website and select PFAS and PFOS Resource Center from the homepage.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to recognize the 50th Anniversary of Prescott Caborca Sister Cities program. On Aug. 14, 1972, Mayor Taylor Hicks signed a proclamation for the City of Prescott to become an official sister city with Caborca, Mexico. I would like to thank Dr. Will Fisher and the entire Caborca Sister City committee for their commitment and for putting together this year-long celebration of a half-century of Sister Cities in Prescott. Caborca Sister Cities will host a 50th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, Sept. 17. I will be there, along with several council members. We hope you can join us to support this commendable program. QCBN

By Phil Goode

Phil Goode is the mayor of Prescott.

Planting Seeds for the Prescott Food Forest

By Leave a Comment

Advocates work to create a center focused on growing healthy food.

In Prescott, it’s an idea ripe for the picking: a gardening discovery center exploring the world of growing food and eating healthy for all generations, to be called the Prescott Food Forest.

With a slogan of “Where People Come to Grow Together,” the plan has been growing.

One of the central elements of the project is creating a community garden, a concept not new in Prescott, as a previous community garden near Granite Creek had closed a few years ago.

However, with the pandemic in 2020, interest in community gardens flourished as people woke up to worries about food security. The community garden concept is loosely modeled on the old victory gardens essential during both World Wars, backyard gardens where citizen gardeners maintained plots to grow vegetables, fruit and herbs to augment dwindling national food supplies.

Prescott realtor and entrepreneur John Murphy is spearheading the Prescott Food Forest project and will lead the presentation of a comprehensive plan to the Prescott City Council within the next few weeks.

Plans call for the center to be located on a two-acre parcel of land owned by the City of Prescott near the Heritage Park Zoo. In the 1999 Prescott Master Plan, this parcel was chosen as the future home of a community garden.

Healthy food has long been a passion for Murphy, who started a non-profit foundation several years ago, the Make 100 Healthy Foundation, with the goal of encouraging healthy lifestyles for longevity.

“A key factor in living a long and healthy life is the food we put into our bodies,” Murphy said. “Growing food has become somewhat of a lost art form. When I started this foundation a few years ago, the mission was to grow 1 million new victory gardens in the next five years. Why this mission? It’s because we have a rampant epidemic of obesity and diabetes. People think they are eating healthy food, but they are actually eating empty food with little nutritional value. This is an opportunity to fill a void created when the previous community garden went away.”

Murphy and the three-person board of directors for the Prescott Food Forest will be asking the City of Prescott to approve their plan to create the food forest design, which will include the gardening discovery center with a community garden.

“The property is already fully fenced, has water and electricity and is a blank canvas to build on,” Murphy said. “We are asking the city to grant us a 10-year lease, and we will beautify the property for the good of the community.”

After an analysis of why the earlier community garden in Prescott failed, planners will hire a garden manager who will be on site to tend the gardens and maintain the property, help oversee alternative growing models for optimal food production and engage with all who use the garden.

Murphy said that LeRoy Miller, a Yavapai County Master Gardeners member, has volunteered to serve as acting garden manager until a permanent one can be found. The long-term goal is to build a strong organization with members and volunteers who share a common mission: to bring people together with purpose and pleasure, discovering the joys and benefits of growing food.

Prescott resident and Quad Cities Business News Advertising Manager Ann Herrington is also a board member. She heard about the proposed project last year when Murphy made a presentation to the Prescott Frontier Rotary Club.

“He’s really an incredible guy,” she said. “He’s worked hard on this and gotten a lot of people in the fold. He’s making connections and is talking with Prescott Meals on Wheels about the prospect of them buying food from us. He’s also connecting with local schools where they can come as a field trip to see how the food is grown. The goal is to help people learn how to be healthier.”

Herrington calls the location a perfect fit. “It’s just been sitting there for years. We have to get in there and clear it and make it all happen.”

The layout for the project includes creating small structures such as kiosks, raised garden beds, a greenhouse that can produce food year-round (via aeroponic vertical gardening), an industrial kitchen and a fruit and vegetable stand. A focus on sustainability, which Murphy said was lacking in the previous community garden, will be highlighted.

“We have a whole group of people who have gotten behind this concept for Prescott to have a garden we can call our own,” he said. “There’s been a lot of thought and effort put into building it and sustaining it. It’s not just a feel-good, spur-of-the-moment effort, but rather, it aims to be part of the fabric of Prescott’s outdoor community. We want to create a fellowship through the efforts of gardening.”

Also vital to the mission of the Prescott Food Forest is its design as a gardening discovery center. Organizers envision a gardening educational platform that will be a world-class   attraction accessible to all residents of Prescott, as well as visitors and tourists.

Board member Stephanie Leon, who also drafted the menu of gardening classes, will be the Prescott Food Forest education director, Murphy said. Classes and seminars will be offered on gardening, preserving food, healthy cooking and eating, pickling, promoting immunity, overcoming the challenges of high-desert gardening, and teaching alternative growing methods such as indoor, patio, hydroponic and vertical farming.

In addition, the Prescott Food Forest facility will host field trips and educational videos, and stage special events featuring local celebrity chefs. Acting manager Miller will seek other experts to present seminars and demonstrations on healthy cooking and up-to-date gardening techniques.

“We plan to offer multi-generational gardening classes, including a ‘Grandpa and Me’ program,” said Murphy. “Older and younger folks who don’t think they have anything in common will find they have much more in common than they thought.”

Herrington will be one of the teachers at the new facility. Toward that goal, she will soon be completing a three-phase course at Cornell University to become certified as a whole food, plant-based nutritionist. She received a $500 “Arline’s Angel Award” toward her tuition through his foundation, which was set up by Murphy to honor his parents.

Upon approval from the City of Prescott, a community awareness and fundraising campaign will commence, with a “Let’s Get Growing Prescott” theme. The goal is to raise $100,000 to build, maintain and market this effort.

Prescott Food Forest volunteers debuted plans to the public on Saturday, April 23, during the 2022 Prescott Earth Day Festival downtown. Revenue generation plans include sponsorships, grants, rental income, charging admission for select events, membership fees and selling produce to the public, restaurants and other food providers.

Murphy said he hopes they will have the Prescott Food Forest plans approved by the end of this month. “We will present a full vision, which includes a working budget, an implementation plan and design layout.”

There will also be charitable giving by providing food and education to the underprivileged, with a plan to give away at least 10% of what is grown to the food bank and other outlets that help those in need.

“We’re going to have a big gala towards the end of the summer,” Murphy said. “We’ll use the money to build a greenhouse by October before it gets frosty. We’re also going to have a big pumpkin patch.”

“The Greater Prescott Outdoor Fund has allocated a $7,000 grant that will help us get started,” said Herrington, who is overseeing fundraising efforts.

Murphy, who was chairman of the Commission on Well-Being for the City of Prescott, said he has always wanted to give back to the community. “I believe this will be a legacy project, a destination location for gardening, learning, fellowship and community gatherings.” QCBN

By Betsey Bruner, QCBN

Drafting Prescott’s Water Policy

By 1 Comment

Providing water to property outside the city limits has been a hotly debated topic.

For the past several months, Prescott City Council and the Water Issues subcommittee have been working with staff to draft a revised water policy that will meet the needs of our current users and create a sensible plan for growth in Prescott for years to come. Water use is a primary concern for many of our residents. How we use and conserve water will have an impact on the entire Prescott region for many years to come.

There are 24 points to the policy. Here are a few particularly important items for consideration:

  1. The city is using the Water Resource Management Model (WRMM) to determine actual water usage within the city’s Water Service Area. Water usage is more accurate than ever through the use of over 22,000 utility billing records, which take the guesswork out of water usage within the City. The WRMM eliminates the need for estimating water and provides a policy that sets actual water usage by user type. (Policy 3)
  2. Private development projects already underway such as Deep Well, Arizona Eco Development, Prescott Lakes, and other subdivisions already have the right to water from development agreements approved by prior City Councils. The water for these projects has already been contractually obligated and accounted for as “committed” and “projected” water demands in the city’s Water Resource Management Model (WRMM).
  3. The Council is considering going back to a water budget for new residential and non-residential projects that the city is not already contractually obligated to provide water to. The water budget would be set bi-annually and no single project would be able to receive more than half of the remaining balance in the budget at the time of the request. Administrative requests would also be included as part of the water budget.
  4. Providing water to property outside the city limits has been a hotly debated topic. Providing water and sewer service to properties outside the Prescott Water Service Area, as defined by the city’s voter approved General Plan, would not be allowed under the proposed draft policy.  Properties within these areas that could be potentially annexed may be considered, but would require water saving measures, as well as the return of wastewater flows for potential recharge into the aquifer.

The draft policy is being reviewed by the city’s Water Issues subcommittee, then will be reevaluated by Council within the next several weeks. It is important to note that citizen input has been paramount in the Council’s deliberations to this point. The draft policy has been posted on the city website since early January and we encourage citizens to review it and comment. City staff has already gathered many comments and is reporting back to Council on a regular basis. There is still time for you to be heard, both through comments and at upcoming public meetings.

To review the draft water policy and comment, go to Prescott-az.gov, and click on the 2022 Draft Water Management Policy tile on the home page. We have the opportunity to create a sustainable water policy so that generations to come can benefit. QCBN

By Phil Goode

Phil Goode is the mayor of the City of Prescott.

Alexa Scholl: Prescott’s Rising Star

By Leave a Comment

Smiling broadly, which she does often, 23-year-old Alexa Scholl recalls how a local radio talk show host acknowledged that she shares the name “Alexa” with the Amazon electronic application that answers questions and performs communications tasks. It was suggested that the name recognition may have helped her win a seat on the Prescott City Council (PCC) when she was 20 years old.

“I’d like to think it was a bit more than just ‘name recognition,’” she said. “I consider myself a Prescott native and have family roots here since the 1950s. I attended local schools and graduated from Prescott High School in 2015.”

In high school, Alexa committed herself to representing her fellow students as what she called a “servant leader,” someone who wants to help the community make a sustainable difference in its quality of life. “Being involved in such programs cemented my interest in public service. I was inspired by other students who shared similar values. We really did support each other to make the world a better place,” said Scholl.

Her parents are both highly visible educators. Her father, John Scholl, is superintendent of Chino Valley Schools and her mother, Marti Read, is assistant superintendent of Prescott Unified School District (PUSD).

Alexa graduated from PHS with distinction. She was an award-winning varsity athlete and student leader. She later was named a Tillman Scholar and Truman Scholar – both prestigious honors awarded to exceptional students at Arizona State University (ASU). While there, she enrolled in the Barrett Honors College, where she completed a political science degree with a minor in Spanish in 2019. Currently, she is enrolled in an ASU master’s program in global security.

It seems no matter what she does, she is setting new standards or breaking records.

For instance, while yet an undergraduate at ASU, she ran for and was elected to a four-year term in 2017 to the seven-member Prescott City Council. She did so with the highest number of votes cast for any candidate and became the youngest city council person elected in Arizona history.

“It’s funny. I was not old enough to drink alcoholic beverages, and yet I was voting in council meetings to approve liquor licenses.”

Committed to Public Service

Last month, Prescott Mayor Greg Mengarelli shared with fellow council members that Alexa had accepted that role as mayor pro tem for the Prescott City Council.

“Having Alexa as our mayor pro tem is something I am very pleased about,” said Mayor Mengarelli. Her continuous thoughtful insight, dedication and knowledge about the greater Prescott community and unique perspectives on various issues the council faces make her truly invaluable in this role. I look forward to working with Ms. Scholl in her new capacity. I am excited to see how her leadership will impact PCC and the city as a whole.”

City Councilmember Billie Orr, who has served as mayor pro tem for the past several years, calls Alexa studious and perceptive. “Alexa is a talented young lady. I have enjoyed working alongside her on the council.”

“Alexa is one of the best examples of why I love being an educator in Prescott,” said PUSD School Superintendent Joe Howard. “She grew up here, represented academically the top levels of our schools in the county and state, and then returned to her community to contribute in the highest manner. We are so proud of this young woman. What’s gratifying is that she accepted a position with PUSD to be our health and safety coordinator in dealing with some of the most threatening situations in our history. She is leading us through this pandemic with incredible skill. I am reminded daily of how important and full circle our efforts are in education.”

Early in her service on the council, she was instrumental in creating the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), which is designed to help area students be aware of local government policies and issues that affect youth.

Scholl also dedicates time to serving on the board of the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Partnerships. She is a member of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States. She also has worked and volunteered for Yavapai Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

In her spare time, Scholl says she listens to podcasts about political, criminal and social issues. She also enjoys a good comedy.

What makes me laugh

I laugh hardest when I spend time with my family. We tend to be sarcastic, so we enjoy poking fun at each other.

My favorite meal

I really love my dad’s chicken curry over rice. But we have some good restaurants in town.

My favorite place to travel

San Felipe, Mexico. We’ve been going there since I was a little kid. It’s like a second home. But I also love, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, where I can study U.S. history. I owe that to Kelly Cordes, my seventh grade social studies teacher.

Prescott is unique

I think our wonderful climate and natural beauty, combined with the history of the region, are major draws. Of course, there’s no place like Prescott during the holidays. Totally spectacular and welcoming.

If I had an unlimited bank account

It would go for non-profits and foundations. These are close to my heart. They have been impacted by the pandemic. They need financial support. QCBN

By Ray Newton

Making Decisions for Prescott’s Future

By Leave a Comment

Thirty-nine years ago, I was a young man on a mission. I had just left corporate life in Southern California and was itching to make a life on my own terms in God’s country. I knew that if I wasn’t relying on someone else to make me successful, I’d be just fine. In 1980, I brought my young family to Prescott and joined a one-year-old family business started in the tiny town of Chino Valley called Olsen’s Chino Valley Grain. I brought an extensive marketing and pet food sales background to the company as well as some hard-earned cash.

Today, Olsen’s For Healthy Animals is five stores strong in North Central Arizona and is poised for the future. Where am I going with this? You want to do business in an area that is poised for success. You’re not afraid to work hard for the sake of your family and you just want to know that your hard work will eventually pay off. That’s the initiative I’ve been working hard to achieve while on the Prescott City Council for the last four years.

City government can’t make you successful, only you can. The city can, however, provide a financially stable government and a vibrant economic development environment, hopefully resulting in superior economic opportunities for you. I prefer to look at renewal, rather than just raw growth, as the driver of our success in the future. We need to constantly be “renewed” as a city, taking great care to preserve our attractive resources like our iconic downtown and surrounding historic housing district, as well as our natural resources like our lakes, trails, and beautiful open spaces, while not standing still and getting stale.

In 1980, downtown was not nearly what it is today. There were several vacant store fronts, and it was not somewhere you’d take friends from out of town to hang out, unless you were going to a bar. Now, it’s incredibly vibrant, with many family friendly shops, a variety of restaurants and is truly Everybody’s Hometown.

How do we achieve a balance between being a desirable place to live and the need to remain who we are? Part of the answer is reasonable government, a government that understands that it can only facilitate a successful community, not cause it. That’s up to you. How do we deal with our popularity and, say, traffic? Well, many people who work in Prescott live in our surrounding communities and fill up our roads getting to and from work. They can’t afford to live here. Government can improve the flow of traffic on our roads, make our downtown more pedestrian and parking friendly, work with the private sector to achieve regional transportation, and encourage attainable housing… but we can’t keep people out. If it’s hot in the Valley, people will come. If people want to experience Prescott as Arizona’s Christmas City, they will come. If they want the Prescott outdoor experience, they will come. And, we need them to come. 45% of our sales/bed tax dollars for the City of Prescott come from tourists, and another 16% come from people outside of our community. That’s saving our citizens from having to pay the entire bill for police, fire, recreation services and the library.

What about water? In my personal life, I conserve water. I do it because it’s the right thing to do, right now. I’m for the proposed water policy because we can plan for the future rather than just reacting to the future. It quantifies our water and is a much more exact way to allocate our precious resource. Back in the early 1900s, people had a choice to make. For hundreds of years, the horse and buggy in various forms was the preferred mode of transportation. Does that mean it shouldn’t give way to something else, simply because it had provided reliable transportation for all that time? No, the automobile came to bring us and the rest of the world into the 20th century. Likewise, I feel that the new water policy of the city is much more nimble, realistic and will allow us to know exactly what we are using rather than guessing.

What about the Dells? If this City Council didn’t want to save the Dells, the issue would have been off the table and gone a long time ago. That didn’t happen because we all want to save the Dells. I ask, “Is the 500 or nothing, worth the nothing?” Some people like to think that Prescott is the developer’s only alternative. That’s just not true. Some folks think that the state parks will come save the Dells. If it can, and has the money, I’m all for it. For the record, I’m not for the 250 acres of open space in the heart of the Dells that the developer is currently offering. If that’s his best offer, I’ll vote not to annex. It must be worth it for Prescott. QCBN

By Steve Sischka

 

Steve Sischka is a Prescott councilman.

 

Paid for by Northern AZ Social, LLC.

Authorized and approved by Steve Sischka for City Council.