News

City News Briefs

Monday, October 12, 2009

City of Prescott updates are written by designees from various departments in an effort to keep the mayor, council and local citizens apprised of successful municipal activity.

News Briefs are posted for the public twice monthly.

Saving the Dogs! - Of the 42 Prescott dogs that entered the facility during the month of August, eight or 19.0% were euthanized. Of the total number of animals entering the facility from all jurisdictions, only 7% were euthanized. That's a 93% live release rate. Source: Duane Adams, Yavapai Humane Society

Glass can be Recycled - One of the biggest complaints we receive in Field Operations is that we do not allow the general public to recycle glass. NOT TRUE; in the month of August, the residents of Prescott and the tri-city area have recycled 35 tons of glass in our drop-off center. Prescott residents as well as County residents love the fact that we allow them the opportunity to recycle glass free of charge. Our drop-off location has become a hit with the general public, we currently see on the average over 125 cars a day.

Grants - It has been a very busy time for Grants during the first quarter of this fiscal year. We were notified on September 10 that our request for $78,860 in CDBG-R funding was approved. These funds will complete the Campbell Street project.

In addition to CDBG-R funding, we were notified that our Annual Action Plan for 2009 was approved and we have available $294,463 to support our projects this year such as, Meals on Wheels, Project Aware support, Prescott Area Women's Shelter, Renovation of low to moderate income family homes; roof repair for mobile homes and renovation of the Catholic Charities duplex for transitional housing on Virginia Street.

Finally, we received our award of $197,100 from the Department of Energy to use for energy efficiency retrofits to our city buildings.

These grants total $570,423 in federal dollars to benefit our community. Our summer also included preparation and submittal of the Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report to HUD.

The FY 2010 Chip Seal and Various Pavement Repairs Project - is now complete. In the Ranch at Prescott, 39 streets were chip sealed for a total of 1,053,072 square feet. In the Yavapai Hills subdivision, 15 streets were chip sealed for a total of 480,000 square feet. Other distressed streets such as Country Park Drive, Upper Thumb Butte Road, Acoma Drive, and Marcella Drive were also chip sealed. As part of the dust suppression program on unpaved streets, 39 previously unpaved streets received a chip seal coat over a layer of recycled asphalt placed by the Streets Department to provide a paved surface that effectively reduces dust. The project was completed for approximately $50,000 less than the contract amount.

Zone 39 Phase I - Installation of water mains on White Spar Road, Hassayampa Drive and Aubrey Street are 95% complete. The Pump Station manifold is installed and contractor work continues on construction of the Pioneer pump station. THE PROJECT IS WITHIN BUDGET AND ON SCHEDULE.

Zone 39 Phase II - Utility construction along Country Club Drive between Park Avenue and Grace Avenue will continue in coming weeks. THE PROJECT IS WITHIN BUDGET AND ON SCHEDULE.

Successful Summit - The Economic Development Department held a very successful Economic and Tourism Summit on September 23rd at ERAU's Davis Learning Center. New Executive Vice President Dr. Frank Ayers welcomed the 100-plus attendees to the campus. Mayor ProTem Bob Bell delivered Mayor Wilson's opening remarks, and Jane Bristol reported on Focused Future II accomplishments. AOT Director Sherry Henry and Assistant Director Mark Stanton shared their work plan for marketing and promoting the State. Director Henry announced that Flat is the new Up, noting the steep decline in the tourism industry as a whole. Rachel Sacco, Scottsdale CVB Director, presented several examples of how collaboration and partnerships helped grow the CVB to its prominence today; she also remarked on several parallels between Prescott and Scottsdale tourism efforts. The afternoon was spent discussing branding and its importance in marketing/promotion, as well as the efforts of the Chamber of Commerce and PACT in tourism activities. All presentations that are available will be posted to the Economic Development webpage at www.prescott-az.gov in the next few days. The Tourism Summit energized the community and business organizations to work more collaboratively to bring more visitors to Prescott and improve the visitor experience.

Burglary Suspects Apprehended - Prescott Police Department patrol officers stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation and during the stop; alert officers became suspicious of the occupants of this vehicle. Investigation by the officers revealed that these individuals were in possession of numerous pieces of stolen property. The officers arrested 6 suspects and recovered a large amount of stolen property. The suspects are thought to be responsible for over 50 vehicle burglaries in the City of Prescott.

New Law Allows Concealed Weapons - A new law went into effect on September 30th that allows Concealed Weapon Permit holders the ability to enter liquor establishments with a concealed weapon if the establishment does not post signs prohibiting this activity. The Prescott Police Department hosted two training sessions for all bar and restaurant liquor license holders. The training sessions were held at the Police Department and the license holders had the opportunity to ask questions about the new law and received hand out information to take back to their employees.

K-9's Receive Community Grant - The Prescott Police Department was awarded a grant from the Yavapai County Community Foundation for the Police Department K-9 program. This grant, in the amount of $5,227, will be utilized to build a permanent and comprehensive K-9 obstacle course. Funding will pay for the supplies for the project with volunteers from the Police Department constructing the course. The Police Department also received a separate grant in the amount of $956 for emergency veterinarian care for K-9 Officer Deuce who injured his teeth while participating in a training exercise.

Airport Minimum Operating Standards Available for public review - The Airport has made available to the public, the Airport Minimum Operating Standards for the Prescott Airport. This document has been under development by the Airport staff since 2005. Minimum Operating Standards (MOS) are defined by the FAA as the qualifications which may be established by an airport owner as the minimum requirements to be met as a condition for the right to conduct an aeronautical activity on the airport. Accordingly, minimum standards should provide a fair and reasonable opportunity, without unlawful discrimination, to all applicants to qualify, or otherwise compete, to occupy available airport land and/or improvements and engage in authorized commercial activities. In essence, minimum standards establish base line, or minimum requirements and qualifications to ensure a safe and specified level of service for the community, as well as fairness and consistency in the leasing of airport facilities.

The City desires to ensure that the public receives a safe and reasonable standard of services. The City also desires to provide a fair and reasonable opportunity, without discrimination, to all qualified parties interested in leasing facilities and providing commercial services at Prescott Municipal Airport while complying with State and Federal policy and regulations regarding the leasing of airport facilities and property including but not limited to the public advertisement of leasing opportunities and public notice of intent to lease airport facilities or land.

From November of 2007 through the summer of 2008, the Airport staff brought forward the document for public comment in a series of public meetings. During these meetings several issues arose and suggestions for the formation of a committee to review what had been developed and finalize the document, led to the formation of the Airport Working Group (AWG) on Minimum Operating Standards (MOS). The Airport staff formed the AWG from interested persons representing various commercial interests on the Airport and held 11 meetings with the group since January, 2009. The MOS is in its final form and is anticipated to be presented to City Council the first round of November.

ASA Men's 50-and-Over Fast Pitch National Championships a huge success - The City of Prescott Parks and Recreation Department conducted another successful ASA Fast Pitch National Championship September 25-27. The ASA Men's 50+ National Fast Pitch National Championships consisted of 13 teams representing Arizona, California, Iowa, Washington, Texas, Oregon, Missouri, and Montana. The event began with a manager's luncheon meeting at the Old Clubhouse on Friday, September 25 followed by Opening Ceremonies at 2:30pm and games beginning at 5pm at Heritage Park Field 1, Bill Vallely Lower Field and Ken Lindley Field. The tournament concluded at 4:00pm on Sunday afternoon. The weather was perfect with the tournament being conducted without delays. The parks crew again did an outstanding job in preparing the fields and keeping the facilities clean throughout the weekend. The sports staff and field supervisors also were excellent in their roles as tournament directors, umpires coordinator and site supervising staff.

Both ASA representatives were impressed with how our city coordinated the tournament and gave us excellent ratings. The Prescott Patriots, one of two local teams came in fourth place. Airtronics of Galt, California defeated Harold's Supermarket of Lexington, Missouri to claim the championship.