By ANNE JACKSON | August 16, 2023

The August 14, 2023, City of Prescott Council meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Neither City Attorney Burton Harding, nor council member Fritz Norbury was able to attend.
Mayor Kevin Wood said the council would have two meetings. The first meeting would be a budget meeting to look over the proposed budget papers and vote on whether to accept them or not. 
After a few moments to read over the budget and refresh their memories, the council made a motion to accept the budget that was passed unanimously.
The second meeting to take care of regular council business was then opened.
Motions were made and passed unanimously to first accept the minutes from last month’s meeting, then second, to accept the payment of bills.
Karen Springer gave the food pantry report. Again, because her paperwork requires it, she made a distinction between two families who donated 225 pounds of produce out of their gardens and three other families who donated 300 pounds of food that didn’t come out of their gardens. Curt and Dusty Laderer gave 30 dozen eggs. All of this food and the volunteer work that is used to distribute it are very much appreciated both by Springer and by the households who benefit from being given a little help making ends meet.
The Pantry had a bit of a scare last month when a storm knocked the power out, because when the power came back on, the freezer didn’t. This was discovered before the meat thawed out, enabling it to be placed in other freezers temporarily, which was good, because the freezer was quite full. The repair man says a new dose of freon should solve the problem.
The opening for Prescott citizens to speak for three minutes was used by a concerned citizen to express a feeling that she is the only one being singled out to tidy her property. Everyone should have clean yards. Mayor Wood listened and said other people are being communicated with as necessary.
In old business, the Globe Life Insurance salesman who came last month realized that Prescott was too small to have enough full time employees to take advantage of their discounts, so he had to withdraw the offer.
Unfortunately, Josh Cougill, the new city employee who had been doing such a wonderful job getting mowing and other chores done, had a car accident that left him with a fracture in his spine and a broken rib. He will be unable to work for a while and the Worker’s Compensation people have already been talking with Clerk Kathy Wood.
For new business some interest had been expressed in starting a daycare again, but no-one came to talk about options. 
The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) from the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency (KMEA) sent in a new set of papers for Mayor Wood to sign. This is the organization that would allow Prescott to get some of their electricity needs, especially during times of peak demand, from a hydro-electric system in Colorado. The council decided that the city should continue the process of getting electricity help from WAPA and made a motion that passed unanimously that Mayor Wood should sign the papers.
In the Prescott Day discussion, it was suggested the parade might start at 5 p.m., if the dinner was to be available starting at 6. The discussion also agreed that the parade should have prizes for all the categories the parade has had in the past: cars, trucks, tractors, horses, kids miscellaneous, and kid’s bicycles. Motions were made and passed unanimously that the prizes should be first prize $75, second $50 and 3rd $25, except the kid’s bicycle prizes would be first $25, second $15 and third $10. The council members really hope that since school will have started by September 23 that some school bands will be willing to come be in the parade. A suggestion was made that for any band walking in the parade a donation of $75 be made to that band.
There will be porta-potties available again. 
The council made a motion to raise Clerk Wood’s wage to $15 per hour that was passed unanimously.
Clerk Wood gave the superintendent report. The men got the sewer lift station pump fixed, then another pump across town went bad, so they fixed it too. They now have the rear end for the flatbed truck and will be able to fix it. They also have tar for patching roads.
The treasurer’s report said the Schulte Supply Company has been paid in full for all the new water meters and software equipment. 
Mayor Wood said he’d like to buy more fish for the lake this fall. There have been reports of good size bass being caught. When he talked to the porta-potty people about the Prescott Day needs they told him that they could supply one for the lake and charge $85 per month to clean it. The council members discussed that idea. Between mud daubers and the need to clean the current rooms, several thought it might be worth it during the summer months.