Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Annexation Should Move Forward Without Lawsuit

There is no more opposition to the annexation in Prescott, which means as soon as the City Council approves an ordinance, the town's population will grow by 32.

Local attorney Gene Hale said he would not file an appeal to the annexation, and did not as the deadline came and went.

This means the annexation is now in the hands of Prescott's city council members. Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the council will be given an ordinance to approve at its next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 20. Once it is approved, the property in question will be in the city limits.

Taylor said the city is working on getting city services to the area in question, primarily water and sewer services.

The survey on getting these services to the area is underway. He said a preconstruction planning conference with the Economic Development Administration (EDA) will be held Nov. 16 in Austin, Texas. The EDA is posting a grant for the project of some $690,000.

Taylor said this conference is a requirement before the project and be let out for bid.

Water and sewer services should be in place between exits 44 and 46 on Interstate 30 by April, Taylor said. "Water is not the problem," the mayor said, "sewer is."

He said the city has been in contact with Arkansas Power and Light Co. about getting its utility equipment in the area. He said AP&L will do an inventory of its equipment, depreciate it out and come up with a cost before presenting it to the city.

From there, the city council will negotiate with the utility company on the final price.

Taylor also said Prescott Video has done a survey of the area and there will be no problem getting cable television to the new portion of the city.

However, Jim Dickerson, manager of Prescott Video, said while the cable company made an agreement to furnish cable to the annexed area, the extension won't begin until next year.

He said construction is tentatively scheduled for May for the two mile extension.

"It has to be engineered and designed," Dickerson said. "We've got to get construction crews in and there must be a transfer of ownership (of utility equipment from AP&L to the City of Prescott)." Until these criteria are met, there can be no extension of cable to the annexed area.

In addition, the cable company will have to get a permit from the Arkansas Transportation and Highway Department.

However, everything currently hinges on the city and AP&L reaching an agreement first.

Before getting to this point with the annexation, a public hearing was held Sept. 29. This was done because several citizens in the region, including Hale, wanted some questions answered about who would pay, what kind of schedule the installation of services would be on and how much everything would cost.

These questions were answered during the meeting, and no further objections to the annexation were made.

The city has already been approved for the EDA grant, which will be used for water and sewer improvements in the area.

The lack of appeals to the annexation also clears the way for a proposed truck stop and travel center to be constructed on about 25 acres at Exit 44. This, according to a letter from Prescott attorney Jim McKenzie, with the firm McKenzie, Graves, McRae and Vasser, will result in the creation of employment for 100 people.

Jim Sharkey, executive director of the Nevada County Economic Development Office, said other industry has expressed an interest in locating in the area as well.

However, before any construction begins, the city council must first approve the ordinance annexing the area into the city limits.