Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council Passes Budget For 2000

Prescott's budget for 2000 will be smaller than the one for 1999.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor told the Prescott City Council this news at the regular monthly council meeting, Monday, Dec. 20.

The reason, he said, is because electricity costs are less expensive than before.

From there the council was told there is $681,000in the depreciation fund. This money, Taylor said, can be used to replace equipment for the utility departments.

The money in this fund, he said, is calculated monthly and was established under an ordinance.

And, he added, there is some equipment needing to be replaced.

The water department, Taylor told the council, needs a 3/4 ton pickup and a side mount mower attachment so the ditches and levees at the pond can be mown.

In addition, he said, a small tractor with wide tires is needed for the sewer plant. This tractor would be used to rake the reeds. This job is currently done by hand. Such a tractor will run about $15,000. Bids will be taken for it.

The electric department, he continued, needs a double-bucket truck to replace the current bucket truck.

The current truck, Taylor said, doesn't have the extension capabilities the department needs.

He said a new flatbed truck is needed as well, as all departments currently share one. This means when one department is using the truck, the other two have to wait.

A 14 horsepower mower was also on Taylor's wish list. He said one is needed to replace an old one the city has. The deck of the existing mower is worn out and would cost about $1,900 to replace.

The mayor said it isn't worth the expense to replace the deck for an old mower.

From there he said the budget includes $750 for the weather radar station to maintain the radar. This station is manned during times of potentially severe weather so the citizenry can be warned of approaching storms, and take appropriate action.

He said the city is no closer to getting a new fire station built on the downtown side of the railroad track, but a location near Funshine Furniture is been looked at.

However, he said, this item did not need to be addressed in the Y2K budget.

City employees had a 3 percent raise built into the budget, though.

The need for a new firetruck was brought up, but Taylor explained $10,000 a year is put into a special fund just for this matter.

The life of a firetruck is about 10 years, with one of the city's trucks about to turn 10. Taylor said the fund for this is getting to the point where a new one can be purchased.

City accountant Carl Dalrymple told the council the money is put in certificates of deposit, and when the city has enough money there to buy a firetruck no bids will be needed.

An additional $20,000 was placed in the parks budget this year. This money is to help with the building of another baseball field, or finish work on one already underway.

George Odom, parks director, said this money will be used to buy startup material.

Girls fast pitch softball is normally played on a standard size Little League field, he said, so McRae Field will be finished first.

The Wolverettes of Prescott High School can play there, he said, but the school district is looking at building a softball field in the area of the shot put pit on campus, if there is enough room.

Taylor suggested waiting to see what the district does before the city commits.

"We promised to have a legal field for the girls this year," he told the council.

Earlier in the summer, representatives for a girls softball league approached the council and were told a field would be ready for the 2000 season.

Councilman Ann Stockton said $20,000 won't be enough to do the job. She added there is no need for the parking to be a "mudhole," and the facility should be nice.

Councilman Dick Bright said the council needs a complete plan to see what is needed before the city can move on this issue.

Councilman Danny Beavert agreed saying the council deserves to see plans as the money is coming from the city.

Members of the council suggested waiting for plans before passing the budget, but Taylor said the budget needed to be passed first.

Dalrymple said the council can always come back and amend it on a line-item basis.

The council approved the budget, with plans to come back and review the parks department work on the baseball fields.

Beavert questioned Taylor about doing something to curb the city's animal control problem.

He said as the city has carryover money available, it needs to look into the dog situation to help get rid of packs running loose.

Taylor said a committee will be working on this issue in January.

Dalrymple said animal control would need to be placed in a specific area in the budget to show how the money is being used.

The street department budget wasn't addressed in the meeting, but Taylor said the city will receive more turnback money in 2000.

He said it's reached a point where it's cheaper on cities to contract out street work other than trying to buy and maintain the equipment to do it.

Taylor said plans are to let contracts and have two or three blocks done per year by an outside company. These streets, he added, would be widened and asphalted.

Discussion then turned toward the 2000 census with Taylor saying it's vitally important for the city to get a good count.

The Arkansas Municipal League, he said, is working to make sure cities in the state get a better count than they did in 1990 when the last census was taken.

The census is important as turnback funds from the federal government are based on population, and this money is used to help provide city services.