Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City Council Approves Work On Road

A resolution was passed by the Prescott City Council to pave a road to the site of the Rip Griffin Truck and Travel Center.

A group from Prescott, represented by Mike Marlar, went to Little Rock to meet with the Arkansas Department of Economic Development. They returned with $154,000 to build the road with on the contingency Griffin was going to build in Prescott.

Jon Chadwell, director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, told the council it will take every bit of the grant money to build the road.

He said this road will be about 1,000 feet long and be three lanes wide. It will be designed to handle 1,400 trucks a day and not impede traffic on the highway.

This road, Chadwell said, will be built of concrete and layered asphalt.

Next on the list for the council was bids for a new mower.

Perry Nelson, water department superintendent, said this will be a double purpose tractor with four-wheel drive to help prevent tearing up the rocks at the sewer site.

Kubota and John Deere tractors were bid to the council, with Southwest Arkansas Equipment of Hope getting the bid at $14,200 for the John Deere.

Nelson said the Hope company agreed to take the city's used Ford tractor in on trade, where Fallon, the company bidding the Kubota, didn't.

The Deere, he said, will be able to use a sickle blade as well as a belly mower and is powered by a 30 horsepower engine.

This tractor is larger than the one used by the Parks Department, Nelson said.

Rick McGough, with Southwest Arkansas Equipment, was on hand at the meeting. He said the tractor is in stock and could be delivered as soon as the mower parts come in and are installed. This should take about two weeks.

Chadwell, in the EDO report, told the panel the first meeting for the rural water system went well with about 50 people showing up and several signing up.

Getting the project going was made into a contest, he said. Because of it being designed like a wheel, different parts can be turned on when they are completed, instead of the entire project being turned on at one time.

Because of this, the area getting the highest percentage of residents to sign up for city water will be the first to get water.

Currently, Chadwell said, there are about 100 signed up for the project. More public meetings will be held throughout April to get the word out.

A TEA-21 grant has been approved for Prescott's Depot Museum, he said, in the amount of $166,000. This money will be used to renovate the museum.

The city has also applied for streetscape grants to do three downtown streets. Chadwell said a letter has been received saying the decision should be finalized in April on whether Prescott will get the grants or not.

Chadwell attended a trade show in Detroit recently, and made 190 sales calls on prospective businesses and industries.

Four prospects were brought back to work on, with two being a "good fit" for Prescott, he said.

These companies plan on making a decision on where they will locate in the next 12 to 18 months. One is based in New York and wants to move because of the union wage scale.

Bids for the new senior adult center were recently opened, Chadwell told the council, and came in less than expected.

A group of students and instructors from the University of Arkansas's School of Architecture will be in Prescott for about six weeks this summer, he said.

They will concentrate on ways to improve the downtown area for a relative low cost.

This group, Chadwell said, will be seeking public input to help them get an idea of what the people here want.

However, while they're here, they will have to be fed and housed by local residents. The city will also need to provide them a storefront to work out of while they're in town.

Councilman Danny Beavert asked if the city ever decided to do anything about maintaining the cemetery.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the council had discussed the cemetery, but nothing was decided.

He said the city will keep two people mowing at the cemetery regularly.

The council discussed the problem with loose dogs in the city.

Taylor said the shelters at Hope and Arkadelphia are full and neither wants to take Prescott's dogs.

It was said there are people who don't take care of their animals and just leave them when they move away.

However, no decision was made on how to handle the dog problem.