Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Interlocal Agreement Is Amended By Prescott City Council

Prescott's City Council passed a resolution amending its 1995 interlocal agreement with Nevada County concerning the dispatching of the Prescott Police Department and Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

This was done at the council's regular monthly meeting Monday, May 15.

The agreement, first passed in 1995, combined the dispatching duties for the NCSO and PPD at the Sheriff's Office, with the Nevada County Quorum Court also approving the deal.

It was sent to the Arkansas Attorney General's Office to make sure it met all legal requirements. However, once this was done, it was forgotten about.

The agreement, according to then-Attorney General Winston Bryant, wasn't complete as it didn't spell out administrative duties and who would administer them.

Upon investigation, it was learned the interlocal agreement had never been modified, approved and resubmitted to the Attorney General's Office a second time.

City Attorney Glenn Vasser drew up an amendment to the original interlocal agreement spelling out the Sheriff would be the administrator of the dispatching, with all dispatching to be done from the NCSO.

The council approved the agreement, which must now be approved by the NCQC and submitted to the Attorney General's Office to make sure it meets the legal requirements of an interlocal agreement. Under state law, all interlocal agreements must be approved by the Attorney General's Office.

Once the Attorney General's Office approves of the amendment it will go into effect.

Jorge and Maria Villegas, artists originally from Argentina, presented a sketch of the mural to be painted downtown in Prescott.

The Villegases have painted murals in El Dorado, Magnolia and Mena, along with Springhill, La.

Their presentation showed various aspects of historical life in Prescott and Nevada County, including the importance of the Little Missouri River, the railroad system, the old opera house, Prairie DeAnn battlefield, the timber industry and hunting.

The mural will be painted five or six feet above the ground, and will be at least 16 feet tall when completed.

They said the mural is a representation of the people in the area, with the idea to show the history and heritage of Prescott and Nevada County.

In other cities, they said, the people visiting associate the town with the image on the mural and a sense of pride is created.

There is also very little trouble with graffiti, they said.

Before coming up with a sketch, the Villegas' visited the different sites depicted. They had trouble deciding what to do with the Prairie DeAnn battlefield because of the emotion.

In the end, they showed the region as a pastoral setting with cattle in a pasture.

Strong colors will be used when the mural is painted so it can be seen from a great distance, even if the details aren't visible. The mural will be painted on the old Sterling's building downtown.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said the architecture students from the University of Arkansas have arrived and need lodging.

They will be examining the buildings in the downtown area, evaluating them then determining which can be saved, which should be saved and how best to renovate the exteriors of the rest.

One of the students is in landscape architecture and will present suggestions on how downtown Prescott can be made more attractive through landscaping.

The students and their advisor will be using the old Alliance Health building as their office, with State Rep. Percy Malone allowing them to use it at no cost.

However, the city will need to pick up the tab on utilities for the office and find a way to make sure the students are fed while here.

Chadwell said the students will be doing a lot of legwork in getting their data together, and the information they glean can be used for other projects down the road.

The students encourage public participation and invite those interested to stop by the Alliance office.

To help foot the bill for this endeavor, the council transferred $30,000 from a rollover fund to the economic development fund. The rollover money was left over from sales taxes collected on the one-cent hospital tax from 1999.

Some of the money transferred will also be used to pay the assistant at The Partnership, as well as work on the pocket parks downtown.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the city attorney had been asked for a definition of junk before the city could clean up any of the old Christopher property.

Taylor also said the recent rains have delayed the start of construction on the new senior adult center.