Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council Enters Library Agreement

Prescott's City Council approved a resolution entering into an interlocal agreement for a new library.

The council, meeting in regular session Monday, May 17, was in complete agreement on the resolution. The library will be funded through a $1 million grant approved under Act 831 of 1999.

State Sen. Mike Ross worked for this grant during the recent legislative session.

The agreement is needed between the city and county in order to disburse the monies for the facility.

City Attorney Glenn Vasser told the council it was committing to help acquire the land for a new library, and the city will be commingling funds with the county to make sure the facility can be operated and maintained once it's built.

The $1 million, he said, is to build and equip the library. Operations and maintenance will be partly funded by the county through it's library millage, with the city being responsible for the rest of the costs.

Vasser informed the panel there will be two boards initially. One for the construction phase and the other a permanent board to oversee the operations of the library.

This measure passed unanimously.

The seven-member permanent library board members will serve six year terms. The terms to be served initially will be drawn by lots, with three serving two year terms, three serving four year terms and one getting a six year sentence. After this, all terms will roll over and be six years long.

The Artesian Arts League, represented by Judy Duke and Chad Cornelius, asked if the council minded if they did some work on the auditorium above City Hall.

Duke first thanked the panel for allowing the league to use the auditorium, saying several functions have successfully been held there since the league's inception.

She said the stage needs to be refinished, with the league already having checked on the price of getting the job done, and some painting needs to be done as well.

These, she said, are short term goals the league has. Long term goals include making the area handicap accessible, as there is no elevator or lift to the auditorium.

The league will be checking on grants for this purpose.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said a lift had been offered to the city, but it didn't work and couldn't be used. Part of the problem, he informed those present, is the stairs at City Hall to the auditorium are offset and not straight.

He said the Americans with Disabilities Act people recommended an elevator instead of a lift. An elevator, he continued, shouldn't cost more than $10,000 for a one-story building.

Taylor said there are also two bathrooms in the auditorium needing work. One can be used at this time, while the other can't. This problem also needs to be addressed, he added.

"A lot of work has been done upstairs," he said, "but more can be done. We need to prioritize and work on the handicap part of the auditorium. I think in time it will be used more as word gets out."

Joyce Ammons addressed the women's softball issue, saying now colleges are offering scholarships in the sport, but Prescott has no program or facilities for younger players.

The city, she said, doesn't put as much money into the softball program as it does for baseball. This year, Ammons told the panel, there are two girls teams for 13-16 year old players and five teams in the 6-9 division.

At this time, the girls softball teams are practicing wherever they can find the space as there is no regulation field in the area.

Garry Lewis, a member of the Nevada County Quorum Court, said one potential site for a girls softball field is McRae Park, but the infield would have to be scraped.

He said the second phase of the James Jones Sports Complex is the completion of a softball field, with Walt Denton, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, looking for grant money to help finish the project.

Ammons pointed out the Wolverette softball team doesn't play on a regulation field, and as the team improves and starts winning, it could be forced to forfeit games because of this.

She said one of the larger fields can be utilized for softball by using a portable fence to shorten the outfields.

It will cost between $35,000 and $40,000 to complete phase II at the complex, Lewis said, with this money needed for installing fences and lighting.

The dirtwork, he said, could be done by the city and county. This would give girls a field at the complex, while they could use McRae for daylight play in the interim.

"We really need two fields," he said.

All McRae needs, Lewis continued, is a side fence and new restrooms.

Ammons agreed with the idea of using the McRae field for daylight games and practice, saying she would like for girls to have the same opportunity boys do for playing ball.

With one lighted field, she said, tournaments could be held to help raise money for more lighting at the other field.

Councilman Danny Beavert suggested working on phase II at the complex and the softball people coming back at budget time asking the city to include them in the doling of funds from the sales tax revenue.

Taylor said the city can do some cost analysis to find out what the lighting would cost and get an architect to make sure the fields would comply with regulations.

He agreed a facility is needed for girls softball and suggested parks director George Odom and Lewis stake out the area on the infield needing to be scraped on McRae Field and get the fences measured.

By getting this done, he said, McRae could be ready for play in a couple of weeks.

Jeff Haynes, president of the Prescott Baseball Association, said there is room at the complex for two more baseball diamonds and a swimming pool.

He told how the league, this year, has been divided by age groups into two-year segments and has 282 players.

However, he said, the association is running out of sponsors for teams because of the number of squads playing.

The PBA, he said, is chartered by Little League and all children must play.

In addition, Prescott will be hosting the 11-12 year old All Star Tournament this July for the second time ever, he said.

The problem, Haynes said, is the association is about $3,000 short for having the baseball program completely funded.

Part of the shortfall, he said, is the cost of equipment for the 15-16 year old players.

The PBA was given the money by the council.

In other business, the council agreed to improve street lighting on Second Street, making it somewhat safer for those visiting Prescott Video.

There was little discussion concerning the ordinance granting Prescott Cable a 15-year contract to furnish cable television to the area and make upgrades to improve its sys