Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council Adds Funds For Parks In 2001 Budget

Making sure the Prescott Parks Department was properly funded dominated the Prescott City Council meeting Monday, Jan. 15.

The council was to approve the budget for 2001, but before this was done, councilman Ann Stockton had some questions she wanted answered.

Her first comment was on how much had been put back for street work. "We were told before we would use some of this money (from the one cent hospital tax) on the street and it hasn't happened yet," she said.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said he'd know more when he talked to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) again, as the federal government will be working with small municipalities on street repair.

"I remember sitting here six or seven months ago," Stockton said, "and saying we would get the parks improved for the children. But the park budget was cut and we didn't build the bathrooms. I'd like to see us finish what we start."

Parks director Steve Crow said he submitted a proposal to the council, but was turned down for the funding requested.

The cost of building an office for the park director, Taylor said, could be taken from the $296,000 rollover.

There are things being worked on in the park, Taylor said.

Councilman Danny Beavert agreed money needs to be put in the parks, adding Crow needs to come up with some hard figures for the cost of the projects planned or underway.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said grant information comes through his office and he will let Crow know about any relating to parks. "The money is out there. We just need to find and apply for it."

Crow said a culvert across the big ditch between the concession stand and bleachers at McRae Park is needed if this park is to be used much by those in the area.

Another need is more playground area. The pavilion, he said, needs work, but this can be put off.

By fixing the softball field at McRae Park, he continued, adults could play games there.

James Cornelius, a member of the council, suggested, with the rest of the panel going along, pulling $25,000 from the EDO budget to make these repairs at the park. This raised the park's budget to $50,000 for the year.

Budget items were the main topic of the night, especially when the funding was from the one-cent hospital tax which brings in about $400,000 annually.

Of this, $265,000 was originally budgeted for the EDO, but this was reduced by $25,000 to $240,000.

Chadwell said the EDO has been working on a spec building for prospects.

In addition, he said, a couple of industries are looking at possibly locating in the industrial park. One of these industries wants the city to build a building for it, which would then be leased with an option to purchase.

Another prospect was promised $160,000  not in cash.

The money, Chadwell told the council, is a flexible fund used to attract industries, as Prescott is competing with other communities for them. Part of the money, he said, is used as matching funds on grants, with $100,000 of the budget not obligated for any use.

Teamwork Arkansas, a division of Entergy, brought a consultant to Prescott to see the area and industrial park. In all the consultant saw five locations, with Prescott being one.

Chadwell said the EDO's budget is an investment in the future.

The council approved both budgets as presented. The one for the city's general fund of $6,117,800, and the sales tax budget of $400,000. However, there was no discussion on the city's budget.

Taylor turned the topic to the recent disaster, saying he has heard FEMA could fund 100 percent.

However, a deadline has been imposed on all affected to be completely finished by Feb. 27. This gives Prescott and Nevada County approximately six weeks to get the work done under the current 90-10 match.

After Feb. 27 the match reverts back to the 75-25, with cities and counties having to fund 12.5 percent and the state picking up the rest through the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

City crews, he said, have been working at removing debris, with the chips being taken to Potlatch and the limbs going to Hines.

Taylor said city residents can burn their debris with no problems as long as there are no complaints filed about the burning.Jim Dickerson, with Prescott Video, was on hand to discuss the effect the ice storm had on cable television in the area.

In all, he said, there were 179 service calls made, with 165 being problems from the utility pole to the house.

A total of 98 lines had to be re-hung, while 25 were completely destroyed and had to be replaced. Of the calls made, 55 had no problem other than KTBS Channel 3 was off the air in Shreveport and some residents thought they had no cable when this station didn't come on.

In some cases, he said, people simply needed to reprogram their televisions and videocassette recorders.

There were four areas in the county where the cable was torn down and only one outage area where the problem was failure of electronic cable equipment. This, Dickerson said, affected 35 to 40 customers.

One problem the company had was Entergy cutting the fiberoptic line in Emmet. Crews had to respond and splice it back.

At this time, he said, almost all the broadcast channels are being sent and received by different antennas. This results in a lower quality signal, but the company is working to correct the situation.

According to Dickerson, those who called the cable company and let them know about their problems will get credit for the time their service was out.

"We took no new business until Jan. 15," he said. "We've been devoting our time to getting everyone's cable back up."

The company discussed giving all the 1,160 customers in Prescott credit for the three days service was down, but this won't happen. Corporate officials said people had no electricity at the time and couldn't have watched television anyway.

Dickerson suggested the next time cable goes out, people check to see what the problem is, then call the company to report it.

The system, he said, will be adding new features this year, including more channels and Internet access, along with digital pay per view. However, these options will cost more.

The council passed four resolutions. Two dealt with the Depot Museum. One was to accept the 80-20 grant from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, with the other to hire French Architects of Hot Springs to draw up the plans.

A third resolution was to get $208,000 released from the Economic Development Fund of Arkansas to Prescott.

This money had been previously approved, but was tied up in a lawsuit filed by Fort Smith attorney Oscar Stilley.

Part of the city accepting the money is the stipulation Prescott pay it back if the courts rule in Stilley's favor.

According to Chadwell, Congressman Mike Ross has looked into the matter and it appears as though there is little chance the city will have to pay the money back regardless of the court's ruling.

This money would be used to repair the road to Hanson Gravel, which is located off Highway 67 North at Boughton near the Little Missouri River.

In the unlikely event the city would have to repay the money, he said, it wouldn't have to be all at once. Prescott could make payments.

The final resolution approved was keeping Glenn Vasser as the city's attorney. Vasser will be paid $950 per month for his services, along with an hourly rate when performing other legal services for the city. This agreement will run through Dec. 31, 2004.

Taylor said the city has not heard back from the Humane Society concerning a regional animal control shelter. "I don't expect to hear from them until Hope gets more handlers," he said.

Nothing has been heard from the U.S. Census Bureau on the city's population numbers, but there was a small increase in the number of people living in the state. The bureau should have the figures ready by spring, Taylor said,

Councilman Howard Austin asked if department heads could be present at the council meetings and give updates on what's going on in their departments. This way, he said, things can be taken care of before problems develop.

Several of the department heads, Taylor said, do attend the meetings, but only one, Police Chief Sam Reeder, gives a monthly report.