Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Court adopts budget for 2002

A working budget for 2002 was the major portion of the Dec. 10, meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court.

The meeting opened with a discussion of the opening budget. The opening budget for 2002 will be $1,437,22.54 with an anticipated revenue of $1,476,824.53.

The county will finish off the 2001 budget on an positive note, because there is more money than anticipated remaining in the budget. About $22,000 was unbudgeted and to be used as an emergency situation. A total of $10,000 was released to be used by the county general. There was a 22 percent health insurance increase.

"The county had more money this year due to the natural disasters (the ice storms and floods)," said Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said the grant for the renovation to the Nevada County Depot was received.

The full grant received is $199,300 the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department through a TEA-21. TEA-21 (Transportation Enhancement Act) releases money to aid in renovation to old transportation related entities.

Of the grant funds,$179,000 is being spent on the renovations projects to the depot.

Chadwell said the renovations will be $20,000 less than the grant was for, which means the money can utilized for a cushion. "The $20,000 could be used as a cushion for unforseen happenings," he said.

He also said the money has to be spent on the renovations only and any money left over would be returned to the state. The work should take about six months to complete and will begin between January 15-30.

Chadwell also talked of the rural water project being conducted in cooperation with Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District.

He said $2.6 million was received from one government entity and an additional $1.8 million was received from Soil and Water Conservation. Areas outside the city not having city water will be given an opportunity to rectify the situation.

Over the past year people have been signing up for city water. Chadwell said more people in the areas to the north and east of the city are using this opportunity than those who are west and south.

Currently, the county is trying to get citizens to sign easement papers. This makes it possible for the municipal water workers to lay pipe through their property, and return to do repairs if needed.

Also Chadwell discussed the recent graduated of the Leadership Nevada County Program. He said there were 22 people who applied for the program and 13 who were selected. These 13 people learned of the importance of government in the county and are potential future city and county leaders.

Of the 22 wh o were not selected for this year's program, they will be added to list next year.

He also told the quorum court two businesses closed their doors last month and the EDO is looking to acquire future businesses to be established.

There was a concern from on of the quorum court members on a recreation center. The member wanted to know what the likelihood of having one built or renovating an existing building for that purpose.

Chadwell said the building being discussed will cost $250,000 to renovate and an actual recreational youth center could be built for much less than that.

The JP said he wanted something for the kids to have to do aside from hanging out in various places after school and on the weekends.

Chadwell said getting the funding is usually not the problem, its getting revenue to keep it running turns into a problem.

Solid Waste was discussed as well. The anticipated budget was $432,875.87 with the actual budget being $389,377.33. This budget is tight without a surplus. The court placed $40,000 into a certificate of deposit to draw interest and be used as an emergency fund for solid waste.

The county library was left out of the budget because it is overbudget. "The City Council is going to give the library money and we need to see how much it will get and add the library into the next budget," Brown said.

The county's Road and Bridge Department has an anticipated budget of $1,659,420.62 and a full budget of $1,696,546.86.