Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Water project bids to be opened June 19

Bids for the Prescott Rural Water Project will be opened Thursday, June 19.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, told the Nevada County Quorum Court, in its regular monthly meeting, Monday, June 9, if the bids come in the money, some areas cut from the project could be added back.

The engineer, he said, expects to get a good set of bidders and for the project to come under budget.

Chadwell said there could be complications if the bids are higher than the amount budgeted for the project. Higher bids would mean those involved would have to go through a complicated assortment of paperwork, which could result in the project being delayed up to six months.

However, should the bids be less than budgeted, areas which have been cut can be added with no additional paperwork for the loan or grant providers.

Chadwell said the same engineer will be doing the sidewalk project in downtown Prescott.

"We're still waiting on approval for it," he said.

Once the project has been approved by the state, it will be advertised for 30 days. At the end of those 30 days, bids will be opened and a contractor hired.

It could be the end of the summer, Chadwell said, before work begins on the sidewalk project. "We'd like to get going before bad weather sets in."

The foundation for Prescott Rubber, Inc., has been poured, he said, with the steel to be going up soon.

Chadwell lauded the 9-1-1 emergency telephone system, saying once everything's in place, Nevada County will have the best digital map in the state.

In fact, he received an unexpected call from a friend about the digital mapping. "This shows we've got the state's attention," Chadwell said.

"This will help economic development, utilities, railroads and anyone using an overview map of the county will benefit from it."

Two of the Leadership Nevada County teams, he said, are nearing completion of their community project.

One team had Morgan Nick ID booth at the Chicken and Egg Festival, with more than 100 children getting identified through the program.

The other team is working to finish a book drive for the new Nevada County Library.

Students at Prescott High School will have less junk food available to them next year, as a grant for $30,000 to purchase vending machines was approved. There is a possibility some of the machines could be placed at McRae Middle School as well.

The vending machines, Chadwell said, will replace those currently at PHS, and will have healthier snacks and drinks.

The machines will be given to the district, with the school selling the snacks and making the profit from them.

"When the grant comes around again," he said, "we may be able to put machines in other schools in the county."

A prospect visited the industrial park during the Memorial Day weekend, he said, adding this is the first phase of industrial recruitment. "I hope we got our foot in the door."

In other business, the court tabled a discussion of overtime for the second month in a row.

It also tabled a request from Nevada County Sheriff Steve Otwell concerning a separate phone line for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

This line, he said, would allow the bookkeeper to be networked with the district clerk's system for fine payments.

If the two computers were networked, he said, it would reduce the number of failure to comply warrants issued.

Currently, the line used by the bookkeeper is also a fax line. When the fax is being used, she can't get online for the information she needs. And, when she's doing her computer work, the fax can't be used.

Bob Cummings, a member of the court and employee of CenturyTel, said this would give the department separate lines, but it wouldn't be DSL for internet service.

The separate phone line, Cummings said, would be a 1-B line and cost about $70 per month.

The court returned to the topic of the flood plane, which was also discussed in May.

Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown said the flood program is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with Prescott and Emmet both participating.

Brown said he was told if the county didn't participate it wouldn't be eligible for state or federal road and bridge money in the event of a flood.

"Since I've been judge," he said, "we've received about $10 million in federal money for flood repair."

Property owners would have to get permits allowing them to build in a flood plane, he said, in order for them to get insurance.

The court approved an ordinance to participate in the program with a 6-3 vote.

Brown said had the measure not been approved, homeowners wanting to refinance their mortgages to take advantage of the current low rates wouldn't have been able to if they were in a flood plane.

With work on the 9-1-1 telephone system winding down, Brown said, Dale Booker can work two days a week on the flood program and three days on 9-1-1 for the rest of the year.

The court will have to budget the flood plane program.

Justice of the Peace Arval Mason said this is one step closer for the county having to have a building inspector. "It could get to where we need a full-time person to police it."