Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Streets, roads and sidewalks in plans for new year

What does 2004 have in store for Prescott and Nevada County?

Surviving, was Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown's initial response.

He added to his answer saying the county will try to upgrade some of its road equipment, and plans are to redo more paved roads in the county. This will be along the lines of the roads paved in the Liberty, Shady and Fairview areas.

"We'll do all we can, but everything depends on winter as to when we start," he said. " We need rain, but not flooding and no ice or freezing rain."

Other plans for the county, he said, are to do some painting on the courthouse, repair the courthouse roof where it leaks and general maintenance to the courthouse.

With the sidewalks downtown being rebuilt, Brown said the parking lot around the courthouse will be repaved and striped.

In addition, the county is looking at having a new heating and air conditioning unit installed at the Nevada County Jail.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said the EDO's plans are to get the fire station/parks department office on the east side of town built in 2004.

In addition, plans are to get the sidewalk project completed by Spring, and have the walking/jogging trail project completed. The trail is by the Nevada County Health Unit.

The Shop Prescott First program will begin in early 2004, he said. This program involves businesses staying open until at least 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday night and from at least 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

The idea of Shop Prescott First is to get local residents to spend their money in town and help the local economy and tax base.

Chadwell said Prescott Rubber, Inc., should be fully operational by Spring. The plant, which will recycle rubber from Firestone, was scheduled to be up and running by the end of 2003, but delays have kept pushing the start date back.

Initially, Chadwell said, Prescott Rubber will hire 10-12 people, and build to 40 employees within three years.

Other plans for 2004 are to continue efforts to recruit new business and industry to Prescott and Nevada County, he said.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor was more in-depth on his plans for the city in 2004.

Taylor said 2004 may be the best year Prescott has had in a long time, with everything currently going on and what is expected to happen.

He also said the sidewalk project should be done by early Spring, with the completion date depending on the weather. Most of what's lacking in this project is the corners, and some additional work at the courthouse.

The new sidewalks, he said, are already enhancing the downtown area of Prescott, and goes well with the new Prescott-Nevada County Library.

On the topic of the library, Taylor said the city is working to get those who own buildings nearby to clean up and paint them thereby making their appearance more pleasing to visitors.

For the fire department/parks building, Taylor said when the bids are let work can begin immediately. The contractor will be pouring the concrete foundation and putting up a pre-fab metal building. From there, the city will take over, doing the electrical and other work needed.

"One of the greatest things to me," he said, "is the sales tax for the street program."

Under this program, every street in Prescott will get a minimum of a two-inch overlay. "I'm anxious to get started," he said. "We'll likely do it in increments until it's all done. This will give the city time to clean and clear ditches.

The city is looking at widening Moores Lane under this project as well. Taylor said this is the ideal time to widen this street because of the school traffic in the mornings and afternoons.

The city is also checking into getting a billboard or sign placed on Interstate-30 welcoming people to Prescott and Nevada County. The problem, he said, isn't obtaining the land, but getting utilities to the sign, which will be lighted.

Other plans call for the cleaning up of vacant lots and residential dwellings in town.

Taylor said the city will try to get the ditches by the Nevada County Day Service Center and along Wildcat Road cleaned, with culverts replaced with larger ones to help prevent flooding.

Plans are, he said, to visit with children in different parts of Prescott and try to "recruit" them to helping pick up garbage in their neighborhoods on Saturdays. They will be rewarded with hot dogs and soft drinks after the trash is collected. "This is to try and get them to have more pride in the city and their neighborhoods."

The rural water system is scheduled to be completed in 2004. This, he said, could result in a population growth as former residents have expressed possible interest in returning as they can get water in rural areas.

Kizer Field, he said, has undergone a change in status from being a Visual Flight Regulation (VFR) field, to an Instrument Flight one.

The airport, Taylor said, needs to be listed as a National Plan Integrated System (NPIS) field, as the NPIS status would mean the city would receive federal funds for maintenance.

The airport's lighting system, he said, needs to be changed. Currently the runway lights come on at dusk and remain on all night. However, a system exists where pilots can tune into a radio frequency and have the lights come on. This is what Taylor wants to go to at Kizer.

One of the plans he has is to improve garbage collection. This, he said, will be done by changing days of pick up and purchasing a new truck.

The problem, he said, is the tonnage continues to increase and this puts more stress on the collection end.