Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Much work to be done on street project

David Jones, with Marlar Engineering, explained what will happen with the street construction project in Prescott when it begins.

This was done at the Jan. 19 meeting of the Prescott City Council.

Jones said the project will be beneficial to Prescott once it's completed. One of the major benefits will be improved drainage in some problem areas.

However, he said, it's going to take a lot of work to get there. While some areas will be fine with an overlay, some of the city's streets are concrete and will require more work before asphalt can be put down.

In addition, there are areas of Prescott where the sub-base has failed and must be repaired. Otherwise, Jones said, the street will fail again.

"There could be a drainage issue to deal with," he said. "Some streets are designed with road ditches and the streets are flat. We will do all we can to prevent flooding anyone's yard."

Where the streets are flat, a rise will be put in the center to allow for better drainage.

Jones said J. Hensley, with the Asphalt Institute of Arkansas has been contacted to help determine what type of asphalt Prescott will need because of its soil situation. Each area of town will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

Primarily, he said, the contractor will use the same type of asphalt used by the Arkansas Highway Department on state highways. According to Jones, the pavement will be an asphalt/concrete hot mix as cold mix isn't used any longer.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said the city is looking to do 12 miles of street in the first year, with each district having three miles done. The aldermen have been asked to select which three miles should be paved first in their respective districts.

Jones added the streets with heavy truck traffic will be built bigger and stronger to handle the extra weight and stress.

Joe Elrod, also with Marlar Engineering, said there would have to be some interaction between the city and state in the areas of state highways.

When all was said and done, the council voted to hire Marlar Engineering to do the engineering work for the street project.

This was followed by the panel passing a resolution for the Nevada County Day Service Center. The resolution was updating the city and county's interlocal agreement to provide services for the handicapped during 2004. The resolution is addressed annually.

Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, in his report, said the sidewalk project is continuing, with crews being reminded the contract deadline is nearing and will not be extended.

Most of the work for the sidewalk project, he said, is getting the corners finished, making sure they drain properly and getting the drainage problem at Elm and Second streets handled.

An agreement has been signed with an architect for the walking/jogging trail project, he said. Work on the walking/jogging trail should begin when the weather is dry in the spring, and should be completed by the end of summer.

Chadwell said three prospects have visited Prescott recently. Two looked at the industrial park, while the other looked at the old garment building. In addition, the EDO office has received two calls concerning the old armory.

Steve Jones, with the Arkansas Department of Economic Development (ADED), visited Prescott, Chadwell said, and was impressed with the library and other project going on in the city.

The Shop Prescott First campaign is underway, he said, and appears to be going well. Businesses participating are staying open until 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, along with being open from 10 a.m. until noon on Saturdays. Chadwell reminded the council the business people were the ones who picked the hours and days to be open.

There are 27 businesses participating in the program.

Prescott Rubber, he said, is making arrangements to get equipment moved into the plant, and hopes to have everything set up by February for testing. Once the equipment is operational, hiring will be done.

According to Chadwell, the company already has enough orders to have the plant at capacity when it opens. "It's a good problem to have," he said. "I think they'll be successful."

Questions were raised about the difference between industrial and commercial electric customers.

Larry Stockton said Prescott has two industrial users, Potlatch and Firestone, as nothing else in town is close in size to them.

Stockton said there has been discussion along these lines in the past, but nothing's been done about the rates. He added, the council, not Entergy decides the rules Prescott Water and Light operate under. Entergy is simply the company Prescott purchases electricity from.

Taylor appointed a committee made up of James Cornelius, Howard Austin, Billy House, Ann Stockton, Larry Stockon and Chadwell to look into it.

Chadwell said he would contact ADED on how it classifies industry and commercial businesses.

Stockton said Potlatch and Firestone are billed the same way the city is billed by Entergy.

"If we change to a lower rate, we'll have to make it up somewhere else," he said. "The electric department is squeezed for other things, and money from it runs everything else."

Stockton pointed out the city's contract with Entergy will run out on Dec. 31, 2005, and said the city can expect to pay higher more to buy electricity from Entergy.