Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Phantom streets closed; Grant sought for center

Two non-existent streets were closed by the Prescott City Council Monday, March 20.

The streets were platted but never built, and owners of nearby property petitioned the city to officially close the street to ensure they would never be constructed. A public hearing was held prior to the Councils regular monthly meeting, with no negative comments made.

During the regular session, the panel passed an ordinance to close Myrtle and Franklin streets, with the city abandoning its rights to the property in question.

The Council also passed a resolution allowing Donnie Crain, executive direction of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, to apply for a grant to build a multi-purpose center.

Crain said the center would be used for youth activities after school and during the summer, as well as having a community center and being a place where meetings could be held. Part of the process, though, is a public hearing, which occurred prior to the meeting.

They prefer it if you have land. They weigh this with other projects, he said. We need to have a good plan in place.

Crain said the old armory is the primary site being examined for the center. Hes had an architect look at the structure and say what could be done with it. We can apply for up to $200,000, but it looks like it could be more than that. There are no matching funds with this grant, the more we want to put there, the more our part will be.

Crain also talked about air conditioning bids for Southern Standard Molds. The products, he said, are temperature sensitive and there were problems when the air conditioning went out last year.

Six bids were received from three bidders for the project, with the low bid being $53,750 from Deans Heat and Air of Camden. The high bid was $85,000. Crain said the city set aside $40,000 and proposed to use it and other line items for incentives in the budget to pay for the project.

Two 40-ton a/c units with four 20-ton condensers will be installed at the plant and tied into existing duct work.

Henry Thomas updated the Council on the electricity situation, saying there is yet another contract disagreement to be resolved. This time its between AECC, the AEP and the Southwest Power Pool. It involved which contract should be used to allow AECC to bring power in to Prescott.

This situation, he said, should be solved by the first of April. However, he added, in the event it isnt, the city should try for an extension on the gap power contract it has with Entergy.

Thomas and Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor have been talking about establishing what is termed a load balancing authority. This, he said, would help cut some charges from the transmission service group. Depending on price, he told the panel, this could be a long-term solution for Prescott, and could shield the city if Entergy raised its ancillary charges later.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber did the logo contest per request by the Council and had 26 entries. The Chamber, she added, uses a separate committee for judging. This is different. Being from the city, you dont have to change the logo if you dont want to.

Should there be a winner, they will receive a $50 gift certificate. Godwin handed the suggestions to the Council, but had the onus given back as she was charged with picking a winner. She said a committee will get the suggestions, pick the top two and those will be brought before the Council at its April meeting so a decision can be made.

The Chamber, she said, worked with the Arkansas Department of Economic Development (ADED) on a grant for a timber industry that didnt move to Prescott. ADED allowed the Chamber to keep the $20,000 grant, saying the money had to be used for energy enhancing projects.

Some of the money was used to have lighting installed at Southern Standard Molding, some to purchase a new screen door for the Chamber, a refrigerator and air conditioning unit for the fairgrounds, with a little bit left over. The remainder, she said, was returned to ADED.

There were two bids for mowing this summer, she said, One was $800 to do the cemetery a week, and $400 for downtown mowing. The other was $700 and $300. Neither bid includes sales tax. The Council opted for the lower bid from Ned Ward.