Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Utility Work Advances In Annexed Area

The newly annexed area into the city limits of Prescott will soon have water and sewer services following action by the Prescott City Council Monday night.

Plans for the proposed water system were approved as was a vote to advertise for bids for the project.

Jim Rice from the city's Texarkana-based engineering firm told the council they would be opening bids on March 21 and the project could begin in 60 to 75 days.

The project calls for water to leave the plant on Highway 19 North at the treatment plant and water tower and travel north to exit 46 at Interstate 30.

It will cross the road at homes which are located to the east side of Highway 19 -- as well as Ron Harrod Street and to A&E Texaco Roadmart.

Water lines will then proceed down Ron Harrod Street, connecting to the current water line near the Split Rail Restaurant on U.S. 371 at exit 44 on Interstate 30.

The water line will leave Ron Harrod Street and cross to the north side of the road and burrow under Interstate 30 to service proposed businesses in the area.

Part of the money for the project is in the form of grants from the Arkansas Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and the Arkansas Economic Development Finance Administration (AEDFA).

The grants were approved in part because of the jobs to be created by offering water to exsisting and future businesses.

In addtion, where the line taps into an exsisting line at exit 44, it will serve as a loop -- which means if water lines ever break in one area, customers will not be out of water because the water loops in from a different direction.

Rice told the group this is an added benefit -- not one originally intended as part of the project. In addition, it will mean more to fire protection in the area.

Project details include asking for a 25-foot easement for water lines and then sewer lines. There is a requirement of keeping at least seven feet of space between the two lines.

Sewer project plans are expected to be approved at the next city council meeting on March 18. The two projects will be seperate, but follow one right after the other.

City attorney Glenn Vasser told the council he and Mayor Howard Taylor had talked with Arkansas Power & Light (AP&L) about the city buying existing electrical lines in the annexed area.

Vasser said because the city purchases its electricity from AP&L, the company would not be losing any customers.

In other business, the council purchased a new pickup for $16,648 from Prescott Motor Company to use in the street department. The only other bid was from John Hays Chevrolet for $16,268.

Several of the last vehicles the city has purchased have been from the local Ford dealership.