Council ignores FOIA talk
PRESCOTT – Apparently, the Prescott City Council isn’t interested in the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), or possibly thinks it doesn’t have to follow the law under the FOIA.
At the council’s February meeting, the panel was told the executive session it held in January was illegal and violated the FOIA. The council was informed the purpose for executive sessions is to discuss the hiring, firing, promoting or demoting of an employee, and neither members of the council, nor the mayor is included as they’re elected officials, not employees. They were told it’s a violation of the FOIA to discuss anything dealing with the city’s finances in an executive session as well. It was all ignored as the members looked bored, if they bothered to listen at all.
Information about the January executive session leaked out and revealed the council discussed a possible raise for the mayor along with raising the stipend for council members. The council also reportedly voted on increasing its stipend in the session, but it failed. Under the FOIA, no action can be taken in an executive session. Violations of the FOIA are a class C misdemeanor.
William Colbert was given the contract for mowing city property this season, though his bid wasn’t the lowest. Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office (EDO) said three bids had been received, two from Prescott and one from Hope. The Hope bid wasn’t considered, though a bid from the Dixon’s was lower than the bid from Colbert. The Dixons submitted a bid of $275 per mowing, while Colbert’s bid was $290 per mowing. Last year, Godwin said, Colbert mowed 14 times at a cost of $4,130.
Godwin said the job fair held for Red Stone Construction went well with 74 people applying for jobs. Eleven were hired on the spot, with four more on standby. The company, she said, was pleased with the turnout. The company, she added, wanted to hire more with commercial driver’s licenses, but no one showed up. Godwin told the council she’d only contacted locals for this job fair, but will branch out and contact owner-operators in neighboring counties to help fill the positions.
She also talked about the upcoming job and career fair for high school juniors and seniors. This will be March 14 at Hempstead Hall, with students from schools in eight counties getting the chance to talk with businesses and industries about employment opportunities and what they need to know to get a job. The students will be rotated in and out until around 3 p.m. when the event will be opened to the public and go until 4:30 p.m.
Godwin was asked about the available workforce in Nevada County. She told the council she didn’t have specific numbers but the last time she checked the county’s unemployment rate it was 3.2 or 3.3 percent. She pointed out 4 percent is considered fully employed. She said the county doesn’t have the available workforce to attract industry, which is why recruiting is done on a regional basis with seven other counties.
Retention is where it’s at these days when it comes to jobs, she said. She pointed out how a few years ago Firestone employed 400 people and now has more than 700 on its payroll.
Jamie Hillery, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, provided an update on Chamber activities.
She told of the upcoming community cleanup, set for March 20, telling the council the Chamber is partnering with Firestone this year, with Firestone to provide a set of scales to weigh the trash collected. Prizes, she said, will be awarded to the top three groups collecting the most. The event will be from 8 a.m. until noon, though the city’s sanitation staff will likely work all day and on Thursday to haul off what’s collected. She added, people can continue picking up trash after noon if they want. Those interested in volunteering need to show up at Sterling Square at 8 a.m. on March 20. Hillery pointed out this is a good way for students needing community service hours for graduation to earn them.
Hillery reminded the Chamber the annual Chamber Banquet has been set for April 25, with the Crawfish Boil on May 16. This year’s crawfish boil, she said, will include boiled and peeled shrimp. Last year 400 pounds of mudbugs were cooked and sold, she told the council, with 600 pounds ordered for this year, and this doesn’t include the shrimp.
Robbie Franks, the city’s code enforcement officer, said letters were sent to all customers of Prescott Water and Light with their monthly bill. The letter lets the public know violation of the city’s codes can result in citations up to $100 plus court costs. He added he’d mailed out 60 warnings concerning trash, letting people know they have 20 days to get their property cleaned up or they could get a ticket.
The property at Prescott Motor Co. is being cleaned up, Franks said, with the owner planning to turn one of the buildings into a body shop and another into a mechanic’s shop.
Thirty-four houses are on the list to be razed this year, he said, but it’s likely this will be done in two sections as the landfill might not be able to keep up with the amount if all of them were demolished at once. He said half could be done in April or May, depending on the weather, and the rest later in the summer. Franks added there’s still 30 more houses needing to be torn down.