Court ponders combining treasurer/collectors offices

PRESCOTT – At its March meeting Tuesday, the Nevada County Quorum Court voted to look into combining the Nevada County Collectors office with the Nevada County Treasurers office.

Ricky Reyenga, county treasurer, said other counties have done this as the Nevada County Sheriff has nothing to do with the collection of taxes. The measure, he added, has to be approved by the court, and it was, with the court doing a feasibility study making sure it won’t be detrimental to county residents or the county’s finances. Once this has been done, the issue can be placed on the November General Election ballot for the public to decide.

Reyenga said there are two ways to merge the offices, one is by the legislative process and the other is with a vote of the people. He recommended letting the people have their say. “This changes nothing financially and won’t be any more expense.” The only real difference is the stipend paid to the sheriff would go to the treasurer.

Prior to the court voting on the measure, Nevada County Judge Mike Otwell asked those in the audience for their opinions and comments.

The court also approved an ordinance to pay the county’s part of a road project proposed by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The county’s part will be $48,640.97. The DOT will level and reseal portions of county roads 51, 230 and 29.

Stacey Stone, county agent, said 1,026 students attended the recent community development contest and around $8,000 was raised for the local 4-H groups. Stone said two beef teams were taken to quiz bowl competitions in Fayetteville and came in third and seventh.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, informed the court she’d attended a lithium conference in Little Rock recently, with experts from around the world brought in. She said this is to prepare the state for the lithium explosion going on in some nearby counties. Godwin said where Prescott is located on I-30 could be beneficial as there could be other development from this.

The state, she continued, is recognizing this as the next big thing to happen in Arkansas.

Switching to the topic of broadband, Godwin said representatives from the Arkansas Broadband office will be in town on April 4 at 4 p.m. It’s being called a “roadshow” as representatives are traveling the state to discuss broadband internet. Maps of where internet service is and isn’t were released Tuesday, she added, urging the court to check their districts and make sure the data is correct. The reason is the maps can only be challenged until March 20.

According to Godwin, around 2,300 locations in the county are in question as having adequate internet access. She told the court people need to go to the website and run speed tests on three consecutive days, the minimum speeds need to be 100/20 to be considered adequate. “We know there are issues in Rosston and north of I-30,” she said, “along with part of the Falcon area. These tests only take three or four minutes. To get the word out, she said the media and social media will be used. The county’s 911 system could also be used to let people know to test their internet speeds.

Godwin updated the court on prospects looking to potentially locate in Prescott. She said one company is looking at the Industrial Park and another is looking at Potlatch.