The meeting can be viewed starting after the opening prayer and pledge of allegiance in the video just below this article.
During last month’s meeting Jones briefed the city leaders on an offer by the provider of its power services, Southwestern Electric Power Cooperative, to allow Prescott to use a solar power installation to generate its own electricity and therefore save on costs. The city had the option of whether to finance and build its own solar power capacity or partner with SWEPCO to do so.
Another offer, which the city could take advantage of at the same time is permission to install batteries capable of receiving and storing electricity during non-peak hours and then drawing on that energy to fulfill demand during peak hours of use, like late evenings in warm months.
Jones told the council members a question had arisen in comparing what SWEPCO verbally represented about the size of batteries permitted to what would be on the contract amendment the city would sign with SWEPCO to make the arrangement official. The contract lacks a reference to limits on battery size. Jones said attempts to get a sense from SWEPCO of whether size limits would apply, whether the master contract the city has with SWEPCO would be amended (as it would be to allow the use of solar power) had gone unanswered. The projects would have the potential to save the city an appreciable amount of money. “You're talking about savings of up to $90,000 a month,” Jones said.
Jones also told the council that installation of capacity to use solar energy and the batteries was a solution to high electric bills that would even transcend Prescott’s contract with SWEPCO “It's long term. And when the contracts up in 2039, you can still continue to use that save money. It's not like something's going to go away.
Councilmen Howard Austin, Ivory Curry and Councilwoman Patricia Roberts expressed skepticism about trusting SWEPCO without the city getting some certainty about contract language. Prescott Mayor Terry Oliver agreed with them and asked the city’s attorney Eric Hughes to look into the matter. Hughes asked City Office Manager Bruce Bean to provide him with copies of the contract and paperwork with SWEPCO.
The city’s history with SWEPCO charging the city $2 million for energy use during the 2021 snowstorms. This occurred after SWEPCO reported having to purchase electricity on the open market after running out of fuel to meet demand. As of last month, the city still owed $257,000, having gotten approval from voters to collect a sales tax that pays the bill.
The meeting began with Mayor Oliver making a speech expressing gratitude toward city employees in all departments for their help, especially now that the worst heat of the summer is upon the city. “This year, our city of Prescott employees and summer interns have gone above and beyond many times this summer of 2025. I'm so proud of the way they have persevered and gotten their jobs done in this heat and humidity, and they have listened to the citizens and have done a really good job. They've helped so many citizens in so many ways. I'm proud, so proud of their efforts,” he said.
During the presentation of the city’s financial report, Austin asked about landfill costs. City Accountant Carl Dalrymple said the city had paid $75,000 recently and the county of Nevada had paid $25,000. This prompted Austin to again call for the review of interlocal agreements between the county and city. He asked that Hughes look into whether these could be adjusted more to the favor of the city since they were agreed to in a time when the county had very little money.
Dalrymple said the interlocal agreement with Nevada County concerning support of the county library is “the biggest problem we’ve got.” The county contributes $23,000 a year while the city’s budget line for the library is $70,000. City Attorney Hughes asked Bean for copies of these agreements.
Mayor Oliver said the cost of invoices for city purchases has gone up and this accounts for the higher percentages over the last two to three months of amounts in budget projections already being spent.
Dalrymple brought up the story in the Sunday edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, which indicated health insurance rates could go up as much as 26.2 percent for individual plans. Insurance on city property will likely go up too. City Office Manager Bean said the new rates would be calculated in October.
City Councilman Curry made clear he believed the library “is one of the main things we need” and is critical to children’s education. He said it was fortunate that a city the size of Prescott had a library.
Council member Tony Gilliland asked Bean what the ordinance was concerning the keeping of livestock in city limits. Bean said the rule was one animal per acre.
Council member Satarra Williams announced that a back-to-school event will take place at the former National Guard armory on Saturday August 9th starting at 8 a.m. and lasting to 1 p.m. “We'll be offering haircuts. Girls will bee getting their hair done. We'll have people there doing nails,” Williams said. There will be backpacks given away as well as refreshments by the Prescott Police Department. The Prescott District Education Association is organizing the event.
Member Curry announced that this Saturday, July 26th there will be a Community Feed at his ministry headquarters on 606 Greenlawn Street in Prescott starting at 11 a.m.