|
themselves under the supervision of the city engineer saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to the cost of a new bridge. The city also expects to receive
<br />money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help pay for the flood damage. City personnel worked long hours during the flood event and the Citizens Bank,
<br />First Community Bank, Woodlawn Nursing Home and the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored a catfish dinner at Josie's Restaurant to show the community's
<br />appreciation.
<br />A new water and sewer rate ordinance was enacted resulting in small yearly increases instead of much larger increases on a more infrequent basis.
<br />A long discussion centered around tornado sirens after a mid -year, F1 tornado damaged several structures in the city. It was noted that the old sirens had been out of service for
<br />a long time and had been replaced by the county operated Alert Express System whereby individuals are contacted via cell phone and telephone land lines. The city will
<br />continue to encourage citizens to signup for the free service by including the information and the phone number to call with utility bills.
<br />Midyear, the council approved a resolution to issue revenue bonds for the new assisted living center to be built on the old Woodlawn Nursing Home site by
<br />Wood -lawn Inc.
<br />Our Dispatch Supervisor, Ms. Joy Wilson, resigned because of health issues and former County Judge Bill Hicks was hired as Dispatch Supervisor bringing needed reforms to
<br />the department.
<br />The city discussed the conversion of all the light fixtures in the three story municipal building to LED type lights. After an energy audit was conducted, it was determined that the
<br />project should go forward considering that grant money was available to help with the project. This is expected to pay for itself in energy savings within three years.
<br />In November, the bid was awarded for Phase III of the Greenway Trail which will begin at Douglas Street and connect with the Batesville Junior High School. This trail will
<br />provide a continuous walking trail from the Mickey Mouse pool to the Junior High School.
<br />Also, in November, out of state travel was approved for two personnel to attend the multi -day stoplight training school in Decatur, Alabama. All of the stoplights in our city, as
<br />well as the one at the top of Ramsey Mountain, are maintained by the City of Batesville. In order for the city's employees to be able to repair these traffic control devices the city
<br />is required to send its employees responsible for stoplight repair to this school every year.
<br />The council approved the installation of LED lighting at the three fire stations with the monies coming from grant monies and the alcohol beverage tax fund set aside for public
<br />safety. Fire department personnel will do the retrofitting, saving additional money.
<br />A new feature was added to Riverside Park to enhance the experience of our citizens when touring the Christmas Lights Display. First Community Bank, through the
<br />encouragement and vision of CEO Dale Cole, donated to the city a new synthetic ice skating rink along with 102 pairs of skates. The new skating venue served 4,375 visitors,
<br />many from other communities. The new feature was a resounding success and the net income of over $12,000.00 is being used to buy more features for the upcoming years.
<br />This past year also saw the addition of more horse drawn carriages as that feature continued its success as well.
<br />The city purchased a traffic counter to monitor the traffic. There were approximately 38,000 cars that drove through the Christmas lighting displays between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
<br />when the lights were turned on. If the vehicles averaged 3 people per car that equals well over 100,000 people who viewed the City of Batesville Christmas Lights Display. Each
<br />year, thanks to the continued contributions of area businesses and individuals, the number of displays continues to grow.
<br />The city continued to recognize the accomplishments of its citizens including the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Batesville Class of 2014 program, which
<br />trains young professionals in our community to become the leaders of tomorrow.
<br />Members of the Believer's Community Church were recognized for their community service project building 14 new picnic tables for the new sports complex.
<br />In July, city personnel were formally recognized for their hard work, and long hours in extreme heat to finish the Riverside Park Bridge repair so Cheney Drive could be re-
<br />opened up for the July 41h festivities.
<br />At the November 12th meeting, the city continued its recognition of championship teams by recognizing the undefeated Batesville Blitz Soccer Team and the Batesville Pioneer
<br />Junior High Football Team who went undefeated with a 10-0 record.
<br />In December, city personnel responsible for putting up the Christmas light displays were recognized for working long hours, often into the night, to make sure all the lights were
<br />ready on December 1 st. It takes city crews two full months to put up all the lights, but the praise from area residents makes the effort all worthwhile.
<br />Wastewater line replacement, required under our Consent Administrative Order, is progressing, but slowly. The CAO requires the replacement of old leaky sewer lines and we
<br />continue to concentrate that work on Westside. As we replace the sewer lines, we are also upgrading many of the water lines in those areas since the streets in the affected
<br />areas are being repaved as line work is completed. To ensure that the work continues on schedule a new $700,000.00 trencher was placed into service in order to saw through
<br />the copious amount of solid rock encountered. It replaced an older trencher that was over 20 years old.
<br />One major component of the line rehabilitation project is the installation of a new 48" wastewater line, that will run from Riverside Park, through the poultry plant's premises,
<br />along the bayou near the jail and then back up along the bayou although it has still not gone to bid. Acquiring the right of way from property owners has been problematic. The
<br />rapid pace at which new expansions have happened in order to accommodate expected future growth at the poultry plants the city has had to re-engineer the location of the line
<br />creating further delays.
<br />Progress on the new wastewater treatment plant continues, although at a slower pace than I had hoped. The city continues to press the contractor for faster progress. When
<br />finished our wastewater treatment capacity will increase from 4.3 million gallons per day (MGD) to about 12 MGD. We reached our legal discharge limit of 4.3 MGD in 1990 and
<br />the new plant will provide capacity to allow expansion of existing industries and attract new industry to our community.
<br />In October, the council authorized the Utility Department to proceed with hiring a specialized construction company to prepare the connections between the active sewer lines
<br />coming into the existing pump station and the new tunnel facility. This will facilitate the transition to the new pump station at the wastewater plant when the new treatment plant
<br />comes online. This work has been completed to date.
<br />Work on water and sewer line replacement, where needed, continued under streets that were to be repaved with partial State Street Aid Program funds along with funds from
<br />the 2012 Community Development Initiative O & M Fund. This planning helps minimize the need to dig up a street soon after it has been repaved.
<br />The city has completed the conversion from an obsolete control system at the water treatment plant to a new modern computerized control system and continues planning for
<br />additional improvements to the water distribution and storage system.
<br />The last of the radio read water meters were installed. Long term, the new radio meters will save taxpayers substantial money over the old manual read meters.
<br />In November, the Police Department Feasibility Report prepared by Davis Business Planning of Fayetteville, Arkansas was presented and discussed by company
<br />representatives.
<br />In early December, the discussion into forming a City of Batesville Police Department continued with Councilman Poole making a motion to have City Attorney Castleberry draw
<br />up the appropriate ordinance to give the county the required six month notice that the city is withdrawing from the Inter -local Law Enforcement Agreement. The motion was
<br />approved by an 8-0 vote ushering in the creation of a new Batesville Police Department.
<br />On December 17th, the city council voted 8-0 to approve the ordinance prepared to withdraw from the Inter -local Agreement. The action resulted in the formation of the new
<br />Batesville Police Department that will usher in a new era of enhanced, community based, police protection to the citizens of Batesville. Also passed was a resolution to negotiate
<br />with the county and the area volunteer fire departments for the city to continue operating dispatch services.
<br />Before closing let me reiterate that the condition of our city is strong. The City of Batesville will continue to challenge our community to be all it can be.
<br />We will continue to move forward on many fronts, including finishing the construction of existing projects and working with other stakeholders to find new ways to build a
<br />successful, comprehensive, economic development program to encourage new business development and job growth in both wholesale and retail sectors of our economy.
<br />We will also continue to work with existing employers to retain existing jobs and to encourage business expansion and newjob creation. It is crucial that we continue to promote
<br />all forms of tourism including, conventional tourism as well as lessor known forms of tourism such as sports and festival tourism. Tourism brings "new" dollars into our
<br />community as visitors spend their money here which will generates tax dollars for the city.
<br />I believe the new Fitzhugh Park Community Center and Aquatic Park, which is expected to open in December of this year, will greatly enhance the quality of life for the citizens
<br />of our community. I hope that generations to come will appreciate this new facility, be proud that our community invested in its future, and that many will ask why it wasn't built
<br />sooner.
<br />I believe that this new facility will prove to be a valuable tool for entities to assist all our educational facilities, our banks, business and industries in order to be successful and
<br />grow their organizations. I also believe that it will be an invaluable tool in attracting new businesses to our community.
<br />Some might say that the City of Batesville faces many challenges in 2015 but I believe the city is presented only with opportunities to make our community a better place, a
<br />place our children and grandchildren will want to live and raise their families. I pledge to you that I will continue leading our city forward in the progressive manner you have
<br />come to expect.
<br />In closing, I would like to leave you with this quote by Wilfred Peterson: 'Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the
<br />successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it.
<br />May God bless you and may God bless the City of Batesville.
<br />MAYOR COMMENTS
<br />
|