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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-02-26 MINUTES OF COUNCIL FEBRUARY 26, 2008 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on February 26, at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh presided over the meeting. Councilmember Matthews gave the invocation. Upon roll call the following councilmembers answered present: R.L. Carpenter, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, Matt McDonald, Trula Pectol, David Shetron, Stephen Smart and Paula Terrell. The City Clerk was also present. City Attorney, Scott Stalker was absent. Councilmember Shetron moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting and Councilmember Terrell seconded. All voted for. Councilmember Smart moved to approve the prepared agenda as amended. Councilmember Pectol seconded and all voted for. COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS Mr. Charlie Jones addressed the council with his concerns of jobs and economic growth in Batesville. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) PROCLAMATION FOR TRACY WEBB-RICE Mayor Elumbaugh presented a proclamation to Ms. Tracy Webb-Rice for her athletic accomplishments. Ms. Webb-Rice was recently inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. B) US POSTAL SERVICE Ms. Lisa Toliver-Gay with the UP Postal Service and Mr. Mike Martin, Batesville Postmaster addressed the council regarding the Batesville Post Office. Ms. Toliver-Gay insured the council that our local post office is not in danger of closing. Mail is still cancelled with a Batesville post mark here but is going to Jonesboro for sorting. The mail is then returned to Batesville for distributing. She said the US Postal Service has the fast speed sorting machines at Jonesboro, Fayetteville, and Little Rock. Mr. Martin also assured the council that there are no planned lay-offs at the Batesville office. He said when an employee retires or is promoted to another job, sometime those vacant jobs are not refilled but no employees are being laid-off. C) MR. RON VINCENT WITH SUDDENLINK Mr. Ron Vincent, Systems Manager with Suddenlink addressed the council regarding a recent rate increase with the cable company. Mr. Vincent said in 1992 the FCC changed the guidelines for rate increases and instead of getting approval from local governments, the FCC now approves rates. Councilmember Carpenter pointed out that the City's cable television franchise agreement still says that any rate increase must be approved by the City Council. The council agreed to get legal council to see if Section 4.16.03 of the City's franchise ordinance is still valid or if it is in conflict with the FCC regulations. D) JOHNNY ABBOTT— LANDSCAPING Mr. Johnny Abbott, Cemetery and Landscaping Supervisor addressed the council regarding the removal of the Crape Myrtles along Hwy 167. Mr. Abbott said the 150 Crape Myrtles had to be removed for the widening of the Highway 167. He said they will be replanted at City Hall, Fire Station 1, Animal Control, Pioneer Cemetery, Downtown Main Street and Oaklawn Cemetery. They also need to remove every other Red Tip tree, approximately 30, at the Farmers Market. Mr. Abbott presented the council with a bid of$1,972.88 from Bemis Tree Farms out of Little Rock. He said the company can remove the trees and wrap them in burlap in one day. If the City crew were to do the removals it would take considerably longer. Councilmember Carpenter moved to hire Beamis Tree Farms to do the work and Councilmember Matthews seconded. All voted for. E) JOY WILSON — POLICE DISPATCHING Ms. Joy Wilson, Police Dispatching Supervisor, addressed the council with a proposal from Rhodes, Lauck & Associates for a new Recorder Partner and maintenance program. Ms. Wilson said about 2 years ago the City purchased a new 911 recorder for approximately $8,000.00. Last week the computer was over heating and had to be repaired by Rhodes, Lauck & Associates. The company also added new updates to the system and installed the program on Ms. Wilson' computer. Royce, Lauck & Associates gave Ms. Wilson a proposal to enter into a Recorder Partner Program for $2,700.00 annually. The program would be for 4 years and include maintenance and a new recorder every 4 years. The clerk said the annual fee would qualify to come out of the CMRS fund. The council asked Ms. Wilson to shop for other companies that sell 911 recorders and report back to them with her findings. F) PUBLIC HEARING AND RESOLUTIONS FOR CONDEMNATIONS The Mayor opened the meeting for the public hearing regarding condemnation properties located at 368 Pine Street and 786 N. State Street. Mr. Jerry Waugh, owner of the 368 Pine Street property addressed the council. Mr. Waugh said he had previously sold the property on contract and the buyers were in the process of renovating the house and ran out of money. Mr. Waugh has reclaimed the property and has replaced the broken windows and doors to secure the property. He could not give the council a time schedule on the repairs on the inside. The council was concerned with a detached garage that looked in bad repair. Mr. Waugh said all the structures were structurally sound. Mr. Charlie Case of 784 Brooks Street and Mr. Mark Pillow of 375 E. Charter Street addressed the council. They both said they thought the house was beyond repair and should be torn down. Councilmember Terrell moved to grant Mr. Waugh 45 days to address any safety issues and show active repair on the structures and Councilmember Matthews seconded. All voted for. Mr. McClure will keep the council updated on the progress. The Mayor then asked if anyone in the audience would like to address the council regarding 786 N. State Street. There being none, the public hearing was closed. Councilmember Matthews introduced a condemnation resolution for the property located at 786 N. State Street. The clerk read the resolution in full. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Carpenter seconded. All voted for. The resolution was given #2008-2-2-R. G) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION FOR WHITE RIVER HEALTH SYSTEMS Councilmember Smart introduced a resolution authorizing the Mayor to apply for a grant on behalf of White River Health Systems, Inc. The clerk read the resolution in full. The Mayor told the council the grant was to purchase a piece of equipment for the Women's Center and the City is not appropriating any money for the grant. Councilmember Smart moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Shetron seconded. All voted for. The resolution was given #2008-2-3-R. (H) EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Matthews moved to go into executive session. Councilmember Pectol seconded and all voted for. Upon returning from executive, the Mayor said Mr. Scott Davidson declined his appointment to the Historic District Commission. Councilmember Terrell moved to appoint Ms. Barbara Fitzpatrick to the Commission. Councilmember Smart seconded and all voted for. Ms. Fitzpatrick's term will end 1/8/09. (1) FINANCIAL STATEMENTS The council was given a copy of the City, Street, Water and Wastewater financials for January 31, 2008. COMMENTS FROM THE MAYOR The Mayor said he was going to add the City Engineer, Damon Johnson, to the first agenda each month for the council to receive updates on projects throughout the City. At that time, Mr. Johnson addressed the council with project updates. The Mayor said there will be a Comprehensive Master Plan meeting on April 3rd at 6:00 PM at the Batesville High School cafeteria. The Mayor encouraged the council and public to attend. The council was informed on one disposal and one transfer of fixed assets. A Sharp SF-7900 Copier at the Fire Department was disposed of and a Sharp SF-2040 was transferred from Administration to Fire. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Shetron asked to call an Ad Hoc meeting for Wednesday, March 5th at 5:15. Mr. Shetron said the main topic will be sanitation. Councilmember Matthews said he and several others met recently with Senator Blanch Lincoln regarding economic development and jobs for Batesville and Independence County. Dr. Matthews said the meeting went very well. Also, Dr. Matthews discussed the intersection of 17th and Porter Streets. He suggested placing "Dangerous Intersection" signs on Porter instead of stop signs. The council agreed. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Shetron moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Pectol seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK