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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-08-14 MINUTES OF COUNCIL AUGUST 14, 2007 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on August 14, at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh presided over the meeting. Councilmember Smart 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 Matthews moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Shetron seconded and all voted for. COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) JERRY POST — ENGINEERING CONTRACT FOR THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT IMPROVEMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh said as per the council's request he had asked Mr. Jerry Post to be on retainer for the Utilities Department for preparing contracts and miscellaneous legal advice. Mr. Post said he would accept the job with a formal vote of the council. Councilmember Shetron moved to keep Mr. Post on retainer for the Utilities Department and Councilmember Matthews seconded. All voted for. Mr. Post then addressed the council regarding a contract with McGoodwin, Williams and Yates, Inc. of Fayetteville for engineering services for the Water Treatment Plant optimization. Mr. Post also provided the council with a memo from MWY outlining the Resident Project Representative (RPR) engineering services that the City's Engineer Damon Johnson will perform for the project. Mr. Post said with the City using its own engineer, it would lower MWY's cost to the City by approximately $30,000.00. Councilmember Terrell moved to accept the agreement with MWY and Councilmember Shetron seconded. All voted for. B) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR WATER TREATMENT PLANT IMPROVEMENTS Councilmember Smart introduced an ordinance that would waive competitive bidding and authorize the purchase of equipment for the Water Treatment Plant improvements. The City Clerk read the ordinance in full and Councilmember Carpenter moved to suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Matthew seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Shetron seconded. The roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2007-8-1. Councilmember Carpenter moved to adopt the emergency clause and Councilmember Terrell seconded. All voted for. C) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR AN ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND TOURISM'S OUTDOOR RECREATION GRANT Councilmember Smart introduced a resolution that would authorize the Mayor to make an application to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism for a Tourism Outdoor Recreation Grant. Mayor Elumbaugh said the grant will be for new playground equipment at Riverside Park. The grant is a 50/50 match and the Mayor said a local group has promised to provide the City's 50% match along with our in-kind work. Councilmember Terrell moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Smart seconded. All voted for and the resolution was given #2007-8-1-R D) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL FUNDING TO EXPAND THE RIVERSIDE PARK TRAIL Councilmember Terrell introduced a resolution to authorize the Mayor to execute all appropriate agreements and contracts necessary to apply for funding through the Arkansas Recreational Trails Program to develop and improve the Riverside Park Trail. The Mayor said the trail would be on the West side of the bridge on the property currently owned by ConAgra. The Mayor said ConAgra is in the process of donating the land to the City. The grant is an 80/20 match. Councilmember Smart moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Shetron seconded. All voted for and the resolution was given #2007-8-2-R. E) UPDATE ONWARD CHANGE Mayor Elumbaugh gave the council a map of the proposed ward boundary change. The Mayor said he would have the appropriate ordinance ready for the next meeting. F) REVIEW AUTOMOBILE LISTING THAT EMPLOYEES DRIVE HOME The council considered the list of employees who drive City vehicles home. The list includes 7 utilities employees and 9 city employees. After a brief discussion, Councilmember Smart moved to approve the list and Councilmember McDonald seconded. All voted for except Councilmember Krug who voted against. G) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the City's paid bills report for July 2007. COMMENTS FROM THE MAYOR The Mayor said we are in for a long time for construction on Harrison Street. He asked that the citizens of Batesville and the surrounding area to be very cautious and aware when driving Harrison Street of workers and equipment. The Mayor said the Interview Committee for the Construction Supervisor position will meet immediately after the Council Meeting. Mayor Elumbaugh asked the council to meet briefly tomorrow night at 5:00 PM to discuss the financing of the Water Treatment Plant improvements. LIAISON REPORTS Councilmember Terrell said she recently met with the Main Street Batesville representatives. She said she believes that the new director, Mr. Robert Gerner will be a great asset to the program. She also said they recently moved their offices to a new location on Main Street and were fortunate to get the location rent free. Councilmember Pectol said she attended the last Planning Commission meeting and they are in the process of working on new subdivision regulations and a master land use plan. COMMENTS FROM THE COUNCILMEMBERS Councilmember Terrell said there will be a slide show given by Councilmember Matthews of last years China trip after the meeting tonight. She said the last news from the China delegation was they plan to leave China for Batesville on September 1 0th. Councilmember Matthews asked to set a Utilities Budget date. The council set August 27th Councilmember McDonald said the structure for the new Farmers Market will arrive Thursday. Also, he met with the Scouts regarding the old animal control building. They are going to have a proposal for the council sometime in September. Councilmember Pectol told the council that there were some residents of Westside starting a "Pride in Westside" group. The group is encouraging the residents to take a sack with them when they walk their neighborhoods and pick up trash as they exercise. Councilmember Shetron said he has received several complaints about the utility work on College Street taking so long to complete. Mr. Tharnish said they still have one more block to complete on College Street and several more on Main Street. He did not give a time as to when the job will be complete. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Smart moved that the meeting be adjourned and Councilmember Pectol seconded. All voted for. Rick Elumbaugh, Mayor Denise Johnston, City Clerk