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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-05-08 MINUTES OF COUNCIL MAY 8, 2007 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on May 8, 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, Jerry Pectol, David Shetron, Stephen Smart and Paula Terrell. Also present were the City Clerk and the City Attorney. Councilmember Shetron moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting and Councilmember Carpenter seconded. All voted for. Councilmember Terrell moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Smart seconded and all voted for. COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS None NEW BUSINESS "UTILITIES BUSINESS Mr. Larry Tharnish with the Water Utilities addressed the council with a bid for the moving of sewer lines from Main Street to Hawgs Exxon. Spurlock, Inc. was the only bidder in the amount of$365,420.00. Mr. Tharnish said they contacted 10 different companies but only received the one bid. He also said the bid came in under the Engineering estimate of$380,000.00 and the total amount will be reimbursed by the State of Arkansas. Councilmember Terrell moved to accept the bid from Spurlock, Inc. and Councilmember Matthews seconded. All voted for. Mr. Nick Baxter with the Water Utilities addressed the council regarding collecting garbage tax on vacant houses and empty lots. Mr. Baxter said people owning rental property will ask to have the garbage removed when the house is empty and a lot of the times when the house becomes occupied, the garbage tax fails to get back on the water bill. Mr. Baxter said he was doing an analysis on the garbage and found over 100 accounts that were not being charged garbage. He also discussed if the council wanted to charge garbage on a vacant lot. After a discussion the council agreed to amend the garbage tax ordinance to require that the garbage tax be charged on any lot with a structure and an active water meter. The Mayor said he would get with the City Attorney and have an ordinance ready to adopt at the next meeting. "PRESENTATION FROM JAMES BRAZIER — BROAD BAND WIRELESS Mr. James Brazier with All Digital, Inc. addressed the council regarding wireless internet services for the city and citizens of Batesville. Mr. Brazier said he was looking to locate on existing infrastructure such as water tanks. He said his company could save the city money on its internet costs as well as possibly create income to the City. No decision was made by the council. "PRESENTATION FROM DUSTIN WISH — INDCO.NET Mr. Dustin with Indco.net also addressed the council regarding wireless internet services for the city and citizens of Batesville. He said his company's goals were to supply expanded wireless broadband to the community, interconnect municipal facilities and water department locations, provide other information technology services at a discount to the city and bring more technology options to the community. No decision was made by the council. **ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER JEFF PENDER REGARDING PIT BULL ORDINANCE Animal Control Officer Jeff Pender addressed the council regarding a Pit Bull Ordinance. Mr. Pender said the Pit Bull population inside the city limits of Batesville is a growing concern for his department as well as the citizens of Batesville. He said the ordinance that he was proposing would limit the number of Pit Bulls that an owner or household could own to two, requires the owner to have the animal spayed or neutered and would eventually eliminate Pit Bulls inside the city limits. Councilmember Terrell said she was concerned about have an ordinance being breed specific and that we should amend the vicious animal portion of our animal control ordinance. City Attorney Scott Stalker said he and Mr. Pender wrote the ordinance but there was some language in the ordinance that he was not comfortable with and wanted to change it before they considered the ordinance. Mr. Pender said he welcomed any input from the council regarding the ordinance. **APERS RESOLUTION Mayor Elumbaugh told the council that the handbook committee was recommending that the City join the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System for its eligible non-uniformed employees. Councilmember Terrell introduced the resolution and Mr. Stalker read it in full. Councilmember Smart moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Shetron seconded. All voted for. The resolution was given #2007-05-01-R. "CEMETERY RESOLUTION The council considered a cemetery resolution #2007-127-1 for Carissa Creasy in the amount of$1,000.00. Councilmember Terrell moved to accept the resolution and Councilmember Smart seconded. All voted for. "PAID BILLS REPORT The council reviewed the paid bills report for expenditures through April 30, 2007. COMMENTS FROM THE MAYOR Mayor Elumbaugh called an Ad Hoc meeting for Thursday, May 10th. The Mayor said he has received the Utility Salary Survey Analysis from Mr. Bruce Johanson. Mr. Johanson will be at the Ad Hoc meeting to explain the survey results. Following that they will discuss the Sewer Rate Summary. The handbook committee will meet again on Monday, May 14th The Mayor said he received notification from the Highway Department granting the City's request to removed the stop light at the intersection of Central and College Avenues and to return College Avenue from Central to State Street to a two way street. The Mayor said he hoped these requests will be completed in the next couple of weeks. Mayor Elumbaugh said the city will be putting together a job description for a city engineer and advertise in the paper for the position. LIAISON REPORTS None COMMENTS FROM THE COUNCIL MEMBERS Councilmember McDonald said both city pools were set to open May 26th for the summer season. He also said the new nature trail by the Polk Bayou should be complete this Friday. The long trail is 4,016 feet and the short trail is 1,876. He said the Parks Commission would like to name the trail the "Emma Armstrong Nature Trail". The council supported the Commissions recommendations. Mr. McDonald also said the Farmer's Market Committee was looking at sites for the market and trying to raise funds for the project. He hopes to have a recommendation for the next meeting. There being no further business, Councilmember Krug moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Matthews seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK