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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-01-24 MINUTES OF COUNCIL JANUARY 24, 2006 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on January 24, at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building. Mayor Joe Biard presided over the meeting. Councilmember Pectol gave the invocation. Upon roll call the following councilmembers answered present: R.L. Carpenter, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, Dana Mynatt, Jerry Pectol, and Stephen Smart. The City Clerk was also present. Councilmembers Cooke and Terrell and City Attorney Stalker were absent. Councilmember Pectol moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting and Councilmember Matthews seconded. All voted for. Councilmember Matthews moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Pectol seconded and all voted for. PRESENTATION FROM GARY BUCKNER AND MICHELLE BUCKNER Mr. Gary Buckner and his daughter Michelle Buckner addressed the council. Michelle teaches at the University at Putian, China and gave the council a little history regarding "Sister Cities". Batesville has been invited by the Mayor of Putian to send a representative from Batesville to visit our Sister City. They will be the host city any pay for all lodging and meals. Round trip tickets will cost around $800.00. Michelle said China takes the Sister City very serious and they also want to build a relationship with one of our colleges in Batesville. Putian, a city of 3,000,000 has 12,000 students at their university. Several councilmembers expressed an interest in going to Putian. Mayor Biard told the Buckner's that the council would make a decision at the next meeting as who to send to represent Batesville. REPORT ON PROPOSED TOUR OF OLD TOWN BATESVILLE — DR. GEORGE LANKFORD AND BRIAN LANGSTON Mr. Brian Langston, president of the Independence County Historical Society and Dr. George Lankford, organizer of an upcoming event regarding downtown Batesville addressed the council. Mr. Langston told the council a little about the Historical Society. Dr. Lankford said they are having an event on April 30th from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. The event will have the original 10 blocks of Batesville mapped off for a walking tour. They hope to get the Arkansas History class at Batesville Jr. High to help in the tour. They asked to have the lower parts of Main street blocked off for the event. SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT REPORT ON NEW SYSTEM FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES Chief Deputy Steve Jeffery addressed the council regarding the need for 3 computers for metro vehicles. The Chief Deputy said the county had received a grant and they now have GPS capabilities and they need 3 more computers to complete the fleet. The cost for the new computers and installation will be $3,248.88. Mayor Biard said he will approve the purchase and pay for the computers from his discretionary funds. The council then discussed the speeding problems on Harrison Street. The Sheriff's department has been patrolling the area heavily since an accident last week took the life of a 17 year old girl. Chief Deputy said one problem is that the speed limit is 35 MPH on Harrison until you pass Wal-Mart then it increases to 45 MPH then down to 40 MPH at the Gap Road intersection, then back to 45 MPH all the way to Moorefield. The council asked the Mayor to contact the Highway Department and request the speed limit to remain 35 MPH through the end of the Batesville city limits. PRESENTATION ON AIRPORT — COUNCILMEMBER MATTHEWS Councilmember Matthews gave a slide presentation of the Batesville Municipal Airport. CONSIDER ORDINANCE TO WAVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING Mayor Biard read an ordinance that would wave the requirements of competitive bidding during the calendar year of 2006 on the purchases of used equipment, motor fuel, SB-2, Hot mix asphalt, cold mix asphalt, property insurance and employee health insurance. Councilmember Smart moved to suspend the second and third readings. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the roll call count was 4 (Krug, Matthews, Smart and Carpenter) for and 2 (Mynatt and Pectol) against. The motion failed. The ordinance will be placed on the agenda for next council meeting. CONSIDER BUDGET TO AMEND 2005 BUDGET Mayor Biard read an ordinance that will amend the 2005 budget. Councilmember Carpenter moved to suspend the second and third readings. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Councilmember Carpenter moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Pectol seconded. The roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given No. 2006-1-1. CONSIDER ORDINANCE FOR POLICY AND PROCEDURES The council had two ordinances to consider for council procedures. Mayor Biard read the first ordinance in full. After a discussion, Councilmember Smart introduced and Mayor Biard read the second ordinance to adopt rules of procedures for the transaction of business of the council. Councilmember Smart moved to suspend the second and third readings. Councilmember Pectol seconded and the roll call count was 5 for and 1 (Krug) against. Councilmember Mynatt moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Carpenter seconded. The roll call count was 5 for and 1 (Krug) against. The ordinance was given No. 2006-1-2. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the emergency clause and Councilmember Carpenter seconded. All voted for. MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS Animal Control Officer Jeff Pender addressed the council regarding the purchase of a new vehicle. Mr. Pender said the council had approved $10,000 in his budget for a used vehicle. After looking at used vehicles, he said it was going to be hard to find a low mileage pickup at that price. Mr. Pender said he can get a new 2006 full size Chevrolet pickup through the State purchasing for $13,939.00. Councilmember Smart moved to purchase the new pickup and Councilmember Mynatt seconded. All voted for except Councilmember Krug. CONSIDER RESOLUTION TO SET OPENING AND CLOSING FEES FOR OAKLAWN CEMETERY Mayor Biard a resolution that will set internment and dis-internment fees for Oaklawn Cemetery. Councilmember Pectol moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Mynatt seconded. All voted for. The resolution was given No. 2006-1-2-R CEMETERY RESOLUTION The council considered cemetery resolution 2006-24-1 for George Rosenthal, Jr. in the amount of$200.00. Councilmember Matthews moved to accept the resolution and Councilmember Smart seconded. All voted for. There being no further business, Councilmember Matthews moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Krug seconded and all voted for. JOE M. BIARD, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK