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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-06-08 MINUTES OF COUNCIL JUNE 8, 2004 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on June 8, at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building. Mayor Joe Biard presided over the meeting. Councilmember Watkins gave the invocation. Upon roll call the following Councilmembers answered present: Jim Cargill, R.L. Carpenter, Robert Ford, Gerald Gaither, Jim Mitchum, Jerry Pectol, Paula Terrell and Jim Watkins. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and the City Attorney Scott Stalker. Councilmember Ford moved to approve the minutes from the last meeting. Councilmember Watkins seconded and all voted for. Mayor Biard said before the agenda was approved, Mr. C.L. Smith asked to be placed on the agenda to appeal last weeks decision by the council to pay $62.30 to repair the passenger side mirror of Mr. Smith's truck that was apparently broken by a rock thrown by a city mower. Mr. Smith said the rock did more damage to his truck than just the mirror. Councilmember Gaither said he looked at Mr. Smith's truck and he felt there is no way one rock could have done all the damage that Mr. Smith is asking the city to repair. Mr. Gaither moved to stay with the decision made by the council at the last meeting and not allow Mr. Smith to appeal. Councilmember Cargill seconded and all voted for except Councilmember Pectol who abstained. Mr. Pectol was absent at the last meeting. Councilmember Ford then moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Gaither seconded and all voted for. REQUEST FROM UTILITIES DEPARTMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION OUTSIDE CITY Mr. Larry Tharnish, Manager of the Batesville Water Utility, and Mr. Max McElmurry representing the Course at Eagle Mountain and residential development of golf course lots addressed the council to ask for approval to construct a sewer line to the new residential development and golf course at Eagle Mountain. In the proposal, the city would run new sewer lines from the wastewater plant to the edge of the Eagle Mountain property. Then, the developers at their expense will run the remained of the sewer lines to their development and also build a pump station. Mr. McElmurry also said that plans are underway to bring the entire golf course and residential development into the city limits. Councilmember Watkins moved to approve the construction by the city and Councilmember Gaither seconded. All voted for. PROPOSED ORDINANCE ON CAR LOTS BEING HARD SURFACED Councilmember Watkins introduced and Mayor Biard read an ordinance that would amend the Batesville Zoning Code to require public or private open sales and storage areas to be improved with a paved or concrete surface. After a discussion, Councilmember Mitchum moved to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on the second reading and Councilmember Gaither seconded. The roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Mayor Biard read the ordinance for the second reading. Councilmember Watkins moved to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on the third and final reading. Councilmember Cargill seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The Mayor read the ordinance for the final reading and Councilmember Cargill moved to adopt the ordinance. Councilmember Pectol seconded and the roll call count was 4 for (Mitchum, Pectol, Watkins and Cargill) and 4 against (Ford, Gaither, Terrell and Carpenter). The motion failed. The council said they would consider another ordinance that would address businesses being "grandfathered in". PROPOSED ORDINANCE ADDRESSING ISSUE IN ZONING CODE CONCERNING WHEN GRASS NEEDS TO BE CUT Councilmember Carpenter introduced and Mayor Biard read an ordinance that would amend ordinance numbers 93-11-2 and 967 to specify requirements for unsightly and unsanitary conditions of real property. The council discussed the ordinance and asked Code Enforcement Officer Chad McClure to contact several other cities and get copies of their ordinance regarding these issues. REPORT ON CERTAIN PROPERTY BEING DEEDED TO THE CITY Mayor Baird asked Councilmember Carpenter at the last meeting to check on a small piece of property that has been deeded to the city by the Batesville Public Schools. Mr. Carpenter said there was no ulterior motive by the school in deeding the property to the city, they were just cleaning up their records. The property is only a small area that butts up to property that the city already owns. After a discussion, Councilmember Carpenter moved to do nothing regarding the deeding of the property and Councilmember Cargill seconded. All voted for. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Terrell moved that the Council Comment be moved up on the agenda because Councilmember Gaither had to leave early. Councilmember Carpenter seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Gaither said he wanted to go on record that he was against Vital Links charging excavation fees for the use of the rescue truck. According to the Batesville Guard, Vital Links is going to start billing insurance companies for excavations of$300 to $500 and if the person being excavated does not have insurance that person will be billed. The council called on former Fire Chief Bob Davis who was in the audience for his opinion. Mr. Davis said the city has done rescue for a number of years and has never charged for the services. Mr. Davis said the city and county should be able to offer that service without charging the taxpayers. All the council agreed that there should not be a charge for the services. Mayor Biard said he had already called a meeting for Thursday with the County Judge, David Wyatt, OES Director Bill Hicks, Fire Chief James Boothby and Myra Wood with Vital Links. He said the City Attorney and County Attorney were still working on an agreement between the City, County and Vital Links regarding the rescue truck. Mayor Biard said he would express the council's feelings regarding the charging of fees at the meeting. CODE ENFORCEMENT REPORT Code Enforcement Officer Chad McClure had reports on two properties. The first property is located on 1909 Porter. Mr. McClure asked Mrs. Doris Inman, who takes care of the property for the owner who lives in Japan, to address the council. Mrs. Inman said the current tenant has had lots of problems and is currently in jail. She said the structure in is good condition but needs some cosmetic work done. She said she did not know how long the tenant would be in jail and didn't feel that they could move her stuff out until she has a place to go. Mrs. Inman said she thought she could have the property mowed within a couple of weeks and the lot behind cleaned up within 30 days. Councilmember Terrell moved to have the property mowed and place a lien on the property for the expenses. Councilmember Carpenter seconded and all voted for. The second piece of property is located at 2060 College. Mr. McClure said he notified the owner by certified mail and left two messages for him without any response. Mr. McClure said the council has gone through all the proper procedures to continue the condemnation and tear down the structure. The council asked the city attorney if he has found out if the city can tear down a structure that is tied up in bankruptcy court. Mr. Stalker said he had not yet found that out. COMMISSION APPOINTMENT Mayor Biard explained at the last meeting, the wrong name was submitted for the Housing Authority. He asked the council to extend Ms. Elvada Smart's term an additional 5 years to 5/27/09. Councilmember Mitchum so moved and Councilmember Watkins seconded. All voted for. MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Biard said the city will be receiving $9,225.00 from FEMA because of the recent flood. Bids were recently opened for the amphitheater project. Bids from M & A Jones and Cando, Inc. were opened with the apparent low bid was from M & A Jones. The Mayor said they were working through a few issues but construction could begin in a little over a week and be completed before the first of the year. PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the paid bills report for May, 2004. There being no further business, Councilmember Mitchum moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Cargill seconded and all voted for. JOE M. BIARD, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK