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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-08-24 MINUTES OF COUNCIL AUGUST 24, 2004 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on August 24, 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. The City Clerk Denise Johnston was also present. The City Attorney Scott Stalker was absent. Councilmember Ford moved to approve the minutes from the last meeting. Councilmember Watkins seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Ford moved to approve the prepared agenda as amended. Councilmember Cargill seconded and all voted for. CODE ENFORCEMENT ISSUES Code Enforcement Officer Chad McClure showed pictures to the council on a couple pieces of properties in the City. The first piece of property is located on lower College next to the Independence County Jail and new Court House that is under construction. The Union Pacific Railroad owns the property. The Mayor said he had contacted the Railroad about purchasing the property to build the new Animal Control Facility. He said they came back to him with an asking price of$133,000 and he turned it down. The Mayor said the property has an old rusty truck that has been on the property at least 20 years. The entire property needs to be cleaned up. The council said they would go look at the property before instructing Mr. McClure further. The second piece of property is located at 810 21st Street. The property is owned by Steve Bryant and had been used in the past for storage. Mr. McClure said he notified Mr. Bryant in April 2003 about the property. Councilmember Watkins moved to begin condemnation proceedings and Councilmember Carpenter seconded. All voted for. Mr. McClure said he would schedule a public hearing for September 28. SHERIFF'S REPORT The council was given a copy of the activities report for the sheriff's department. CITIZEN CONCERNS REGARDING MAIN STREET TRAFFIC Mr. Richard Black addressed the council representing several homeowners on Main Street and the downtown area. Mr. Black said they were concerned with the speeding on Main and College Streets. He said there were lots of kids that cross Main to walk to the schools in the area. He presented to the council signatures of citizens who were concerned with the speeding and also recommended several possible solutions including adding stop signs every 3 or 4 blocks and returning Main Street to two-way traffic. Mayor Biard appointed a committee to study the speeding problems. The committee members are Carpenter, Pectol and Cargill. Sheriff Bowers and Chief Deputy Jeffery said they would also help the committee. ARKANSAS MECHANICAL SERVICES - UPDATE ON WORK Mr. Arthur Delano and Mr. James Low with Arkansas Mechanical addressed the council. Mayor Biard told Mr. Delano of his concerns with the recent sell of Arkansas Mechanical to Carrier. The Mayor said he felt the City should have been notified of the sale. Mr. Delano said he was bound by confidentiality regarding the sale. Mayor Biard also expressed is concern regarding the fact that the new installment is not yet complete and the response that the City is getting has declined the last couple of months. Mr. Delano assured the Mayor that he would check on why the response time had dropped of recently and said they were in the process of replacing a controller that seems to be causing the problem with the system. He said they were also almost finished with the system plans for the entire heat and air units to give to the City. Mr. Delano said they should be through in a week to ten days. He also stated that the one year warranty would not begin until the project is complete. FIRE DEPARTMENT MUTUAL AID AGREEMENT Fire Chief James Boothby addressed the council and explained why the City Fire Department needed to enter into "Mutual Aid Agreements"with the 15 fire departments within Independence County and Cave City. The Chief said that the agreement allows the fire departments to help each other in emergency situations and also protects our employees and equipment. Councilmember Cargill moved that the Mayor sign the agreements and Councilmember Carpenter seconded. All voted for. RESOLUTION SUPPORTING CONSTITUTIONAL AGREEMENT 2 Mayor Biard read a resolution that states that the Batesville City Council endorses proposed Amendment 2 to the Arkansas Constitution. The Amendment will allow the General Assembly to approve the issuance of general obligation bonds for any economic development project that plans to invest more than $500 million in capital expenditures and to hire more than 500 new employees. Councilmember Watkins moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Cargill seconded. All voted for except Councilmember Ford. MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS Mayor Biard announced a major national business chain is coming to Batesville. They plan on building on 13.99 acres on Harrison Street next to the Market Place Shopping Center. The business wants to install a traffic light at the entrance of their property. The Mayor said the business would pay for the stoplight however after 6 months the City would have to maintain it. His other concern is that if the stoplight is approved at the new business location, citizens will want to install one at 30th Street and Harrison. That would make 4 stoplights very close to each other on a busy street. A study will have to be performed by the Highway Department before any stoplight is installed on a state highway. Mayor Biard said he received a letter from the Highway Department that they plan to extend the 4-lane highway from Batesville to Cave City. The Mayor said they plan to have a center turn lane for approximately 1.9 miles and also a bicycle path all the way to Cave City. He said the estimate of the job is $48.4 million and will begin when funds become available. The Mayor said the Highway Department was having a public hearing on September 23 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. The hearing is open to the public. The annual Interlocal meeting is scheduled for September 23 at 3:00 PM at the Municipal Building. EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Ford moved to go into executive session. Councilmember Terrell seconded and all voted for. Upon returning from executive session, the Mayor said they discussed the promotion of an employee but no decision was made at this time. CEMETERY RESOLUTIONS The council considered two cemetery resolutions. Billy Huff, Resolution 42004-244-2 for $200.00 and Mrs. Essie Martin, Resolution 4200-244-1 for $100.00. Councilmember Cargill moved to accept the resolutions and Councilmember Watkins seconded. All voted for. PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the paid bills report for July 2004. FINANCIAL STATEMENT The council was given a copy of the financial statement for month ending July 2004. There being no further business, Councilmember Cargill moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Mitchum seconded and all voted for. JOE M. BIARD, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK