Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-11-21 MINUTES OF COUNCIL NOVEMBER 21, 2016 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on November 21St at 5:30 pm at the Municipal Building. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh presided over the meeting. Utility Billing Supervisor, Nick Baxter gave the invocation. Upon roll call, the following Councilmembers answered present; Chris Beller, Tommy Bryant, Margaret Henley, Paige Hubbard, Doug Matthews, Chris Poole and David Shetron. Also present were the City Attorney Tim Meitzen and Administrative Assistant Jennifer Corter. City Clerk Denise Johnston and Councilmember Sonya Crafton were absent. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Shetron seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) HERE AN UPDATE FROM MAIN STREET BATESVILLE Mr. Bob Carius and Mr. Joel Williams with Main Street Batesville came forward to give an update of stats and projects going on downtown. Mr. Carius said that Ms. Suzann Magouyrk is the newly elected president of Main Street Batesville and could not be in attendance for this meeting. She did send her many thanks to the City for their continued support of Main Street. Mr. Carius stated that one of the main questions he is asked is about the street scape. He noted that work on this project is slow due to a 30% increase in the contract to complete the work. Main Street Batesville is working to secure funds to complete the project. Mr. Carius also reported that 3 years ago there were 20 vacant business located on Main Street. Today, there are only 2 buildings that are unoccupied. MSB has high hopes the new business incubator will be a great asset to our downtown merchants. The completion of the library should greatly increase foot traffic downtown. Loft apartments, the Maxfield Park and a project yet to be announced were also discussed during the report. Councilmember Bryant commented the Main Street revitalization has come back to life much faster than expected. B) IMPACT TOURISM COMMITTEE PRESENTATION IMPACT Tourism committee members Carter Ford and Kyle Christopher, tourism director, approached the council with background of IMPACT and how they have progressed to today. The results of the IMPACT survey was a need for more jobs, and tourism is one of the quickest ways to accomplish that. Batesville and Independence County have many natural attractions that can pull tourist to our area. The problem is we are "a business with no marketing department" so to speak. We are not telling our story and making it available to the public. In order to accomplish this, the Committee recommended the formation of an Advertising and Promotion Commission and the passing of an A&P tax on lodging. Committee members decided on just a lodging tax because they did not want to burden citizens with an additional food tax as some other cities do. The A&P Commission would be appointed by the City Council and made up of 7 Commissioners, three members representing the hotel industry, one member from the restaurant industry, two City Councilmembers and one member at large. Mayor Elumbaugh asked about the feelings of the hotel owners toward the tax. Mr. Christopher said that they have received great support from the local managers and owners. Councilmember Matthews cautioned that even though hotel owners were verbally for the tax to make sure to have letters of support for later reference. Councilmember Henley once again wanted it reemphasized that this tax was only on lodging and did not include food. After discussing the proposal, Mayor Elumbaugh said the council would take the proposal under consideration. C) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT THE LOW BID FOR AUDIO/VISUAL EQUIPMENT AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER AND AQUATICS PARK Mayor Elumbaugh asked Jeff Owens, Parks Director to come forward. Councilmember Bryant introduced the resolution. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution in full. After a discussion, Councilmember Bryant made a motion to adopt the resolution. Councilmember Henley seconded. The electronic roll call was 7 for and 0 against. The resolution will be given 2016-11-02-R. D) PRESENTATION FROM COUNCILMEMBER MATTHEWS ON HIS RECENT TRIP TO GHANA Councilmember Matthews gave a slideshow presentation on his recent trip to Ghana, Africa, to visit Batesville's sister city, Asunafo North. He also showed some gifts he was presented from the King of Kings. He discussed their natural resources and the lack of infrastructure. They are very interested in our water and wastewater facilities as well as how local police and fire departments are operated. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh said the Public Safety Committee needs to meet with Chief Gleghorn next week. A date was set for November 29th at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall. Committee members included Councilmember Shetron, Councilmember Beller and Councilmember Poole. Mayor Elumbaugh also reminded everyone that November 28th will be the annual Christmas parade starting at 7:00 p.m. He will also be hosting the Mayor's Meeting on December 1St at 5:00 p.m. at Josie's. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Matthews asked about the budget. Mayor Elumbaugh said it is in progress and hope to meet again soon. ADJOURNMENT There being no more business, Councilmember Bryant moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Shetron seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR JENNIFER CORTER, ADMIN ASSISTANT