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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-28 MINUTES OF COUNCIL MARCH 28, 2017 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on March 28, 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, Sonya Crafton, Margaret Henley, Paige Hubbard, Doug Matthews, Chris Poole and David Shetron. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Beller seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Henley seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) ENGINEER'S REPORT Mr. Damon Johnson, City Engineer, addressed the council with his monthly report. Mr. Johnson proudly displayed the two awards the city received from the American Council of Engineering Company. The first award was the Engineering Excellence Award for our wastewater improvements, recognizing the engineering firm of McGoodwin, Williams, & Yates, Inc. The second award was the People's Choice Award, also for engineering excellence. Mr. Johnson said it was a great evening and recognition for our City. Mr. Johnson said he is in the design phase for repairs and improvements to be done at the Water Treatment Plant. However, he said during the budget process, he failed to add the projected improvements costs. He said the funds will come out of the Utility Additions and Improvements account. Councilmember Bryant moved to allow Mr. Johnson to continue with the design phase for the WTP improvements. Councilmember Matthews seconded and all voted for. Mr. Johnson said work continues on the Main Street project as well as other projects throughout the City. The City will be preforming a flood wall drill tomorrow on Southerland Drive which will close Southerland Drive from Highway 167 to Ramsey Street. B) PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Elumbaugh opened the public hearing at 5:37 pm on property located at 236 Ramsey Street. Code Enforcement Officer Chad McClure address the council regarding the property. He said the property burned in the later part of 2016. He has been in contact with the property owners. There being no one who asked to speak, Mayor Elumbaugh closed the meeting at 5:38 pm. C) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION CONDEMNING A STRUCTURE ON RAMSEY STREET Councilmember Bryant introduced a resolution to condemn the structure located at 236 Ramsey Street. Councilmember Bryant moved to read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Shetron seconded and the electronic roll call was 8 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the electronic vote was 8 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2017-03-01-R. D) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A HOTEL ON CITY OWNED PROPERTY Councilmember Bryant introduced a resolution concerning construction of a hotel on City owned property located on the White River adjacent to Riverside Park. Mayor Elumbaugh said he has had a couple of individuals approach him who are interested in building a hotel on the River. The resolution offers 2.63 acres of land on the White River for the construction of a hotel. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution in full. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Bryant seconded. The electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2017-03-02-R. E) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE ANNUAL SALARIES FOR MAYOR, CLERK/TREASURER AND CITY ATTORNEY Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance to establish the annual salaries for the offices of Mayor, City Clerk/Treasurer and the City Attorney for the City of Batesville. The proposed salaries are Mayor- $71,942.07, City Clerk/Treasurer- $55,137.34 and City Attorney - $34,330.35. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance in full. Councilmember Bryant moved to suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Shetron seconded and the electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Matthews said the proposed ordinance was necessary because the 2017 budget was adopted by resolution and state law requires these salaries be adopted by ordinance. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Shetron seconded. The electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2017-03-01. Mr. Meitzen read the emergency and Councilmember Bryant moved for its adoption. Councilmember Henley seconded and the electronic roll call voted was 8 for and 0 against. F) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE 2016 BUDGET Councilmember Bryant introduced a resolution to amend the 2016 budget. City Clerk Denise Johnston read the resolution and full. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Beller seconded. The electronic roll call vote was 8 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2017-03-03-R G) EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Hubbard moved to go into executive session to consider the hiring, firing, promotion or demotion of one or more city employees. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. Upon returning from executive session, Councilmember Beller moved to reappoint Mr. Kim Looney to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Councilmember Bryant seconded. Mr. Looney's term will expire 5/10/2022. H) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the February Paid Bills Report for review. 1) REVIEW OF THE 2015 AUDIT REPORT The council was given a copy of the 2015 Audit Report for review. J) 2016 STATE OF THE CITY Mayor Elumbaugh address the council with his 2016 State of the City. I am honored to begin my second decade as mayor of the city of Batesville.The support you have given me has been phenomenal and I am humbled by the trust you have placed in me.By continuing to elect progressive minded individuals to the city council you have given me a team determined to work together and for that I am grateful,to you and to them. Working together,we found the solutions needed to meet difficult challenges and move our community forward.Your commitments to excellence in the quality of life,offered by our community,continue to be the driving force of progress.The state of our city is stronger than at any time in its history and I am confident that together we are building a better future for our citizens,their children,grandchildren and our community as a whole. Tonight I would like to reflect on the resiliency and determination of our citizens.The citizens of Batesville continue to work together in solving insurmountable problems and are always willing to dream as no other generation has dared.In return,many of those particular dreams have become reality. Just days after being sworn in as your mayor in January of 2007,our community was shocked with hundreds of job losses.A critical part of our manufacturing base seemingly disintegrated over night when one plant after another shut their doors.Our community's employment security was crumbling and so was the infrastructure needed to attract new companies and jobs.Our direction and fate as a community were unclear at a time when we needed to work together more than ever to pull our community away from the economic brink. Faced with these challenges,our community realized that serious measures had to be taken to reverse the effects from decades of neglect.First and foremost,our wastewater infrastructure issues had to be addressed,but the$50 million dollar price tag seemed to be an overwhelming obstacle. Determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past,our citizens united in order to form the consensus necessary to move our community forward on this vital issue. After taking the steps needed to restore faith in the city's ability to deal with the wastewater issue,a proposed solution was taken directly to the people in March of 2009.During the worst economic downturn of our lifetime,voters were asked to fund the needed$50 million dollar wastewater improvements through a temporary one-cent sales tax.Voters overwhelmingly approved of this investment in our future with a 93%vote.That one decision most likely saved 1,500 jobs of those directly employed in our poultry plants.These annual wages pump between 70 and 100 million dollars annually into our economy and countless other jobs as well. Last year,the new wastewater plant was brought online effectively doubling our wastewater capacity. Recently,I was privileged to attend an event at the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock,where our wastewater engineering company,McGoodwin,Williams&Yates of Fayetteville,was honored with an Engineering of Excellence Award for the design of our new wastewater plant. The old adage,"if you fail to plan,then you plan to fail"has vividly reminded us that we cannot afford complacency concerning our future. The positive attitude demonstrated by our citizens in finding the solution to the wastewater issue created an atmosphere of heightened enthusiasm in taking responsibility for our future. In April of 2008 between 75 and 100 citizens gathered at Batesville High School to begin planning a better future for our community.Groups represented included the Batesville Planning Commission,the city council,parks commission,airport commission,historic district commission,Main Street Batesville,our chamber of commerce,arts council,preservation society,UACCB,Lyon College,Batesville School District,quorum court members, several businesses and industries,and numerous members of the public.Never before had such a diverse group come together to plan for Batesville's future.The facilitators commented that this was the largest turnout of any such planning effort they had ever conducted in the state. The purpose was to let the voices of our citizens build a community vision for our future.Participants were asked:"What do you like about this community?""What do you want to improve about the community?""What are the issues you want to see addressed?"They were encouraged to"dream big"and to not be intimidated by obstacles. As I prepared for this address,I re-read the vision our citizens had created.Our citizens identified several areas they believed should be improved to offer a better quality of life for our citizens and to create a community where others would also want to live.Tonight my time only allows me to touch on a few of the highlights of that vision. Citizens wanted basic infrastructure issues corrected.To ensure good decisions were made,the city hired its first professional civil engineer to oversee infrastructure improvements and give other city departments the benefit of an engineer's opinion on other projects.These issues have,for the most part,been corrected and the city currently has the water and wastewater infrastructure needed for growth. Citizens expressed a strong desire to see the historic downtown area reframed in a different form.The creation of the Downtown Commercial Historical District in 2009,under the purview of the Historic District Commission,gave investors the assurance that the exterior facades of downtown historical structures would be required to maintain historical accuracy.This action paved the way for redevelopment and revitalization of the downtown area.Changes were made to the zoning code to allow loft apartments downtown in order to encourage a mixed commercial and residential use. Largely,through the efforts of volunteers Bob Carius,Danny Dozier and others,the Main Street Batesville organization was re-energized with the purpose to bring the necessary change needed to ensure the downtown area became viable and vibrant again. With wide support from the community,a nationally acclaimed professional helped guide the design for a complete makeover of the downtown area with particular emphasis on creating a safer and walkable streetscape environment which will soon be finished.Excited by the enthusiasm for change, area citizens have taken the lead in investing in our historical downtown.The Melba Theatre has been completely restored to its former glory and three new restaurants have opened downtown along with other new businesses bringing the occupancy rate to near 100%for the first time in decades. Recognizing the importance of a healthy lifestyle,citizens wanted more walking trails and more biking opportunities.The voters approved the 2012 Community Development Initiative which has provided the revenue for the required matching portion of recreational grant applications allowing the city to aggressively pursue grants for walking trails.This project includes the paved walking trail from Harrison Street to Riverside Park connecting with the River Walk,and continuing on to the Batesville High School.The city continues in its efforts to build a comprehensive trail system to bring this dream to fruition. Recognizing that recreational facilities and opportunities greatly influence a community's quality of life and its ability to attract new jobs, tourists and modern retirees,citizens wanted recreational facilities expanded with more recreational opportunities.To help meet these needs the Parks& Recreation Commission,in consultation with the University of Arkansas,conducted a comprehensive parks and recreation study. After an earlier recreation proposal narrowly failed as being too expensive,voters approved the$25 million dollar 2012 Community Development Initiative.This initiative included a new soccer complex,expansion of the North Recreational Complex to include the new ten acre Terry Sims Diamond Sports Complex with its seven new ball fields,three new tee ball fields and a new concession and restroom facility.It also included the construction of the Fitzhugh Park Community&Aquatics Center. The new community and aquatics facility will become the center of activity for those of all ages.From basketball,racquetball,and volleyball to organized exercise classes,a completely equipped fitness center and an indoor walking track,the new facility will have something for everyone wanting a healthier lifestyle. The aquatic facility's indoor amenities include a heated therapy pool,a meters by yards competition pool and a kiddie splash pad and play pool perfect for birthday pool parties for children,especially those born between August and May who may have never had a birthday pool party.Two indoor pool party rooms will serve both indoor and outdoor birthday pool parties. Those accustomed to the old rectangular Mickey Mouse Pool will delight in the amenities of the new outdoor aquatics facility,which includes a splash pad,whirlpool tub,a zero entry pool complete with features for small children,a lap swimming area,a diving well,zip line,two large water slides,and a 450 foot lazy river.Several adjacent party pavilions are also available. The meeting rooms in the new community center will provide much needed meeting space for area groups and attract meetings from governmental organizations and businesses from all over the state.The multipurpose gymnasium will attract basketball and volleyball tournaments and provide the space needed for large gatherings of several hundred up to a few thousand. Our citizens also dreamed of more outdoor recreational opportunities and tourism along Polk Bayou and the White River.These began to materialize when land along the bayou was donated for a new park where White Drive crosses the bayou.A local entrepreneur began offering canoe and kayak float trips on the bayou that continue to increase in popularity.A local landowner allowed the city to clean up and make more accessible the area at the mouth of Polk Bayou for canoeists to have a good take out location.Area residents said they also wanted to see additional efforts to promote tourism. Recently,the city created an Advertising&Promotion Commission to promote tourism and passed a 3%hotel tax to fund this advertising and promotion program. As more of our citizens began to visit the Branson Landing in Branson,Missouri and the San Antonio River Walk in San Antonio,Texas they began to visualize what economic development along our riverfront might look like.In 2009 the Memphis architectural firm of Looney,Ricks,&Kiss conducted several days of meetings with city officials and community leaders to dream what development of our riverfront area might look like.A centerpiece in the vision was a destination hotel on the banks of the White River.With the community center nearing completion the need for a hotel on the river is greater than ever.The relocation of the firefighting training facility has given the city an opportunity to help bring this dream to reality by offering a long-term lease on the two-acre parcel for the development of a hotel and several developers have already expressed interest in the concept. Working together with the Arkansas Highway&Transportation Department and the Arkansas Game&Fish Commission the city recently completed a new boat ramp and dock in Kennedy Park with two new paved parking areas under the bridge providing better recreational access to the White River.The city is also continuing negotiations to extend the river walk westward under the White River Bridge. Recognizing that public parks and playgrounds are great amenities for a community,citizens continued to ask for more public parks.Habitat for Humanity donated land on Westside for a park and the city fenced the new park and built a new playground.The city has built new playgrounds at the tee ball fields,the soccer complex,and in Riverside Park. With all the downtown re-development occurring on Main Street the Strahl Family recently donated land for a downtown public park on the banks of Polk Bayou.With the help of Danny Dozier and others this newest park is nearing completion and will serve as a venue and resting area for those floating the bayou.The park will encourage those exploring the Polk Bayou to stop and partake of the restaurants,shops and other amenities offered on Main Street.The downtown pocket park on upper Main has become a popular site for everything from a local artists and farmers market to a concert or wedding reception venue. One hugely successful improvement in Riverside Park has been the introduction of the Christmas lights display.It has continued to grow each year with more than a million lights on display this past Christmas season. Tens of thousands of visitors,including some from over seventy miles away, flock to Riverside Park each Christmas season to enjoy the lights and it has become one of the premier Christmas lights displays in Arkansas.With the addition of horse drawn carriage rides and the synthetic ice-skating rink Riverside Park has become a wintertime jewel. To help address housing concerns,the city has amended zoning codes to allow smaller lots to encourage higher density and lower cost housing. It has encouraged the re-platting of existing plats into smaller lot sizes to facilitate the construction of more affordable homes.The zoning code was amended to allow zero-lot-line housing and loft apartments downtown which would encourage a mixture of commercial and residential use. Citizens wanted the city to take better care of and improve the aesthetics of the city's entryways and major corridors.To accomplish this,a new landscape department was created and charged with keeping the hundreds of acres ofpublic property and rights of way along major entryways properly mowed and maintained.In addition,the city created a"Tree Board"to inventory trees on public property and to recommend appropriate actions when tree issues arise.This effort led to Batesville being designated as a"Tree City USA"community. The suggestions surrounding street and transportation improvements included the specific recommendation of improving access to the White River Medical Center by creating a new street connection across the Mickey Mouse Pool location from 201'Street to the medical center complex to enhance safety and ease of access. This task is currently under construction. Other enhancements to our transportation system include the widening of Harrison Street between St Louis Street and Gap Road,including the addition of sidewalks on both sides,and additional improved traffic control systems at several intersections.This has created a flurry of new construction along the route. Another important transportation component is The Batesville Regional Airport that is extremely important to several of our major employers who routinely fly in and out of the airport.Recognizing that the airport was a huge asset in economic development,the city significantly increased funding to upgrade airport operations and to help meet the demand for new hangars.The airport terminal building is the first impression our city makes on all potential investors and businessmen flying into Batesville.Recognizing that you only get to make a good first impression once,the city's Airport Commission recently completed a$750,000.00 dollar remodel of the 1980's dated terminal building. The decision by the city to exit the thirty-plus year inter-local agreement with the county for law enforcement and form a community based police department has been a significant improvement.This has certainly allowed for better police protection for our citizens.I have received more positive comments about this particular decision than almost anything else during my ten years as mayor. I have attempted to cover the major progress our city has made over the last ten years but time doesn't allow me the luxury of including everything.I must,however,note a few more things accomplished such as the addition of a new Westside fire station,the purchase of a new aerial ladder truck,two pumper trucks and a rescue truck.The new Animal Control Shelter was completed in 2007.We remodeled city hall and moved the Code Enforcement Department from the third to the first floor.We enacted a new subdivision code and added a sidewalk provision in each new subdivision.We established the Community Garden across from Row Lake where citizens can rent,for a nominal fee,space for a garden.We also constructed the Farmer's Market pavilion at the Myers and Cheney Drive intersection. When I took office in 2007,so many city vehicles qualified for antique license plates that I couldn't count them all.Nearly every piece of equipment that the city owned was worn out. I am extremely grateful to the citizens of Batesville for providing the funds to allow much of the worn out equipment our employees depend on each and every day to be replaced.I understand the importance of picking up your trash,leaves,limbs,and old furniture and refrigerators.Having the dump trucks,road graders,backhoes,stump grinders and all of the lawn mowers,weed eaters and other equipment is vital in providing the services you have come to expect. As I reflect on our community's progress over the last ten years,I am completely amazed by the goals we have reached together.None of this could have been possible without the help and support of you,the citizens.I want to express my sincere thanks to all city employees and our council. I could never thank them enough for believing in me and taking such tremendous pride in their work on a daily basis. It has been an honor and a blessing to represent the city of Batesville as mayor for the past ten years. Batesville is a place I have called home my entire life.I will always be committed to keeping our city safe,beautiful and the finest place to live in the great state of Arkansas. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh reminded the committee for the International Performers of the scheduled meeting May 2nd at Wyatt's Restaurant. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Beller asked if the City should consider purchasing equipment to tarp the ball fields. Parks Director Owens said he had checked into purchasing tarps which would be approximately $25,000.00. Councilmember Bryant said the Batesville Guard had published that sales taxes were down for the County. He asked Ms. Johnston how the City's taxes were doing for this years. Ms. Johnston said the March city and county taxes were down slightly, however, both taxes were up approximately 4% from last year. ADJOURNMENT There being no more business, Councilmember Matthews moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK