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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-08-29 MINUTES OF COUNCIL AUGUST 29, 2017 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on August 29th at 5:30 pm at the Municipal Building. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh presided over the meeting. Utility Billing Manager 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 Henley seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Beller seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) FIRST READING OF A REVISED ORDINANCE CREATING A PERPETUAL MAINTENANCE FUND FOR THE BATESVILLE COMMUNITY CENTER AND AQUATICS PARK AND OUTDOOR TENNIS COURTS Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance to create perpetual maintenance fund for the new Community Center & Aquatics Park and outdoor Tennis Courts. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance in full. Mayor Elumbaugh said the ordinance will be on the next meeting's agenda for the second reading. B) A REPORT FROM CITY ENGINEER, DAMON JOHNSON REGARDING FUEL SYSTEM Before getting into the fuel discussion, there is a request from Kim Seat to set a water meter at her house at 530 Broadwater Lane. Ms. Seat has signed all the necessary documents and agrees to annex into the city when / if her property ever becomes contiguous to the city limits. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the water meter outside the city limits and Councilmember Shetron seconded. All voted for. City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council regarding the City's fuel pump system. He said the program that the City has is not working at this time and the pumps and storage tanks are extremely old. An estimate to bring the City's fuel system up to date was approximantly $20,000. Mr. Johnson said he had visited with Littlefield about possibly going to a card system with them that allows our employees to purchase at any of Littlefield locations. He said we would not be paying the pump price which includes taxes that the City does not pay. Also Littlefield will give the city .03¢ off on gasoline and .05¢ of diesel. Mr. Johnson said he did not have any comparison figures but could have some by the next meeting. C) EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Bryant moved to go into executive session to discuss the hiring, firing, promotion or demotion of one or more employees. After returning from executive session, Councilmember Shetron moved to reappoint Mr. Larry Lilly to the Batesville Appeals Commission. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. Mr. Lilly's term will expire 9/8/2022. D) FIRE PENSION BOARD DISCUSSION Mayor Elumbaugh asked the City Clerk to give the council a little background on the old Firemen's Pension Fund. Ms. Johnston said the old Firemen's Pension Fund was established many years ago for the purpose of providing for retired firemen. The Firemen's Pension Board, originally consisted of two active firemen, 2 retired firemen and the City Clerk and Mayor. In 1985, LOPFI made it mandatory that all firemen hired after 1985 will have to enroll into their program. Because there are no active members left in the old plan, the current board is made up of 4 retired firemen and the Clerk and Mayor. The fund pays out monthly checks to 16 retired firemen or their spouses for total of$284,368.08 per year. Currently, the retirees or their surviving spouse, are receiving 75% of their pay at retirement. When the Board voted on the pay increase the Pension Fund was actuarially sound. Mrs. Johnston said there is not one absolute cause for the current unfunded state of the fund. Recently Mr. Jody Carreiro with Osborn, Carreiro & Associates, Inc. and Mr. David Clark with the Arkansas Fire and Police Pension Review Board (PRB) came and gave the Pension Board members and City Council options on how to make the fund solvent. One of the recommendations is to up the Fire Pension mileage from .4 mills to 1.0. That would increase their annual revenue approximately $94,000.00 which according to Mr. Carreior's report would make the plan actuarially sound in 15 years. They can also move their plan into LOPFI for the same cost. Retired firemen Larry Guenzel and Bob Davis stated their concerns with the current plan and asked for the councils help in making it solvent again. When asked if they wanted to move their fund into LOPFI, they all said yes. A couple of councilmembers were concerned if the citizens of Batesville were willing to pay an additional .6 mills to fund the Pension Fund. Councilmember Beller said the city did not have any say in the investments or pension amounts. He said the pension board never asked for any help or advise with their plan until it was unfunded. Understanding that the situation is very complex, the council decided to seek more information before making any kind of decision. E) REVIEW PAID BILL AND FINANCIALS The council was given a copy of the July paid bills report and July financial statements for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh announced that Bad Boy Mowers is taking 2 large tractor trailers to Houston, TX to help in the flood relief efforts. He said the trucks are in the JC Penney parking lot and should be there all day tomorrow, so please take non-perishable food, paper goods, clothes, blankets, etc. to help those in need. City Clerk Denise Johnston said she needs approval from the council to shred old documents for the City and Utility Department. The council was given a list of the proposed items to shred. Councilmember Beller moved to approve the shredding of the documents and Councilmember Bryant seconded. All voted for. The Sanitation Department receive two bids for the lease replacements of two rear load sanitation trucks. Sanitation Supervisor Marty Thompson and City Engineer Damon Johnson both reviewed the bids and recommended the low bid from Arkansas Municipal Equipment Company. The bid was $138,500.00 per vehicle with an interest rate of 2.39%. Councilmember Beller moved to accept the low bid and Councilmember Matthews seconded. All voted for. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS None 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