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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-07-17 MINUTES OF COUNCIL JULY 17, 2018 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on July 17th, 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; Tommy Bryant, Margaret Henley, Julie Hinkle, Paige Hubbard, Doug Matthews, Chris Poole and David Shetron. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. Councilmember Chris Beller was absent. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the minutes from the previous two meetings. Councilmember Hubbard 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 A) SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO REFER TO THE VOTERS WHETHER TO CHANGE TERMS OF THE CITY COUNCILMEMBERS Mayor Elumbaugh said the ordinance before the council will be for the second reading. Councilmember Bryant moved to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Henley seconded and the electronic vote was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Mayor Elumbaugh said the ordinance will be on the next meeting's agenda for the third and final reading. NEW BUSINESS A) POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT Police Chief Alan Cockrill addressed the council with his department's monthly report. His report for June, 2018 showed; 40 accidents, 76 incident reports, 12 felony arrests and 24 misdemeanor arrests. Chief Cockrill said he will be short a couple of offices in August as they are at the police academy for training. B) ENGINEER'S REPORT City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council. Mr. Johnson said he wanted to inform the public on a couple of issues. First, both the Street and Sanitation departments are short on employees. He said the lack of employees has put a huge strain on the departments, primarily on the removal of brush, leaves and junk, and he asked the public to be patient while they try to get caught up. Secondly, Mr. Johnson said we almost have all the new trash containers distributed to the residents in Batesville. He said he wants the residents to know that the container belongs to the city and are registered to the address, therefore, if you move do not take the container with you. An additional container can be delivered for an additional $7.00 plus tax per month. Again he asked the citizens to be patient as the city gets the cans delivered and all the issues worked out. Mr. Johnson said all other city departments are running as normal. C) RECOGNIZE MRS. BRENDA WOOD UPON HER RETIREMENT Mayor Elumbaugh presented Mrs. Brenda Wood with a plaque and a life time membership to the Batesville Community Center and Aquatics facility. Mrs. Wood will be retiring July 31St after almost 39 years with the Batesville Water Utilities. D) PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER THE CONDEMNATION OF TWO PROPERTIES LOCATED AT 949 STATE AND 129 ORIOLE STREETS Code Enforcement Officer Chad McClure addressed the council regarding the condemnation of two properties. Mr. McClure said the first property is located at 949 N. State Street. He said the property has been turned over to the State for back taxes, the windows are boarded up, has extensive fire damage, no utilities and someone is living in the house. Fire Chief Brent Gleghorn said his department has responded to 4 fires in the last 5 years. City Engineer Damon Johnson said the property has not had utilities since 2011. Mayor Elumbaugh opened for floor for public comments. Ms. Jennifer Reves, owner of the property, addressed the council and said her ex-fiance is living in the house and she cannot get him out. Mr. McClure explained to Ms. Reves that if the council elects to condemn the property, she will have 30 days to make significant improvements to the property in order to make it livable. The second property to discuss is located 129 Oriole. Mr. McClure said the reason for condemnation is due to a structure fire at the property. No one from the audience spoke in regards to the property at 129 Oriole. The public hearing was closed. E) CONSIDER TWO RESOLUTIONS TO CONDEMN PROPERTIES AT 949 STATE AND 129 ORIOLE STREETS Councilmember Shetron introduced a resolution to condemn a structure located at 949 State Street. Councilmember Bryant moved to read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and the electronic vote was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Shetron seconded. The electronic vote was 7 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2018-07-01- R. Councilmember Bryant moved to introduce a resolution to condemn a structure located at 129 Oriole Street. Councilmember Bryant moved to suspend the rules and read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Shetron seconded and the electronic vote was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Shetron seconded. The electronic vote was 7 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2018-07-02-R. F) UPDATE FROM RETIRED FIREFIGHTERS REGARDING FIRE PENSION RETIREMENT PLAN Retired firefighters Bob Davis and Larry Guenzel along with fire pension retirement plan advisor Erin Eason address the council to discuss the current situation of the firemen's pension plan. Again the option of increasing the fire millage from .4 to 1.0 mills was discussed. The council has been advised by the legal team of the Arkansas Municipal League that an election must be held to allow the citizens of Batesville to vote to increase the fire millage to 1.0. The council can pass an ordinance to place the issue on the general election in November or the pensioners can collect signatures from our citizens to get it on the ballot. It was mentioned that in the future, the increased millage should sustain the fund, however, the fund will run out of money before the millage increase fully takes effect. Again the question was raised whether the city general fund is responsible to continue paying retired fire pensioners and their surviving spouses once their fund is depleted. Councilmember Bryant argued that there are several unanswered questions regarding the legality of what can or has to be done regarding the pension fund and its recipients and the questions should be resolved in a court of law. G) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the June, 2018 paid bills report for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh announced he had received a letter of resignation from Councilmember Dr. Chris Beller. Dr. Beller has recently sold his home and is moving outside the city limits of Batesville. Mayor Elumbaugh asked for a motion to declare a vacancy for Ward 3, Position 2. Councilmember Matthews so moved and Councilmember Bryant seconded. All voted for. The Mayor said he and numerous council and citizens attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Independence County Library. The library moved into the newly remodeled Barnett Building. The Mayor thanked the council for planting the seed when acquiring the Barnett Building and Admiral Bob Carius, Judge Bill Walmsley and the Library Board for their vision of seeing the project through. The new library will be a wonderful asset to our community. 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