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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-01-10 MINUTES OF COUNCIL JANUARY 10, 2023 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on January 10, at 5:30 pm at the Municipal Building. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh presided over the meeting. Utility Office Manager Nick Baxter gave the invocation. Upon roll call, the following Councilmembers answered present; Brittany Bennett, Tommy Bryant, Scott Fredricks, Julie Hinkle, Paige Hubbard, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, and Chris Poole. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. Councilmember Hinkle moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Hinkle moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Bennett seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT Police Chief Alan Cockrill addressed the council with his monthly department report. Chief Cockrill announced the promotion of Lieutenant John Scarbrough to Assistant Police Chief. The chief said Mr. Scarbrough is a valuable employee and deserves the promotion. Chief Cockrill gave the council a copy of the monthly report for his department and also said all four new trucks were in and in the process of being equipped to put into service. B) ENGINEER’S REPORT City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council with his monthly report. Mr. Johnson said we received four applications for the Request of Qualifications (RFQ’s) advertised to perform construction management/general contractor services for the construction and improvements to the Batesville Water Treatment Plant. After review of the applicants, he said he is recommending Tolm Group out of Morrilton. After a brief discussion of their qualifications, Councilmember Poole moved to accept the recommendation of Tolm Group. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the roll call count was 7 for and 1 (Krug) abstained. Mr. Johnson said they hope to have a 15% plan review by March and because of wait times, they will start ordering parts as soon as possible. Mr. Johnson reported that both plants are working good, Construction Department is repairing water leaks from the extreme cold weather from a couple of weeks ago and the Street Department is concentrating on cleaning out ditches. Contract Section III work is continuing as projected. The pipes are in place under the Highway 167 bore, and the bore at OMP is complete and they are ready to place the pipes, then close both bores. The next process is the Railroad bores. Mr. Johnson said the Railroad company is extremely hard to work with but he finally has an approval to proceed with the bore. He hopes to have the project wrapped up in June. Councilmember Krug asked about the repairs to Broad Street from the new sewer line repairs. Mr. Johnson said they should be able to do the concrete patching around the first of next week, weather permitting, and then get on the wait schedule with Atlas Asphalt for the paving. C) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS OF THE COUNCIL Councilmember Bennett introduced an ordinance to adopt the rules and procedures for the transaction of business of the council. Mayor Elumbaugh said ndth the only change is going back to two council meetings per month, the 2 and 4 Tuesdays. Councilmember Fredricks moved to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Hubbard moved to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2023-01-01. D) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING ON CERTAIN ITEMS FOR 2023 Councilmember Poole introduced an ordinance to waive competitive bidding on certain items for the 2023 calendar year. Councilmember Bryant moved to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Bennett seconded and the electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Fredricks questioned the reasoning for the proposed ordinance. Mayor Elumbaugh explained that the city adopts the ordinance every year to waive competitive bidding on certain items that it is not feasible to bid out. However, he said, the city still contacts business for oral bids which speeds the process up by about three weeks by not having to put bids in the newspapers. Councilmember Bennett moved to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and the electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Hubbard seconded. The electronic roll call count was 7 for and 1 (Fredricks) against. The ordinance was given #2023-01-02. Mr. Meitzen read the emergency clause. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the emergency clause. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic roll call count was 7 for and 1 (Fredricks) against. E) EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Hinkle moved to go into executive session to consider an appointment to the Parks and Recreation Committee and appoint a new Fire Chief. Councilmember Bennett seconded and all voted for. Upon returning from executive session, Councilmember Fredricks moved to appoint Mr. Kyle Christopher to the Parks and Recreation Committee. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. Mr. Christopher’s term will expire September 30, 2025. Mayor Elumbaugh said there were 8 applicants for the vacant Fire Chief position. He said he interviewed all 8 applicants and took the top 4 to the Public Safety Committee for review. Public Safety Committee member, Chris Poole reported to the council of the meeting and moved to appoint Mr. Mark McCollum as Batesville Fire Chief. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. F) FINANCIAL REPORT The council was given a copy of the December, 2022 financial report for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh reminded the council that with the passage of the 2023 rules and th procedures for the council, we will have our second January meeting on January 24. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS None AJOURNEMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bennett moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and all voted for. The meeting was adjourned at 6:13 pm. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK