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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-11 MINUTES OF COUNCIL April 11, 2023 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on April 11, 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, Scott Fredricks, Julie Hinkle, Paige Hubbard, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, and Chris Poole. Also present were the Admin Assistant Jennifer Corter and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. City Clerk Denise Johnston and Councilmember Tommy Bryant were absent. Councilmember Hinkle moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Bennett seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Hinkle moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Krug seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS Mr. Jason Angel addressed the council with his concerns on the Water Treatment Plant upgrade. Mr. Preston Caldwell addressed the council with his concerns on the Water Treatment Plant upgrade from an economic standpoint. Mr. Justin Angel addressed the council with his concerns over the need or lack of a need for a new Water Treatment Plant facility. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT Police Chief Alan Cockrill addressed the council with his monthly report. Chief Cockrill gave the council a detailed report showing accidents, and arrests for March 2023. He stated that accidents were up last month. The renovations of the new Police Department are coming along but he didn’t have an expected completion date at this time. He had met with the representative from Stryker and the new traffic monitors should be in place Monday. B) ENGINEER’S REPORT City Engineer, Damon Johnson, addressed the council with his monthly report. Mr. Johnson said the Wastewater Plant flows are down from all of the rain we have had lately and things are getting back normal. The Construction Department is working on some temporary patching on Broad Street. They still have a couple of blocks of work to complete before the complete paving can be done. Contract Section III continues to progress. The last two tunnels under the railroad have punched through. There is still a road crossing to be done at Southerland Drive, but we should be down to the final months of this project. Mr. Johnson also gave an extensive update on the Water Treatment Plant history. The original plant was constructed in 1964 with 5 major upgrades over the last 59 years. The current plant is serviceable and operable with repairs but some areas, such as filters and pipe gallery, are in need of major repair. With the age and design of the current facility some repairs are in areas unable to be isolated and fixed and still make water. City staff, along with engineers have been looking at this project since the 2015 Master Water Plan that showed the deterioration of some of these components. The City of Batesville is responsible for providing good quality drinking water to not only Batesville users, but also provides for Cushman, Pfeiffer and Bethesda’s water systems and needs to be proactive and move forward to not interrupt these services to residents, businesses and industries. Cost analysis show that by adding temporary treatment facilities to carry on day-to-day water production, while repairs were made, would cost slightly less than a new facility but would only extend the life of the plant to a maximum of 25 years. A new facility would guarantee 40 years or more and expected completion of a new plant would be four to five years out. C) FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT Fire Chief Mark McCollum addressed the council with his monthly report. The Chief said his department had 52 runs last month, 82 inspections and 330 training hours. He commented that his firefighters take pride in their continued training and education. Chief McCollum noted that the Fire Department has an AARF 7 truck that is not in good shape and taking up a hanger at the airport. He has already talked with Southside and Desha Fire Departments who are willing to cover until Batesville can respond in case of an emergency at the airport. He asked for the Council’s permission to place the AARF truck on GovDeals. Councilmember Fredricks made a motion to list the truck on GovDeals. Councilmember Poole seconded and all voted in favor. Chief McCollum asked Mayor Elumbaugh to help him recognize 2 promotions within the Fire Department. Lieutenant Clint Stark was promoted to Captain and Engineer/Driver Mark Owens was promoted to Lieutenant. Mayor Elumbaugh pinned each with their new badges. D) PARKS DIRECTOR JEFF OWENS WITH A PURCHASE REQUEST FROM THE PERPETUAL MAINTENANCE FUND Parks Director, Jeff Owens addressed the council with a purchase request from the Perpetual Maintenance Fund. Mr. Owens said there are several items at the community center that need to be replaced or repaired, totaling $124,950.00 and asked for those be paid for out of this fund. Councilmember Bennett made a motion to approve the purchases as presented. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and all voted for. E) MS. CRYSTAL JOHNSON, CHAMBER CEO, WITH A QUARTERLY A&P REPORT Ms. Crystal Johnson, Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce CEO, addressed the council with a quarterly A&P report. She reported that hotel stays in Batesville had a huge increase of a little over 8,000 stays for 2022 and we are already 30% ahead for the first quarter of 2023. She reported on the two new data tools that are being used to provide back up to the marketing information. This shows the number of trips are down but visitors are staying for a longer period of time. The Chamber is considering adding Bandwango to “gamify” visitor’s experiences with a reward point app. This company will help points of interest, such as businesses and attractions, update their listings and help users gain rewards for supporting local attractions. F) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE PROPERTIES INCLUDED IN THE BATESVILLE COMMERCIAL HISTORIC DISTRICT Mayor Elumbaugh asked Dr. Terrell Tebbetts to address the council regarding the proposed ordinance. Dr. Tebbetts discussed that the National Registry is asking for the expansion which would add several businesses downtown. He explained the purpose of the Historic District Commission and how they are the mediator between property owners and the State Historic Commission. The boundaries th for the proposed ordinance would cover from 4 Street to State and Central Avenue. Mayor Elumbaugh thanked Dr. Tebbetts and asked the council to review the proposed ordinance and allow it to be placed on the next agenda for the first reading. G) EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Matthews moved to go into executive session to consider an appointment to the Advertising and Promotion Commission. Councilmember Bennett seconded and all voted for. Upon returning from executive session, Councilmember Fredricks moved to appoint Ms. Stephanie Wilson, Asst. GM of Hampton Inn to the A&P Commission. Councilmember Poole seconded and all voted for. Ms. Wilson will fill the vacancy of Ms. April Polston. Ms. Wilson’s term will expire on January 24, 2027. C) FINANCIAL REPORT The council was given a copy of the March, 2023 financial report for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh set the next meeting for April 25, 2023. Mayor Elumbaugh also mentioned that Peco has purchased a mass notification system for their employees. This notification system has the capability to be used as a th weather notification system and they will be testing the siren on Friday, April 14 and the first Saturday of each month after that. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Hinkle reported that the corner of Wycough and Central Ave. is looking trashy and needs cleaned up. Councilmember Matthews said the light at 1735 College needs to be refocused and should be reported to Entergy. Councilmember Poole also had some street lights that needed to be reported to Entergy. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bennett moved that the meeting be adjourned and Councilmember Hinkle seconded. All voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 6:49 pm. ______________________________ Rick Elumbaugh, Mayor ________________________________ Jennifer Corter, Admin Asst.