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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-07-11 MINUTES OF COUNCIL JULY 11, 2023 th The Batesville City Council met in regular session on July 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; Tommy Bryant, Scott Fredricks, Julie Hinkle, Paige Hubbard, Fred Krug and Chris Poole. Also present were City Attorney Tim Meitzen and Admin. Assistant Jennifer Corter. City Clerk Denise Johnston and Councilmember Brittany Bennett were absent. Councilmember Matthews arrived at approximately 5:35 p.m. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda as amended. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS A) SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING KNOX BOXES AT CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY BUILDINGS Councilmember Bryant made a motion to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic roll call was 6 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. There being no further discussion, Mayor Elumbaugh said the ordinance would be placed on the next meeting’s agenda for the third reading. B) SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING VARIOUS FEDERAL AND STATE CODES Councilmember Bryant made a motion to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic roll call was 7 for and 0 against. (Councilmember Matthews joined the meeting at approximately 5:35 p.m.) Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Mayor Elumbaugh said the ordinance will be placed on the next meeting’s agenda for the third reading. NEW BUSINESS A) POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT Assistant Police Chief John Scarbrough presented the monthly Police Department report, which included 40 accidents, 14 arrests and 64 incident reports. He said the 4 new radar guns have been ordered and should ship on th the 18 of this month. B) FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT Fire Chief Mark McCollum addressed the council with his monthly report. Chief McCollum said that June was a busy month with 48 calls, of which 5 were structure fires (3 of those in one day). He also gave a break down of other incidents for the month as well as reporting 208 training hours for his department. C) MS. CRYSTAL JOHNSON, CHAMBER CEO, WITH A QUARTERLY UPDATE ON A&P Ms. Johnson presented the quarterly update on A&P. She discussed some of the new data tools and the stats they show and how these tools are helping to know how the current marketing strategy is performing. The data shows that 801 trips have been booked using these tools and the return shows for every $1.00 that has been spent we see a $16.22 return. From January to June there have been 251,524 trips, 156,829 unique visitors and 41.1% of those are from another state. As far as lodging tax, 2022 was a record-breaking year but 2023 is already 17% above this time last year. Councilmember Poole asked if the tools could narrow down to a particular event and see what kind of impact that event was having. Ms. Johnson said the program tracks cell phone data and could be narrowed to a particular area, such as a tournament at the community center or ball field. Councilmember Bryant stated that a lot of our visiting teams are coming a day early just to visit our community center. D) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE BATESVILLE ZONING DISTRICT MAP Councilmember Bryant introduced the ordinance to amend the Batesville Zoning District Map. Code Enforcement Officer, Chad McClure, explained that the planned development experienced delays due to some issues with fire access to the area, causing the site plan to have to be amended. Councilmember Matthews made a motion to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the electronic vote was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Poole noted that this was an issue with the site plan design that didn’t work with the lay of the land. He doesn’t feel that it was the fault of the City, but said in the future there may need to be more research on the front end of a project like this. Councilmember Bryant made a motion to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third reading. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the roll call was 7 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant made a motion to adopt the ordinance. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic vote was 7 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2023-07-01. E) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE HIRING OF A DEPUTY DISTRICT COURT CLERK Councilmember Bryant introduced a resolution approving the hiring of a Deputy District Court Clerk. City Attorney, Tim Meitzen said the County Attorney interprets the law that the City of Batesville must approve the appointment of this position. Mr. Meitzen stated this is a non-binding resolution but they County couldn’t proceed with hiring until it was passed. Councilmember Bryant made a motion to suspend the rules and read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Pool seconded and the electronic roll call was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant made a motion to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Poole seconded. The electronic vote was 7 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2023-07-01-R F) FINANCIAL REPORT The council was given a financial report for June, 2023 for review. MAYOR COMMENTS th Mayor Elumbaugh said the next regular meeting would be July 25. He also thanked County Judge Jeffery and his crews for the work they did on the Mark Edward House boat launch ramp while the river level was low. It is great to have both the City and County working together. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS th Councilmember Bryant commented on how Riverside Park looked after the 4 of th July festivities. He said the morning of July 5 the park was super clean and looked better than ever. He thanked the Parks Department for their hard work and said he is thankful for our dedicated group of employees. Councilmember Matthews reminded everyone that April 8, 2024 is a total eclipse and that we need to be planning for this event. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bryant moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Fredricks seconded. All voted for. The meeting was adjourned at 5:58 pm. _______________________________ RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR __________________________________ JENNIFER CORTER, ADMIN ASSISTANT