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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-03-09 MINUTES OF COUNCIL MARCH 9, 2021 th The Batesville City Council met in regular session on March 9, 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, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, Pete Musgrave and Chris Poole. Also present were the Admin. Asst. Jennifer Corter and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. Councilmember Paige Hubbard and City Clerk Denise Johnston were both absent. Councilmember Poole moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Poole moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) MONTHLY POLICE REPORT Police Chief Alan Cockrill addressed the council with his February department report. He said it was a short month but there were a lot of accidents due to the snow and ice. He currently has one officer in the academy and has hired 3 new officers leaving him with only one vacancy at this time. Everything seems to be in pretty good shape. B) ENGINEERS REPORT City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council with his monthly report. Mr. Johnson said that normal operations were running good. The inclement weather in February caused several of our Street and Construction crews to work long hours. The Street Department worked long hours trying to clean streets that were being covered with snow almost as fast as they were cleared. The Water Department had several leaks from frozen pipes due to the extreme cold temperatures. Mr. Johnson praised these employees for doing what was necessary to keep things functioning the best they could under the circumstances. Mr. Johnson also stated that bids were awarded to the low bidding contractor on the Contract Section III and we had received the notice to proceed earlier today. He said that tree removal should start soon. The bank stabilization job on Chaney Drive, which is a joint project between the city and the Army Corp of Engineers, is almost complete and should be inspected later this week. Two bids were opened recently on forestry mulching attachments. One was for the excavator in the Landscape Department and the other for the skid steer to be used by both Street and Water Construction Departments. Henard Utility was the only bidder on both attachments. There was some discussion about why we only had one bid for each and Mr. Johnson said these are specialty attachments that fit our specific equipment and not all companies carry them. He noted that the bid specs were published in the state paper as well as on our website. Councilmember Pool made a motion to accept both bids. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the voice vote was unanimously in favor. Mr. Johnson also told the Council that our 2013 automated sidearm garbage truck has several issues. We have been in touch with the supplier and there is a new one available to purchase and could be here within a couple of months. The company would “buy” back the 2013 truck for payoff and we would purchase the new one for approximately $242,000.00. Payments would be a little more monthly but it would be for a new truck that we aren’t having to work on constantly. Councilmember Bryant said garbage pickup was important and made a motion to purchase the new garbage truck. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and all voted for by voice vote. We recently advertised for RFQs for energy savings performance work. The deadline closed yesterday and we received one qualification from Entegrity Solar. After reviewing the qualification and speaking with them, Mr. Johnson recommended that we accept their statement of qualifications and move forward on developing a project. Councilmember Bryant made a motion to proceed and Councilmember Fredricks seconded. Councilmember Poole asked if we were protected if the Public Service Commission ever goes back on their commitment to net billing. Mr. Johnson said that we would be protected for a “specific 20 years” which is already counting down but still has 19 years and 4 months left. The voice vote was 7 for 0 opposed C) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the February, 2021 paid bills report for review. D) EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Elumbaugh said he was calling for an executive session to consider an appointment to the Airport Commission. Councilmember Fredricks moved to go into executive session and Councilmember Poole seconded. All voted for. Upon returning from executive, Councilmember Matthews moved to appoint Mr. Lindsey Castleberry to the Airport Commission. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. The appointee’s terms will expire 1/8/2024. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh extended his appreciation to all of our departments that worked so diligent throughout the snow and ice storms recently. Chintan Patel from U.S. Pizza offered to feed employees who were out working in the snow. First Community Bank also stepped in and fed all of our employees a fish lunch. We appreciate these people for looking out for our employees. Mayor Elumbaugh said that Johnathan Abbott would like to look into purchasing padded chairs and replace the wooden benches in audience area of city hall. There was no objection to this so Mayor Elumbaugh said he would have Mr. Abbott proceed with the purchase. Mayor Elumbaugh also announced that WRMC would be hosting COVID-19 vaccination clinics at the Community Center on 2 different days this month. Bryant’s Pharmacy will also be giving the COVID-19 vaccinations to all city employees who wish to get them, next week. Mayor Elumbaugh announced that this is Councilmember Pete Musgrave’s last meeting with us. He will be leaving Batesville and moving to Texas. Mayor Elumbaugh thanked Mr. Musgrave for not only his time served on the council but also for the many years of service to the city as a whole and presented him with a plaque. Mayor Elumbaugh also presented him with a key to the city. Mr. Musgrave said it was an honor and privilege to serve such a great city. The next meeting was set for April 13, 2021 LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Bryant said he recently got his COVID shot and would like to encourage anyone who is eligible to get theirs. Councilmember Hinkle had received a call from a citizen who was very thankful for help with a water situation during the extreme cold and another citizen who is having some zoning issues. Councilmember Krug thanked Councilmember Musgrave for his 40 years of friendship and service to the City of Batesville. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Hinkle moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 pm. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR JENNIFER CORTER, ADMIN ASST.