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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-13 MINUTES FROM COUNCIL APRIL 13, 2021 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on April 13, 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, Paige Hubbard, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews and Chris Poole. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. Councilmember Julie Hinkle was absent. Councilmember Poole moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Poole moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Fredricks 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 report. The Chief reported that accidents were up slightly from last month. Chief Cockrill said he has th one officer graduating from training and two more will start training on May 11. B) ENGINEER’S REPORT City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council with his monthly report. Mr. Johnson reported that the tree removal for Contract Section III is nearly complete. The contractors for the job are working on material acquisition and a meeting is planned for tomorrow with the contractors and engineers. A large water line replacement on Broad Street is getting underway. The street crews are working on drainage problems and patching potholes. Both plants are running well. C) NATIONAL SAFE DIGGING MONTH PROCLAMATION Mayor Elumbaugh read a proclamation proclaiming April as National Safe Digging Month. D) CONSIDER A FACILITY USAGE AGREEMENT WITH BATESVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS The council considered a 10-year lease between the City of Batesville and Batesville School District regarding the Legion Baseball Field at the Terry Sims Diamond Sports Complex. The City, for a fee of $1,500.00 per year, will mow and weed-eat the field while upkeep, maintenance and improvements will be the responsibility of Batesville School District. Councilmember Hubbard moved to approve the agreement and Councilmember Matthews seconded. The electronic roll call vote was 5 for, 0 against and 1 (Fredricks) abstained. E) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION APPROVING CONSENT ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER 80-083-003 Councilmember Bryant introduced a resolution approving a consent administrative order 08-083-003 and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the order. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution in full. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Bryant seconded. The electronic roll call was 6 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2021-04-01-R. F) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO MAKE REVISIONS TO THE PERSONNEL POLICY Councilmember Fredricks introduced an ordinance to amend the city’s personnel policy. Councilmember Fredricks moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Fredricks moved to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Krug seconded. The electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Councilmember Fredricks moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Bryant seconded. The electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2021-04-01. G) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE 2020 BUDGET Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance to amend the 2020 budget. Councilmember Fredricks moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Krug seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Bryant moved to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Hubbard seconded. The electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2021-04-02. H) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the March, 2021 paid bills report for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh said he gave his State of the City live on Facebook and asked the council for the approval to insert the document into the minutes. Councilmember Bryant so moved and Councilmember Poole seconded. All voted for. 2020 State of the City What a Year! 2020 was definitely a year we will never forget. We were humbled by the worldwide viral pandemic known as Covid- 19 and its devasting impact on our everyday lives. We witnessed drastic changes that most never dreamed could happen. The virus rapidly spread around the world faster than government and health agencies could react. Those most venerable to the disease, the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions, were tragically taken from us in devastatingly large numbers. To make matters worse, health guidelines prohibited visitations and funerals that are customary in our society. The pandemic continues, but there is finally light at the end of the tunnel as several effective vaccines are being administered. The arduous task of vaccinating the entire world’s population has begun, but we are not out of the woods and we must all continue doing our part to rid the world of this virus. Every aspect of normalcy has been upended by the pandemic and the City of Batesville was no exception. 2020 began as routine as any with concentration on the 2020 Census and what it means to our community in federal dollars. By the time the city council meeting took th place on March 17, the entire city was virtually on lockdown as city offices were forced to close in order to protect essential workers and the public. We had to ask ourselves the previously unthinkable question of how we would continue providing essential services if everyone in a department became infected and had to quarantine at home? How would the water and wastewater departments continue operating if no one was able to work? Discussions centered around making sure that essential police, fire, water, wastewater, and solid waste services continued uninterrupted and plans were made to minimize the potential exposure of city employees. The twice-monthly meetings of the city council were reduced to one per month and there were significant changes to the way all parts of government operated. “ZOOM” meetings and video conferencing became the norm instead of the exception. The city began “live streaming” city council meetings on Facebook to keep the public better informed of the status of city services and state public health mandates. By April, vast numbers of people were being quarantined at home and many organizations advised their employees to work from home if possible. The April police report noted that accidents had gone from 31 in March to only 11 in April as most citizens stayed home. In April, Tourism Director, Kyle Christopher, reported on the devasting effect Covid-19 was having on the tourism industry. Hotels remained empty as scheduled events and meetings were postponed or cancelled entirely. The Batesville Advertising & Promotions Commission acted swiftly to come to the aid of the industry by refunding February and March lodging taxes to help our hotels stay afloat. Though the pandemic wreaked worldwide havoc on the economy, several local commercial projects continued moving forward th including First Community Bank’s new operations center being constructed across South 14 street from the bank’s main facility. To ensure the utmost safety for their employees, the bank proposed constructing Batesville’s first pedestrian “sky bridge” to connect the main building to the new operations center. Constructing a “sky bridge” over city right of way initially seemed problematic, but the city found the solution by the leasing the bank the “air space” rights over the street. The aerial walkway will certainly enhance Batesville’s skyline! As people coped with the new normal, many began to take outdoor walks where it was easier to “social distance” attaining a new appreciation of the outdoor walking trails we have been fortunate to build over the last several years. I was no different, and in mid-March I began my campaign to “walk every street” in Batesville. By mid-April I had managed to walk 48 miles of our streets giving me a unique perspective on our city. Impressed by the idea of a mayor walking every street in his city, the Arkansas Municipal League began promoting the idea to all the cities across our state. While some governmental entities enacted layoffs and work furloughs in anticipation of significantly reduced sales tax collections, the City of Batesville adopted a more moderate “wait and see” approach. As the year progressed, it became apparent that this approach had been the right one. Congress’ passage of the Marketplace Fairness Act in 2017, allowing local governments to receive sales tax from online purchases by consumers, proved pivotal in keeping city services functioning. Instead of sales tax collections dropping significantly, the exact opposite occurred as more and more people shopped online. In August, the council approved selling an excess parcel of land next to the Batesville Police Department to Bad Boy Mowers giving them the much-needed room for continued expansion and job growth. The October council meeting emphasized the “Issue 1” proposal that would be on the ballot in November. If voters failed to approve the continuation of the state half-cent sales tax for roads, local governments would lose significant amounts of street revenue. Thankfully the voters gave a “thumbs up” to the continuation of the tax. In November, the council passed a Resolution for the City of Batesville to collaborate with the City of Southside, Independence County and the Arkansas Department of Transportation on a project on Ramsey Mountain. This project was necessary to create an emergency lane outside of existing traffic lanes that would allow traffic to be diverted around future accidents on Ramsey Mountain. We look forward to continue working with our partners to make this a reality. The highlight of November was the completion of the Sara Low Memorial Dog Park. We were extremely honored to have her father, Mr. Mike Low and her sister, Alyson Low present for the dedication. Many thanks for all the generous donations the city received and for all the hard work and effort done by our city employees. We appreciate Steve Bryant, who was instrumental in leading the fundraising campaign raising approximately $85,000 towards this project. Although 2020 was an extremely stressful year, the Christmas Season reminded our community of what is most important in life …our health, our families and our loved ones. The city worked tirelessly to make the Christmas Season “one to be remembered” with the phenomenal White River Wonderland Christmas Lights Display. During the year, we trademarked the term “Christmas Capital of Arkansas” which added something special to this year’s festivities. At the December meeting, Mr. Doug Smith, liaison to Governor Hutchinson, delivered a letter from the governor recognizing city leadership along with business leaders and dedicated volunteers in creating the White River Wonderland Christmas Lights Display. With the excitement of an added ferris wheel attraction, made possible by Crystal Johnson and her team at the Chamber of Commerce, the public turned out in huge numbers to view the largest “free” Christmas light display in Arkansas. Johnathon Abbott and his crew always go above and beyond designing and hosting this spectacular event for our community and visitors. Over 64,000 vehicles, from all over Arkansas, drove through the lights display while countless others gave up waiting in line, parked and walked through the lights enjoying both the lights and the parkwide Christmas music. We estimated over a quarter of a million people viewed the 2020 White River Wonderland Christmas Lights Display. I am sure for most visitors; this Christmas season was definitely “one to be remembered”! Our Community came together putting the troubles of the year aside as the twinkling lights and Christmas music reminded each of us of the reason for the season. Looking back at 2020, the city faced unprecedented challenges and I cannot over emphasize the dedication of city employees in meeting these challenges. Whether it is repairing a broken water line in the middle of the night in dangerously cold temperatures, picking up the trash during inclement weather, or clearing the streets after a snowfall, these men and women are always ready to tackle whatever job is at hand and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. Personally, I owe a special debt of gratitude to every member of the city council. Each one of them bring a unique perspective to the table, but more importantly, they bring with them the willingness to be team player and a commitment to continue moving Batesville forward. To each of you, I say a heartfelt “thank you” for providing me with a council whose only desire is to put the best interests of our community and all our citizens first. Turning now to Batesville’s future, I am reminded of her past. Though Batesville was settled in 1812, it was not platted into lots and th streets as a town until 1821. 2021 brings our 200 year anniversary as a city and various activities will occur throughout this year. I hope you enjoy the celebrations and take the time to learn more about the history of Batesville, the oldest, continually inhabited city in Arkansas! Arkansans continue to admire the progress of the city of Batesville over the last decade. City leaders from all over Arkansas come to see first hand our accomplishments and to learn insights into how our community came together to accomplish so many different things. Many include the success of the Downtown Historic District revitalization, the Community and Aquatics Center, and our unique approach the city took with the Advertising & Promotions Commission. These leaders take our accomplishments and stories of success hoping to apply them to their own communities. Mountain Home is just one example of the cities whose leadership visited Batesville last year. Recently, they successfully passed a sales tax to build a community and aquatics facility to rival our own. We have made monumental strides in creating a community where people want to live, work and rear their families but our work is never done. Building on the recommendations of the Impact Independence Strategic Plan, we will continue exploring new ways to achieve the goals set forth in the plan. Of utmost importance is the desire of our community to see Riverside Park become much more than it is today. The Impact Plan envisions a more diverse park with new additions that will draw people to our community. Turning your attention to economic development, the 2008 County Economic Development Tax was not renewed by voters in 2013 leaving our community without a funded economic development program. When our community gets an opportunity to compete for a new factory the question “What incentives can you offer my company?” is always the first question asked. Without a funded economic development program, it is extremely difficult for our community to compete for new jobs. Today, I am announcing that the City of Batesville will move forward with the creation of the City of Batesville Economic Development Program in partnership with the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce. I am calling on our community to join with us as we develop and build this program. It is my hope that our community will begin to fully appreciate the value of having a well-funded economic development program. Recently, our inability to successfully compete for the Emerson Electric Plant that announced it would locate in Ash Flat, Arkansas reminded us of the importance of being able to offer companies incentives to bring new jobs to Batesville. We have always learned from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission that it is critical to always have “skin in the game” or opportunities, like the Emmerson project, would likely pass us by. Batesville continues to have a bright future because of the determination of our citizens to create the kind of city they can be proud of and the kind of community their children and grandchildren will want to come home to. It is my hope that our citizens will continue moving Batesville forward with the same dedication and determination that has proven successful over the last 14 years. May God bless our country during this unprecedented pandemic and may he continue to bless the City of Batesville, Independence County and the citizens of our community in the days to come. Mayor Elumbaugh declared a vacancy in council Ward 3, Position 2, after the resignation of Mr. Pete Musgrave. The Mayor asked anyone interested in applying for the position to contact City Hall. Mayor Elumbaugh also announced that the next scheduled meeting will be May th 11. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Matthews mentioned that the Airport is hosting a breakfast this coming Saturday for the community. Dr. Matthews invited the council to attend and tour the updated facility. Councilmember Krug thanked Tracy Wallis for his help in removing the stored tires from Gillihan’s this past week. Mr. Krug said he hoped the removal of the tires will help with mosquito problems in the downtown area. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Hubbard moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and all voted for. The meeting was adjourned at 6:03 pm. _______________________________ Rick Elumbaugh, Mayor _________________________________ Denise M. Johnston, City Clerk