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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-05-11 MINUTES FROM COUNCIL MAY 11, 2021 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on May 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, Doug Matthews and Chris Poole. Also present were City Attorney Tim Meitzen and Admin. Assistant Jennifer Corter. City Clerk Denise Johnston was absent. Councilmember Hinkle moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Poole seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Fredricks moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS Ms. Jennifer Floyd and Mr. Red Davis addressed the council with concerns over the state of the Adler building which is adjacent to their business. The longer the delay in starting repairs to the Adler side, the more damage it is causing to their side of their building. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) RECOGNITION OF THE EAGLE MTN. ELEMENTARY ARCHERY TEAM Mayor Elumbaugh recognized 29 members of the Eagle Mtn. Elementary Archery team, along with coaches Jody Tosh, Kandy Tosh and Teighlor Warner, for an outstanding year and for being State Archery Tournament Champions. B) POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT Police Chief Alan Cockrill addressed the council with his monthly report. The Chief reported that accidents were down this month. Chief Cockrill said he has two officers in the training academy. He also commended recent graduate David Rowe for receiving outstanding cadet honors and a 96.18 GPA while attending the training academy. Chief Cockrill noted that several pages of non-working streetlights were turned in to Entergy for repair. Chief Cockrill and Sheriff Stephens have visited regarding taking prisoners to jail and there has only been two incidents since the last meeting and Sheriff Stephens was able to take both in the jail. C) ENGINEER’S REPORT City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council with his monthly report. Mr. Johnson reported that the sewer line project is beginning to make progress. He said work is being done to resolve permit issues with the railroad. Movement in the park will start soon. Both plants are running well. Weekly meetings are being held to discuss upgrades to the water treatment plant. Street department was unable to remove the dock before flood waters got too high so it will need some repair. Mr. Johnson also said that a new ordinance is in the works to set new rules and guidelines for contractors who will be excavating city streets and right-of-ways. D) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE BATESVILLE ZONING DISTRICT MAP Code Enforcement Officer Chad McClure and Mr. Gilbert Lopez came before the council to discuss a supplemental zoning change to allow a planned unit development on a one-acre tract of land located on Dry Kiln. This request has already had a public hearing and gone before the Planning Commission and has been recommended to the Council for final approval. Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance to amend Batesville Zoning District Map. Councilmember Hinkle moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the voice vote count was 7 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 Hubbard seconded and the voice vote count was 7 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Fredricks seconded. The roll call count was 7 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2021-05-01. E) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO APPLY FOR A GRANT FROM THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION ON BEHALF OF THE BATESVILLE AIRPORT Councilmember Matthews introduced a resolution approving a resolution authorizing the Mayor to apply for a Federal Aviation Administration grant on behalf of the Batesville Airport. Councilmember Bryant made a motion to suspend the rules and read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the voice vote was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Fredricks moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Bryant seconded. The roll call was 7 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2021-05-02-R. F) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE REGARDING THE REGULATION OF THE EXCAVATION OF STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAYS IN THE CITY OF BATESVILLE This ordinance was moved to the next meeting to allow more time for review. G) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION TO EXPRESS THE WILLINGNESS OF THE CITY OF BATESVILLE TO UTILIZE FEDERAL AID MONEYS TO CONSTRUCT THE MAIN STREET PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. Councilmember Krug introduced a resolution authorizing the Mayor to apply for federal moneys to be used for a Main Street pedestrian improvement project. Councilmember Bryant made a motion to suspend the rules and read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the voice vote was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Bryant seconded. The roll call was 7 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2021-05-01-R. H) MS. CRYSTAL JOHNSON, CEO OF THE BATESVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, WITH A REQUEST TO FILL A VACANT POSITION ON THE A&P COMMISSION. Ms. Crystal Johnson said the A&P Commission has recommended appointing Ms. April Strain Polston from the Hampton Inn as a replacement for Ms. Taylor Jones who was a representative of Ramada Inn. Ms. Polston has many years of experience in the hospitality industry and will be a great asset to the commission. Councilmember Fredricks made a motion to appoint Ms. Polston to the vacant position on the A&P Commission and Councilmember Krug seconded. All voted for. Ms. Polston’s term will expire January 24, 2023 I) MS. CRYSTAL JOHNSON TO PRESENT THE CHAMBER’S PROPOSAL TO OPERATE AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR THE CITY OF BATESVILLE The City recently issued a Request for Qualification to operate an Economic Development program. Ms. Johnson was joined by Chamber Chief Operating Officer, Jamie Rayford and Chris Hill and presented a plan and what the future might look like if the Chamber is awarded the contract to operate the program. Ms. Johnson introduced the team and discussed the education and experience that would be brought to the program. They talked about the programs that are already in place and what they have been doing over the last few years and the path that they plan to continue on. J) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT WITH THE BATESVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Councilmember Bryant introduced a resolution to enter into an Economic Development Contract with the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce. Councilmember Fredricks made a motion to read suspend the rules and read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and the voice vote was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Fredricks seconded. The roll call was 7 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2021-05-03-R. K) EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Fredricks made a motion to go in to executive session and Councilmember Hubbard seconded and all voted for. Upon return from executive session, Councilmember Bryant made a motion to appoint Ms. Brittany Bennett to the vacant position in Ward 3 Position 2. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the voice vote was 7 for and 0 against. This position was made vacant with the resignation of Mr. Pete Musgrave back in March. Ms. Bennett’s term will expire December 31, 2022. L) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the April, 2021 paid bills report for review. MAYOR COMMENTS th Mayor Elumbaugh said the next meeting will be June 8. He also noted that school is almost out for the summer and asked everyone to watch out for kids playing, walking and riding bikes in the neighborhoods and on the walking trails. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Bryant said that concerning the Planning Commission, one thing we are faced with is a shortage of affordable housing and also available housing. We need to look at more areas for multifamily housing. Mr. Bryant made a motion to have the Mayor contact the Planning Commission and look at increasing the R2 designation in our community to allow for more multifamily housing, starting in the area of Bates and Broad Streets. Councilmember Krug seconded and the voice vote was all in favor. Councilmember Bryant said his second issue was in the administration of justice in this community. Over the last several months the City and County have been at odds over District Court. It has always been the City’s position that since the County operates the court and the employees are governed by county policies, that District Court is the County’s. Having said that we are all in the same community and the City of Batesville stands ready to help with things like jail and District Court cost. After much pleading to have meetings to work out the problems and there has been no agreement to meet. Presently, County Judge Griffin is presenting a proposed ordinance to the Quorum Court that will essentially defund the District Court and render it unable to operate by only paying one half of the District Court Judge’s salary and one half of the Chief Clerk’s salary. The County is charged with the operation of a system administration of justice. This is the primary reasons for the existence of a county. Mr. Bryant said this is reckless on the County’s part. Councilmember Bryant made a motion that the city once again offer to meet with the County, either with partial court or the full Quorum court, to work these problems out and come to a resolution. Councilmember Krug seconded the motion, and the voice vote was all in favor. Councilmember Fredricks said he had a concerned citizen that had contacted him regarding a noise ordinance on loud mufflers. The issue will be looked into further. Councilmember Hinkle said she missed the previous meeting and wanted to follow up on a complaint from Mr. Lynn Melton. Mayor Elumbaugh said both Chief Cockrill and Code Enforcement Officer Chad McClure have been addressing Mr. Melton’s concerns regarding unsightly property. nd Councilmember Krug announced that on June 2 from 4:00-6:30 p.m. COVID-19 vaccinations will be offered at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church next door. This would be a one dose vaccine and was open to the public. Councilmember Pool reported on a recent Public Safety Committee meeting where the Batesville Police Department addressed concerns regarding the inability of getting prisoners incarcerated in the county jail. Chief Cockrill had made a verbal agreement with Sharp County Sheriff Mark Counts to house prisoners and the Safety Committee gave Chief Cockrill permission to do so. Mr. Pool said he put this in the form of a motion to authorize this agreement and take prisoners to the Sharp County Jail if the need arises. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the voice vote was all in favor. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bryant moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and all voted for. The meeting was adjourned at 7:03 pm. _______________________________ Rick Elumbaugh, Mayor _________________________________ Jennifer Corter, Admin Assistant