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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-02-08 MINUTES OF COUNCIL FEBRUARY 8, 2022 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on February 8th, 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, Tommy Bryant, Scott Fredricks, Julie Hinkle, Paige Hubbard, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, and Chris Poole. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. Councilmember Hubbard 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 Bennett 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. Chief Cockrill reported accidents down for January at 41 and 40 incidents and 15 arrests. He reported he has one officer currently at the police academy and has one vacancy. B) ENGINEER’S REPORT City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council with his monthly report. Mr. Johnson bragged on the street department for their quick response to last weeks snow and ice. Contract Section III continues to be ahead of schedule with approximately 100 feet of main line to lay. They are currently working on the bore under Hwy 167 and have encountered several problems. He said they are looking at options to help with the process. The Water Treatment Plant pre plant design is complete and the detail design will begin and probably take about 2 years to complete. A rate study will also be preformed this year. A water line replacement in under way on Broad street starting behind McDonald’s and running the all the way to the West end of Broad. The replacement will be slow because of the lack of man power. C) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ALLOWING MAYOR ELUMBAUGH TO ACCEPT GRANT MONIES FROM THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION FOR AN ACCESS ROAD TO THE INDUSTRIAL PARK Councilmember Fredricks introduced a resolution authorizing the Mayor to accept grant monies from the Economic Development Administration for an access road to the Industrial Park. Councilmember Fredricks moved to read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bennett seconded and all voted for and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Hinkle moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Bennett seconded. The roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2022-02-01-R. D) CHAMBER CEO CRYSTAL JOHNSON AND MAYOR ELUMBAUGH TO GIVE AN ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORT AND UPDATE FROM POULTRY MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS Ms. Crystal Johnson addressed the council and shared a report detailing the economic impact from the poultry plants for the City of Batesville and Independence County. Mayor Elumbaugh said he has met in the past and has meetings scheduled in the next couple of weeks, with the CEO’s from both poultry plants in Batesville to address the odors coming from the plants. Peco, in a letter, said over the past 15 years they have spent upwards of 7.5 million dollars to help with the order problems. There are no laws, state or federal, regarding odor so it makes it difficult for cities to control the odor problem. Mayor Elumbaugh said our poultry industry is vital for our community but so is the quality of life. He said his meetings with the plant leaders have been positive and he hopes that a reasonable solution will happen. E) DISCUSSION OF AMENDMENTS TO NOISE ORDINANCE Mayor Elumbaugh asked Police Chief Alan Cockrill, City Engineer Damon Johnson and Code Enforcement Officer Chad McClure to come and address the council regarding the proposed ordinance to amend our current noise ordinance. Chief Cockrill said our current ordinance only addresses loud reverberation coming from vehicle sound systems and is almost impossible to enforce. The Chief said in order to charge someone with a misdemeanor for breaking a city ordinance, the officer has to see or hear the offence or a person who saw or heard the offence can swear in an affidavit to offence. Chief Cockrill said most people will call and complain but will refuse to file an official complaint. The Chief said the proposed ordinance would be very difficult to enforce. Code Enforcement Officer concurred with Chief Cockrill and added that sound is subjective which makes it even harder to enforce. City Engineer Damon Johnson said even though the proposed ordinance is not specific to construction, the complaint that started this process is about a specific construction site. Mr. Johnson said construction sites come and go and he feels like the ordinance is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. He also said if Batesville wants to be “pro-business”, then we don’t need to over mandate proposed businesses. Councilmember Bennett asked where does the enforcement begin and end. She said construction going on behind her house for the City’s large sewer line replacement is very noisy with the heavy equipment and the trains that pass behind her house are also very noisy. Will those issues be addressed in this ordinance? Councilmember Fredricks agreed with Mr. McClure and said the proposed ordinance before them was very subjective, however, he said what he proposed was very objective and spelled out hours of operation for construction sites among other things. Mr. Fredricks said the construction crew that is constructing the new car wash on Harrison Street has on more than one occasion worked well into the early morning hours. He said the people who live on Peggy Street have been tormented for the last six months and probably will be for several more months before the project is complete. After more comments, Councilmember Fredricks introduced an ordinance to prohibit noise that injures or endangers the comfort, repose, and peace to the citizens of Batesville. Councilmember Bryant moved to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the roll call count was 2 (Bryant and Fredricks) for and 6 against. The motion failed. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance in full. Councilmember Fredricks moved to suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and the roll call count was 1 (Fredricks) for and 7 against. The motion failed. Mayor Elumbaugh said the ordinance will be placed on the next meetings agenda for the second reading. F) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE FOR THE APPROVAL OF AN APPLICATION FOR PRIVATE CLUB PERMIT TO CLUB LAS CATRINAS OF BATESVILLE Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance for the approval of a private club permit for Club Las Catrinas in Batesville. Councilmember Bryant moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Bennett seconded and the roll call vote was 8 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Bennett moved to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Bennett seconded. The roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2022-02-01. Mr. Meitzen read the emergency clause. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the emergency clause and Councilmember Poole seconded. The roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. G) UPDATE FROM JOHNATHAN ABBOTT ON WHITE RIVER WONDERLAND Cemetery/Landscape Supervisor as well as the City’s White River Wonderland Design Coordinator, addressed the council with an update on the 2021 season. Mr. Abbott commended his crew as well as other departments within the city for all their work in making the Wonderland a great success. Like other departments, his crew worked shorthanded due to COVID sickness and quarantines, but those who were able put in the extra time for the event. Mr. Abbott reported $12,100 in new sponsorships which purchased 12 new displays. Also, the addition of a new 14X28 Bald Eagle Barn that was transformed into a concession stand. Approximately 50,000 cars went through the park. 5,368 train rides and 5,785 carriage rides took place. Mr. Abbott also announced that the White River Wonderland is a finalist in the Tourism Attraction of the Year Award. Award winners will be announced at the Excellence in Arkansas Tourism th Awards Ceremony at the 48 annual Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism on st March 1. H) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the January, 2022 paid bills report for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh asked for the council’s approval to allow the new Sanitation Supervisor, Jason Jones, to drive a city vehicle home on a daily basis. Councilmember Fredricks so moved. Councilmember Bennett seconded and all voted for. The Mayor said he would like to schedule a second council meeting for February nd on the 22. Councilmember Bennett so moved and Councilmember Fredricks seconded. All voted for. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS None ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bennett moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and all voted for. The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 pm. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK