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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-04-12 MINUTES OF COUNCIL APRIL 12, 2022 th The Batesville City Council met in regular session on April 12, 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 and Doug Matthews. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. Councilmember Chris Poole was absent. Councilmember Hinkle moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Bennett seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Hinkle moved to approve the prepared agenda and Councilmember Hubbard seconded. All voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS During citizens comments, a local minister and downtown business owner expressed his displeasure over Gay Pride activities that occur downtown and said that last year’s event hurt his business. Another business owner spoke and said her numbers doubled during the Gay Pride activities but she said the activities are not about revenues for businesses. Theological remarks were made for both sides of the issue. After two more citizens remarks, Mayor Elumbaugh cut off further comments on the subject, which had little to do with city business. UNFINISHED BUSINESS NONE NEW BUSINESS A) POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT Police Chief Alan Cockrill addressed the council with his monthly report. Chief Cockrill pointed out from his report that there were 52 accidents for the month on March. He said the elevation of accidents is not due from speeding but from careless driving, primarily from cell phone usage. The chief said his department will be cracking down on cell phone usage while driving and will have unmarked cars out on patrol. The Chief also announced that one of his valuable officers, Jordan Akins has submitted his resignation to start his own business. He has one officer graduating from the academy this week, one officer still deployed and three vacancies. B) ENGINEER’S REPORT City Engineer, Damon Johnson, addressed the council with his monthly report. Contract Section III is still progressing and hopes to have the bores completed within the next four to six weeks. The WTP improvement plans are moving forward. Mr. Johnson said he is seeking funding from the Arkansas National Resources Commission to take advantage of their exceptional interest rates. Street Department is doing street maintenance as usual and still running with a short crew. Construction department is working as much as possible on the water line replacement on Broad Street while they also work on water leaks and other issues. They are also working with a short crew. Mr. Johnson added that they city is having a problem with class 4, junk, pickups. The city offer’s free class 4 pick up for our citizens and has for many years. The service is meant for random items to be picked up. The problem now is people are completely remodeling the inside of a house and putting all the waste to the curb for class 4 pickup. This includes sheetrock, lumber from old cabinets, appliances, bathroom fixtures and other construction materials. The city has to pay to dispose of these items and the cost is increasing every year. Mr. Johnson said he has visited with the Mayor about possibly purchasing roll-off containers for projects with a large amount of waste. With a roll-off, the citizen/contractor would pay a tipping fee for the contents in the roll-off. The Mayor asked Mr. Johnson to check with other communities to see how they dispose of construction waste. C) MAIN STREET BATESVILLE UPDATE AND INTRODUCTION OF NEW DIRECTOR Mr. Bob Carius, President of Main Street Batesville Board of Directors, addressed the council and introduced Ms. Maggie Tipton Smart as the new Main Street Director. Ms. Smart said she was excited to get to work in her new position. She said she has been visiting all the businesses on Main Street and looking forward to meeting with the Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Smart said she is excited about the future and has plans to bring the businesses and the Chamber together for a common goal to promote the City of Batesville. D) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE FOR THE APPROVAL OF AN APPLICATION FOR PRIVATE CLUBE PERMIT FOR SMILEY’S HOUSE Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance for the approval of an application for a private club permit. Mrs. Trisha Cargill-Zelasko, owner of the property and Mr. Chris Kent, owner of Smiley’s House, addressed the council asking for the adoption of the proposed ordinance. Councilmember Bennett moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 1 (Krug) abstained. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Fredricks moved to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Bryant seconded. The electronic roll call count was 6 for and 1 (Krug) abstained. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 1 (Krug) abstained. The ordinance was given #2022-04-01. Mr. Meitzen read the emergency clause. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the emergency clause. Councilmember Bennett seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 1 (Krug) abstained. E) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR A CHRISTMAS CASTLE Mr. Johnathan Abbott addressed the council regarding the purchase of a Christmas Castle to add to the City’s Winter Wonderland display. Mr. Abbott explained that the castle is a one-of-a-kind display and can only be purchased from Artistic Holiday Designs. The cost is approximately $75,400.00. Mr. Abbott asked to borrow the monies from the Utility Department and pay it back from the Christmas proceeds over the next 3 to 5 years. Councilmember Bryant introduced the ordinance to waive competitive bidding for the Christmas Castle display. Councilmember Bennett moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the electronic roll call 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 Bennett seconded and the electronic roll call count was 7 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Bennett seconded. The electronic roll call count was 7 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2022-04-02. Mr. Meitzen read the emergency clause. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the emergency clause. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the electronic roll call count was 7 for and 0 against. F) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the March, 2022 paid bills report. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh invited everyone to the ribbon cutting for the new West th Batesville Splash Pad on May 5 at 2:00 pm. th The Mayor asked to change the next council meeting to May 17. Councilmember Matthews so moved. Councilmember Bennett seconded and all voted for. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Bryant said he attended a session at the Municipal League on the April 8, 2024 total eclipse. Batesville is a prime location to view the eclipse and we, the city, need to be planning for the influx of people that are expected to come to Batesville and the State of Arkansas. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bennett moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. The meeting was adjourned at 6:22 pm. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK