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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-10-26 MINUTES OF COUNCIL OCTOBER 26, 201 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on October 26, at 5:30 P.M. in the Municipal Building. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh called the meeting to order. Water Utility Billing Supervisor Nick Baxter gave the invocation. Upon roll call, the following Councilmembers answered present; Chris Beller, Tommy Bryant, Margarett Henley, Paige Hubbard, Doug Matthews, Chris Poole and David Shetron. Also present were the City Attorney Tim Meitzen and City Clerk Denise Johnston. Councilmember Sonya Crafton was absent. Councilmember Beller moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda and Councilmember Hubbard seconded. All voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) MR. SHANE WOOD TO PRESENT AED'S FOR THE BASEBALL, SOFTBALL AND SOCCER FIELDS Mr. Shane Wood addressed the council by saying he was not here to ask for anything but to give something. Mr. Wood introduced Ms. Reagan Sweet and Mr. Max Rucker, both of whom within the past year, collapsed during practices in their individual sports. Mr. Rucker was resuscitated using an AED. Mr. Wood said that he and these kids started thinking of what they could do to insure the kids in our community, when playing sports, would have an AED at their disposal. They took it upon themselves to talk with local businesses and individuals and raised enough money to purchase 5 new AED's. They presented the City with 3 AED's to be placed at our Terry Sims Diamond Sports Complex and Soccer fields. The other two will be at the Batesville High School and will also travel with the sports team to out of town events. The city gratefully accepted the devices and thanked the group for their work and concern for our community. B) MS. AMELIA BOWMAN WITH AN UPDATE FROM OLD INDEPENDENCE REGIONAL MUSEUM Ms. Amelia Bowman addressed the council with an update from the Old Independence Regional Museum. Ms. Bowman said in 2014, the museum had approximately 6,500 visitors and is on the same track this year with over 4,000 to date. They have had 21 school trips tour the museum this year from schools all across the state. The museum logged over 5,500 volunteer hours last year and over 4,000 hours in 2015. Ms. Bowman said even though it is two years away, the museum is pleased to announce in December, 2017, they will have a display from the Smithsonian Museum called Hometown Teams. She is hoping to have several sports tournaments, from the 12 county area, scheduled here during the 6 week display. Ms. Bowman concluded with thanking the city for the past and continued support of the museum. C) LEVY OF THE 2015 REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES The Mayor presented the council with the certificate to levy real and personal property for 2015, payable in 2016. He said the rate is the same, City General 5 Mills and Firemen's Pension .4 Mills. Councilmember Beller moved to levy the taxes as presented and Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. D) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR THE PURCHASE OF WEAPONS AND ACCESSORIES FOR THE BATESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENTS Councilmember Beller introduced an ordinance to waive competitive bidding for the purchase of 23 patrol rifles for the Batesville Police Department. Police Chief Cockrill said DSG is the only provider able to meet the city's specifications and the time schedule to receive the weapons, if ordered today, will be March or April, 2016. Councilmember Bryant moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Beller seconded and the roll call count was 7 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Bryant further moved to suspend the second and third readings. Councilmember Henley seconded and the roll call count was 7 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Beller seconded. The roll call count was 7 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2015-10-01. Mr. Meitzen read the emergency clause. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt and Councilmember Henley seconded. The roll call count was 7 for and 0 against. E) EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Bryant moved to go into executive session. Councilmember Henley seconded and all voted for. Upon returning from executive session, Councilmember Beller moved to re-appoint Mr. Charles Barnett to the Airport Commission. Councilmember Henley seconded and all voted for. Mr. Barnett's term will expire November 9, 2020. Councilmember Bryant moved to appoint Mr. Carter Ford to the Batesville Planning Commission to replace Mr. Michael Ennis who recently resigned. Councilmember Matthews seconded and all voted for. Mr. Ford's term will expire June 10, 2017. F) REVIEW PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the September 2015 paid bills report for review. G) POWERPOINT PRESENTATION FROM MAYOR ELUMBAUGH ON HIS TRIP TO WEST AFRICA Mayor Elumbaugh gave a PowerPoint presentation on his recent trip to West Africa. The Mayor met with several dignitaries with whom they discussed trade relations with the United States, specifically rice, infrastructure and other issues pertaining to both regions. He said the trip, which was paid by the AML, was very beneficial and informative. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh said he will be attending the National League of Cities meeting in Nashville the first week of November. He said even though the league is paying for his expenses, he would still like the council's approval for out of state travel. Councilmember Shetron moved to approve the out of state travel for the Mayor. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. The Mayor said he met with a couple of members of the Library Board regarding the possibility of moving the library to the Barnett building. He said the board is wanting a proposal from the City. The Mayor asked Councilmember Poole to work with Main Street Batesville to come up with a reasonable offer to the Library Board. Mayor Elumbaugh asked the council to keep Mr. John Ellis and family in their thoughts and prayers. Mr. Ellis' son was killed in an automobile accident. Also the Author Montgomery family regarding the loss of his wife Linda and the Jim Cargill family who is currently in intensive care. The Mayor also asked the council for approval to pay a repair bill to Mr. Mark McCollum who repaired a vehicle for the construction department. The actual bill was $5,382.00 which is $382.00 over the allowable amount to be paid at one time to a city employee. The Mayor said the work has been completed and saved the city hundreds of dollars. Councilmember Bryant moved to pay the $382.00 and councilmember Beller seconded. All voted for. LIAISON REPORTS Councilmember Poole said the law enforcement committee met last week regarding the running of the 911 and dispatch operations. The agreement between the City and the County regarding dispatch was assumably made void when the city opted out of the interlocal agreement with the county regarding law enforcement. At that time, after a meeting with the county, the two entities agreed to leave dispatch as is until the end of the year. At last week's meeting, Mr. Poole said a motion was made by a county member of the law enforcement committee for the county to work in the direction of taking over dispatch. Mayor Elumbaugh spoke at the meeting saying all aspects need to be looked at and whatever is best for the citizens of Independence County is what needs to happen. Mr. Poole said the Sheriff was absent from the meeting and according to the County Judge, the Sheriff has to approve any action regarding dispatch. The County Judge asked for both entities to work on proposals for running dispatch and come back to the table for more discussions. COUNCIL COMMENTS None ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bryant moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK