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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-02-11 MINUTES OF COUNCIL FEBRUARY 11, 2014 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on February 11, at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building. Mayor Elumbaugh called the meeting to order. Utility Office Manager Nick Baxter gave the invocation. Upon roll call, the following council answered present; Tommy Bryant, Margarett Henley, Paige Hubbard, Douglas Matthews, and Chris Poole. Also present were the City Clerk and the City Attorney. Councilmember's Krug, Shetron and Insell were absent. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Poole seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Poole seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) MR. BOB CARIUS WITH A MAIN STREET BATESVILLE UPDATE Mr. Bob Carius with Main Street Batesville addressed the council with a brief update on the progress of revitalizing the Main Street program. Mr. Carius said they had several meetings in the past couple of weeks and had a number of good recommendations. He said they had recognized 18 different groups that are interested in the success of Main Street, such as, industrial, small business, banks, etc. Mr. Carius said they are going to form an advisory panel to help comprise a Master Plan for downtown. He said he has had a few volunteer already and wished to have the presence of the council on the panel as well. Councilmembers Matthews, Henley and Bryant volunteered to serve on the panel. Mr. Carius said they hoped to have the Master Plan within a few weeks. B) SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT MONTHLY REPORT Chief Deputy Alan Cockrill addressed the council with the department's monthly report. Chief Cockrill pointed out the increase in accidents due to the icy road conditions. Chief Cockrill then introduced to the council Sir Edward, a dual purpose (Patrol/Narcotic Detection) imported German Shepherd dog. The Chief said the Sheriff's Department has been without a dog for a little over 4 months now. He said the dog is multipurpose for narcotic's, will bite on command and do search and rescue. The Chief said the presence of a police dog is a deterrent for bringing drugs onto public property. If the dog alerts to the presence of drugs, according to the Supreme Court, that gives the officer authority to search the property. He said with all the new parks and community center being constructed, the presence of a police dog would be a great deterrent for illegal behavior. The dog is $9,000.00 plus the cost of training Chief Cockrill to work with the dog. Mayor Elumbaugh said there were enough funds in the Alcohol Fund to purchase the dog. Councilmember Bryant moved to purchase the dog with funds from the Alcohol tax and Councilmember Matthews seconded. All voted for. C) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO APPLY FOR THE GIF FUNDED COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT GRANT Parks Director Jeff Owens and Chamber CEO Crystal Johnson addressed the council regarding a resolution to apply for a GIF Grant. Ms. Johnson said the funds, $50,000.00, will be used to purchase Aquatics based play structures for the new Aquatics Park. Councilmember Bryant introduced the resolution. Mr. Castleberry read the resolution in full. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Bryant seconded. The roll call count was 5 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2014-02-01-R. Mr. Owens said he was pleased to announce that Batesville will be hosting its first tournament on the new fields at the North Complex the first weekend in May. He said as of this afternoon, 84 teams had registered to enter the tournament. That is a phenomenal number of teams and will make a great economic development impact on our community. D) ENGINEER'S REPORT City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council with his Engineer's Report. He said he didn't have much to report. The recent bout of ice and snow has kept our street crews busy clearing streets and the utility construction crew repairing frozen and busted water lines. Mr. Johnson bragged on the employees saying he doesn't have to call them, they just show up. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh asked for out of state approval to attend the National League of Cities meeting in March in Washington, DC. Councilmember Matthews moved to grant the out of state travel and Councilmember Bryant seconded. All voted for. The Mayor read a letter from Councilmember Davy Insell stating he was having to resign his position on the council due to moving outside of his Ward. Mr. Insell thanked the people for electing him to represent them and his fellow councilmembers with whom he served with. The Mayor said Mr. Insell's resignation creates a vacancy in Ward 4, Position 1. He encouraged any interested in the position to send a resume to City Hall. The position will be filled at the next council meeting. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Hubbard said she too had to resign her position on the council due to moving outside of her Ward. She also thanked her fellow Councilmembers and the public for allowing her to serve as their Councilmember. The Mayor said Ms. Hubbard's resignation creates a vacancy in Ward 3, Position #2. Again he encouraged anyone interested in the position to send a resume to City Hall. Ms. Hubbard's position will also be filled at the next council meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Matthews moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK