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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-19 MINUTES OF COUNCIL JULY 19, 2011 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on July 19, 2011 at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building. Mayor Elumbaugh called the meeting to order. Councilmember Matthews gave the invocation. The following members were present: Tommy Bryant, Margarett Henley, Paige Hubbard, Davy Insell, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, Chris Poole and David Shetron. City Clerk Denise Johnston and City Attorney Lindsey Castleberry were also present. Councilmember Matthews moved to approve the minutes for the previous two meetings. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Insell seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) RECOGNIZE MR. RONNIE HAMPTON FOR HIS YEARS OF SERVICE ON THE BATESVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION Mayor Elumbaugh presented Mr. Ronnie Hampton with a plaque for his ten years of service on the Batesville Planning Commission. Mr. Hampton thanked the Mayor for the opportunity to serve the city and encouraged other citizens to be active in our community. B) RECOGNIZE MS. CHELSEA WILLIS FOR THE GOLD MEDAL WINS IN THE ATHENS, GREECE SPECIAL OLYMPICS Mayor Elumbaugh presented Ms. Chelsea Willis with a Key to the City and Certificate of Accomplishment. Ms. Willis won two gold medals for the 400 and 800 meter races in Athens, Greece with the Special Olympics. C) RECOGNIZE THE BATESVILLE SMASHERS AND SCRAPPERS BASEBALL TEAMS FOR THEIR RECENT TOURNAMENT VICTORIES Mayor Elumbaugh gave certificates to the players and coaches of the Batesville Smashers and Batesville Scrappers Baseball Teams. The Batesville Smashers recently won the 2011 United States Specialty Sports Association 8AA World Series Champions. The Batesville Scrappers are the 2011 Cal Ripken North Arkansas State Champions and have held the title for the past 5 years in a row. The Mayor also recognized Mr. Vince Jarrett for his recent work at the Fitzhugh Ballpark. Mr. Jarrett, along with other citizens, purchased sod and leveled the ball fields and planted the sod. D) SHERIFF'S REPORT, SHERIFF STEVE JEFFERY Sheriff Steve Jeffery addressed the council with his monthly report. Sheriff Jeffery said since he was last before the council, they have opened the Westside Substation, started a river patrol with a boat donated by the Game and Fish Commission, certified ten new reserve officers and was working on constructing a firing range behind the jail in order to train and certify officers in firearms. The sheriff also talked briefly about a tip that the Sheriff's Department received earlier in the day that led to the arrest of three men who were planning on robbing a local bank. E) DISTRICT JUDGE CHANEY TAYLOR REGARDING DWI COURT AND ALCOHOL TAX District Judge Chaney Taylor and Probation Officer Warren Wade addressed the council regarding the county DWI Court and the possibility of passing an alcohol tax to help fund the court. Judge Taylor gave a power point presentation showing statistical information for DWI and Drug Courts. Currently the court is being funded through grants that will run out in the near future. Officer Wade asked the council to consider passing an alcohol tax to help fund the courts. Mayor Elumbaugh said the City had been considering passing such a tax and read some statics from the City of Jonesboro regarding their recent increase of their alcohol tax from 3% to 5%. F) FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT, CHIEF BRENT GLEGHORN Fire Chief Brent Gleghorn addressed the council with his quarterly department report. The Chief also said his department was having a fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy on August 20th at 9:00 AM at Riverside Park. The event will be teams that consist of 10 members each and each team will compete in fastest time in pulling a 74,000 lbs fire truck 10 feet. The Chief challenged the council to form a team and help in the fundraising efforts. The Chief also presented the Mayor with a pink t-shirt for him to wear during the month of October. October is breast cancer awareness month and with each t-shirt sold, $1.00 goes to the Susan G. Koman "For the Cure" fund. G) SAFETY OFFICER CHRIS CASH REGARDING THE CITY'S DRUG POLICY Safety Officer Chris Cash addressed the council regarding proposed changes to the City's Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace Policy. Mr. Cash said because of new state and federal guidelines, the City's policy needed updating. Mr. Cash discussed the changes and told the council that a resolution will be ready at the next meeting to adopt the new policy. H) ENGINEER'S REPORT, CITY ENGINEER DAMON JOHNSON City Engineer Damon addressed the council with his engineer's report. Mr. Johnson said everything is running as usual throughout the city. He said there is a pre-construction meeting for the phase 2 of the Wastewater Improvements scheduled for July 26th. He said he hoped to have all the contracts signed and ANRC's approval by that time. Once all is signed and approved, construction should start quickly. 1) DISCUSS AN ORDINANCE TO ALLOW THE CITY TO CONDUCT BUSINESS WITH CITY EMPLOYEES The council was given a draft copy of an ordinance to allow the city to conduct business with city employees and their business associates. After a discussion, the council agreed to a $10,000.00 cap per occurrence for contracts with city employees. The council stressed that the city obtains bids/estimates for such expenditures and sometimes employees or their business associates are the low bidder. One example is a current employee who does vehicle body work at night and on weekends. The ordinance will also allow the council to approve at a council meeting by majority vote for a contract that would exceed the $10,000.00 cap. Mr. Castleberry said he would have an ordinance ready for consideration at the next meeting. J) REVIEW OF THE PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the paid bills report for June, 2011. K) REVIEW OF THE JUNE, 2011 FINANCIALS The council was given a copy of the June 30, 2011 financials for review. MAYOR COMMENTS The Mayor informed the council about two items that were sold on GovDeals and deleted from the city's fixed assets. A 1986 Chevy S-10 Pickup, Landscape Unit#302 sold for $420.00 and a 1999 Ford Taurus Station Wagon, Utility Administration Unit# 26, sold for $2,510.00 The council discussed whether to continue the process of updating our residential sanitation fleet by trading in the two 2010 Freightliners for new trucks or buying them to keep for a couple of years then upgrade. After a discussion, the council agreed to continue the lease program and get two new trucks. The Clerk explained that the current lease is up this month and it will probably take 3 or 4 months to go through the bid process and have new trucks delivered. The council instructed her to call the leasing company to see what our options are. The council would like to continue making the monthly payments until the new trucks are delivered and reduce the residual buy back by the amount of payments made. The Mayor told the council that he, the city and two city appointed board members have been listed in a lawsuit regarding the Independence County Shooting Range. Also listed in the suit is Independence County, County Judge Robert Griffin, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the county appointed board members to the shooting board. City Attorney Castleberry said a meeting was planned next week regarding the suit and he hoped all those involved would be present. The Mayor asked for council approval to retain the Arkansas Municipal League, if need be, for $3,000.00. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the payment to the Municipal League Legal Defense Program if need be. Councilmember Krug seconded and all voted for. Newly hired Parks Director Jeff Owens addressed the council with a power point presentation. Mr. Owens first thanked the council for the opportunity to serve the City of Batesville as Parks Director and said he has never felt more welcomed into a community. He gave his presentation showing recent improvements made at various parks locations and a list of his 2011 goals. Mr. Owens ended by giving his office address and phone number and encouraged anyone to come by and visit or call with any concerns or suggestions. LIAISON REPORTS Councilmember Bryant said he and the Mayor took 7 ministers from 5 local churches to the City of Paragould to show them what their city has done by passing a local sales tax. Mr. Bryant explained that you call tell people about the improvements but until you see it first hand, you can't get the whole picture. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Henley said she would like to see "Suggestion Boxes" placed in every department to give employees the opportunity to make suggestions on ways the city can save money. With the city's finances as tight as they are she said, even the smallest suggestion might make the difference in employee raises and benefits. ADJOURNMENT There be no further business, Councilmember Matthews moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Insell seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK