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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-01-11 MINUTES OF COUNCIL JANUARY 11, 2011 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on January 11, 2011 at the Municipal Building. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh called the meeting to order. The Mayor welcomed new councilmembers Paige Hubbard and Chris Poole and the new City Attorney Lindsey Castleberry. Upon roll call the following councilmembers answered present; Tommy Bryant, Margarett Henley, Paige Hubbard, Davy Insell, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, Chris Poole, and David Shetron. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and the City Attorney Lindsey Castleberry. Councilmember Shetron moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Insell seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Henley seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS Mr. Richard Black from 875 Main Street addressed the council. Mr. Black asked the council to seriously consider abolishing the Interlocal Agreement with the County and establishing a City Police Department. Mr. Black gave the council statistics about vehicles deaths from 2005 through 2009. The statistics showed that Independence County's vehicle death rate was about 4 times the National rate and we were in the top 10 for number of death among the State's 75 counties. Mr. Black said our rates are high because the lack of police presence. He again urged the City to reform its own Police Department and for the county to also hire more officers. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) CONSIDER A SEWER CONNECTION IN SPRING VALLEY Mr. Nick Baxter, Utility Office Manager, addressed the council with Ms. Lisa Norman regarding a sewer connection in Spring Valley. Ms. Norman recently purchased property at 34 Pearl Lane. The previous owners gave the City an easement for a sewer line which gives the land owner the option of connecting to the City's sewer system. Ms. Norman presented the council with a letter that said if her property ever becomes contiguous with the City limits, she would petition to come into the City. Councilmember Matthews moved to approve the sewer connection and Councilmember Shetron seconded. All voted for. B) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH RULES OF PROCEDURES FOR THE TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS OF THE COUNCIL Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance to set the rules and procedures for the transaction of business of the council for the City of Batesville. Councilmember Matthews moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Mr. Castleberry read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Matthews moved to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Shetron seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Bryant seconded. The roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2011-01-01. Mr. Castleberry read the emergency clause and Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. C) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING ON CERTAIN ITEMS FOR 2011 Councilmember Insell introduced an ordinance to waive competitive bidding on certain items for 2011. Councilmember Insell moved to suspend the rules and read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Mr. Castleberry read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Matthews moved to further suspend the rules and waive the second and third readings. Councilmember Insell seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Matthews seconded. The roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2011-01- 02. Mr. Castleberry read the emergency clause and Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. D) ENGINEER'S REPORT Mr. Damon Johnson addressed the council with his Engineer's Report. Mr. Johnson gave a brief report on the activities in 2010 to inform the new councilmembers of the recent and current projects. E) EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilmember Insell moved to go into executive session and Councilmember Bryant seconded. All voted for. Upon returning from executive session, Councilmember Bryant moved to re-appoint Mr. Terrell Tebbetts and Mr. Doug Lee and to appoint Mr. Nelson Barnett to the expired term of Mr. Larry Sandage on the Historic District Commission. Councilmember Matthews seconded and all voted for. All three terms will expire January 8, 2016. F) REVIEW PAID BILLS REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2010 The council was given a copy of the paid bills report for December 2010. G) REVIEW NOVEMBER 2010 FINANCIALS The council was given a copy of the November 30, 2010 financials for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh asked Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Dr. Chris Beller to address the council in regards to the recent fire at the North Complex. Dr. Beller informed the council that the main concessions stand and restrooms recently burned and the facility housed all the electricity for the North Complex. The Parks and Recreation Commission had a special meeting last night to discuss their options. Dr. Beller said ball games will start in approximately 6 weeks and the commission felt the most important issue was to restore the electricity. The repairs will be very costly and will most likely exceed the insurance money. He said the commission decided to build a small building approximately 10X10 to house the electricity to have it separate from other facilities. The commission will be meeting again next Wednesday for their monthly meeting and discuss the possibility of bringing in Porta-Potties and some sort of portable concessions. Mayor Elumbaugh asked who had volunteered for the Interlocal Committee. He said former Councilmember McDonald was a member and would like a replacement for his position. Councilmember Poole said he would set on the committee. The other members are Council members Shetron, Bryant and Krug. The committee set their first meeting for January 18th at 5:30 PM. The Mayor recognized all the city departments and others who helped install the Christmas lights all over the City. He said he received numerous calls and letters on how beautiful the displays were. He mentioned several businesses that contributed to the lights and thanked everyone for their contribution. The Mayor asked the council to approve out of state travel for 3 utility employees and 2 employees in the Clerk's office to attend a training seminar in Nashville, TN. The training will be April 26 through the 29 and is already funded in the budget. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the out of state travel and Councilmember Matthews seconded. All voted for. LIAISON REPORTS Councilmember Bryant gave a report for the Airport Commission. He said the commission would like to thank the City for the involvement and support in 2010 for the airport. Because of the City's support, the airport paved an apron for parking airplanes and constructed 16 unit T-hanger, all of which are rented. He said the City also approved additional funding in the 2011 budget to build additional hangers. Mr. Bryant mentioned how vital our airport is to the economic development of our community. Mr. Bryant also commented on all the improvements made to the planning and zoning regulations the past couple of years. He said the changes have been needed for a number of years and will help in the development of our City. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Matthews expounded on Councilmember Bryant's comments regarding the Planning Commission. He said one of the best things the commission has done is to hire a professional planner, Mr. Rob Middleton, to help in making our codes and zoning laws fit our community. ADJOURNMENT There being 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