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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-06-20 MINUTES OF COUNCIL JUNE 20, 2023 th The Batesville City Council met in regular session on June 20, 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; Tommy Bryant, Scott Fredricks, Julie Hinkle, Paige Hubbard, Doug Matthews, and Chris Poole. Also present were the City Clerk Denise Johnston and City Attorney Tim Meitzen. Councilmembers Brittany Bennett and Fred Krug were absent. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda as amended. Councilmember Hinkle seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS Mr. Dan Reed from 932 Eagle Mountain Blvd. addressed the council for citizens comments. Mr. Reed said he had 3 issues he would like to bring to the council. First, he asked the council to reduce the times that they adopt emergency clauses for ordinances. Second, he suggested moving the Citizens Comments further down on the agenda and third, when considering tonight’s ordinance regarding Knox Boxes, to not enact the emergency clause. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) RECOGNIZE COMMUNITY CENTER VOLUNTEERS Mayor Elumbaugh and Parks Director, Jeff Owens recognized several volunteers for the Batesville Community Center. Mr. Owens said the volunteers log more than 250 hours per week to offer health and wellness classes to the Center’s members free of charge. Mayor Elumbaugh presented each volunteer with a certificate. B) POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT Assistant Police Chief John Scarbrough addressed the council with the Police Department’s monthly report. Assistant Chief Scarbrough reported 52 Incidents, 16 Arrests and 37 Accidents for the month of May. Mr. Scarbrough said the remodel of the new police department is nearing completion. He also stated they received one bid for four new radar guns. He said they contacted several companies but only received one bid. Applied Concepts, Inc., who we also bought the LED Street Speed Monitors, submitted a bid of $9,500.00 for the 4 radar guns. Mayor Elumbaugh said the radars can be paid for out of the No Insurance Funds. Councilmember Fredricks moved to accept the bid and purchase the radars with the No Insurance Funds. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. Lastly, Mr. Scarbrough briefed the council regarding th the 3 arson fires on June 17. He said the 3 suspects were detained early but due to their ages, there has yet to be any arrests. C) ENGINEER’S REPORT City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council with his monthly report. Mr. Johnson started with the Street Department saying since the spring rains, they have a list of drainage issues to be corrected. The Wastewater Treatment Plant is running well. He reminded our citizens to be conservative with their water usage during the summer months due to the strain on the Water Treatment Plant. They should have the plans about 90% complete for the WTP by mid- August and a planned evaluation with the sub-contractors and engineers in July to look for design savings. Mr. Johnson also discussed the Crime Information Center planned for the new police department. They have decided on using Critical Edge after visiting the New Orleans police department and visiting with the City of Jonesboro, both who use Critical Edge. Mr. Johnson talked a little about the camara system and how other businesses will be able, if they so choose, to be tied in with our police department system for monitoring. D) FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT Fire Chief Mark McCollum addressed the council with his monthly report. Chief McCollum said during the month on May, his department went on 37 runs, 23 rescue runs 46 inspections and had 442 hours of training. The Chief reported th about the 3 arson fires on June 17. He said it became apparent after the second fire was reported that they were arson. He said he quickly requested the Batesville Police Department along with Northside, Bethesda, Ruddell Hill and Cave City Fire Departments. Chief McCollum praised the work of the PD as well as the 41 responding firefighters. As said earlier, 3 youths have been identified and there is an ongoing investigation. E) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING KNOX BOXES AT CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS Fire Chief McCollum explained to the council the benefits of having Knox Boxes at certain commercial buildings and multi-family residences. The Chief said there are several buildings, including the Municipal Building, that already have Knox Boxes installed at the owner’s request. The fire department has a master key to all the boxes. In case of a fire or other emergency, the fire department is able to get access to the building by retrieving a key to from the Knox Box instead of forced entry. When asked the cost, he said an external box is $487.00 and a flush mount is $560.00. Councilmember Bryant introduced the ordinance. Councilmember Bryant moved to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Mayor Elumbaugh said the ordinance will be placed on the next meeting’s agenda for the second reading. F) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING VARIOUS FEDERAL AND STATE CODES Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance to adopt various Federal and State codes including the following; 2021 Arkansas Fire Preventions Code, 2023 National Electrical Code, 2018 Arkansas Plumbing Code, 2018 Arkansas Fuel Gas Code, 2021 Arkansas Mechanical Code and 2022 Arkansas Criminal and Traffic Codes. A discussion accrued about the necessity of adopting the codes. City Attorney Meitzen, said codes are not law, they are regulations and standards that helps to guide the city in its enforcement. Councilmember Bryant moved to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. Mayor Elumbaugh said the ordinance will be placed on the next meeting’s agenda for the second reading. G) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR A TITAN LEAF VACUUM TRUCK Councilmember Fredricks introduced a resolution to waive competitive bidding for a Titan Leaf Vacuum Truck. Sanitation Supervisor Jason Jones and City Engineer Damon Johnson addressed the council to answer questions. Mr. Jones said he visited a city in Missouri who has this vacuum truck and that city went from two trucks and eight employees to one truck and one employee. He said this truck will allow us to free up 3 or 4 employees to help in other areas in the city. Mr. Jones said he is requesting to waive the competitive bidding process to speed up delivery. The competitive process will put acquiring the truck into 2025. Councilmember Fredricks moved to suspend the rules and read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution. Councilmember Fredricks seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2023-06-01-R. H) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION TO CONTRACT WITH ACS PLAYGROUND ADVENTURES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NATURE-BASED PLAYGROUND AT THE SPLASHPAD PARK Councilmember Hubbard introduced a resolution to contract with ACS Playground Adventures for the construction of a Nature-Based playground at the Splashpad Park. Parks Director Jeff Owens said the city received a 50/50 Parks, Tourism and Heritage Grant for the playground. He said the Batesville School District has committed to monetary help for the city’s portion of the 50/50 grant. The new playground will be next to the Splashpad Park in West Batesville. Councilmember Hinkle moved to read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic roll call count was 5 for and 1 (Fredricks) abstained. The resolution was given #2023-06-02-R. I) CONSIDER A RESOLUTION TO PURCHASE MATERIALS FROM J+J FLOORING GROUP TO REPLACE THE CARPETING AT THE BATESVILLE COMMUNITY CENTER Councilmember Bryant introduced a resolution to accept the bid from J+J Flooring Group to replace the carpeting at the Batesville Community Center. Councilmember Matthews moved to suspend the rules and read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Poole seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the resolution by title only. Mr. Bryant reminded the council that a permanent maintenance fund was established when the community center opened. The city budgets $75,000/00 each year out of the Parks and Recreation Tax fund to put into the maintenance fund for the soul purpose of maintaining the community center. This carpet request will come from those funds. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Poole seconded. The electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2023-06-03-R. J) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE FOR A PRIVATE CLUB PERMIT FOR MY LITTLE TOWN, INC. Councilmember Poole introduced an ordinance approving the private club permit for My Little Town, Inc., d/b/a Mi Pueblito. City Clerk Johnston said city approved a permit request for this business in March but it was denied by ABC due to the wrong manager was listed on their application. Therefore, a new ordinance is required. Councilmember Matthews 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 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 Hubbard seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Poole seconded. The electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2023-06-01. Mr. Meitzen read the emergency clause. Councilmember Fredricks moved to adopt the emergency clause. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the electronic roll call count was 6 for and 0 against. K) FINANCIAL REPORT The council was given a financial report for May, 2023 for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh said the auditors have gone and we hope to have the audit reports for 2021 and 2022 within the next 3 or 4 months. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Ms. Hinkle asked if the complaints on Chestnut have been resolved. Mayor Elumbaugh said he thinks they have but he will check to make sure. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bryant moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Hubbard seconded. All voted for. The meeting was adjourned at 6:49 pm. ________________________________ RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR __________________________________ DENISE JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK