Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-02-09 MINUTES OF COUNCIL FEBRUARY 9, 2016 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on February 9, at 5:30 P.M. in the Municipal Building. Mayor Rick Elumbaugh called the meeting to order. Boy Scout Troop 220 Honor Guards presented the flags and led the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance and also gave the invocation. Upon roll call, the following councilmembers answered present; Chris Beller, Tommy Bryant, Sonya Crafton, 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 Bryant moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Henley seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Beller moved to approve the prepared agenda as amended and Councilmember Bryant seconded. All voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) REPRESENTATIVE JAMES STURCH Representative James Sturch addressed the council. Mr. Sturch reminded everyone of the March 1St primary election in which he has an opponent. He said he will be back to work on March 8t" for budget hearings. Mr. Sturch said like other entities, the State is starting their budget process with a $170,000,000.00 short fall. Trying to find areas to cut are extremely difficult and challenging. He also said he anticipated a special session, probably in April, to discuss highway funding. Mr. Sturch then switched to good news saying he was given $70,000.00 in General Improvement Grant funds for Independence County. Mr. Sturch presented the City with a $10,000.00 check to purchase a generator for the new community center and another $10,000.00 to Susie Epperson for the Eat Well, Play Hard program for all the schools in Independence County. Mayor Elumbaugh and Ms. Epperson graciously accepted the funds and thanked Representative Sturch for his dedication to Independence County. B) POLICE DEPARTMENT MONTHLY REPORT Police Chief Alan Cockrill address the council with his monthly report. Chief Cockrill gave the council stats for the month and reported one accident with a repair cost of approximately $2,900.00. The Chief said the officer was reprimanded and has been put on foot patrol primarily in residential neighborhoods. C) COMMUNITY CENTER PROJECT UPDATE FROM ETC ENGINEERS Mr. Mizan Rahman and Mr. Shawkat Ali with ETC Engineers addressed the council with an update on the community center project. Mr. Rahman said according to the contractors work papers, the project is 46% complete with a project completion date of June 26, 2016. Mr. Rahman said he is not making excuses for the delay in the completion, however, they have had 282 rain days and the passing away of the owner of the company and the illness of project supervisor. These are not typical events for projects and have obviously played a part in the delay. The council agreed that no more rain days should be given as they now can work in the dry. Councilmember Poole said if the contractor would have made a critical path for the project, they would not be so far behind. Councilmember Beller said he just wants to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure the project is complete on their projection date. Mr. Rahman said he feels everything is being done to push the project along while still making sure the work being done is quality work. D) PUBLIC HEARING AND RESOLUTION FOR THE CONDEMNATION OF A STRUCTURE ON BYERS STREET Mayor Elumbaugh opened the meeting for a public hearing at 6:23 PM to discuss the possible condemnation a structure located at 865 Byers. Mr. Chad McClure, Batesville Code Enforcement Officer, and Mr. Randy Clark Sanders, owner of the property addressed the council. Mr. McClure said the structure burned in late 2015 and nothing has been done to clean up the debris. Mr. Sanders said he would like to rebuild, that the foundation is still good, but he has no money or equipment to clean up the debris. Mr. McClure explained to Mr. Sanders that if the council adopts the resolution to condemn the property, he will still have 30 days to comply with city codes before the city comes in and removes the debris. If the city does the work, a lien will be placed on the property for the expenses the city incurs. There being no further discussions, the Mayor closed the public hearing at 6:31 PM. Councilmember Beller introduced a resolution to condemn a structure located at 865 Byers Street. Councilmember Matthews moved to read the resolution by title only. Councilmember Bryant seconded and the electronic roll call was 8 for and 0 against. City Attorney Tim Meitzen read the resolution by title only. After a discussion, Councilmember Bryant moved to adopt the resolution and Councilmember Shetron seconded. The electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The resolution was given #2016-02-01-R. E) CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE TO ADOPT THE UPDATED EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK Councilmember Bryant introduced an ordinance to adopt proposed amendments to the Employee Handbook. Councilmember Bryant moved to read the ordinance by title only. Councilmember Crafton seconded and the electronic roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Mr. Meitzen read the ordinance by title only. During the discussion, the council said they were not able to see proposed changes in the copy that was sent to them via email. The Clerk said she will resend the changes in a different format. Councilmember Shetron moved to table the ordinance until the council has a chance to review the proposed changes. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. F) PAID BILLS REPORT The council was given a copy of the January, 2016 paid bills report for review. MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh asked for out of state travel for the clerk's office and 2 utility employees to attend Incode, the city's accounting and billing program training. The training will be held in Phoenix, AZ, May 1-4. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the out of state travel and Councilmember Poole seconded and all voted for. The Mayor gave a special welcome to Boy Scout Troup 220 who was in attendance working toward their community service badge. LIAISON REPORTS None COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Bryant told the council that the new gravity flow tunnel is now operating at 100% and with a few exceptions everything at the new Wastewater Treatment Plant is going good. Councilmember Henley said there are several piles of brush on Dogwood Street that have been there for several weeks. Mayor Elumbaugh said he would inform the appropriate people to collect the brush. Councilmember Poole said the talks over dispatch operation is still ongoing. Mr. Poole said it is not the intent of the city's committee to split dispatch and the city and county each run their own department. The city, he said, just wants the expenses to be fair. He said he has proposed that all the revenues and expenses be pooled together and each entity pay on a per capita basis. Another meeting will be held in the next couple of weeks. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Bryant moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Henley seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK