480 CITY OF EUREKA SPRINGS
COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY
4, 1999, 7 P.M.
Mayor Beau Satori called the February 4, 1999 regularly
scheduled meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Courtroom of the Western District
Courtroom.
PRESENT: Mayor Satori, and Alderpersons Jeffrey, Freeland,
Taylor, Schrader, Stoppel, and Sumpter.
ALSO PRESENT: L. J. Smole, William and Janet Penn, Priscilla
Wdowia Rick Murphy, Marvin
Peterson, Marvin Shepard, Joe McBrayer, Jim and Patsy
Girkin, Jane LaRue, Anne Moore, Joan
Bullock, Jeff Wendt, Scott Ruliffson, Jim Williams, Machele
Williams, Kim Ridenour, Charles
Goodwin, Jack Dozier, Joseph Nicosia, Mike Kosinski, K. J.
Zumwalt, Dave Drennon, Jack Moyer,
Ken Smith, Michael Manley, David Anderson, Terry McClung,
Tim McClung, Chris McClung, Rex
Gustin, Jerry Ballinger, Robin Lumley, Mike Drennon, Joe
McClung, Jr., Jed Bullock, Robert
Miller, Earl Hyatt, Nikki Salazar, Samuel Ingles, Ginger
Shira, David Beauchamp, Cheryl Tucker,
Pat Matsukis, Whit Brittain, Kathy Harrison, Butch Berry, Bill
Earngey, Ron Morrison, Royal Alcott,
Tom Laub, the camera people, more people who did not sign
in, Kim Dickens, and Clerk Lee.
THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG: Ms. Dickens led in the
Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA: Alderman Freeland made the motion to
approve the agenda. Alderman Schrader seconded. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Alderman Schrader spotted two typos
in spelling, Alderman Jeffrey mentioned wording that was incorrect with regards
to the nominations that the Council make.
Alderwoman Taylor made the motion to approve the amended
minutes with Alderman Schrader seconding. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
1. Council
Procedures for 1999. Televise Parking Authority:
Alderwoman Taylor made the motion to televise the Parking
Authority Meetings1 Alderman Schrader seconded. After discussing the
subject, in which it was pointed out that Don Matt was unavailable for input,
since he runs the equipment, Alderman Jeffrey made the motion to postpone the vote
until the February 18th, 1999 meeting. Alderman Sumpter seconded.
Alderman Schrader said that public access is the biggest single issue. Aldermen
Stoppel and Sumpter said they would like to hear from the community and also
check with Mr. Matt about his schedule. The roll call vote was 4/2/0, with
Alderpersons Taylor and Schrader voting no.
2. Council
CAPC Representatives for 1999.
Alderwoman Taylor made the motion to approve Bill Freeland
to be a Council representative on the CAPC. Alderman Schrader seconded. All
were in favor, 6/0/0.
Alderman Sumpter made the motion to approve David Jeffrey to
be a Council representative on the CAFC. Alderman Stoppel seconded. By roll
call, the vote was 3/3/0, with Jeffrey, Sumpter and Stoppel voting yes, and
Taylor, Shrader and Freeland voting no. Mayor Satori chose not to vote to break
the tie.
Alderman Schrader made the motion to approve Becky Taylor to
be a Council representative on the CAPC. Alderman Freeland seconded. By roll
call, the vote was 3/3/0, with Jeffrey, Stoppel, and Sumpter voting no, and
Taylor, Schrader, and Freeland voting yes, and Mayor Satori voting yes,4/3/0..
Alderman Jeffrey said he was under the impression the Mayor
could not vote to break a tie on a Council selection. The City Attorney was consulted
and he said he had called Municipal League, and they and he advised that the
Mayor can vote on any tie vote.
3. Removal
of City Advertising and Promotion Commissioners:
Alderman Schrader made the motion to remove Jon Loudermilk
from the CAPC, with Alderwoman Taylor seconding.
Alderman Jeffrey said that this was a divisive action and
asked the Mayor to remove his request of the Council to remove them. He said he
had many calls with a ratio of about 10 to one against this action. He said the
Mayor had indicated that he wanted the City to work together and to create this
divisiveness at this time would be, in his mind, very bad. There was no comment
from the Mayor.
The majority of the Council said that the calls they had
were mostly against the removals. The citizens were concerned about making such
a staggering change just at the beginning of the season. Some Council members
remarked that a lot of the calls were from people who lived out of the city
limits. Alderman Sumpter said that it shouldn’t matter where they live. If they
own businesses in the City, they have a right to comment. His concern was that
he found nothing in the profiles he was given to indicate anything but a
difference of opinion. He did not feel that was enough reason to remove commissioners.
Alderrnan Freeland said that people are afraid, and he
didn't blame them. When he came here in 1994, he immediately became afraid
because the system did not work for everybody.
He said that people’s daily lives are affected by the effectiveness of
this commission. He feels that this removal is in the best interest of the City
and the ordinance save the commission
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CITY OF EUREKA SPRINGS
FEBRUARY 4, 1999, 7
P.M.
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Mayor
Satori mentioned that there are 721 businesses in the City of Eureka Springs.
Of those, 338 collect the CAPC tax. He feels that 10% to 20% of the business
owners have responded and 5% to 1 O% of business owners/residents. Many of the
businesses that were in the Chamber letter do not have businesses in the city.
They still have a right to voice their opinions.
Marvin
Shepard spoke. He said that one of the charges against the commissioners was
that they had had no meetings of the long range planning committee. He named times
and dates on which discussions and reports were given on the long range
planning from April of 1998 through the year 2000. He said the charges that the
planning committee was not doing anything were false.
Many people spoke Cindy Sumpter said when she read the
information about Mr. Loudermilk, she felt that a lot of it was taken out of
context. Jack Moyer made the point that the removals are being made without a
written plan being presented, therefore nobody knows how to move forward. Joe
McBrayer said that last year was the first year he could call a good year. Now
they are doing this radical move and will he have to start all over. Whit
Brittain said the City needs diversity and change in the way the City is
marketed to the world. Pat Matsukis spoke in support of the change. John
Mitchell spoke in favor, of change. Chris McClung regrets to see all of the
talent and experience removed with David Jeffrey and the other commissioners.
He said that Mr. Jeffrey has spent a great deal of time and his own money to
research and work for the CAPC. Rex Gustin said he’s owned many businesses in
town and they have all collected the tax. He does not live within the city
limits. He feels that it is unfair not to let these people work with the new
administration and finish out their terms. K.J. Zumwalt said business downtown
is not good and she is happy about the change.
Mayor Satori said his reasons stand alone. This is not a popularity contest. He will present his ideas in due time and also his nominations. He said that his intentions are in the studies that have been done and never implemented.
Alderman
Sumpter said that this could cause long reaching repercussions. Is the City
going to go through this every time a new administration comes in? Change
should come at its own pace instead of all coming at once.
The
vote to remove Jon Loudermilk from the CAPC was, by roll call, 3/3/0, with Alderpersons Sumpter,
Stoppel, and Jeffrey voting no, and Taylor, Schrader, and Freeland voting yes,
and the Mayor voted yes, 4/3/0.
Alderman Schrader made the motion to remove Randy Wolfinbarger from the CAPC. Alderwoman Taylor seconded. The roll call vote was 3/3/0, with Alderpersons Sumpter, Stoppel, and Jeffrey voting no, and Alderpersons Taylor, Schrader and Freeland voting yes, with the Mayor voting yes, 4/3/0.
Jack
Moyer asked when the CAPC will actually meet again and the Mayor said he would
nominate the people he had chosen tonight and they would be voted on at the
February 18th, 1999
meeting. Mr. Moyer said that the marketing plan for 1999 began in August of
1998, and it is already in place. Mr. Moyer said that he feels that this
community has unfairly treated Mr. Loudermilk. He has been the strongest
proponent for not co-mingling funds with the CAPC. Neither organization can go
to the other and have say in how the money is spent.
Gwen
Bennett said she has been so frustrated. She is an artist of 25 years, and
lived here 12 years. She feels that the people who would buy her work have
never been targeted in the advertising. She welcomes change.
Alderman
Schrader made the motion to remove Marvin Shepard from the CAPC. Alderman
Freeland seconded.
Alderman
Schrader believes Mr. Shepard to be a good person, and his views are not a
personal attack on Mr. Shepard.
Alderman
Jeffrey brought up the point that Mr.Shepard’s term will be up in a few months,
and he should be left to serve out his term.
There
was quite a lot more discussion. Alderman Jeffrey said that every decision that
was made was to correct problems that had been inherited.
Jon
Loudermilk said he understood the difficulty that the Council had to make. He
said the Commissioners should not be removed because they have shown a
willingness and a desire to serve the community. He said that none of them were
provided with the paperwork that maligned them to the community, and unless
they spoke at the Council Meeting they would not have the chance to let the
community know that they were being maligned. He called for a vote from the
hearts of the Council.
Kelly
Simon spoke against the removal. Ron Morrison said that with all of the talent
and potential that this City has, there is one thing that is blatant. That is
its divisiveness. He said the City will never reach the potential that we are
capable of, because we are divided and it looks to him as if it is so blatant that it can never be overcome.
Cheryl Tucker spoke in favor of
change. Mr.
482 CITY OF EUREKA SPRINGS
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 4, 1999, 7 P.M.
McBrayer said that we should overcome our division and work
together. The downtown would do better if they stayed open longer. He hears it
every year. Jack Moyer said that Mr.
Wolfinbarger is a good businessman, with experience that is needed on the
commission. He also said that there are downtown business people whose
businesses are flourishing because they don’t depend on the CAPC exclusively to
market their businesses. They do a lot of their own marketing.
The vote to remove Marvin Shepard from the CAPC was 3/3/0, with
Alderpersons Sumpter, Stoppel and Jeffrey voting no, and Alderpersons Taylor,
Schrader and Freeland voting yes, and the Mayor voted yes, 4/3/0.
The motion was made and seconded to recess for 5 minutes—the
Mayor gave them 10 minutes. Vote, 6/0/0. The meeting was recessed at 8:50 and
reconvened at 9 p.m.
4. Removal
of City Planning Commission Members:
Alderman Schrader made the motion to remove Jack Dozier from
the Planning Commission. Alderman Freeland seconded.
Alderman Jeffrey again voiced his concern that to remove all
three commissioners removes much of the continuity of the commission.
Alderman Sumpter again said he did not like removing people
for reasons other than wrong-doing. Mayor Satori said Municipal League advised
him not to give reasons. He feels it is in the best interest of the City.
Jack Dozier gave a long talk against being removed. Scott
Ruliffson said he did not appreciate his name being put out on television
before anyone had the courtesy to speak with him.
The roll call vote to remove Jack Dozier was 3/3/0, with
Alderpersons Jeffrey, Stoppel, and Sumpter voting no, and Alderpersons
Freeland, Taylor, and Schrader voting yes, and Mayor Satori voted yes, 4/3/0.
Alderman Schrader made the motion to remove Scott Ruliffson
from the Planning Commission.
Alderwoman Taylor seconded. There was a comment from the
gallery that it looked like everyone’s minds were made up before they came to
the meeting. The roll call vote was
3/3/0, with Alderpersons Stoppel, Sumpter and Jeffrey voting no, and
Alderpersons Freeland, Taylor and Schrader voting yes, with Mayor Satori voting
yes, 4/3/0.
Alderman Schrader made the motion that Sid Boutwell be
removed from the Planning Commission. Alderwoman Taylor seconded.
Alderman Jeffrey said he felt that Mr. Boutwell would be a
good commissioner and that his real estate business would not be a conflict of
interest in any way.
Mayor Satori said that developers are customers of realtors
and realtors have a pre-disposition to accommodate developers.
Alderpersons Jeffrey, Stoppel, and Sumpter voted no and
Alderpersons Schrader, Freeland, and Taylor voted yes, 3/3/0. Mayor Satori
voted yes, so the vote was 4/3/0.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. New program
to Control Speeding on Residential Streets, (Ernst Schrader):
It was agreed that speeding is a problem in residential
areas. Alderman Schrader suggested that
a Citizens Committee be made up of volunteers, and they
would come up with ideas.
Alderman Stoppel made the motion that the problem be
forwarded to the Mayor and the Police
Chief and the Council not spend a lot of time on it.
Alderman Sumpter seconded.
Alderman Stoppel said the Mayor has the executive power make
decisions and direct the Chief of Police.
Mayor Satori said he has had input from the citizens, and he
is appalled by the speeding he has observed. He promised to do all he could to
help resolve the problem.
Police Chief Hyatt has worked traffic. He said speed traps
are illegal. Money is the bottom line. There are not enough officers to monitor
traffic in the residential areas. He said every citizen has the authority to
report license plate numbers and to report speeding when it occurs. If there
are witnesses, the police officer does not have to see the speeding happening.
Alderman Freeland made the motion to postpone the subject
until the February l8°, 1999 meeting. There was no second.
Alderman Stoppel made the motion to pass the speeding
concerns to the Mayor, and place under ongoing projects on the agenda. Alderman
Jeffrey seconded. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
2. New Program
to Control Excess Deer Population Within the City Limits, (Ernst Schrader):
Alderman Schrader explained that many of the deer in the
herds people have seen around town have sick, or deformed or crippled deer, and
they should be thinned for the health of the deer population. Also. there seems
to be a much larger population than usual. Alderman Schrader said that he has
spoken with Arkansas Game and Fish of Carroll County and they have said the
removal of 12 large does would make a difference in the population here.
HoweVer, the cost for anesthetizing and removing deer is prohibitive.
Sumpter said it would
probably help if the people did not feed the deer. It is
not against the law to feed them, and he does for his customers, because
everyone enjoys seeing them. It
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CITY OF EUREKA SPRINGS 483
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 4, 1999,7 P.M.
Alderman
Freeland made the motion to have Alderman Schrader work with Arkansas Game and
Fish
to find
solutions to the problem. Alderman Stoppel seconded. Alderman Schrader made a
pitch to the community for volunteers
to help with this project. The Police Chief will help. Alderman Sumpter asked if the Game and Fish
is bound by our ordinances and they are. The vote was in favor, 6/0/0.
3. Call for a report on the Status of
the City’s Ordinance Re-Codification Initiative, (Ernst Schrader): Alderman
Schrader expressed a concern as to how
secure the process is. Ms. Dickens explained that over the years, ordinances
have been written by everybody. An ordinance should be written by an attorney
using the proper language needed to be concise and clear for anyone to read and
understand and also to stand up in court. That is the purpose of the
re-codification, Everything is then compared to the State Statutes, and those
statutes will then be listed in the code book, so that one can double check
them with the State Statutes. The city has paid $1900 so far. When the analysis
comes in, the City will pay another $1900. When the final wcrk is done and the
15 Code Books come in with all of the work in them, the City will pay the final
$1900. Then each time an ordinance is passed it will go through the same
process, and be put in our code books.
There was
a misunderstanding as to who was doing what. Our zoning ordinance was given to
a professional land use attorney in Springdale, Arkansas. It was written by
members of the community. It was very difficult to read and understand.
Everyone had a different opinion on what to do, because the ordinance
contradicted itself time after time after time. This is not the same thing as
codification, nor is it the same attorney’s office. The document will cost
$7000 to $8000. The document will be written in such a way that it will be
understood and enforceable. It will be of
immeasurable
help in the coming years to avoid legal tangles. Ms. Dickens made it very clear
that she was directed by the former Administration and the former Council to do
this. It is not something one takes upon themselves without direct permission.
The Resolution that Alderman Schrader proposed reported on the concern of some
citizens that special interest groups could lobby for changes in our ordinances
while they were being codified. Alderman Sumpter said that this is a just
rumor. Going into the Mayor’s office and discussing it with Ms. Dickens could
have cleared up this subject.
4.
Restructuring the City’s Information Channel 5 on Cable TV, (Ernst
Schrader):There was some discussion, but public access is a different problem.
Alderwoman Taylor made the motion to postpone the subject until Don Matt gets
back. Alderman Jeffrey seconded. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
5.
Resolution 454, Special Election, April
13th, 1999:
Alderwoman
Taylor made the motion to read Resolution No. 454. Alderman Jeffrey seconded.
All were
in favor, 6/0/0.
Ms.
Dickens read the resolution.
Alderman
Jeffrey made the motion to approve. Alderman Stoppel seconded. All were in
favor,
6/0/0.
The date
for hearing of the Rose Hall Lawsuit is set for July 26th, 1999.
Fire Chief
McVey reported that half of the force has obtained the Firefighter I
Certification. Every Hydrant in town has been serviced. The hydrants are to be
painted according to water flow.
Samuel
Ingles was nominated to the Cemetery Commission at the last meeting. Alderman
Freeland
made the motion to approve him with Alderwoman Taylor seconding. All were in
favor,
6/0/0.
The
nominations for the remaining seats on the Cemetery Commission are Jane LaRue
and Joe
Head. They
will fill positions 4 and 5, which will expire on February 15th, 1999. They
will be voted
on at the
February 18th, 1999 meeting.
Mayor
Satori announced that his nominees for the Planning Commission are Elaine
VanNatta and Royal Alcott. He will have two more by the February 18th, 1999
meeting, but these are to be voted on at that meeting.
His
nominations for the CAPC for consideration are: Paul Wilson, of Ermilios,
Calvin Cotton, coowner of Eureka Gold and Silver, and Sue Ely, Grand Central
Hotel.
Alderman
Jeffrey said that the three open positions are Gift Shops, Hotels, and Bed
& Breakfast. He asked what position Mr. Wilson would fill. Mayor Satori
said that the only dedicated positions are the Gift Shop position. A hotel,
motel or restaurant owner or manager can hold the other three positions on the
CAPC. State law and the Municipal Code back this up. In the future, if they
want to it can be set up differently, by changing in the code.
There is
no report on the old police building at this time. It is taking more time than
expected,
Alderwoman
Taylor made the motion to adjourn, Alderman Jeffrey seconded. All were in favor, 6/0/0. The meeting was
adjourned at 11.05 pm.