CITY OF EUREKA SPRINGS
COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
The
It
was held in the courtroom of the Western District Courthouse.
PRESENT: Mayor
Satori, and Alderpersons Jeffrey, Schrader, Stoppel,
ALSO PRESENT:
Kate Allen, Michelle Harrington, Glenn Strange, Ed Leswig, Bob McVey, Lisa
Liggett, Janet Minkalis, Bill Earngey, Charles Thurman, Kirby Murray, Nikki
Cherry, Earl Hyatt, Diane Murphy, Jack Van Caulil, Kathy Harrison, David White,
Jeff Pratt, Brent Updegraph, Fred Widger, Lavenya Schenck, Kim Dickens, Tom
Laub, and Clerk Lee. More people may have attended but they did not sign in.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE: Ms. Dickens led in the
Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF
THE AGENDA:
The agenda was
amended to put Items 2, 8, 10, and 11 as number one under New Business. Item one would be number two, and items 4
& 5 would be reversed in order, under New Business. The motion was made and seconded to approve
the agenda as amended. All were in
favor, 6/0/0.
APPROVAL OF
THE MINUTES:
The clerk
noted the amendments to the minutes. The
motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as amended. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
COMMISSION,
COMMITTEE AND AUTHORITY REPORTS AND VACANCIES:
Pat Matsukis
was nominated for Position 4, on the Planning Commission, which expires
Alderman
Jeffrey voiced his concerns about her nomination. It was suggested that the Council wait to
vote until Ms. Matsukis could be present.
The motion was made and seconded that the matter be postponed until the
The vote was 5
yes, and Alderman Jeffrey voted no,
Bill Brooks
resigned from Position No. 2 of the Parks and Recreation Commission. That position expires
DEPARTMENT
HEAD COMMENTS
Fire Chief
McVey reported that the Fire Department had spent time in the schools teaching
grade school children about fire safety.
There will be
an open house at the Fire Station on
The grant was
submitted and was accepted from the Office of Rural Services, and the City is
elegible. It is for a grant of
$15,000. The rest of the bill for the
tanker truck will be paid by the Rural membership, the Fire Truck Association
and the volunteers. They are looking for
the best buy for the money. The Chief
said he suspected it would cost in the $80,000 range.
He said the
collection rate on ambulance charges is now 80%.
Diane Murphy
reported that she has been working on the budget, and there will be detail to
justify every item, line item by line item.
Most of the
Department Heads information is in. The
Commissions are about done. It should be
ready for the
Nikki Cherry
was named Young Professional of the Year by the Arkansas Recreation and Parks
Association. She reported that she
received a magazine called Hooked on the Outdoors. The magazine had several pictures and a small
article on the Fat Tire Club,
The Commission
has received permission to advertise for bids.
Kirby Murray
explained that the State Health Department has a new requirement. It is called
a consumer confidence report. It is
designed to give the consumer confidence about the quality of their water and
the City has to publish it in the newspaper.
It is a good thing.
The
Mr. Murray
reported that his sojourn in “jail” at the Crescent Hotel raised $816 for the
Muscular Dystrophy Association. He
called 18 people and almost all came through very generously to get him out of
“jail”.
CITY
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT:
Ms. Dickens
said she and Mr. Murray had been working for another grant out of Emergency
Management to help with the Lake Leatherwood Dam project and they did not get
the grant. They have to start over
again.
The Mayor has
signed the Wastewater Improvement Contract with the City engineers.
She said the
last two weeks in October will be the time for three lawsuits to go to court;
Rose Hall, et al, Paula Stitz, and the one with Patricia Davis and a police
officer.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
Ordinance No. 1818, prohibiting outdoor
price signs at lodging facilities, second reading:
The motion was
made and seconded to place Ordinance No. 1818 on its second reading in its
entirety. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Mayor Satori
read the ordinance in its entirety.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve.
There was
another long discussion.
Alderman
Schrader had passed out a long memo.
Alderman
Jeffrey took exception to it.
Alderman
Freeland said that the ordinance is well worth testing in the courts if it
comes to that.
Administrative
Assistant Dickens said it would be worth trying for a year before rushing into
court.
Alderwoman
Taylor said people keep calling it price fixing. Nobody is trying to tell anyone how much they
can charge for their rooms.
Michelle
Harrington said the ordinance is tailored to the situation in Eureka
Springs.
Several people
spoke to the Council for both sides of the issue.
The vote was
5/1/0, with Alderman Schrader voting no.
The motion was
made and seconded to suspend the rules and place Ordinance No. 1818 on its
third and final reading by title only.
The vote was 2/4/0, with Aldermen Sumpter and Jeffrey voting yes, and
the rest voting no.
The motion was
made and seconded to recess for ten minutes.
All were in favor, 6/0/0. The
meeting reconvened at 9:13 p.m.
Ordinance No. 1820, changing the number
of Parks commissioners from 5 to 7, second reading:
The motion was
made and seconded to place Ordinance No. 1820 on its second reading by title
only. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Ms. Dickens
read the ordinance by title only.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve.
The Mayor said
it was his idea to expand the membership.
He said with the responsibilities that keep growing, as plans go
forward, he felt that it would be good to have more people to work with.
The vote on
the second reading was 4/2/0 with Aldermen Sumpter and Jeffrey voting no.
Year 2000 Transit Department Fares,
Routes and Hours of Operation:
Lisa Liggett
handed out a sheet with her recommendations on it.
They were as
follows:
ROUTES: Leave all routes the same as the current map;
delete the Green Route.
FARES:
$3.50 All Day Pass (6
and under free).
$2.00
One way fare.
HOURS OF
OPERATION:
March,
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
April 1st to
Memorial Day Weekend, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 7 days.
Memorial
Day Weekend through Labor Day, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Friday and 9
a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
Tuesday
after Labor Day through Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday; 9 p.m.
to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Nov. 1 through December
16th, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
After some
discussion the motion was made and seconded to accept Ms. Liggett’s
recommendations.
Then
the motion was made and seconded to amend Ms. Liggett’s recommendations and
drop the $2.00 one-way pass and have an all day $3.00 pass. The vote was
3/3/0, with Stoppel, Schrader, and Taylor voting yes, and Jeffrey,
Freeland and Sumpter voting no. Mayor
Satori voted yes, so the final vote was 4/3/0.
The motion was
made and seconded to cut the purple route in half (which is that it would
travel from the trolley depot west and back).
The vote was 5/1/0, with Alderman Stoppel voting no.
The vote on
the whole package as amended was 5/1/0, with Alderman Stoppel voting no.
NEW BUSINESS:
Permission to clost Center Street and a
portion of First Street for Folk Festival, and fly a small banner:
Permission for a banner for Fire
Department, Robert McVey:
Permission for Holiday Parade,
Saturday, November 13, 1999:
Permission for banner for Mad Woman of
Chaillot, 10-8 through 10/26:
A motion was
made and seconded to approve these items.
All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Discussion regarding Chamber
“Destination Shopping” Promotion, (Jack Moyer):
Mr. Moyer
explained the concept to the Council. He
asked for three things:
He asked that
the parking meters on Spring Street be bagged starting November 13th
and continuing until December 24th.
They propose to use festive Christmas bags.
He said that
the Chamber of Commerce and the C.A.P.C. are each putting in approximately $9700 to create signage that will be clear
and concise to direct people during the construction on 23 North downtown,
which is scheduled to begin on November 15, 1999. He is asking the City to contribute $2000
toward this signage.
The third
thing was he asked for a shuttle to go from the Visitor’s Center to Pine
Mountain Village to Gaskin’s Switch and then downtown, to run on Thursdays from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. He said that an
independent contractor would be cheaper to run than the trolleys. It would charge $25.00 hourly and there would
be 24 hours, or six Thursdays to run. It
would cost about $600.
The Council
said that the trolleys will run on Saturday and Sunday from November 1st
through December 16th.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve the three items as presented, to get into
discussion.
After some
discussion Alderman Stoppel made the motion, and it was seconded, to amend the
motion and change the dates for bagging the meters to November 29th
through December 24th, 1999.
Then
Alderwoman Taylor made the motion to amend to include not using the trolleys on
the specified Thursdays.
There was more
discussion about how many actual hours a shuttle would run, and that it would
be much cheaper to use an independent contractor at $25 per hour, four hours a
day for six days than it would be to run a vehicle from the Transit Department.
Alderwoman
Taylor rescinded her motion.
Alderman
Stoppel made the motion to amend the motion about bagging the meters to include
$600 for the cost of an independent contractor to provide shuttle service and
it was seconded.
The vote on the amendment was 6/0/0. The vote on the main motion was 6/0/0.
Discussion of the continuation of the
Courtesy Shuttle, Ed Leswig:
Mr. Leswig
asked the Council two questions:
Did they want
to continue the Courtesy Shuttle through the holiday season, or discontinue it
for this year at the appointed time, October 31st, 1999.
Is the Council
interested for next year?
The Council
decided to stick to the original plan and discontinue the shuttle. The motion
was made and it was decided that no motion was needed so it was withdrawn. The motion was made that the City should
provide the shuttle for the year 2000.
That motion was also withdrawn.
The Council did agree, however, that the shuttle was very successful and
it should be used again next year.
Request for authorization for a quit
claim deed at #2 Singleton, Kathy Harrison:
The request
was to have authorization for the Mayor and the City Clerk-Treasurer to sign a
quit claim deed to a very small piece of property of the City’s that has a
corner of the porch built on it. This is
to avoid having to go to court to prove adverse possession. The porch has been on this piece of property
since long before 1927, so it definitely belongs with the existing
property. The Parks Commission was also
in favor. The motion was made and
seconded to allow the Mayor and Clerk to sign the deed with the understanding
that the City Attorney would agree. All
were in favor, 6/0/0.
Property Insurance Bids via competitive
bidding, (Ernst Schrader):
The motion was
made and seconded to postpone until the October 21st, 1999 City
Council Meeting. All were in favor,
6/0/0.
Ordinance No. 1821, an ordinance to
regulate the preservation of trees, (First Reading):
The motion was
made and seconded to postpone until the October 21st, 1999 City
Council Meeting. All were in favor,
6/0/0.
Discussion regarding bid for
installation of sidewalk in front of Courthouse, (Kirby Murray):
Mr. Murray
reported that there was only one bid. It
was from Bruce Wright. Mr. Wright
submitted two bids to do the work in the bid package.
The first bid
included removal of all the existing
concrete, and hauling it away. It was
$34,425. The alternative bid was to have
Public Works remove the material and haul it, and then they would do the
work. That bid was $25,225. The sidewalk will be replaced with limestone
with a minimum thickness of 3 inches, and concrete for the three driveways.
The motion was
made and seconded to accept the alternative bid of $25,225. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Setting a date for Halloween Trick or
Treat:
The question
came up as to what night to trick or treat since Halloween falls on a Sunday,
this year. The decision was that it
falls on Sunday, and that is the logical time to do it.
COUNCIL
COMMENTS:
Alderman
Jeffrey suggested that the next agenda reflect the offer of the Passion Play to
collect CAPC tax starting in the year 2000.
He was assured that it would be.
MAYOR’S
COMMENTS:
Mayor Satori
attended a meeting of. Flood Plain Management.
While there he collected names and addresses to contact for
information. They discussed the dam and
also the flooding that sometimes occurs that runs under City buildings.
The deadline
for T21 Grants is October 29th, 1999. Marty Dozier is writing a grant to apply for
a half a million dollars to be used for burying utility lines.
The motion was
made and seconded to adjourn. All were
in favor, 6/0/0. The meeting was
adjourned at 12:05 a.m.
APPROVED:
_______________________ Beau Zar Satori, Mayor
ATTEST:
________________________________
Mary
Ann Lee, City Clerk-Treasurer