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, Bob McVey, Bill Earngey, Charles Thurman, Gail Money, Sally Riker, Diane
Murphy, Jack Van Caulil, , David White, Jeff Pratt, Brent Updegraph, Greg
Motzko, Robert Pettis, Jason Bailey, Nick Samac, Doug Munyon, Tim Collins,
Judge Alan Epley, Judge Tim Parker, Attorney William Mertins, Jerry
Runner-Smith, Attorney Kent Crow, Attorney Tim Weaver, Jeanne Elderwind and
daughter, Kim Dickens, City Attorney Tom
Laub, and Clerk Lee. More people attended but they did not sign in. Many were from
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE: Ms. Dickens led in the
Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF
THE AGENDA:
Alderman Jeffrey
asked that the discussion regarding
APPROVAL OF
THE MINUTES:
The minutes
of
COMMISSION,
COMMITTEE AND AUTHORITY REPORTS AND VACANCIES:
Alderman
Schrader made a motion , and it was seconded, to again postpone a vote on Pat
Matsukis since she had to be out of town.
All were in favor, 6/0/0.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve Cynthia Hudson.
Alderman Jeffrey said rumors were going around about things Ms. Hudson intended
to do and he was hesitant until he and all of the other Council members had
heard from her. The motion was made and
seconded to postpone the approval of her position until the next meeting on
Mayor Satori
said that Glenn Strange had resigned from the Parks and Recreation Commission
and he nominated Elaine VanNatta for that position, which is position #3 and
the term expires
DEPARTMENT
HEAD COMMENTS:
Fire Chief
Robert McVey made a presentation to the members of his staff that have received
their Certified Professional Firefighter status. He reported that the
certifications are 75% complete. He presented Firefighters Badges to the following
staff members:
Captain Jimmy
Kelley, Firefighter-Paramedic Greg Motzko, Firefighter-Paramedic Robert Pettis, Firefighter-Paramedic Jason Bailey,
Firefighter-Paramedic Nick Samac, Firefighter-Paramedic Doug Munyon,
Firefighter-Paramedic Brent Updegraft, and Firefighter-EMT Tim Collins. Judge Alan Epley swore them in. They were applauded by those present.
CITY
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT:
Ms. Dickens
had nothing to report at this time.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
Discussion regarding
Alderman
Jeffrey explained that construction had been stopped at
There were
several points that were a concern. The inspector said that the Gypsom dry wall
was not put in according to the directions of the company.
The school had
put in a radiant heat system, and could not get permission of the State to use
it. They dismantled it, took out the manifold
and walled the system up, but the building inspector had wanted them to cut off
the tubing at the surface of the slab and fill it with concrete, so that it
could never be used.
The school has
purchased gas furnaces for the heating. The inspector felt that there wasn’t
room to put in the duct work.
Alderman
Jeffrey said he is on the Board of Directors of the school and will refrain
from voting on this issue.
Mr. Laub said
that Mr. Jeffrey should amend his motion to add the words “ to proceed in conformity
with the codes”. Alderman Schrader made
that motion with Alderman Jeffrey seconding.
Ms. Dickens
said that the opinion of the inspector was that the dry wall was hung
incorrectly, and that was the major problem.
She was informed that the wall has been reinforced.
Headmaster
Jerry Runner-Smith said that Joe Summers, who will be doing the duct work for
the heating and air, said he would make what space he needed, and if he had to
take down dry wall to do the job, he would do that and then fix it. The main item there is getting on his list,
because he is very busy. The Headmaster
said that even though the State had sanctioned the pouring of concrete into the
radiant heat system, it was not mandatory, and since it was walled in, that
should be sufficient to keep the system from ever being used.
Ms. Dickens
said the concern that has caused a lot of these problems is that there are a
lot of things that have been done incorrectly on this job. It is Roger’s job to see that the people at
Mr.
Runner-Smith stated several times that the dry wall job is ready to be
inspected.
The vote on
the amendment was 6/0/0.
The vote on
the motion to resume was
Ordinance No. 1818, prohibiting outdoor
price signs at lodging facilities, third reading:
The motion was
made and seconded to suspend the rules and place Ordinance No. 1818 on its third
and final 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.
Alderman
Schrader invited Kent Crow to speak to the Council against Ordinance No.
1818. When asked who he represented, he
said he did not represent anyone but was
there as a friend to the Council. Mr.
Crow cited many reasons why he felt the ordinance would not survive a court test.
William
Mertins spoke in defense of the ordinance for the Resort Association. He offered a different interpretation much of
the case law that had been brought up. He
said they have done their homework, and they believe the ordinance will stand.
Annemarie
Svendsen spoke against the ordinance. Gail
Money, manager of Thurman’s Lodge spoke against the ordinance. Both were convinced that it would cause a financial
hardship to the motel owners who use this practice.
Alderman
Jeffrey said it is worth trying. He said
if it didn’t cause the robust economy that he hoped for, he would be the first
in line to have the ordinance rescinded.
The vote on
the third and final reading was
Ordinance No. 1820, changing the number
of Park Commissioners from 5 to 7, (Third reading):
The motion was
made and seconded to suspend the rules and place Ordinance No. 1820 on its
third and final 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 on the third and final reading. The vote was
Discussion about re-instating David
White’s free shuttle:
A lot of the
downtown merchants were in support of Mr. White’s shuttle running through the
holidays. A petition had been signed by
over a hundred business owners asking that the shuttle be continued.
Alderwoman
Taylor made the motion to approve the extension of the free shuttle through Christmas. Alderman Stoppel seconded. Everyone was raving about the free
shuttle.
Then there was
quite a discovery. The City had never
drawn up a contract for this service.
Not only that, but Mr. White thought there was about $1300 per week-end
to be used for this, and the fact was the cost of the transit shuttle was
estimated to be about $377 per week-end.
With that much of a discrepancy, it was obvious that there was a large
difference between the money available, and the money spent to provide the
shuttle.
At this point, the motion was made and
seconded to recess. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
The meeting was recessed at
During the
recess, the clerk had found and made copies of the meetings where Mr. Leswig
had first introduced the idea and where Mr. White had proposed to take over the
shuttle for the amount of money that it would cost the Transit Department to
run the trolley shuttle. Mr. White thought
that there was about $1300 per weekend to operate this. He said that he was willing to absorb the
cost of the telephones, because he had gambled on the chance that the shuttle
would be extended through the holiday season, and beyond.
However the
cost of the shuttle would cost $35 hourly in most places and he felt that it
was unrealistic to expect the shuttle to run for under $25 hourly. He also was running into a deadline for his
commercial insurance. He had to let them
know the next day how many vehicles he would be running. He had not been paid any money to date and no
contract had ever been drawn up.
Alderwoman
Taylor amended her original motion to extend the shuttle to go through January 2,
2000 at whatever cost the City has agreed upon.
Alderman Schrader seconded
The vote on
the amendment was 6/0/0.
The vote on
the original motion, which was to extend the contract, was 6/0/0.
NEW BUSINESS:
Property Insurance bids via competitive
bidding, (Ernst Schrader):
Alderman
Schrader felt that the competitive bidding process for property insurance
needed to be reviewed. Mr. Schrader’s two main concerns were that the City did
not, in his opinion, have a comprehensive bid package, and that the insurance
companies were not given enough time to bid.
The Clerk
pointed out that an attorney for Municipal League had reviewed the City’s
current bidding process and found it to be in compliance with State Standards.
Alderman
Schrader submitted a list of recommendations that could be used in creating a
new policy.
The Council
decided to look into this in the year 2000 and to consider changes at that
time. Property insurance runs from
December 16th to December 15th, annually.
Ordinance No. 1821, and ordinance to
regulate the preservaton of trees, (First reading, Kim Dickens):
Alderman
Jeffrey said there were several things that were extremely stringent about the
ordinance and he would not like to see it read until some of it was toned down.
Alderwoman Taylor
said she thought a committee should go over it and then bring it back to the
table.
Alderman
Jeffrey and Alderman Schrader said they would get together with the Planning
Commission and work on it before it was brought back for consideration.
Discussion regarding the CAPC tax
ordinance/Annexation:
The Great
Passion Play has made the offer to collect CAPC tax on their gifts, and
food. Based on the collections for this
year, they feel that the amount would run approximately $25,700 annually.
There was also
some talk of annexation of the properties along Statue Road, and the Play itself.
Alderman
Sumpter made the motion to have Tom Laub draw up an ordinance that would allow
the businesses at the Passion Play to collect CAPC tax for the City. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Ordinance No. 1822, an ordinance
amending the outdoor sale ordinance,
(Kim Dickens):
It was
explained that the way it is written now, the ordinance is very cumbersome and
needed to be amended. The police chief
does not want to be bothered with approving yard sales, unless a problem could
arise with traffic flow. The clerk
always calls if she feels there is a question.
The motion was
made and seconded to place Ordinance No. 1822 on its first reading in its entirety. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
The Mayor read
the ordinance in its entirety.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve. All were
in favor, 6/0/0.
CITY
ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT:
Ms. Dickens
reported that the codification process is close to being finished. There are openings for the areas in which
work is in progress on the ordinances, which are: Zoning, Trees, Landscaping, Signs, and the
Building Inspector’s Department.
COUNCIL
COMMENTS:
Alderman Schrader
asked when there would be an update on the projects in the works.
He was told
that the State-of-the-City Address would cover everything, and that is given
during the second Council meeting of January, 2000.
MAYOR’S
COMMENTS:
Mayor Satori
reported on the work that will begin on Main Street the first week in November.
The State has hired a local contractor this time, Jimmy Jones, and he is
sensitive to the City’s needs. There
will be one-way traffic on Planer Hill for quite a while. There is talk of reversing Armstrong during
this period. That will have to be discussed
later. Benton street will also be used,
however, it is often closed during the winter months. The deadline is April, 2000, but Mr. Jones
hopes to be finished well before the deadline.
People are volunteering to help pay for signage to guide everyone around
the City and help our visitors find their way.
Signature page
for the October 21st, 199, Council Meeting.
The motion was
made and seconded to adjourn. All were
in favor, 6/0/0. The meeting was adjourned
at 11:00 p.m.
This
is the signature sheet on the minutes for October 21st, 1999.
APPROVED:
______________________
Beau
Zar Satori, Mayor
ATTEST:
____________________________
Mary
Ann Lee, City Clerk-Treasurer