CITY OF EUREKA SPRINGS
COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
July
6, 2000
The
July 6, 2000 meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Mayor Beau Satori.
It
was held in the courtroom of the Western District Courthouse.
PRESENT: Mayor
Satori, and Alderpersons Jeffrey, Schrader, Stoppel, Freeland, Taylor and
Sumpter.
ALSO PRESENT:
Diane Murphy, Kirby Murray, Ed Leswig, Bill Goff, Bruce Crabtree, David White,
Don Matt, Kim Dickens, Sherry Wilson, and Clerk Lee.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Satori led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF
THE AGENDA:
Number one
under Unfinished Business : Vista View Estates, Bill Goff.
Number six
under Unfinished Business: Courtesy
Shuttle, Sherry Wilson.
APPROVAL OF
THE MINUTES:
The motion was
made and seconded to approve the Minutes of June 15th, 2000. The amendments were noted. The minutes were approved as amended, 6/0/0.
COMMISSION,
COMMITTEE AND AUTHORITY REPORTS AND VACANCIES:
Mayor Satori
nominated Pat Matsukis for a second term on the Planning Commission, Position
4, which expired July 1st, 2000.
Alderman
Schrader made the motion to approve her.
Alderman Freeland seconded.
Alderman
Jeffrey made the motion to postpone until the July 20th, 2000,
meeting. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
DEPARTMENT
HEAD COMMENTS:
There were no
Department Head comments.
CITY
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT:
Ms. Dickens
asked the Council members to bring in their Municipal Code Books. The first supplement is in, and she will put
it in the books, for them..
She reminded
people to vote in the July 11th, 2000, election. This is a special election about the proposed
new county jail.
Ms. Dickens
reminded the Council about the Budget Workshop on Tuesday, July 11, 2000, at 2
p.m.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
Vista View Estates, Bill Goff, water
bill:
Mr. Goff
explained that lightening hit a tree, traveled through the roots to a telephone
cable, through the cable to a water line, and burst the water line. This
resulted in a water bill of $1250. 58. There are two homes currently on the
line.
The City
Council is not allowed, by ordinance, to adjust the water bill. Adjustments only apply to lines on the City’s
side of the meter. It was suggested at
the Council table that the Council might want to re-think the way the ordinance
is written. It was suggested, also, that
the homeowners check with their insurance companies to see if there are any
provisions for relief.
Discussion regarding Ordinance No.
1841, Animals, Animal Licensing, Fines and Fees, First reading, Alderman
Sumpter:
The motion was
made and seconded to place Ordinance No. 1841 on its first reading.
The vote was
5/1/0, with Alderman Stoppel voting no.
Ms. Dickens
read the ordinance in its entirety.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve.
City Attorney,
Sherry Wilson, explained that this ordinance added a section on vicious animals
which is an urgent problem. Alderman
Freeland had passed out information to the Council that he felt should be
included. Ms. Wilson said that
information could be decided on at a later date on another ordinance, but the
vicious dog problem needed to be addressed as soon as possible.
There was a
long discussion on various aspects of the ordinance. The vote on the first reading was 5/1/0, with
Alderman Stoppel voting no.
Discussion regarding a review of the
cost of the defense by the Harrington Law Firm, in the Price Sign Lawsuit
(Schrader):
Alderman
Schrader spoke against an appeal. The
Judge issued a written order on June 26th, 2000. The City has a short time to decide whether
or not to appeal. The decision must be
made by the next Council Meeting.
Discussion regarding Ordinance No.
1842, to waive bidding on Financial Software, (Second Reading):
The motion was
made and seconded to suspend the rules and place Ordinance No. 1842 on its
second reading by title only. The Mayor
took the voice vote, which was 6/0/0.
The clerk then
called the roll because of the suspension of rules and the vote was 6/0/0.
Ms. Dickens
read the ordinance by title only.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve. All were
in favor, 6/0/0.
The motion was
made and seconded to further suspend the rules and place Ordinance No. 1842 on
its third and final reading by title only, for the purpose of buying the
software as soon as possible. The roll
call vote was 4/2/0, with Alderpersons Schrader and Taylor voting no.
Ms. Dickens
read the ordinance by title only.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve. All were
in favor, 6/0/0.
Discussion regarding Ordinance No.
1843, Artists in the Park, (Second reading):
The motion was
made and seconded to suspend the rules and place Ordinance No. 1843 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.
Alderman
Schrader brought up a supreme court ruling that is mentioned by artists anytime
they are talking about working in the park.
Sherry Wilson,
the City Attorney, explained that the court case in question was about New York
City, who was selling licenses to artists, and limiting the amount of licenses
they would sell. This City never limited
the amount of licenses sold. The City
does not regulate content. We are
allowed by law to regulate time, place and manner, and that is what the City is
doing. We restrict the selling of art to
what the artist can create on the premises.
This, then, does not interfere with the peddling law in the City
Municipal Code.
The vote on
Ordinance No. 1843 was 5/1/0, with Alderman Schrader voting no.
RECESS:
The motion was
made and seconded to recess for ten minutes.
All were in favor 6/0/0.
The meeting
was recessed at 8:50 p.m. The meeting
was reconvened at 9:05 p.m.
Discussion regarding workshop date to
meet with the Historic District Commission:
Alderman
Sumpter has received several phone calls voicing concerns now that the Historic
District seems to have “grown”. Ms.
Dickens explained that the maps as they are now are as they originally
were. Somewhere along the line, the
district was “made smaller”, but the real district is as the maps show
now. The purpose in having a joint
meeting of the HDC and the City Council is strictly for the educational value,
not just to the commission and the council but to the City at large. The decisions made by the commission affect
whether or not the City remains on the National Register of Historic Buildings,
and also, our Certified Local Government status.
Alderman
Jeffrey said that the contemporary residential and commercial zones should not
fall under the auspices of the HDC.
After more
discussion the Workshop meeting was set at 5 p.m. on July 19th
before the regular HDC meeting.
Courtesy Shuttle, Sherry Wilson:
City Attorney,
Sherry Wilson, said she had serious reservations about this City not going out
for bids on the Courtesy Shuttle. There
have been inquiries about a bid package, which means that other people are
interested.
Ms. Wilson’s
suggestion was that there are only 34 more days for the shuttle to run. The downtown merchants have pledged
$5,000. Mr. White could make his
contract with them and the City would not have to be involved at all.
After more
discussion, there was no action taken.
NEW BUSINESS:
Ordinance No. 1821, an ordinance
regulating the Preservation of Trees (First Reading):
The council
decided to set a workshop date to meet with the Planning Commission after their
next meeting. They would like to go over
the ordinance with the commission before they read it.
The motion was
made and seconded to postpone the first reading of Ordinance No. 1821 until the
July 20th council meeting.
All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Discussion regarding setting a date for
a special meeting with all commissions to review master and vision plans:
Ed Leswig,
Chairman of the Planning Commission, suggested that the City Commissions get
together and review our master plan, which is the Harbin Plan. The Commission is suggesting that the City
replace the Harbin Plan with the Vision Plan.
The Council
decided that the Vision Plan video be run several times on Channel 5 before
trying to have a meeting on it. That way
everyone will have a chance to review it.
The meeting will be on Wednesday, August 30th, 2000, at 7
p.m..
Mayor Satori
said the meeting should be like a town hall meeting so people can speak to the
issues. He asked Mr. Leswig to organize
the meeting.
Permission for banners (12) Truck
and Motorcycle Show, July 14-16, 2000:
Ms. Dickens
said the banners would be put on twelve businesses. They will read,
“Truck and
Motorcycle Show, July 14-16”, with McBride Distributing on the bottom.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve. The vote
was 4/2/0, with Alderpersons Taylor and Schrader voting no.
Permission for a banner for the 50th
Anniversary of the Opera in the Ozarks:
The motion was
made and seconded to approve. All were
in favor, 6/0/0.
COUNCIL
COMMENTS:
Alderman Sumpter
said he would like to see a discussion on putting Council members on
commissions as liaisons. He would like
it to be put it on the agenda for discussion.
Alderman
Stoppel had information on the fire hydrant replacement which was touched on
briefly earlier in the year. He asked that it be put on the agenda for the
next meeting.
Alderman
Freeland wondered if there was anything to be done about really low water
pressure when the town is full. The
Council decided to ask Kirby Murray to address it at the July 20th,
2000 meeting while they are discussing replacement of fire hydrants.
MAYOR’S
COMMENTS:
The Mayor
congratulated Jackie and David Stoppel and their new baby daughter, Delanie
Michelle Stoppel.
The motion was made and seconded to adjourn. All were in favor, 6/0/0. The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
APPROVED:
______________________
Beau
Zar Satori, Mayor
ATTEST:
____________________________
Mary
Ann Lee, City Clerk-Treasurer