CITY OF EUREKA SPRINGS
COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
Mayor
Beau Satori called the
It
was held in the courtroom of the Western District Courthouse.
PRESENT: Mayor
Satori, and Alderpersons Jeffrey, Schrader, Stoppel, Freeland,
ALSO PRESENT:
Bruce Crabtree, Jack Tuttle, Kirby Murray, Ed Leswig, David White, Earl Hyatt,
Diane Murphy, Jack Dozier, Bill and Levenya Schenk, Jack Moyer, Kate Allen, Joe
Zickmund, Kim Dickens, Sherry Wilson, Don Matt and Clerk Lee.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE: Ms. Dickens led in the
Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF
THE AGENDA:
Ms. Dickens
asked the City Council to move the Earth Day Proclamation forward. The motion was made and seconded to move it
to just above Department Head Comments.
All were in favor, 6/0/0.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve the agenda as amended. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
APPROVAL OF
THE MINUTES:
The motion was
made and seconded to approve the
The amendments
were noted. Alderman Schrader said he
would get with the Clerk to redo what he objected to. The motion was made and seconded to postpone
the minutes until May 4th.
All were in favor, 6/0/0.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve the minutes from
COMMISSION,
COMMITTEE AND AUTHORITY REPORTS AND VACANCIES:
The Mayor had
nominated Ken Fugate for Position 3 on the Cemetery Commission which expires
At this time
the Mayor read the Proclamation for Earth Day,
DEPARTMENT
HEAD COMMENTS:
Chief Hyatt
presented the name of Jerry Reddick to be appointed as a reserve police
officer. He has completed his
psychological training and his examinations.
He is presently working as a jailer and dispatcher for the Carroll
County Sheriff’s Office. The reserve
officer’s pool is where the department looks for permanent officers. The motion was made and seconded to
approve. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Chief Hyatt
brought up the Blues Festival. It is
coming up fast. There is a question as
to the funding that was to be paid by the CAPC to help fund more security
people on the streets. He said the
department only had eleven full time police officers, and he can only muster
about eight. He said he was alerting the
Council to the problem.
Mayor Satori
said he would see to it that the subject of funding for security for the Blues
Festival be put on the next CAPC Agenda.
Chief Hyatt
was asked about the officer who was working traffic surveillance. He reported that there really wasn’t enough
time to have good statistics, but that it appeared to be working well. He said the number of calls complaining about
speeders has been reduced considerably.
Diane Murphy,
Director of Finance, said that because of a $30,000 proposal submitted by the
Boys and Girls Club, the Council budgeted $10,000 to be used for youth
services. The Boys and Girls Club has
made a specific request for those funds in the amount of $9,999. Ms. Murphy wanted the Council to approve the
distribution of the funds and be sure that it was still the intent of the
Council to do so.
Alderman
Jeffrey said the Boys and Girls Club has a program in place and they are
qualified to provide for the youth of the community for the summer. He made the motion to go ahead and
appropriate the funds. There was no
second at that time.
In the
discussion that followed, the Council members were concerned about having a
schedule of the events, services and times for the program the Boys and Girls
Club had planned for the summer.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve the $9,999 request. The vote was
Alderman
Jeffrey amended the motion to give the Boys and Girls Club the first half of
the money and request that they submit a schedule of events and services and times
before they get the second half.
Alderman Sumpter seconded it.
Alderman
Schrader asked about drawing up a simple contract. Ms. Dickens explained that anytime the City
pays out something like this, an invoice is submitted and is kept with a copy
of the Bookkeeper’s check.
The vote on
the motion was 6/0/0.
Kirby Murray,
Director of Public Works, gave a report on
He said that
the stamped concrete driveways are not the same color as the rest of the
sidewalk. That was done on purpose. The sidewalk will turn a very dark gray after
a period of time. The concrete has to
cure for 10 days—The City is doing it in seven days.
Then it has to
have a sealer on it. If it is done on a
warm day, you can drive on it the next day.
Mr. Murray
said the City has 4 water tanks on the system.
They had a company come in. He
said what used to be a lengthy process to clean and maintain now takes 20
minutes each. He said they gave him a
written report and a videotape of the inspections. It is done every three years.
Last year
Public Works received a grant to buy a “Tree Keeper” program. It is for maintaining records of all of the
city “street trees”. James Clark will
keep track of all the tree trimming, planting and removal for the year plus the
costs. This goes into our
Alderman
Schrader suggested that a written report on this program be given to the
Planning Commission. Mr. Murray agreed.
The Mayor
suggested that the top of the water towers be painted blue to make filming
easier. Mr. Murray responded that the
recommended paint is high gloss white to keep the water from getting too warm.
CITY
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT:
Ms. Dickens
invited the community to attend the Classic Music Festival. Friday night, April 28th, will be
the wine tasting and cheese before the entertainment, and Saturday, April 29th,
will be the concert at the Auditorium.
Tickets for Friday will be $15 and for Saturday, $18.
Alderman
Freeland added that it is really a special group and will be a great
experience.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Discussion regarding Ordinance 1835,
adopting new code for the City of
The motion was
made and seconded to place Ordinance No. 1835 on its third and final reading by
title only. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Ms. Dickens
read the ordinance by title only.
Alderman
Schrader made the motion to pull the planning commission portion of the code
and set aside until later. There was no
second.
The vote was
5/1/0, with Alderman Schrader voting no.
Discussion regarding Ordinance No.
1836, regarding Basin Park Parking (third reading):
The motion was
made and seconded to place Ordinance No. 1836 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. The
discussion centered on what could be done to help the Basin Park with their
loading and unloading problem, which is a major problem for them, and
reorganizing loading zones with the idea of making them more efficient and
enforceable.
Alderman
Freeland made the motion to postpone and Alderman Sumpter seconded. It was suggested that a special meeting be
set up to deal with the problem. The
Mayor asked the Council to please pass the ordinance now so that it will be in
effect for Blues Festival. In the
meantime he assured Mr. Moyer that the City would be working on a solution.
Alderman
Freeland called the question on postponement.
Alderpersons Sumpter, Freeland and Taylor voted yes. Alderpersons Stoppel, Jeffrey and Sumpter
voted no.
The vote to
pass Ordinance No. 1836 on its third reading was 5/1/0, with Alderman Sumpter
voting no.
Ms. Dickens
said if nothing else, a committee could meet and go over the ordinance that
Chief Hyatt had presented about loading zones that was brought before the
Council about six months ago, and get something done that could be enforced.
The motion was
made and seconded to have a special City Council meeting on April 27th.
There was no
second. Everyone was really busy that
week.
The motion was
made and seconded to instruct the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance
addressing the loading zones by the May 4th, 2000 City Council
Meeting. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Discussion regarding Courtesy Shuttle:
The motion was
made and seconded to postpone the discussion to the May 4th meeting.
All were in
favor, 6/0/0.
The motion was
made and seconded to take a break, and all were in favor, 6/0/0.
The meeting
recessed at 9 p.m. and reconvened at 9:12 p.m.
NEW BUSINESS:
Discussion regarding Ordinance No.
1837, election by ward, (First Reading):
The motion was
made and seconded to place Ordinance No. 1837 on its first reading. The vote was 2/4/0, with Alderpersons
Freeland and Schrader voting yes, and Stoppel, Taylor, Jeffrey and Sumpter
voting no.
Discussion regarding Ordinance No.
1838, repair of Lake Leatherwood Dam, (First reading):
The motion was
made and seconded to place Ordinance No. 1838 on its first reading in its
entirety. All were in favor, 6/0/0.
Ms. Dickens
read the ordinance in its entirety.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve. All were
in favor, 6/0/0.
Mayor Satori
said there is a bill in congress to address this issue, although it remains to
be seen if it will help. Let your
congressmen know how you feel.
Discussion regarding Resolution No. 474,
calling for special election on Police Facility:
The motion was
made and seconded to read Resolution No. 474, calling for a special election on
the Police Facility. All were in favor,
5/1/0. Alderman Sumpter voted no.
Ms. Dickens
read Resolution No. 474.
The motion was
made and seconded to approve. There was
discussion as to whether the petition title was proper because the Ordinance
number was not mentioned. The vote was
4/2/0, with Alderpersons Stoppel and Sumpter voting no.
Review Animal Licensing procedures,
(Bryan Sumpter):
Alderman
Sumpter said he felt that the licensing for animals that haven’t been spayed or
neutered should be much more expensive than is in the City ordinances. He felt that the city was not strong enough
in encouraging people to have their pets spayed and neutered. He also felt that the licensing procedure is
awkward.
The fee that
is paid when your animal has been picked up is $65.
Alderman
Freeland said it is a big issue. He
believes that to begin by raising our fees is a beginning. Six or seven area veterinarians have had a
meeting and are talking about forming a County association.
The City needs
more revenue to support animal control.
There is no technology involved
in the way it is done now.
Aldermen
Sumpter and Chief Hyatt will get together and decide what the legislative
issues, procedural issues, and management software needs are.
Set date for the transportation meeting
(Bill Freeland):
The date was
set for May 16th, 2000, at 2 p.m.
Ms. Dickens will contact everyone.
Discussion of utilization of Benton
Street for Parking, (Ed Leswig):
This idea was
voted on and presented a year ago from the Planning Commission.
Mr. Leswig
said the idea is to make Benton Street one way going up hill from the bad
weather gate to the other gate. He
believes that this would be the time to try this, since Benton Street has been
one way going uphill since last November. This would take care of the chronic
problem of speeders down this hill. It
would provide 56 free parking spaces along the left side of the street and they
would be within easy walking distance of the downtown. He said there would not be much cost, just
signage and paint.
The motion was
made and seconded to draft an ordinance or the necessary instrument to
implement this idea. All were in favor,
6/0/0.
The motion was
made and seconded to leave Benton Street one way, at least for the time
being. The vote was 5/1/0, with Alderman
Stoppel voting no.
COUNCIL
COMMENTS:
Both Alderman
Freeland and Alderman Schrader voiced their disappointment to the other members
of the Council that they didn’t vote to put Ordinance No. 1837 on the
ballot. All of the other members of the
Council said they had received many phone calls asking them not to vote for the
ordinance.
MAYOR’S COMMENTS:
There
were no comments.
The motion was made and seconded to adjourn. All were in favor, 6/0/0. The meeting was 10:30 p.m.
APPROVED:
______________________
Beau
Zar Satori, Mayor
ATTEST:
____________________________
Mary
Ann Lee, City Clerk-Treasurer