CITY OF EUREKA SPRINGS

COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

May 21, 2001

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Mayor Beau Z. Satori called the February 21st, 2001, meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Courtroom of the Carroll County Courthouse.

PRESENT:

Mayor Satori, David Stoppel, Bryan Sumpter, Kelly Simon, Kathy Harrison, and James DeVito. Jack Dozier was absent.

ALSO PRESENT: Rick Peterson, Larry Dyson, Elaine Van Natta, Bill Earngey, Mary Jean Sell, Susan Lourne, Bruce Levine, Tom Tharp, Gene Ray, John Mitchell, Kirby Murray, David White, Bill King, Sherry Wilson, Kim Dickens, Don Matt, Rhonda Taunton, and Clerk Lee. Others were present who did not sign in.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:

Mayor Satori led in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA:

Under Unfinished Business, number one was changed to “Consideration of the application for Moped Franchise. Number two was changed to “Discussion of the Transit Committee”, and then the items were re-numbered on down.

The motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda as amended. The vote was 5/0/0.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:

The motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the May 7^th, 2001 Council Meeting. Amendments were noted and the vote was 5/0/0, to approve.

The motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the May 9^th, 2001, Special Council Meeting. An amendment was noted and the vote was 5/0/0, to approve.

COMMISSION, COMMITTEE: AND AUTHORITY REPORTS AND VACANCIES:

Hospital Commission-Position 4,--Mayor Satori had nominated Pamela Crockett.

The motion was made and seconded to approve Ms. Crockett. The vote was 5/0/0.

DEPARTMENT HEAD COMMENTS:

None.

CITY ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT’S REPORT:

Ms. Dickens said the Police Facility is at the decking stage. All of the footings have been poured.

Lake Leatherwood Dam will be going out to bid in late June, according to the engineers.

The Planer Hill Sidewalk project will begin when the State and Federal approvals come in.

911 is still ongoing. The City had to hire a new company to take over for the old company, which went bankrupt.

Under ongoing projects, fluoridation has never been put on the agenda. Ms. Dickens asked for direction. She said that certainly, more people were opposed to it than for it in the straw vote from the back of the water bills.

The motion was made and seconded to put it on the agenda. After more discussion, the Council decided to wait until the July 2^nd meeting. The motion was withdrawn as was the second.

Ms. Dickens reported on her and Diane Murphy’s appearance before the Board of Directors of the Municipal League Health Benefit Fund. They approved the City’s proposal for insurance for all of the employees. The deductable will be the same, which is $200. It will begin July 1^st, 2001, so the paperwork must be done in June.

Ms. Dickens said the good news was that she would be on vacation the Tuesday through Friday after Memorial Day.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Discussion of the application for a Moped Franchise:

The motion was made and seconded to approve the Moped Franchise.

Alderman Stoppel said the application fits within the perimeters of the Municipal Code.

City Attorney Sherry Wilson said that if the application fits the criteria, the City cannot deny the application. The City cannot deny commerce.

It was decided that Mr. Peterson should talk to Chief Hyatt about what streets are unsafe for mopeds.

It was also discussed that even though the State doesn’t require riders to wear helmets, the City code does.

Bill Earngey said it is not unusual to decline a business if it is unsafe.

Alderman Sumpter said it all comes down to personal responsibility. The operator is responsible for his safety.

Alderman DeVito said that mopeds don’t make any more noise than motorcycles, and we have a lot of them coming to town. He said he would be taking notice of any infractions that he might see, and if there are a lot of them, perhaps, the Council might have to come back to the table on this decision.

Clerk Lee commented that she has rarely heard a discussion at the Council table about the responsibility of our citizens to report problems. They should call the police if they see dangerous or bad behavior on these types of vehicles.

The vote on the motion was 4/1/0, with Harrison voting no.

Discussion of the Transit Committee:

A citizen who was not on the committee had a problem with Council members being on the committee, and then structuring ordinances. Others said they did not think they should handle anything but Transit Department information, and that there should be another committee to cover other transportation issues. As a group they wanted the Council to reconsider, as to the structure and the purpose of the committee.

Mayor Satori said the committee realized they had 8 or 9 meetings before the annual Transit Public Hearing and they felt that they needed that time to focus on the Transit Department. Any thing done to reconstruct ordinances should go either to Council or a sub-committee, and have work shops to deal with the subject.

Alderman Harrison asked the Council to put a member of the Planning Commission on the committee, since they have been interested in those issues.

Alderman DeVito said why couldn’t the City Attorney and the Administrative Assistant go over the Hot Springs Municipal Code and use that as a basis for other transportation issues, and let the committee deal with Transit issues.

Alderman Sumpter said that the time for the Transit Public Hearing should be moved up so that Ms. Liggett would not be so pressed for time, before the reports have to be turned in to the State.

Alderman Harrison said that she thought that there should be a Council member acting as liaison, a member of the Planning Commission, a member of the HDC, and then the rest of the committee. She said that there would be more cohesion of the group, and people wouldn’t duplicate work.

Alderman Stoppel asked what the committee was looking for? Alderman Sumpter said they were looking for one council person and whoever else would be on the committee.

The Council discussed how the volunteers would be chosen, and they decided that they should be chosen just like commission members.

The motion was made and seconded to form a Transit Committee made up of one Council Member and six volunteers to be nominated by the Mayor and approved by the Council.

The vote on the motion was 5/0/0.

This pretty much abolished the other committee.

The motion was made and seconded to direct the and the City Attorney with the help of the Administrative Assistant to incorporate the Hot Springs Transportation Code into the form of an ordinance to reflecting our existing ordinances to be brought before the City Council for approval.

The vote was 5/0/0.

The motion was made and seconded to appoint Alderman Dozier to the Transportation Committee. The vote was 5/0/0.

Discussion regarding Ordinance No.1872, CAPC tax on attractions,

(Second reading):

The motion was made and seconded to suspend the rules, and place ordinance No. 1872 on its second reading by title only. All were in favor, 5/0/0.

Ms. Dickens read the ordinance by title only.

The motion was made and seconded to approve. All were in favor, 5/0/0.

Discussion regarding Armstrong Street,(Dozier/Soppel):

The motion was made and seconded to reverse the direction of Armstrong Street, when the Planer Hill Sidewalk excavation is done.

All were in favor, 5/0/0.

Kirby Murray told the Council that once the plans are approved by the State, it should take three months to finish.

Alderman Sumpter was concerned about the congestion at the top of Planer Hill, which is also the concern of the Chief of Police.

Discussion regarding project priority change request from Parks Commission:

Chairman Bruce Levine thanked the Council, two prior Councils, the Mayor and Ms. Dickens for their help in committing 12 acres in perpetuity for ball fields. He asked the Council to reconsider the Parks priorities list and add to the priority list the ball fields, and add money to the Basin Park budget. They have the potential to have a cash flow problem. The bath house will be defered until the fall. The $45,000 set aside for the first phase of the bath house will be used then. The City stipend will go for the ball fields, and the handrails which ran the cost over, but needed to be done.

Susan Lourne said that the schedule that they planned on to re-imburse with grant money would have dove-tailed just fine. Now Jimmy Jones says he can do the ball fields in half the time, so things are not fitting quite as well, even though the work will be finished sooner.

The motion was made and seconded to add this money to the priorities list.

The vote was 4/1/0, with Alderman Sumpter voting no.

NEW BUSINESS:

Discussion regarding ownership change of Animal Drawn Vehicles:

Gene Ray sold Olden Days Carriage Service to Tom Tharp. All of the paperwork was in order, including health papers for the mules and the insurance.

The motion was made and seconded to approve the transfer of ownership.

All were in favor, 5/0/0.

Discussion regarding moratorium on conditional use permits, (Simon/Harrison):

The motion was made and seconded for this moratorium discussion to go to the Planning Commission, first, and then it can come back to the Council.

The vote was 5/0/0.

Resolution No. 484, a resolution authorizing a schedule of fees pertaining to Chapter 114:

The motion was made and seconded to read Resolution No. 484.

All were in favor, 5/0/0.

Ms. Dickens read the resolution in its entirety.

The motion was made and seconded to approve the resolution.

All were in favor, 5/0/0.

Discussion regarding the 2001 Street Paving Program:

Mr. Murray handed out his recommendations for street paving for the year. He said he was late getting them to the Council. The recommended plan is for $51,000. $77,500 is available. He likes to leave some cushion in case there is a problem with walls falling.

The Council decided to wait and discuss the program at the June 4^th meeting.

COUNCIL COMMENTS:

None.

MAYOR’S COMMENTS:

Mayor Satori said that the Lake Leatherwood ball fields were cleared Saturday. No large trees were removed unless it was necessary. Jimmy Jones did the job in one day. Completion is 42 days.

The motion was made and seconded to adjourn. All were in favor, 5/0/0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

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This is the signature sheet for the minutes of May 21^st, 2001.

APPROVED:

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Mayor Beau Z. Satori

ATTEST:

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Mary Ann Lee, City Clerk-Treasurer