CITY COUNCIL
Mayor Kathy Harrison called the
regular meeting of the City Council to order at 5:33 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11,
2003, in the jury room of the Western District Carroll County Courthouse.
PRESENT: Mayor Kathy Harrison,
Aldermen Robert “Butch” Berry, Penny Carroll, Karen Lindblad, Gayle Money, Bill
Ott and Earl “Bud” Umland, CAPC Marketing Director Lynn Berry, Fire Chief David
Stoppel, Parks and Recreation Commission Executive Director Bruce Levine,
Police Chief Earl Hyatt, Public Works Director Kirby Murray and City Clerk Mary
Jean Sell.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE
FLAG:
Mayor Harrison led the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA:
Mayor Harrison said item #2 under
new business, Ordinance 1924 to waive competitive bidding for lights at Lake
Leatherwood sports fields (1st reading), had been removed from the
agenda.
She added item #5 under new
business, an executive session.
Mr. Ott moved to approve the agenda
as amended. Ms. Money seconded. All aye. Motion passed 6/0/0
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: May 12, 2003, May 28, 2003, July 14, 2003
July 28, 2003
The minutes of May 12 and July 28 were not
available. The minutes of May 28 are waiting on amendments.
Ms. Money moved to postpone the minutes of May 12, and
28, and July 28 to the Aug. 25 meeting. Mr. Ott seconded.
Ms.
Money moved to approve the minutes of July 14. Ms. Lindblad seconded.
Ms.
Carroll objected to the city clerk quoting herself in the minutes referring to
the discussion of the request of St. Elizabeth Church for reserved parking. Ms.
Money joined in the objection.
Mr.
Umland called the question on the discussion of the minutes. Mr. Ott seconded.
All voted aye. Motion passed 6/0/0
On
the motion to accept the minutes, four voted aye, Ms. Money and Ms. Carroll
voted nay. Motion passed 4/2/0
COMMISSION, COMMITTEE, AUTHORITY REPORTS AND VACANCIES:
Planning Commission – Position #2 – Expires 1/1/05 No nomination
CAPC – Position #3 – Expires 6/30/03 – Linda
Hager
Ms. Carroll moved to approve the nomination of Linda
Hager to the CAPC. Ms. Lindblad seconded. Five voted in favor, Ms. Money
opposed. Motion passed. 5/1/0
Hospital Commission – Position #1 – Expires 9/7/05 No nomination
Mayor Harrison announced Parks and
Recreation Commissioner Christy Fournier would be resigning and moving to
another community. She said she already had an applicant for the position.
Since the vacancy was not published on the agenda, she said she would wait
until the meeting of Aug. 25 to make a nomination for the post.
DEPARTMENT HEAD COMMENTS:
Ms.
Lynn Berry reported on increasing “hits” on the CAPC website and
several of the special events within the next three months.
Fire
Chief Stoppel reported the bids for the renovation of the fire
department’s building at 144 E. Van Buren are due Aug. 19. He has received
formal notification that the city's ISO rating has dropped from Class 5 to
Class 4 and the rural areas are now a Class 9.
Parks
Executive Director Bruce Levine reported on the annual public hearing
for setting recreational priorities for the coming year’s projects.
Improvements to Harmon Park and Basin Spring Park are on the top of the list,
along with expansion of the Eureka Kids program.
Police
Chief Earl Hyatt asked for an 11th officer for 2004, based
on increased demands on the department. He gave the council a statistical
report on calls, incidents, tickets and arrest warrants.
Public
Works Director Kirby Murray reported the amount of infiltration into
the city’s sewer system during rainstorms has already been reduced 70% by the
sewer line projects this spring and summer. He said the target date for
completion of the Planer Hill Sidewalk is Sept. 15. A tree needs to be removed
so a utility pole can be moved 13 ˝ inches, a catch basin needs to be built and
approximately 40 feet of railing installed.
A written report was submitted by
Transit Director Lamont Richie.
CITY ADMINISTRATIVE
ASSISTANT’S REPORT:
Ms. Kim Dickens was absent from the
meeting. There was no report.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
1.
Discussion regarding Ordinance 1920,
an ordinance regulating special events. (Review list of exceptions and approve
final draft for 1st reading)
Mr. Ott moved to approve Ordinance 1920.
Ms. Lindblad seconded. Mayor Harrison asked the council if they wanted the
ordinance read aloud before it was approved.
Mr. Ott moved to put Ordinance 1920
on its first reading. Ms. Money seconded. All voted aye. Motion passed 6/0/0.
City Clerk Sell read the ordinance
aloud.
Mr. Ott moved to table the
ordinance. Ms. Lindblad seconded. There was a brief discussion of additional
changes. All voted aye to table. Motion passed 6/0/0
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Discussion regarding Ordinance 1923, an ordinance amending
the 2003
adopted budget for the
remaining six-month period beginning July 1, 2003, and ending December 31,
2003. (1st reading)
Ms. Carroll recommended another budget workshop and
moved to postpone approval of the ordinance. Mr. Umland seconded. All voted
aye. Motion passed 6/0/0
The budget workshop was set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug.
26, in the jury room.
2.
Discussion regarding Ordinance 1924, an ordinance to waive competitive bidding
for the lights at Lake Leatherwood sports fields. (1st reading)
Mayor Harrison announced this item
had been removed from the agenda.
3.
Discussion regarding Resolution 498, utilizing grant funds.
Parks Executive Director Bruce Levine explained
approval of this resolution is necessary so he can complete the application for
a grant from the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism for Phase III of the
Leatherwood Fields project: concession stand, restrooms and a wastewater
treatment system.
Mr. Ott asked if the resolution meant the city was
obligated to finish the project if the grant was not awarded. Mr. Levine said
no.
Ms. Lindblad asked about the price of the projects.
Mr. Levine said he did not have cost estimates and if parks funds could not
match the grant, the grant would be refused.
Ms. Carroll moved to approve Resolution 498 for the
parks. Mr. Umland seconded. Discussion continued, centering around the matching
funds and costs of the project.
Ms. Money called for the question on the discussion.
Ms. Carroll seconded. Five voted aye to close the discussion. Ms. Lindblad
opposed. Motion passed 5/1/0
Clerk Sell read the resolution aloud.
The vote to approve the resolution was five in favor
with Ms. Lindblad opposing. Motion passed 5/1/0
4. Discussion regarding the possible conflict of interest concerning the City Clerk.
Ms. Carroll said she wants the issue researched. She
is uncomfortable with the city clerk recording the minutes and also reporting
the meetings in the newspaper.
Ms. Money said she is concerned about whether the
clerk was speaking as the clerk, a newspaper reporter or citizen during council
meetings. She is also concerned that the clerk is not current with the minutes.
Mr. Ott said a Municipal League attorney had
attended the recent ac hoc committee meeting and the attorney had said he did
not see a conflict of interest.
Bob Moore, publisher of the Carroll County
Newspapers/the Times-Echo, said he
had talked with John Tull, an attorney who works with the Arkansas Press
Association (APA) and Mr. Tull did not see a conflict of interest.
Jack Holly, a member of the media and former member
of the Preservation Society, said he was concerned that 50 years from now there
would only be one person’s view of what was happing in the meetings. He said he
had requested copies of minutes and had not received them from the clerk.
Ms. Carroll repeated her motion to have City
Administrative Assistant Kim Dickens research the possible conflict of interest
and bring a report to the council. Four voted aye, Mr. Ott and Ms. Lindblad
opposed. Motion passed 4/2/0
5. ACE presentation by Mr. Jeffrey, Ms. Berry and Ms. Akins to create a position for a publicist.
Ms. Berry, chairman of the Tourism and Marketing
Team for the ACE (Arkansas Community of Excellence) program, and Cindy Akins,
city film commissioner and chairman of the ACE Film and Television Team, made
the presentation. Mr. Jeffrey was out of town.
Ms. Berry said the ACE Core group has proposed
hiring a city publicist, with the contract salary of $21,000 to be divided
among the city, the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce and the CAPC.
Ms. Akins explained that a publicist’s job is to
generate free publicity for the city by targeting all markets, beyond the scope
of the CAPC’s marketing area.
There was some discussion about the mixing of the
private Chamber fund with the tax revenues of the city and the CAPC for the
salary.
Ms. Berry said the suggestion had been made in a
spirit of cooperation among the three entities to move the city forward in the
tourism markets.
5. Executive session.
The council went into executive session at 7:38 p.m.
and resumed the regular meeting at 8:27 p.m. Mayor Harrison said the session
was for a disciplinary matter and no action would be taken tonight.
CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS:
Ms. Money asked that the ordinance
regarding the city attorney’s duties be placed on the agenda for Aug. 25. Ms.
Carroll seconded the agenda item.
Mr. Berry asked that a discussion of
an extension on the moratorium on excavation and fill projects be on the Aug.
25 agenda. Ms. Money seconded the agenda item.
Ms. Lindblad asked that a discussion
on the starting time of the meetings be on the Aug.25 agenda. She also asked
that the Historic District Commission (HDC) ordinance amendment be on the Aug.
25 agenda.
MAYOR’S COMMENTS:
Mayor Harrison announced a public
hearing in Berryville with the Arkansas Public Service Commission regarding the
rate increase from Arkansas Western Gas Co. She did not have a date for the
hearing but said it would be available in City Hall.
ADJOURNMENT:
Ms. Money moved to adjourn at 8:38
p.m. Ms. Carroll seconded. All voted aye. Motion passed 6/0/0
This is the signature page for the
Aug. 11, 2003, City Council minutes.
_____________________________
Mayor
Kathy Harrison
__________________________________
City Clerk Mary Jean Sell