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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-04-06 MinutesMINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS April 6, 1976 The Board of Directors of the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas met in a regular session on April 6, 1976, at 7:30 p.m., in the Directors Room of the City Administration Building. PRESENT: City Manager Donald Grimes; City Attorney Jim McCord; City Clerk Darlene Westbrook; and Directors Marion Orton, John Todd, Paul Noland, Al Hughes, Russell Purdy, and Morris Collier ABSENT: Director Ernest Lancaster OTHERS PRESENT: Members of the audience and representatives of the news media. CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES 146.1 Mayor Marion Orton called the meeting to order. Following a brief moment of respectful silence, the Mayor asked if there be any amendments to the minutes of the special meeting of March 23, 1976. There being none, the minutes were approved as submitted. 146.2 The Mayor then asked if there be any amendments necessary to the minutes of the special meeting held March 30, 1976. Director Collier cited a needed correction in the first sentence of paragraph 140.7 to reflect "Mrs. Lois Imhoff". City Attorney McCord requested amending paragraph 139.4 to cause it to read: "...Grimes stated that the City Attorney had advised that the landfill contract contained an indemnity clause whereby any liability for damages, resulting from the operation of the landfill, would be assumed by the owner." 146.3 These changes meeting Board approval, the Mayor declared the minutes of the March 30, 1976 special meeting approved as amended. ORDINANCE LEVYING OCCUPATION LICENSE TAX 146.4 City Manager Grimes reviewed the City staff recommendations for pro- visions of the occupation license tax ordinance and proposed that the minimum business license tax be set at $15, and $500 maximum per business. In addition, he recommended a $6 per employee tax that would be based upon the number of employees and not to exceed a maximum of $500. In regard to proposed increase utility franchise taxes, Grimes recommended that the originally proposed one percent increase for gas and electric be levied, a one percent franchise levied upon industrial consumers, and the acceptance of a proposal by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company to increase their franchise tax from $37,500 to $75,000 during 1976 with another increase to $100,000 beginning January 1, 1977. 146.5 Grimes stated that the City recommendation was almost exactly as that of the Citizen's Task Force, with the exception of the telephone franchise recommendation. He said the recommendation of the City, if accepted, would produce an estimated revenue of $229,000. The drafted ordinance was recom- mended by Grimes to be resubmitted to the Task Force for an indication of their approval and support. 146 1 L Discussion of needed changes in the ordinance included the discussion of definitions of the terms "professional" and "employee". Upon completion of discussion the Board had concurred on the following (1) That the definition of "employee" provide that a person be considered an employee if he worked 20 hours or more per week. (2) The Task Force be asked to recommend a possible provision for the exemption of employees from the tax if their work does not originate in the City. (3) In case of duplication, an employee would be taxed at a higher rate of tax if that employee were taxable under aS; two categories. GV (4) Establishments providing more than one service or type of goods at one location pay only one business tax Ct. (5) The tax per employee should be $6 to a maximum of $500 CO total. (6) Public administrators would not be considered professionals. (7) Stiffer penalties for delinquent payment of tax. (The City Manager recommended 25% until amount of the tax doubled.) Director Todd moved that the ordinance provide that businesses with more than one fixed location pay a business tax for each location. The motion was seconded by Director Hughes and the recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed. Director Collier feared the Board might alter the proposed ordinance to the extent that it would not reflect original recommendations of the Task Force and would therefore not be approved by the Task Force. In further discussion of provisions of the ordinance, Director Todd felt there should be no provision for installment payment of taxes. Director Purdy, concerned with the fact that the City would be authorized to acquire business records for enforcement purposes, was assured by the City Attorney that the ordinance could be drafted to provide for confiden- tiality of records made available to the City. Director Collier, seconded by Director Purdy, moved the proposed ordinance be submitted to the Task Force for their active support with any recommendations they might have to be submitted to the Board by April 14, 1976. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed. Director Purdy stated he hoped it was understood the Board realized the proposed tax package was not a perfect answer but that it was the best the Board could devise. Mayor Orton stated the package was an emergency measure and that the Board would continue to seek long-range plans for permanent revenue sources to finance a strong capital improvement program. 1 147 147 147.1 147.2 147.3 147.4 147.5 147.6 ORDINANCE REZONING PROPERTY - R76-10 / Root School 148.1 The ordinance would rezone the tract of land upon which is located Root Elementary School, from R-1 Low Density Residential to P-1 Public Institutional as requested by petition initiated by the City of Fayetteville. 148.2 The City Attorney read the ordinance the first time after which Director Collier, seconded by Director Hughes, moved the rules be suspended and the ordinance placed on second reading. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed and the ordinance was read the second time. 148.3 Director Collier, seconded by Director Purdy, moved rules be further suspended and the ordinance read the third and final time. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed and the ordinance was read the third and final time. 148.4 During discussion of the fact that two lots adjacent to the school would remain zoned R-1 (the proposed use of the lots had been for the con- struction of tennis courts), Director Todd clarified that his intention to vote favorably for the rezoning would not indicate he did not favor additional recreational facilities. He did not feel the lots should be zoned so as to cause them to remain vacant permanently in a zone not suitable for residential use. He agreed with neighboring residential property owners' concern that they be assured the future use of the lots would be compatible with the neighborhood, but that he was not convinced tennis courts would not be compatible. He did not wish a favorable vote to be construed as a vote against the use of the lots for any purpose other than residential. 148.5 Director Hughes informed that a conditional use to allow the construc- tion of the tennis courts had already been approved approximately 18 months ago. Mr. Carl Yates, a resident of the area, believed the conditional use should again be considered by the Planning Commission. He said the property owners wished the lots to remain zoned R-1 to assure they would be provided an opportunity to appear before the Planning Commission at the time any future use other than residential is considered. 148.6 Upon completion of discussion, the Mayor asked if the ordinance should pass. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The Mayor declared the ordinance passed. ORDINANCE NO. 2215 APPEARS ON PAGE 92 OF ORDINANCE & RESOLUTION BOOK V 148 1 PETITION REQUESTION DELETION OF PAVING PROJECT`- Fallin Avenue 1-..19 Petitions had been filed by residents of Fallin Avenue requesting 149.1 that the Board delete the Fallin Avenue street paving project from the 1976 Community Development program. A second petition, signed by property owners of Fallin Avenue, requested that the project be retained in the program. City Manager Grimes stated that a complicating factor was that the 149.2 $35,000 estimate of the project would have to be amended to reflect a current estimated cost of $83,000. The new estimate would reflect additional engineer- ing and the construction of a retaining wall. He felt the expediture would be excessive for a short segment of street carrying a small amount of traffic. ut He felt it important that the Board consider the fact that the CD committee GV had included the project in its recommended program and the Board had to tek consider which body would determine priority of scheduled projects and whether or not their decision should be based upon requests of tenants 0140 rather than property owners. Director Hughes did not think the cost to be relevant, rather the 149.3 question of whether a tenant can address the question with authority unless as a representative of the property owner. Director Todd disagreed, saying that the residents were speaking as citizens and that the CO program was for the benefit of residents and not property owners. A suggestion by the Mayor that the property owners might share in the cost 149.4 overrun was not received favorably by those present in the audience. Director Todd felt if correction of drainage problems is of prime im- portance to the property owners, they should be willing to accept the sugges- tion and share in the cost. He noted that the Board had previously overridden the CD committee's recommendation for street projects which would benefit owners of rental property. Ms. Suzanne MacRae spoke in favor of deleting the project. She be- 149.5 lieved a paved street would result in increased traffic at higher speeds and would encourage people to park cars at the curb. Ms. MacRae felt the expense for paving the street could not be justifiable and that the funds should be used to meet other needs of the City. Correspondence from Marilyn Partlow, ready by Director Todd, expressed her opinion that the project would primarily benefit owners of rental property and would serve to increase property values. She recommended use of the funds for paving Fallin to install sidewalks along Mission Boulevard. Ms. Frances Langham, another property owner, noted that maintenance of 149.6 rental property was the responsibility of the landlords and felt the Board was avoiding the issue of resolving to retain the project in the program by showing an excessive amount of concern for cost overruns. Director Noland clarified that the Board must consider recommendations 149.7 the CD Committee had submitted to the Board and felt the Board would be precluding a decision by the CD Committee if it were to make a decision be- fore the committee could make any recommendations. Director Hughes informed the group that, since many of the projects would involve overruns, the CD application would have to be amended and resubmitted after the committees had reviewed programs and recommended changes. It was pointed out that at the time the CD Committee meets to reconsider its scheduled street pro- gram, persons interested in the Fallin project could appear before the committee to express their desires. • 149 1 1 150.1 Director Collier, seconded by Director Noland, moved that the decision for the future of the project be left with the CD Committee for their recom- mendation as well as recommendations for the future of other scheduled projects. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed. 150.2 In further discussion, the City Manager discussed with the Board specific engineering problems of the Fallin project. He said the project illustrated the difficulties and expense that could be involved if the City were to construct all streets in accordance with street specifications, particularly those streets in established neighborhoods. He did not feel private developers were overburdened by having to meet the specifications for construction of streets on raw parcels of property. The City would, he said, construct streets to specifications when circumstances permit, but that adjustments should be anticipated when the City has to construct streets in established neighborhoods. 150.3 Director Todd felt the Board and CD Committee could make more well-informed decisions of this nature if, prior to their meetings, the Directos and CD Committee members were supplied with information concerning engineering, cost estimates, and the owner/tenant/resident mix. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING FAA GRANT AGREEMENT AMENDMENT - FAAP 8-05-0020-01 150.4 The resolution, read by the City Attorney, would authorize the Mayor andCity Clerk to execute an amendment to the FAA grant agreement for FAA Project No. 8-05-0020-01. The amendment would provide for a more expedient process for reimbursement applications. Director Hughes, seconded by Director Collier, moved adoption of the resolution. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The resolution was declared passed. RESOLUTION NO. 18-76 APPEARS ON PAGE 48 OF ORDINANCE & RESOLUTION BOOK V ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING ABATEMENT OF PROPERTY CONDITIONS - 1717 Stirman 150.5 The ordinance, read by the City Attorney, would authorize the abate- ment of unsightly, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions of property located at 1717 Stirman Avenue. The ordinance would specifically authorize the City Manager to order the work and to levy costs against the property. 150.6 Director Collier, seconded by Director Noland, moved rules be suspended and the ordinance placed on second reading. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed and the ordinance was read the second time. 150.7 During brief discussion, the City Attorney explained that this particular method was a last resort measure when other channels had been exhausted. 150 1 N Director Purdy, seconded by Director Todd,' rules and place the ordinance on third and final roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Col "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed and the ordinance was read the third and final time. moved to further suspend reading. The recorded lier 15E The Mayor asked if the ordinance should pass. The recorded roll call 151.2 vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The Mayor declared the ordinance passed. ORDINANCE NO. 2216 APPEARS ON PAGE 93 OF ORDINANCE & RESOLUTION BOOK V PURCHASING ITEMS Community Development Housing Rehabilitations: Purchasing Officer Sturman 151.3 Mackey recommended the award of two housing rehabilitation projects be awarded to low bidders, T & S Construction for $4,485.00 (324 Huntsville); and Bradley Construction in the amount of $4,840.00 (135 E. Meadow). The projects would result in the structures being brougt up to meet code speci- fications according to Steve Brown, CD representative. Director Collier, seconded by Director Purdy, moved the bids be awarded 151.4 as recommended. The roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed. Bid 316 - Walker Park Baseball Diamond Fencing: The Purchasing Officer recommended award of the bid in the amount of $2,119.24 to low bidder, Modern Fence Company of Fayetteville. Mackey stated that funds for the project were to be provided by the 1975 Community Development program. Director Hughes, seconded by Director Todd, moved award of the bid as recommended. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF LANDFILL CONTRACT The resolution, read by the City Attorney, would authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a contract with Sunray Sanitation Company for landfill services. Director Hughes, seconded by Director Todd, moved adoption of the resolution. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The resolution was declared passed. RESOLUTION NO. 19-76 APPEARS ON PAGE 49 OF ORDINANCE & RESOLUTION BOOK V 151 151.5 151.6 151.7 ORDINANCE VACATING EASEMENT - Read Avenue 152.1 The ordinance, read by the City Attorney would vacate an easement located along the east one-half of Read Avenue which had been closed by Ordinance 1100. The City Attorney explained that, though the street had been closed, the easement had been reserved. The City Attorney assured the Board that there seemed to be no possible need for retaining the ease- ment. Director Hughes, seconded by Director Todd, moved to suspend rules and place the ordinance on second reading. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed and the ordinance was read the second time. 152.2 Director Purdy, seconded by Director Collier, moved rules be further suspended and the ordinance read the third and final time. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The motion was declared passed and the ordinance was read the third and final time. 152.3 The Mayor asked if the ordinance should pass. The recorded roll call vote of the Board was: "Ayes": Todd, Noland, Hughes, Orton, Purdy, Collier "Nays": None Absent: Lancaster The Mayor declared the ordinance passed. ORDINANCE NO. 2217 APPEARS ON PAGE 94 OF ORDINANCE & RESOLUTION BOOK V ACORN REQUEST FOR BOARD SUPPORT - Intangible Property Taxes 152.4 In regard to a presentation by SEFCO at the March 30, 1976 meeting concerning taxing of intangible properties, ACORN representative Larry Ahart requested the support of the Board for taxing intangible properties. The Mayor stated that the City Attorney would be requested to research the issue to determine how such taxes would affect the City and its finances. ADJOURNMENT 152.5 There being no further business for the Board's discussion, the Mayor, with consent of the Board, declared the meeting adjourned. ATTEST: Darlene Westbrook, City Clerk APPROVED: Li -Y �Cz%LC2/>2J C D -v2 Marion R. Orton, Mayor 152 1