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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-11-19 Minutes212 MINUTES OF A BOARD RETREAT MEETING The Fayetteville City Board of Directors met on Sunday, November 18, and Monday, November 19, 1979, at the Inn of the Ozarks, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to discuss long-term goals for the City of Fayetteville. PRESENT: Mayor David Malone, Directors Ernest Lancaster, Richard Osborne, Paul Noland, John Todd, Ann Henry, and Phil Colwell, City Manager Don Grimes, City Clerk Angie Medlock and Administrative Assistant David McWethy. ABSENT: City Attorney Jim McCord. CALL TO ORDER The mayor called the meeting to order at 2:15 P.M. MASS TRANSIT The first item discussed by the Board of Directors was the future of mass transit in Fayetteville. 212.1 The mayor noted that there are some funds available for buses and operation of a bus system. He said the Arkansas Gazette had said there is $2 million available for purchase of this equipment in cities of less than 50,000 population, of which 80% of the money would come from the highway department and the City would need to put up a maximum 20%. He said there is also a provision whereby the highway department would pick up half of the deficit of operating a system. 212.2 The mayor said he did not feel the City of Fayetteville itself can afford to operate a bus system, but feels the City should encourage expansion of the University's bus system. Malone said Frank Scott, at the University, has indicated he would like to have additional buses. 212.3 Malone said also that funds are available to build park and ride lots, where persons could park their cars and ride a bus to their destination. He said these lots would have to be built on a state highway and suggested the City might consider building a park and ride lot at the Johnson Road/Highway 71 Bypass interchange, and ask the University to expand their bus system to include that area. He suggested they might also consider building park and ride lots at other locations such as North Street and Highway 71, and somewhere on South 71. 212.4 Director Lancaster commented that anything the City can do to expand the bus system would be an asset to the community. 212.5 Director Noland suggested also that consideration be given to having a bus which would run from south Fayetteville up Highway 71 to Springdale and back, and those people could make use of a park and ride lot south of Fayetteville. The Board pointed out that if the City were to buy some buses, it would be very im- portant that anyone in the City could ride the buses. Director Noland suggested the City of Fayetteville correspond with the City of Springdale to get their thoughts on a north/south bus between the two cities. 212.6 There was some discussion on the idea that the taxi service would lose business if the bus system was expanded. The administrative assistant noted that a bus could not run all of the same places that one would need a taxi for, such as going to the grocery store. Director Henry commented that she felt the City should also check into available funds for some type of Dial -a -Ride service. Mayor Malone commented that he felt the taxi system would still have quite a bit of business --since the bus system is directed toward the University. 212.7 The Board agreed that they would like to 1) check into applying for funding to buy more buses to help expand the University's bus system; 2) build some park and ride lots; and 3) in the long-term, try to get some type of corridor buses set up running north/south from south Fayetteville to the Springdale area. 213 Mayor Malone asked the city manager to pursue expansion of the bus system with University personnel who had done the feasibility study for the University bus system. SOLID WASTE Director Henry said most area cities have signed an intent to pursue development of a solid waste facility and a solid waste committee needs to be established. She said as it is now, representatives of each of the cities meet to discuss solid waste problems and facilities. Director Todd expressed concern that Fayetteville is not adequately represented since they would be the main user of any solid waste facility established and at the present time have the same representation as the other 0) cities. 0 Director Henry explained that the City would still need to have a CO sanitary landfill to dispose of the ash from an incineration system and items such as old stoves and refrigerators, and provisions would have to be made for the disposal of hazardous solid waste. Henry explained that the solid waste Q incineration system they are looking at does not provide for front-end recovery, but does provide for the recovery of ferrous metals after the burning. The Board agreed that they should try to get the project going as soon as possible, and make provisions to continue using the current landfill for the next two years or so. The city manager noted that the City has an option on two 5 -acre tracts located immediately south of the present Ayers Furniture building. He noted also that the highway department has adopted a minute order for the project of improving Razorback Road from Highway 16 to 15th Street. The city manager also commented that there should not be an•odor problem with the incinerator, and the only time there would be any kind of smog is when the system is started up after being shut down. Director Colwell stressed the importance that professional people be employed to operate the plant. Director Noland noted that a front-end recovery system could be added at any time in the future, should there be a desire to do so. STREETS - MALL AREA The Board discussed the danger of the mall area traffic. Director Todd expressed concern that the City should do - something about the traffic problem of people turning into the mall. Following discussion, the Board agreed to discuss with owners of the mall about participation in an overpass into the mall. 213.1 213.2 213.3 213.4 213.4 213.5 213.6 213.7 213.8 213.9 STREETS —DIRT STREETS Mayor Malone noted that the current ordinance requires that when dirt 213.10 streets are improved, that they be built to current city standards, which includes asphalt, and curb and gutter. Malone noted that this requirement was included in the ordinance to assure that when developers subdivide, they will build the streets as specified by the City. Malone noted that there are still many dirt streets in the City, and said he 213.11 would like to see these streets at least have a chip and oil seal. He suggested asking the community development committee to look at all the dirt streets in the CD area as to the possibility of trying to get a good base and a chip and oil seal on them. He said it would then he less expensive at some point in the future to go back and asphalt the streets. 214 214.1 The city manager pointed out that if the streets had a chip and oil seal, the City could slurry seal them to help protect the surface. 214.2 The mayor suggested that the Street Committee make a recommendation on whether it would be feasible to chip and oil seal those streets not located in Community Development eligibility areas. He said he felt it may save the City money by lessening the amount of grading and repair work; which is normally re- quired on dirt streets. 214.3 Director Noland suggested they look into the idea of chip sealing those streets which are feasible to improve. He noted that some streets, due to terrain may not be feasible to seal. He suggested also that the streets should have a minimum amount of right-of-way. 214.4 The Board also discussed the possibility of trying to get four-laning on Old Wire Road from Township Road to Highwy 45 East. Director Todd commented that they are going to have to get mass transit in that area or improve the road to handle the increased traffic. SEWAGE 214.5 The mayor referred to what he feels will be the long-range plan, prepared by Carl Yates, and attached to the director's material. He said Yates had told him the new environmental impact study would probably move back the grant applica- tion for four-six months. Malone noted that they are looking at the alternatives of dumping the.sewage into the White River, or transporting it to the Arkansas River. Malone noted that an infiltration study is being prepared to give the City a list of what lines need to be repaired immediately, and what lines are "borderline" and can wait for a while before repairs. 214.6 In response to the mayor, the city manager indicated the City may be eligible for a federal matching grant for improvements, with the City paying a local share. Director Todd expressed concern that the grant approach the project as a treatment plant system rather than just a treatment plant, as they may have to extend lines for long distances. Grimes indicated that someone had told him it is more difficult to obtain funding for building lines, but there may be some funds available. 214.7 The city manager noted that there will be an environmental impact hearing on December 11. 214.8 Director Henry asked the Board if they would prefer to expand the existing Pollution Control committee to meet the requirements for a committee to make recommendations on sewage, or create a new committee. She noted that requirements are that members are appointed from certain interested groups. She said the committee would be required to hear evidence on the various alternatives and make a recommendation to the City Board. Following discussion, the Board agreed to rieplace the current Pollution Control Committee with a smaller energy committee, and to form a new committee of 12 or so members to make recommendations on sewage. The Board indicated they would like to encourage the Pollution Control Committee to apply for vacancies on one of these other two committees. The meeting adjourned at 5:20 P.M. The meeting was called back to order at 7:45 P.M. AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT 214.9 The mayor stated that Skyways is trying to buy additional planes, but have nett yet been able to obtain loan guarantees, and may have to withdraw their deposit an the planes in order to have a cash flow. Malone noted that due to the people which Skyways employs, they are one of the major industries in Fayetteville, and indicated he felt Fayetteville should encourage them to stay in the City. 1 215 Malone noted also that Frontier Airlines has indicated to the city manager that 215.1 they would oontinue to have flights out of Fayetteville. The mayor stated that some people have indicated to him that they are 215.2 interested in putting in a fixed base operator, and said a fixed base operator would encourage general aviation, which the City needs in order to be eligible to qualify for radar. Malone noted that if the City could get the radar, this would encourage Skyways to keep their operation in Fayetteville. He said due to not always being able to get out of Fayetteville, Skyways has been considering stationing their planes in Little Rock. They would still, however, continue service to Fayetteville. Director Lancaster agreed with the need for an additional fixed base operator, 215.3 0) but noted that it would be difficult to get the general aviation which has moved 0 to Springdale to come back to Fayetteville. CO The mayor discussed the idea of having an airport engineer who could look 215.4 co at long term plans for the airport and work on things such getting roads built, extending taxiways etc. He suggested that one way to get an airport engineer would Q be to indicate to an engineer that if he will do the plans for free and work on Q trying to obtain funding, when funding is received, he would be the engineer for the project. He said the engineer could also keep up with airport funds and grants. Malone suggested also that the City should be considering 5-10 year goals for the airport. The Board agreed on the following goals for Drake Field: 1) they are looking 215.5 at Drake Field as the regional airport for this area; 2) they would like to improve general aviation services at the airport; and 3) they would like to encourage both II airlines to continue scheduling services to Fayetteville. Malone said the Board could ask an engineer to give the City plans which would incorporate these goals, and asked the Board if they would want to draw up a request for proposals. Mr. Grimes noted also that it would be helpful to have an airport engineer 215.6 who could carry out projects required by the FAA when they have performed an inspection of the airport. QUALITY OF LIFE Director Todd stated that things such as the appearance of a community have an impact on what people think of the City. He suggested the City should consider ways of beautifying Fayetteville. Mayor Malone noted that Texarkana, Arkansas, has a good program going to keep their city beautiful and suggested Fayetteville may want to consider something along the same lines. He said a beautification program would require the initiation of some ordinances to enforce the program. Director Henry suggested that the City may want to work with Ken Perkin and Roy Clinton, who are very interested in this type of program. Mayor Malone suggested that the Board ask the woman who heads up the program in Texarkana to come and speak to the Board about how to get a working program set up. Director Henry commented that she feels now would be a good time to get a program going, as the people are pleased with the developments on the Square. Director Colwell suggested the City try harder to enforce existing regulations on littering and encourage the municipal judge to enforce some type of penalty for violations. They suggested the judge could consider alternative forms of enforcement, such as requiring someone to pick up litter for a day in lieu of paying a monetary fine. 215.7 215.8 215.9 215.10 216 216.1 The Board agreed that the mayor should ask the woman who heads up the beautification program in Texarkana to come speak to the Board, and suggested asking citizen committees, such as garden clubs, to help with a program for improving the appearance of the City. PARKS AND RECREATION 216.2 Mayor Malone stated that he feels good parks are also very important to the physical appearance of a community. He noted that the City may get a $200,000 grant for improvements to Walker Park and said he feels the City should try to get the other city parks improved in the future. 216.3 In response to the mayor, the administrative assistant said he felt if funds are available for park improvements in the future, Fayetteville would have a good chance for obtaining them. 216.4 Mayor Malone stated that the City should be thinking about ways of financing a new City pool. Director Todd commented about the importance of neighborhood parks where children can go play. 216.5 The Board indicated they would like to develop Lake Fayetteville Park, I1 would like to maximize funds from the Heritage Conservation and Recreation grants, and would like to proceed with the concept of neighborhood parks. SIGN CONTROL 216.6 The mayor stated that the amortization period for the sign ordinance is January of 1980 and said the Board would probably be getting many appeals from persons not wanting to remove their signs. 216.7 Director Lancaster said he feels the Board should enforce the sign ordi- nance as written and not make concessions for individual people. The mayor noted that in some court cases, the issue has been the time period which people have had to comply with the sign ordinance. He pointed out that in the case on the Fayetteville sign ordinance, three judges held that Fayetteville's sign ordinance was unconstitutional with the amortization provision, three said it was constitutional; and one said the ordinance is reasonable but not in this particular case, due to the value of the signs. Malone commented further, that there are currently many sign ordinance cases at the Supreme Court level. 216.8 The city manager commented that the City has already had some voluntary compliances with the sign ordinance based on the letters sent out by the Sign Inspector. 216.9 Mayor Malone said the City could 1) consider extending the amortization period to be sure they are giving persons a reasonable time period to comply; 2) wait until the other cases have gone to Court to set precedents; or 3) enforce the ordinance very strictly except when there is a great hardship. The concensus of the Board was to not make any amendments to the sign ordinance and enforce it as written. The meeting adjourned at 10:15 P.M. The meeting was called to order on Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. DATA PROCESSING 216.10 In response to the mayor, City Manager Grimes indicated he feels the City is near the point of being ready to request proposals on hardware and accompanying software, if an agreement can be reached on specifications. 1 1 1 • 217 The mayor said the minimum a computer system would be used for is utility 217.1 billing. The city manager asked the directors to list what they would like the data 217.2 processing equipment to do, so that the staff may set up a list of priorities. In response to the mayor, Director Todd said delivery time for the hardware could be approximately 6 months, and said he did not know if federal grant money is available for installing a system. GROWTH POLICY Director Todd stated that he feels the City Board needs to consider if 217.3 they want growth, and if so, what type of growth they would like to have. He noted that there are various positions the Board could take --adopt a no -growth policy, or encourage growth in the City. Q) The mayor commented that he personally is very pleased with the growth 217.4 0 policy inside the City. He stated that he is very happy with the way the Chamber CO of Commerce has handled the industrial growth, and said he feels the City should Q encourage tourism in the future. Malone said he feels the City should plan for inside the City growth, but was concerned about growth outside the City. He Q said he feels the City should discourage growth in the outer areas. Q Director Lancaster agreed that the Chamber of Commerce has done a good job 217.5 in increasing employment through allowing industries to locate in the Industrial Park. He also agreed that the weakness an growth control is evident in the planning area jurisdiction. Director Noland suggested the City could share on extending sewer lines to 217.6 serve subdivisions inside the City to help encourage growth in the City, and the mayor said the City could encourage the County to set higher standards for subdi- vision development in the County. Mayor Malone said it seems the City should try to 1) encourage the University; 217.7 2) encourage the Chamber of Commerce to bring in the type of industrial projects they have been bringing in in the past; and 3) increase efforts in the tourism area. Director Noland suggested the directors work with the city attorney to 217.7 determine the problems associated with the City fire department serving outside the City. Director Todd suggested the City could consider charging dues for providing fire protection outside the city. The mayor noted that one problem which would be encountered in extending fire service outside the City would be the response time involved. Director Todd suggested establishing fire department districts which could 217.8 vote on whether they wanted fire protection service, and if so, be assessed a certain amount for their district. The Board asked that the city attorney look into the possibilities. The Board also mentioned that fire service fees could be added to outside the City water customer's bills. The Board also mentioned EMS service extending outside the city. NEW CITY HALL The city manager asked the directors if they were still interested in trying 217.9 to secure the First National Bank Building for a new city hall. Grimes stated that two appraisals had been done on the building - $350,000 and $550,000. He said he felt the building would take care of the city's needs for the reasonably distant future. Mr. Grimes stated that John Lewis had indicated to him that someone has made a firm offer on the bank building, so the City would need to make a decision on whether they would like to consider purchasing the building. Director Todd pointe d out that parking would be a problem, and there should 217.10 be accessibility to city government. Henry stated that she doesn't feel parking is any worse for the FNB building than it is.at the current city hall location. 218 218.1 Director Lancaster suggested the City should consider the possibility of building arew city hall which would serve the needs of the City administration for the next 20 years or so. Director Noland commented that he feels City Hall should remain in the area of the Square, and there is not much land available for development in that area. Director Henry commented that she doesn't feel building a new building is a feasible alternative. 218.2 Following discussion, the Board asked the city manager to explore the possibility of leasing the old Woolworth Building on the Square to be used as a new City Hall. ENERGY CONSERVATION 218.3 The city manager explained that the City Administration has taken steps to aid in energy conservation. He said there are two energy people on teh staff -- Freeman Wood and Larry Poage, who have been attending seminars on energy conser- vation. 218.4 Grimes noted that the City sanitation department has moved to a 4 -day, 10 -hours per day work week, and have seen savings from this. He said the City has also been going from gasoline -powered vehicles to diesel -powered, which has produced a substantial savings. Grimes said the City is also trying to phase in smaller automotive units when possible, have been watching the building thermostats, and looking at the building itself for possible measures which would conserve energy. 218.5 The directors discussed the possibility of city staff and possibly CETA employees going into people's homes to make recommendations on how individual homeowners can save energy. Director Lancaster commented that SWEPCO and OECC havebeen doing this for months, and suggested the energy people on the staff work with the SWEPCO and OECC representatives to see exactly what they are doing. 218.6 The Board also asked that the building inspector examine the building code for recommendations on ways to improve energy conservation in new homes. 218.7 The Board asked the city manager to look into the possibility of including pamphlets on energy conservation with the water bills. 218.8 The administrative assistant commented that he is looking into the possibility of sodium as opposed to mercury vapor street lights. He noted that sodium lights can operate at a substantial savings, and would give out twice as much light. He said the initial cost is a great deal higher, and he is trying to negotiate with SWEPCO to try to obtain better rates for the sodium lights. INTERGOVERNMENTAL COOPERATION 218.9 Director Todd said he feels the City Administration should have a good working relationship with the County Administration. The mayor agreed that there may be some instances in which the City and County may be able to save money by working together. The mayor said he feels the new county judge would be willing to work with the City on specific problems. Grimes suggested if they did try to work together on specific problems, they should set up a separate entity and have a contract drawn up. 218.10 The Board discussed briefly the possibility of having a night dispatcher who would handle City and County, and possibility the EMS, and the possibility of establishing a regional jail facility. 218.11 The mayor asked that the city manager work with the County judge to try to work out an agreement which both governmental bodies would approve. FINANCE 218.12 The city manager briefly discussed He said the general fund budget request revenues are $2,538,774 (with no across considered). Mr. Grimes noted that the the upcoming budget for the City. is $2,654,802, and the projected the board pay raises for employees projected revenues are slightly 1 1 • higher than last year, and revenue from fines is down about $80,000. Mr. Grimes said that he had asked that an additional approximately $100,000 be included in the airport budget to cover furnishings for the new airport terminal building and expenses to be incurred in conjunction with the new building. The city manager also discussed briefly the other funds projected revenues and budget requests. The mayor pointed out also that they have budgeted revenue sharing 219.2 for the entire year, but are only sure it will be available for 9 months. The board asked the city manager to make recommendations on salaries, and agreed that they would try to cut back personnel in order to increase salaries. CENSUS The mayor noted that the census for 1980 would be mailed rather than taken 219.4 0) door to door, and expressed concern that the census would not adequately reflect Q thepopulation of students at the University. Director Noland suggested a city CO representative could work with the dormitories and express the importance of filling out and returning the census forms. The Board also discussed hiring an ❑ additional person to help see that the census adequately reflects the population. MUNICIPAL COURT Director Osborne suggested if there is adequate room in a new city hall 219.5 for the municipal court, that they should be transferred to city hall from the police department. CIVIC CENTER The mayor stated that there is a possibility the City may be able to 219.6 obtain funding for acquiring and operating a tivic center. He said the City may be eligible for sales tax rebates from the state if the City can show sales tax receipts from visitors who come in to use tourist related facilities. Malone said the City would need to have a study done on the projections on what those figures should be and the City's legislative delegation would need to try to get the idea approved by the legislature. The mayor suggested that during the next 2-3 years the City should be 219.7 working on a feasibility study and begin working on obtaining funding. The Board agreed to ask Phil Taylor to re-evaluate an earlier study for projected sales tax figures. 219 219.1 219.3 1 BUILDING PERMITS Director Noland suggested a check list be drawn up for persons getting a building permit, indicating what steps need to be taken and who they need to see to get the various items taken care of. BUSINESS OFFICE Director Noland suggested also that the business office girls be reminded that they are what people think of as the "City". He commented that he had re- ceived complaints that the girls at the window also make committments (such as when service will be turned on) that are not carried through as promised. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:20 A.M. 219.8 219.9 •