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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-05-31 MinutesMINUTES OF A SPECIALMEETINGOF THE CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS • A special meeting of the Fayetteville: City Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, May 31, 1988 in Room 326 or the City Administration Building at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. PRESENT: Mayor Johnson;' Directors Kelley, Marinoni, Hess, Lancaster and Martin; City Manager Pennington, Assistant City Manager Linebaugh, City Attorney McCord, City. Clerk McWethy, Department Directors Batie and Coates; members of the press and audience • .ABSENT: Director Bumpass CALL TO ORDER b The meeting was called to order by the Mayor at •8:37. a.m. with six Directors' 196.1 present. DRUG ENFORCEMENT GRANT APPLICATION The Mayor introduced a request from the City Manager for approval to submit a 196.2 pre -application for state drug law enforcement grant funds, to establish a special drug unit in the Fayetteville Police Department. The City -Manager noted the Board members had complete packets of:information, 196 including a detailed budget. He said Director Bumpass had raised a question relative to whether there would be an ability to cooperate with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, if they would be interested. Pennington said that, of course, only the Quorum Court could commit funds from Washington County. He added that there was no time to do anything of that nature as far as this application is concerned. Penningtonsaid the program would commit the City to future involvement in a drug 196.4 enforcement program He said, if the drug problem continues at the expected rate, the funding being requested is a relatively small amount in comparison to other communities. Pennington added that there was noguarantee the funding would be received once the application is made. Lt. Rick Hoyt said the City should know within thirty days whether the funds will be forthcoming. He said the program would start on June 29 for a one year period. It was noted that today was the last day to submit an application. Director Lancaster remarked that the application noted that the program would 'operate in Washington County, and listed the cities of Farmington, Fayetteville, Johnson, Lincoln, Prairie Grove, Springdale and West Fork. He asked if any of those communities had been consulted. 196.` 196.E J. 197.1 May 31, 1988 Sgt. Frank Johnson said those communities would be consulted. He said it was a mandated part of the program Lancaster asked if the communities had been contacted up to this point. Johnson said indirectly they had been, as there always is cooperation when drug operations are going on. 197.2 Lancaster asked if the City of Fayetteville was the only entity which would provide matching funds (totalling $56,334). Sgt Tim Helder said it was his understanding that the City of Springdale and Washington County had applied for similar funding, but would not be contributing any match money towards Fayetteville's application. 197.3 197.4 197.5 Director Marinoni asked how the drug unit could function in areas where the Fayetteville Police Department cannot. Assistant Chief Gerald Bradley said special drug laws allow this to be done, and 33 of Fayetteville's police officers are Washington County deputies. City Manager Pennington said Fayetteville, being the primary city in Washington County, really has to take a lead in the area of drug enforcement. He said in the area of drug enforcement, boundaries of communities don't exist, and that most areas form an area -wide task force with interchanging personnel. Director Martin said he thought the proposal was one of the best he had seen and looked as if it had been extremely well thought out. He said it was an extremely important aspect of the City trying to control the drug problem. Martin, seconded by Kelley, moved approval of the program. Director Hess asked if funds could be pooled that others might receive. Sgt. Helder said if a program were to be established this year, hopefully a drug fund could be established through the County Prosecutor's Office to funnel money back into the program next year. 197.6 Director Hess said the application noted a body of coordinators would be formed and he said he assumed that body would make decisions on the type of investigations. Sgt. Helder said the body of coordinators would decide who to target in an investigation and whether an investigation would take place. Hess asked if control of the funds would be vested in them. Helder said there would be a project director and fiscal officer would direct the funding, and Police Chief Watson would appoint someone to be in control of the division. He said the controlling officer appointed by the Chief would hopefully make the final decisions. 197.7 Director Marinoni asked where Fayetteville's $56,334 in match money would come from. Pennington said those funds would come from unappropriated reserves. • 197.8 The Mayor noted that the calendar contained in the pre -application material notes that the Drug Advisory Board would meet on June 30 to consider local government proposals and that July 27 was the final date for local governments to submit complete project proposals. She said she assumed the final application would contain letters from the other agencies indicating their cooperation. Sgt. Helder said once the Board approves the pre -application, there will be more in- depth information provided, and other agencies will be contacted. May 31, 1988 Mayor Johnson asked if anyone knew how much money was allocated to the State for the program Helder said -•he thought $1.3 million was available to local municipalities and $1.4 .million to state 'agencies. He said if Fayetteville submits the initial pre -application for a total of $225,337, there is a chance the State may offer less grant money, meaning,the City's match money would be for a smaller amount.• Director Marinoni asked if there were any other cities in Arkansas participating in the. program Helder said that wonLt be known until later, but he had read an article that said Eldorado had submitted an application. Upon roll call, the motion passed, 6-0. ADJOURNMENT 198. 198. 198. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m. and was followed by a Board Agenda Session 198. to review the agenda for the June 7, 1988 Board meeting. • •