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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-03-21 Minutes.U4 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS A regular meeting of the Fayetteville City Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, March 21, 1989 PRESENT: Mayor William V. Martin; Directors Ernest Lancaster, Russ Kelley, Paul Marinoni, Jr., Fred Vorsanger and Michael Green; City Manager Pennington, City Attorney McCord, City Clerk McWethy; members of the press and audience ABSENT: Director Shell Spivey CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with seven Directors present. 94.1 The Mayor led those present in reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance," followed by a moment of silence. The Mayor welcomed the public watching the proceedings on television, as well as those present in the aud'ence. He said that everyone would be permitted to speakon each issue, but asked that persons wishing to speak state their names and addresses, keep the'r,comments concise and non- repetitive, address them to • the' entire Board, and that any questions for a particular Director or staff ,member be directed to cthe presiding officer. s0F" REPORT TO PUBLIC FINANCIAL REPORT • The City Manager presented 'a report to the public and Board for the month 94.2 of February. , City Manager Pennington explained revenues wereunder expenses for this 94.3 period because the City is in a period of collecting revenues. He said the financial statement indicates.the revenues -were under expenses for $217,000. He said a combined revenues'and expense statement was included in the report, and reminded the public that the xreport was on .file at City Hall and open to inspection. POLICE 'DEPARTMENT Pennington reported one long term goal for the Police Department is national 94.4 accreditation which requires- improvements in, procedures and operations, including the area of training. . He said the ,department has added a Field Training Officers Program (FTO Program) which six officers have completed. March 21, 1989 FIRE DEPARTMENT 95.1 Pennington reported the Fire Department had made excellent progress in the area of fire prevention, noting that schools which offer these training programs are reviewed quarterly by the Fire Marshall's Office. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 95.2 Pennington reported the sewer line televising program was doing a fantastic job. He said a lot of leaks are being found, both in water and sewer lines. He said repairs to these leaks will mean a cost -savings to customers. 95.3 Pennington said public works employees spent a lot of time in the last month on snow and ice removal. He said they did a good job. 95.4 Reporting on the Parks program, Pennington said the Civitan Club sponsored a two-mile run which raised money to build a new bridge in Gulley Park. PLANNING DEPARTMENT 95.5 Pennington reported a preliminary outline of the new General Plan was presented to the Planning Commission by Al Raby of Plan Group, and was met with a positive response. TAXI PROGRAM 95.6 Pennington reported the Taxi Program for the elderly, which had about 60 people enrolled last month, now has 85 enrollees. ENGINEERING DIVISION 95.7 Pennington reported the aerial photography program is now being completed. 95.8 Pennington reported the Markham water tank painting project was temporarily halted during severely cold weather, but will continue when the weather breaks. 95.9 Pennington reported the project at the intersection of Old Wire Road and Township Street is progressing, with utility relocation now taking place. He said a turn lane and controlled traffic light will be installed. INSPECTION DIVISION 95.10 Pennington said in the near future the Inspection Division will give an audio- visual presentation when the staff recommends demolition of unsightly property. �JU March 21, 1989 FINANCE DIVISION , Pennington reported the Finance Divisionhad been visiting other governmental 96.1 entities and the private sector to get ideas for better accounting operations. ARTS CENTER PROJECT Pennington reported the asbestos abatement program was completed and tests 96.2 were approved. He reported demolition should begin sometime within the next month. Pennington said architect John Mott had met with the Arts Center Council and work is being done to bring the project in under budget, or as close to budget as possible. He said some additional funding will probably be required. WARNER CABLE FRANCHISE Pennington said his office has set up a technique for future use, for recording 96.3 complaints relative to Warner Cable. He said that the first phase of the upgrade of the system has alreadybegun, and a series of ads have already begun to be placed in the local newspaper by Warner Cable, announcing where in the city Warner will be working on the upgrade. WASTEWATER TREATMENT .PLANT • Pennington reported final performance tests on the filters and aeration basins 96.4 have begun on the wastewater treatment plant.t,, He said we had been unable to place any of the digested sludge from the plant onto the sludge disposal site. He pointed out the sludge site contractor walked off the job last year, and the City has entered into an arrangement with OMI to manage the sludge site, using funds which have been held in reserve pending litigation on the project. - 0- a .. •- .4 - Pennington reported the c Ilection system ,improvements contract has been 96.5 closed, with final payment now -being processed. ' INCINERATOR DISENGAGEMENT Pennington reported that, at.the next Board meeting, the law firm of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans and Doyle will report onthe legal status of the disengagement from the incinerator project. DICKSON STREET IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT 4 96.6 Pennington, reporting on recent negotiations :with the Dickson Street 96.7 Improvement District commissioner, said discussions are still in process. t March 21, 1989 97.1 Director Kelley said at the last meeting the Board was told the commissioners would supply a report as to allegations which had been made He asked if it was known when that report would be made available. Pennington said the report had not been made available to him. He said he and the City Attorney met with the commissioners to discuss some way of easing the financial burden on some of the residents and small businesses in the district. _ 97.2 The Mayor asked if the participants in the negotiations could make a report at the next Board meeting as to the status of the negotiations. Vorsanger said the Directors had just received a summary of the discussion which was held at the first meeting with the commissioners. He asked that the City Manager give the Board some idea of where that money will come from, if a recommendation will be made which will involve money. The Mayor suggested a representative from the City, a representative from CAUT, and a representative from the commissioners be present at the next Board meeting to give the Board a report. MUNICIPAL COURT 97.3 Director Vorsanger, noting the report showed $47,657 in fines and costs were assessed by the Municipal Court and $44,642 collected, asked if this was annualized at over $500,000. Assistant City Manager Linebaugh said $500,000 was "in the ballpark." Pennington pointed out that, after an audit was done two years ago, it was requested that improvements be made in collections of fines being levied. He said changes were made in the court, such as additional staff, so that revenues could increase. CITIZEN COMMENTS 97.4 Dr. Anthony DePalma asked for the name of the company responsible for the aerial photo project. DePalma said he wasn't asked for permission before a white plastic cross -shaped marker was nailed onto his property. DePalma said these nails could cause damage to mowing equipment or to livestock. DePalma added that he thought no provisions had been made for removing the marker. 97.5 Mayor Martin asked Public Works Director Mike Batie for an explanation. Batie said most of the markers are being used for vertical and horizontal controls for aerial photos. He said when the work is completed, the markers will be replaced with permanent monuments which will cause no harm to livestock. Batie said he would check into Mr. DePalma's situation in particular. CONSENT AGENDA 97.6 The Mayor introduced consideration of the Consent Agenda, explaining this consisted of items which may be approved by motion, or contracts and leases which can be approved by resolution; and which may be grouped together and 1 v v March 21, 1989. approved simultaneously. The Mayor said that any Director may request an 98:] item be removed from the Consent Agenda. The Mayor listed those items ' contained in the Consent Agenda, as follows: A. Approval of the minutes of the March 7, 1989 regular Board 98.: meeting; B. Award of Bid 1489-1, for the purchase of a disk drive and adapters 98.: for the City's computer system; and approval of a budget adjustment of $4,220; with the staff recommending award to IBM Corporation, bidding $26,2147 60, and with $22,030 budgeted. It was noted that although a memory card had been bid and budgeted, the staff recommended not purchasing it at this time. C. Award of Bid, for purchase of a sewer cleaning machine; with the staff recommending award to Instrument & Supply, Inc., bidding $112,357.52; and with $112,000 budgeted. It was noted that a $357.52 budget adjustment had been approved by the City Manager. D. A resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an amendment to the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement for furnishing hazardous materials incident response services in Benton and Washington Counties. RESOLUTIO RESOLUTI E. • It was noted that the staff recommended approval, allowing all funds appropriated to the HMRT to be deposited with the Washington County Treasurer, rather.than with each jurisdiction's county treasurer. It was noted that•$63,045 was budgeted in 1989 for the program, with $25,000-$26,000 having been spent thus far. N NO. 23-89 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND ON BOOK • A resolution authorizing the.Mayor to execute an amendment to a contract with Garver+Garver, for engineering services on a federally funded beacon and sign project at the Airport. I t It was noted that staff recommended approval of the amendment, which would provide for additional engineering services for the signs and would cost an additional $1,005. The Public Works Director reported the amendment would not bring the cost of the project over -budget. RESOLUTION NO. 24-89 APPEARS ON PAGE RESOLUTION BOOK OF ORDINANCE AND 98.9 98.E 98.E 98.7 98.8 IS v March 21, 1989 99.1 F. Resolutions authorizing award of contracts for water line replacements on Mt. Comfort Road, Addington Avenue and Rose Hill Addition (Group "B"); and on Old Farmington Road and Highway 62 West (Group "C") . 99.2 It was reported a staff selection committee recommended award to McClelland Engineers, proposing $17,370 for Group "B"; and award to CEI Engineering, proposing $8,200 for Group "C". It was noted that $40,000 was budgeted for the projects, but that expenses would be temporarily paid out of Water and Sewer Operations and Maintenance Fund and later reimbursed after sale of bonds. RESOLUTION NO. 25&26-89 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK 99.3 It was moved by Kelley and seconded by Marinoni to approve the Consent Agenda. Upon roll call, the motion passed, 6-0, Director Spivey being absent. EASEMENT VACATION 99.4 The Mayor introduced a request for an ordinance vacating and abandoning a portion of a 15' utility easement located on property , in the Wedington sewer improvement area, south of Highway 16. 99.5 The Mayor explained that, when the city acquired this easement for sewer improvement purposes, a mistake was made in locating it and, because of its proximity to a barn on the property, the line was actually located as closely as possible to the south side of the easement. He said the staff recommended vacating the northernmost seven feet of the easement, on the condition that the property owner grant the city an additional seven feet of easement on the south side. The Mayor added that the owner had agreed to the condition. 99.6 The City Attorney read the ordinance for the first time. Director Marinoni, seconded by Kelley, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its second reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed, 6-0, Spivey absent. The ordinance was read for the second time. It was moved by Marinoni and seconded by Kelley to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third and final reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed, 6-0, Spivey absent. The ordinance was read for the third time. 99.7 In answer to a question from Director Lancaster, Planning Director Merrell told the Board that the new sewer line was already in place in the easement and the change in the location of the easement would not affect the sewer line in any way. A March 21, 1989,,, The Mayor asked if anyone in the audience wished to speak in opposition to the 100. ordinance. No public comment was expressed. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed, 6-0, with .Director Spivey being absent. ORDINANCE NO. 3418 APPEARS ON PAGE 55 OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK X CITIZEN APPOINTMENTS The Mayor introduced a report from the Board Nominating Committee regarding 100. appointment of citizens to positions.._ on the Advertising and Promotion Commission, the Board of Housing and Construction Appeals, the Civil Service Commission and the Historic. District Commission. Director Kelley, committee chairman, reported the following slate of nominees 100. was the unanimous recommendation of the committee: Advertising & Promotion Commission: Coy C. Kaylor, Jr. Board of Housing & Construction Appeals: Robert B. Windham, Sr. Civil Service Commission: For a term ending 4/1/95: For anunexpired term ending 4/1/90: Historic District Commission: Dan Epperly Ronald Marion Jones Robert M. Crisp, Jr. Anne Thomas Ray It was moved by Kelley and seconded by Lancaster to accept the 100. recommendation of the committee. Upon roll call, the motion passed, _ 6-0. The Mayor .thanked everyone who applied for a position and said the Board 100. appreciated the interest. Director Kelley said there had been an excellent group of applicants and he encouraged citizens to continue participating in the future. 100. 100. 100. 100. FLAMMABLE STORAGE The Mayor introduced a request for an ordinance amending regulations in the 100. City Code to prohibit the use of above -ground storage tanks for flammable liquids and liquified petroleum gases. He said that the staff had requested this item be tabled in view of the appointment of a new Fire Marshall. It was moved by Marinoni and seconded by Kelley totable the item. Upon roll 100. call, the motion passed, 6-0, Spivey being absent. March 21, 1989 MUNICIPAL JUDGE SALARY 101.1 The Mayor introduced a request from Municipal Judge Charles Williams for a cost -of -living increase for the 1989 year. 101.2 The Mayor explained that the Judge is currently serving as a part-time Municipal Judge. He said that the Board approved a 5% cost -of -living increase for all city employees in 1989, but that this did not apply to the Judge because he is an elected official. He added that any Board action would be subject to approval by the Washington County Quorum Court which is responsible for 50$ of the judge's salary. 101.3 City Manager Pennington said the staff had prepared and distributed additional information to the Board relative to the Judge's request. 101.4 The Mayor asked if the Board wished to consider this item in open session or in executive session. Director Vorsanger said that the Board had requested additional information at their last agenda session, and remarked that the information had just been received. Vorsanger said he needed more time to make a value judgment. Vorsanger also asked whether discussion of the Judge's salary could take place in executive session. The City Attorney said the Freedom of Information Act authorizes executive sessions for certain limited purposes, one of which is promotion of public officials. He said he thought the matter could be discussed in executive session, with a salary increase being a promotion. 101.5 The Mayor asked Judge Williams if he had anything to bring to the Board's attention. Williams distributed a case -load comparison to the Directors. He said, since mid -1987 when the jurisdiction of the court changed from $300 to $3,000, there has been an increase in the civil case load. He said the projected case load for 1989 in civil cases is about 1175 cases, compared to 274 cases in 1981, 289 in 1985, and 295 in 1986. He said this has caused a big increase in the amount of staff time, and in the amount of court time required. 101.6 Williams said there has been in excess of an 87-89% increase in civil and criminal case Toads in comparing 1981 to 1989. He projected 19,200 cases for the 1989 year. 101.7 Director Green asked Judge Williams if he preferred that the Board consider his request in executive session. Williams said he didn't think it made any difference, but said some questions may be easier asked in executive session. 101.8 It was moved by Marinoni that the Board go into executive session to discuss the request. There was no second to the motion. March 21, 1989x. It was moved by Vorsanger and seconded by Kelley that the request be tabled 102. until the Board has an opportunity to read the material prepared by the staff. Upon roll call, the motion passed, 6-0, Spivey being absent. CITY DIRECTOR AUTHORIZATION The Mayor introduced an ordinance authorizing City Director Michael Green to 102. serve as mechanical and electrical engineering consultant to the architect for school facility improvements to be financed by a $10 million City revenue bond issue. The City Attorney advised there was some question as to whether the ordinance 102. is even required, since Green was under contract with the architect for the school district, and not with the City of Fayetteville. The City Attorney said, to avoid any question that the ordinance may be necessary, the staff recommends its adoption. The City Attorney read the ordinance for the first time. Director Kelley, 102. seconded by Marinoni, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its second reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed, 5-0-1, Green abstaining and Spivey absent. The ordinance was read for the second time. Director Kelley, seconded by Marinoni, made a motion to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third and final reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed, 5-0-1, Green abstaining and Spivey absent. The ordinance was read for the third time. The Mayor said Director Green had provided the Board with a letter outlining 102. the circumstances surrounding the situation. The Mayor explained that Green's firm was selected for the project in .1986, prior to his selection. He said the school bond election at that time failed and the contract was placed on hold. The Mayor said after the successful election last fall, the contract was re- activated. The Mayor asked if anyone in the audience wished to speak in opposition to the 102. ordinance. No public comments were expressed. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed, 5-0-1, Green abstaining and Spivey absent. ORDINANCE NO. 3419 APPEARS ON PAGE -'s OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK n (V OTHER BUSINESS March 21, 1989 CABLE TV TAX CASE 103.1 Director Vorsanger asked if the City of Fayetteville would realize any revenue as a result of the court's ruling in the cable tv tax case. 103.2 City Attorney McCord said the City would realize the tax on cable television subscriber revenues, or approximately $20,000 per year, because of the successful defense of the lawsuit. McCord said a Notice of Appeal had been filed but he expected a successful defense of the appeal. WILLIAM COOKSEY APPRECIATION 103.3 Mayor Martin recognized city employee William Cooksey who has resigned his position as custodian to become a civilian jailer. Martin expressed appreciation to Cooksey for his efforts in setting up Board meetings and extended best wishes to him in his new position. ADJOURNMENT 103.4 The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.