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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-12-05 MinutesMINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS A regular meeting of the Fayetteville City Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, December 5, 1989 at 7:30 p.m. in the Directors' Room of the City Administration Building at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. PRESENT: Mayor William Martin; Directors Michael Green, Russ Kelley, Ernest Lancaster, Paul Marinoni, Jr., Shell Spivey and Fred Vorsanger; Assistant City Manager Scott Linebaugh, City Attorney Jerry Rose, City Clerk Sherry Thomas; members of the staff, press, and audience. CALL TO ORDER .i`L14 The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with seven Directors. 394.1 present. The Mayor asked those present to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and then asked that a brief moment of respectful silence be observed. The Mayor welcomed the public watching the meeting on television, and those present in the audience. He said everyone present would have an opportunity to address the Board on every item under discussion. He asked that those wishing to speak introduce themselves, give their place of residence, keep their comments concise and non -repetitive, and address the entire Board. He said any questions for the Board or staff should be directed to the Mayor. CONSENT AGENDA 394.2 The Mayor introduced consideration of items which may be approved 394.3 by motion, or contracts and leases which can be approved by resolution, and which may be grouped together and approved simultaneously under a "Consent Agenda." The Mayor explained that the`Consent Agenda represents items on which there is thought to be unanimous agreement by the Board, but pointed out any Director may request the removal of an item from the Consent Agenda. The Mayor read the items contained in the consent agenda, as follows: A. Approval of Minutes of the November 21, 1989, regular Board 394.4 of Directors meeting; • B. A resolution authorizing approval earnest money to the Library Board the Medark Building; • of repayment of $50,000 in 394.5 which was,used to purchase In December 1988, the City'Board voted to purchase the Medark Building for a total of $360,000 with -$50,000 down for purposes of expanding the City Library. The property sale has been closed and the Library Board, which paid the $50,000, now • December 5, 1989 needs to be reimbursed. Funds were budgeted in the Sales Tax Construction Fund to cover this expense. RESOLUTION 120-89 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK 395.1 C. Approval of a budget adjustment in the Sewer Plant Construction Department for the self-insurance account in the amount of $96,139.00. Due to a chlorine leak, the effluent filter computer and contaminated sand had to be replaced. The funds will be transferred from the contract services account where sufficient funds remain after completing outstanding contracts. RESOLUTION 120A-89 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK 395.2 D. Approval of an agreement between the City of Fayetteville and City Manager James L. Pennington regarding the terms of his resignation and pending consultant status. Kelley, Agenda. seconded by Vorsanger, made a motion to approve the Consent Upon roll call, the motion passed by a vote of 7-0. 395.3 HUNTINGDON HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION Mayor Martin introduced a request by Jim Treadway of the Huntingdon Homeowners Association to discuss storm drainage runoff problems in the Huntingdon neighborhood between Tartan Way and Kings Cross. 395.4 Jim Treadway addressed the Board representing the Huntingdon Homeowners Association. He explained that the Huntingdon neighborhood was a Planned Unit Development (PUD) started about 10 years ago. The developer went bankrupt and has not maintained the streets and drainage in the development. Building permits since that time have been issued for individual homes by the City of Fayetteville. There is one area that has particularly serious drainage problems, and that is between the Tartan Way cul-de-sac to the Kings Cross cul-de-sac. Several years ago, a concrete swale was built from the Tartan Way cul-de-sac half way toward Kings Cross. When the water reached the end of the concrete, it eventually made its way down to Kings Cross, ending up eventually on Warwick Street. About a year and a half ago, construction was begun on a house and the drainage diverted from that to Charring Cross through a couple of yards. The water was then diverted again in another direction. This new route then created problems for a couple of residents on Kings Cross. Again, the water was diverted at the request of these homeowners. A ditch was dug through another man's property to Kings Cross. When the City dug this 1 1 1 • December 5, 1989+ ditch, they thought they, were placing the ditch in a utility easement. However, the property owner questions this and thinks the ditch is not in a utility easement and raises the question regarding the legality of running storm water through a utility easement. On November 2, some of the members of the Association met with Bob 396.1 Kelly, Public Works Director, to discuss the.problems and potential solutions. The association -is hopeful that some attention and quick action can be taken to help alleviate the drainage problems. Mayor Martin asked Scott Linebaugh if the Staff had any responses, 396.2 recommendations, or requests in regard to the homeowner's petition. Linebaugh stated that he would like to request two weeks for the Staff to thoroughly research the problem and come up with recommendations. • Mr. Treadway stated the Homeowners Association had no problem with the two week time period. Director Green requested that the Staff also make suggestion about how to prevent this type of situation from happening again. This type of situation has not been addressed by ordinances, i.e., who has to foot the cost of repairs and maintenance in one of these developments (PUD) when the developer goes bankrupt. Director Vorsanger requested the Staff recommend where the funding is to come from to pay for any improvement and renovations in the neighborhood. He stated this is an age-old problem that keeps happening within the City.. It is the developer who paved the substandard streets, put in the sewer lines, and dealt with the drainage situations. It is then all of the citizens in the City that is paying for the renovations. He feels some of this cost should be shared by the property owners. He also feels there should be some mechanism to put money from developers in escrow, like the Green Space program, to fund renovations under these types of circumstances. 396.3 396.4 Director Kelley asked if_the_Staff has come up with any temporary 396.5 solutions for the runoff problems. Bob --Kelly, stated that the problem as it exists now is a temporary solution --diverting the drainage to an open ditch. It has eliminatedthe flooding to the houses down below the ditch, but dumps quite a'bit of debris on the street. Mr. Treadway stated he felt it was good that the City study how to 396.6 handle PUD's in the future. The.homeowners are.concerned that the City has authorized building permits seemingly at times without regard to the drainage problems°that_the new.homes contribute to. Eric Malstrom, Eric.Malstrom, 3248 Charing Drive, addressed the Board He stated much of the drainage has gone through .the -yards of the people 396.7 December 5, 1989 residing on Warwick Road. A lot of the residents have gone to considerable expense to protect their property by building berms to divert the water. The water has been at a depth of over 6 inches in the yards of the Warwick Road residents. He stated he was concerned about the possibility of the homeowners having to share the cost of correcting the drainage problems. He asked if it would be premature to discuss with the city some of the alternatives to alleviate the problem. 397.1 Mayor Martin stated it would be premature for the Board because they have not yet had a recommendation from the Staff, but the Staff will be in contact with the homeowners during this period to have input into the alternative process. 397.2 Malstrom suggested a couple of alternatives: (1) Make more permanent the current ditch that exists that drains the water onto Kings Cross. This could be done above ground by using crushed rock or underground at an increased cost. (2) Make more permanent an existing natural drainage that goes behind his property through the green space and winds up at the corner of Catherine and Warwick. He stated that if we had had a wetter season, several of the residences could have suffered structural damage. In this regard, he asked that the problem be addressed in the shortest time period possible. 397.3 Mayor Martin asked if he and/or his neighbors had considered the "fix" the City found themselves in regarding the PUD planned drainage versus the City approved and accepted drainage system. Martin asked if the Huntingdon residents acknowledged the differences in responsibility the City had for a normal subdivision and a PUD. 397.4 Malstrom stated he found it hard to believe that the PUD had been approved initially. He lives on a cul-de-sac, and there is not enough room to turn a vehicle around if there is another vehicle parked on the side of the road in the cul-de-sac. He understands that the PUD has gone through several problems through its evolvement. However, he sees as another problem the fact that the City has issued building permits. 397.5 Mayor Martin stated that the association has asked good questions and presented good points. He stated the City had been involved in legal complications about issuing building permits, so he hopes the public will also wait until there is a full report from Staff because some of the permits may or may not have been under City control. 397.6 Bill Pritchard, a resident of Elkins but a property owner in the Huntingdon area, addressed the Board. He owns the lot where the ditch has been dug to channel water. He stated the ditch the City dug through his lot was not through the utility easement. This has been very detrimental to the value of his property. v.. December 5, 1989 !; SEWER REHABILITATION PROJECT Mayor Martin introduced consideration of a resolution authorizing 398.1 the award of a bid to the lowest bidder, Fayette Tree & Trench, Inc., and a budget adjustment for the Davidson Street Sewer Rehabilitation Project. The low bid for this project was $243,378.91, of which $220,000 was budgeted requiring a budget adjustment of $23,400. This project includes six sewer replacements: (1) Davidson Street, (2) Willow Street, (3) Walker Park, (4) Calvin Street, (5) Halsell Street, and (6) Center Street. The Center Street replacement is an emergency project and will be completed as soon as possible. The remainder of the projects will be carried forward and constructed in 1990. Director Marinoni, seconded by Kelley, made a motion to approve the resolution. Upon roll call, the motion passed unanimously. RESOLUTION 121-89 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK CITY MANAGER SELECTION PROCESS 398.2 398.3 Mayor Martin introduced consideration of the selection process for 398.4 selecting a new city manager for the City of Fayetteville. Director Vorsanger stated he felt the advertisement announcing the 398.5 vacancy should be placed in both local and state newspapers. He commended the suggestion that the Personnel Director be the individual where applications and resumes are sent. He would like to make some editorial changes in the ad and will get with City Staff on these. Director Vorsanger stated he would like to discuss with the Board 398.6 and public the importance of the'selection process. The Board's responsibility is tohire_ra-professio an lly'trelned;.pers and the selection-of-rthe city manager is the Board's decision t make. '' ar—s he -search process is essential,. and he would.like to suggest that the:Board-take=t7ieTneteSSa'ry=t me:4toreview^the_city's mission and purpose, (2) conduct their own. audit of the city's major strengths and needs.; (3) establish. priorities, -for the next period of executive leadership;: (4) articulate particular skills and style that the Board is seeking in thet new city. manager; and (5) establish clear objectives and/expectations far'the first year�of _ service.by the new city manager. He feels the city manager form of government is on trial and' at risk -in this community, and he feels selecting a new city manager is "one of. the most important, tasks the Board will ever have before it. , December 5, 1989 399.1 Mayor Martin stated that the proposed selection process would incorporate some of the suggestions Director Vorsanger made regarding the whole Board acting as the search committee and be a committee of the whole. Director Lancaster, seconded by Kelley, made a motion to adopt the selection process. 399.2 Robert Royce addressed the Board and informed them that he would be circulating a petition calling for an election to reorganize the form of government of the City. 399.3 Mayor Martin stated that Mr. Royce was entitled to his position. Every petition to change the form of government since the city manager form has been adopted has been defeated by the voters. Upon roll call, the motion to approve the selection process passed by a vote of 7-0. OTHER BUSINESS ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION COMMISSION 399,4 Director Green stated that the Advertising and Promotion Commission met Monday and is in the process of establishing a new proposed budget that should be brought to the Board in the next couple of months. RESOURCE RECOVERY AUTHORITY 399.5 Assistant City Manager Linebaugh stated that on the advice of the attorneys on the incinerator lawsuit, the Board needs to reactivate the Resource Recovery Authority and reappoint the 4 City Board members who served on the Authority in the past. The basic reason for this is because of the terms of the members. There will need to be an Authority meeting sometime this week, tentatively scheduled for Friday at 2:00 p.m. to disuusz the "tolling agreements." He stated there was not other business the Authority gould deal with other than t*o +^ .... "'ng ay�ecmen�a. 399.6 City Attorney Rose stated that the "tolling agreements" are agreements between the City and any individual the City might want to bring suit against at some point in time after the time for filing a suit has legally expired. Attorneys agree that the time limit for the City will be on or about December 15, 1989, so they find it very important to receive these tolling agreements. 1 December 5, 19894 Director Vorsanger, seconded by Kelley, Directors Kelley, Lancaster, Marinoni, Recovery Authority. Upon roll call, the RESOLUTION, 121A-89 APPEARS ON PAGE RESOLUTION'BOOK made a motion to reappoint and Martin to the Resource motion passed unanimously. OF ORDINANCE AND z 402.1 • PUBLIC HEARING -CENTRAL FAYETTEVILLE DEVELOPMENT PLAN WORKSHOP Mayor Martin stated a public hearing would be held on Wednesday, 402.2 December 6 from 7:00-10:00 p.m. concerning the Central Fayetteville' ' Development Plan Workshop from' Dickson Street to the• Square Corridor. He stated this hearing is very important and encouraged anyone that has input about the development of the Dickson Street` area to attend the meeting and make their views known. BEAVER LAKE WATER QUALITY PROJECT Mayor Martin stated he had received a letter from the Department 402.3 of the Army stating that the Beaver Lake Water Quality Project was recently funded by Congress and development and implementation of plans to improve water quality will get underway in 1990; The Corps of Engineers will hold an informal briefing for civic leaders and elected officials from the lake area at -10:00 a.m.on Wednesday, December 13 at the Beaver Resident Office in Rogers. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. • • •