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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-10-02 MinutesW21 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS A regular meeting of the Fayetteville City Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, October 2, 1990 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, Ernest Lancaster, Russ Kelley, Paul Marinoni, Jr., and Fred Vorsanger; City Manager Scott Linebaugh, City Attorney Jerry Rose, City Clerk Sherry•Thomas; members of the staff, press and audience. ABSENT: Director Shell Spivey CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called'to order by the Mayor with six Directors 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. 1 •ge d The Mayor welcomed those present in_the audience. He reminded the public that they 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 Before beginning, the Mayor noted two specific changes on the Consent Agenda as follows: Item #4 A rezoning appeal,was tabled Item #6 A rezoning request was withdrawn • The Mayor introduced consideration of items which may be approved by motion or contracts or leases which' can be approved by resolution and which may be grouped together and approved simultaneously under the Consent Agenda.. The Mayor explained that there is thought to be unanimous agreement by the Board but pointed out that 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. Minutes of the September 18, 1990 regular Board meeting; B. A resolution approving the reimbursement of expenses related to the Arts Center Council position of Construction Manager for the Walton Arts Center Project; 308 October 2, 1990 Staff recommends approval of this $30,000 budgeted item to cover the City's share of the expenses associated with the construction manager position which is currently held by Mr. Bob Kelly. RESOLUTION 146-90 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE END RESOLUTION BOOK C. A resolution authorising the City to donate fifteen (15) used mobile radios to the volunteer Fire Department for the Forum-Alabam area in Madison County; Staff recommends donating the radios which we no longer utilize because they were replaced by the City's current system. D. A resolution authorising McGoodwin, Williams i Yates to begin Phase 3 of the White River Watershed Sewer System at a cost of $293,500.00; Phase i of the study was completed in January of this year at a cost of $230,000.00 and the results of the monitoring in the Phase 2 report has been submitted to the City. Phase 3 is scheduled to be completed and a final report submitted to the City by December 31, 1990. Staff recommends authorizing Phase 3 of this project. RESOLUTION 147-90 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE END RESOLUTION BOOK E. A resolution authorising the release of property as listed on Exhibit A to Ordinance 3361 which was listed as belonging to Mr. Ashworth rather than the correct Mr. Ashburn; Staff recommends approval of the correction of this ordinance. RESOLUTION 148-90 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK P. A resolution approving the payment of $12,387.20 to Jim McCord in legal fees for services rendered in State of Oklahoma et al vs. EPA, and approval of a budget adjustment; Staff recommends approval of the payment and of the budget adjustment. RESOLUTION 149-90 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK 303 October 2, 1990; A resolution ratifying Amendment 42 to the "Tolling Agreement" between the City of Fayetteville and Kutak, Rock & Campbell allowing for an extension of time until January 29, 1991; Staff recommends approving the "Tolling Agreement" which allows for an extension of time before the City could file suit against Kutak regarding the incinerator disengagement issue. Director Kelley, along with Director Green, stated that he would like Item C removed from the Consent Agenda. Director Marinoni clarified Item B regarding the Arts Center Project. Kelley, Consent vote of seconded Agenda. 6 to 0. by Marinoni, made a motion to approve the Upon roll call, the motion was passed by a RESOLUTION 150-90 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK Director. Kelley requested that Item C be referred back to Staff to insure that groups in the Washington County area have been offered first choice.of the radios before they are offered outside the County. Kelley then presented the request in the form of a motion with Director Vorsanger seconding. Upon roll call, the motion passed unanimously. • ANNUAL AUDIT Y Mayor Martin introduced consideration of a -report by Dan Shultz, a partner associated with Coopers and Lybrand of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the City's audit firm, on the City's annual audit. Shultz began by presenting a report fon .the City's financial statements, a report on supplemental budget information and a report on compliance issues as they, related to the City's grant contracts. ' In 1989 the City of Fayetteville received a certificate of achievement from the Government.Finance Officer's Association. Shultz stated that this is an award given to cities that meet certain stringent requirements on financial reporting quality. He stated that there are approximately only three other governmental units that received that certificate and the City of Fayetteville should be very proud ofathat fact. 4 412 Shultz also stated that`the City, in conjunction with Coopers & Lybrand, used a new finaricial•reporting.'package in 1989 which allowed information taken from the City's -financial records to be X310 October 2, 1990 transferred by computer disk into the recording package, audited by computers and printed on site by a laser printer. He commended the City, particularly the Finance Director and the Accounting staff, for its cooperation during the course of the audit. He stated that the addition of the Finance Director position improved the overall accounting process from the prior year and aided the audit tremendously. Shultz explained the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report in detail to the Board and audience. Other reports on the City's budgets and Grant Compliance were also explained by Shultz. SIGN APPEAL Mayor Martin introduced consideration of a request by Terry D. Harper on behalf of Dr. Bryan Abernathy for an appeal of a decision by the Board of Sign Appeals for property fronting at 1643 Huntsville Road. On August 20, 1990 the Board of Sign Appeals denied Dr. Abernathy's request for a variance from the allowable display area of 4 square feet for a free standing sign in an R -O zoned district. Staff feels that the appeal should be granted and believes that the Board of Sign Appeals is sympathetic with the idea of revising the Sign Ordinance to allow more display area for a certain type of free standing sign in the R -O districts. Director Kelley, seconded by Vorsanger, made a motion to approve the request. Upon roll call, the motion passed unanimously. RESOLUTION 151-90 APPEARS ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK STREET NAME CHANGE Mayor Martin introduced for consideration an ordinance changing the name of 30th Circle to Wright Place as requested by Dee Wright. Staff recommends approval of the name change. There are no houses yet constructed on this street, so no one has established an address for 30th Circle. The ordinance was read for the first time. Director Kelley, seconded by Lancaster, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its second reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed unanimously. 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. ordinance Upon roll October 2, 1990 Upon roll call, the motion passed unanimously. The was read for the third and final time. call, the ordinance passed by a vote of 6 to 0. ORDINANCE 3515 APPEARS ON PAGE3'7 OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOK XK ✓ OTHER BUSINESS Nominating Committee Director Kelley, Chairman of. the; -Nominating Committee, addressed the Board regarding vacancies on two committees. The first vacancy was the Area Transit Authority and the Nominating Committee recommended Tom Lewis, Sr. The term would end December 31, 1992. The nomination was seconded by Vorsanger. Upon roll call, the -appointment was unanimously approved. 'Kelley also stated that there were two vacancies on the Electrical Advisory Board and stated that the nominees for the positions were Daniel Cambron and James McGinty, making that in the form of a motion. The nomination was seconded by Vorsanger. Upon roll call, the appointments were unanimously approved. Change in Form of Government Petition Richard Reus addressed the Board regarding the petitions to hold a special election for a change in city government stating it had been invalidated by the City. He stated the City Clerk's office had not complied with his request to give him a listing of what signatures had been invalidated and the reasons why. He felt this should be given to him under the Freedom of Information Act. He stated the City Clerk's, office had admitted some mistakes, so there were probably more but they were unwilling to validate the petition. He had talked with the Secretary. of State's office and found he had no grace period. However, when talking with an "election expert" in,>the same office, he had been told unequivocally that he had a 10 day grace. period. He stated he intended to utilize the 10 days and would, turn in additional names on the petition. He also stated that if the petition were not found to be valid, he would file suit because he plans to bring the City into compliance with the laws -of the State of Arkansas. He stated the voters want an election, and he asked the Board to call for an election. Director Vorsanger stated the petition_ drive had begun on March 1,, and most of the petitions were turned in the last part of August. Vorsanger stated the press'release dated September 20, 1990, had declared the petition to be invalid.,. The media and Mr. Reus had been notified via this release'at that time. He stated the City has bent over backward to give Mr. Reus every benefit of the doubt • 4 October 2, 1990 and questioned whether or not the time after September 20 when Mr. Reus was given a chance to correct the petition had not been his "grace period." City Attorney Jerry Rose stated the only place the 10 days shows up is in Amendment 7 to the Arkansas Constitution, and it only applies to initiative and referendum petitions. There is a very strong case, Dingle vs. City of Eureka Springs, that stated Amendment 7 does not apply to the change in city government petitions. However, even if his interpretation of the law is incorrect, Mr. Reus' grace period would have run from September 20, when he received a copy of the press release, the computer printout, and the petition. Mr. Reus did do work at the County Courthouse and presented information to the City for reconsideration. Linebaugh stated the laws of the his office and the City Clerk's Clerk's office had informed Mr. would be prepared for him, but petitions. state have been followed by both office. In addition, the City Reus that no special schedules he was welcome to look at the Director Kelley stated the Board has listened to Mr. Reus on many occasions. He has now claimed that the City Manager's office has lost credibility and the City Clerk's office has acted improperly. In his opinion, the City Manager's office has given Mr. Reus every benefit of the doubt regarding this endeavor. In addition, the City Clerk's office has worked diligently to make sure all fairness has been given. Kelley stated he felt the time for this petition was over, and if Mr. Reus wants to start another petition, that would be fine. Director Lancaster agreed and declared that he feels the issue is dead, and the City should be allowed to get on with business. Director Green agreed that it is time to move on. He is a strong advocate for the city manager form of government and feels the current problems stem from a misperception of citizens not getting response from city government. He stated the community has many diverse interest groups, and there is no way to satisfy all interests all the time. He feels the Board is sensitive to citizens, and reminded everyone that there are ways to change the current form of government such as electing all board members "at - large" or all from wards that could be considered. He encouraged these alternatives to be investigated rather than "throwing out the baby with the bath water" method Mr. Reus was advocating. Tiny Hamilton addressed the Board and stated the problems seem to be one of perception. He recommended having people whose jobs are not directly affected by this movement to verify the petitions. 1 • October 2, 1990 In addition, with the petition being so close, he asked the Board to call for an election. " Mayor Martin stated that the County Clerk's office had been approached to verify the signatures on the petition; however, they did not have time. Martin further stated that the law in the form of government process only allows for an election to be called by a petition. The Board does not have the authority to call an election. He also pointed out that Mr. Reus had many opportunities along the way when the City could have pulled the plug on the petition, but chose to allow Mr. Reus every benefit of the doubt. In addition, every time this issue has been before the voters on several occasions, the city manager form of government has been upheld, so the Board and the City is being governed as the citizens want. Director Kelley asked if under the mayor -council form of government there would still be a. city clerk position. City Attorney Rose confirmed that there would be. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m. • 1 313 •