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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-12-07 Minutes288 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council was held on Tuesday, December 7, 1993, at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Room of the City Administration Building, 113 W. Mountain, Fayetteville, Arkansas. PRESENT: Mayor Fred Hanna; Aldermen Kit Williams, Conrad Odom, Woody Bassett, Fred Vorsanger, Len Edens, Joe Box, Heather Daniel, and Stephen Miller; City Attorney Jerry Rose; City Clerk Sherry Thomas; City Treasurer Glyndon Bunton; Administrative: Services Director Ben Mayes; Planning Management Director Alett Little; Public Works Director Kevin Crosson; members of staff, press, and audience. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Hanna called the meeting to order with eight aldermen present. CONSENT AGENDA Mayor Hanna introduced consideration 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 approved simultaneously under a "Consent Agenda": A. Minutes of the November 16, 1993 regular City Council meeting and the November 30, 1993 special City Council meeting. A resolution awarding a contract to •the low Petroleum Equipment, in an amount not to exceed install an underground storage tank monitoring Fayetteville, Municipal Airport, and approval budget adjustment. bidder,. Ark -0 $39,512.39 to system at the of a $1,311 • RESOLUTION 125-93 AS RECOLJED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE C. A resolution Fayetteville, airport termi approving a lease agreement with Air Host Inc., to provide a restaurant concession at the nal. .:This is a five year contract with a possible extension option, a minimum annual guaranteed rent of $20,100 or 6% of gross revenues. The percentage increases to 7% when the airport passenger traffic exceeds 250,000 enplanements. RESOLUTION4126-93 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE . Williams, seconded by Miller, made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda. Upon roll call, the motion passed by a vote of 8 to 0. ,December 7, 1993;' EASEMENT VACATION V93-10 Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of an ordinance vacating a 10 foot east -west utility easement at 5750 Kingston Drive as requested by Charles and Diana Duell. The Planning Commission voted 5-0-0 to recommend the vacation. The easement vacation is being requested in order to allow a septic system to be installed. City Attorney Jerry Rose read the ordinance for the first time. Odom, seconded by Miller, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its second reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed by a vote of 8 to 0, and the City Attorney read the ordinance for the second time. Miller, seconded by Edens,.made a motion to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third and final reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed by a rote of 8 to 0. The City Attorney read the ordinance for the third time. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed by a vote of 8 to 0. ORDINANCE 3742 APPEARS ON PAGE 67 OF ORDINANCE BOOR XX V// CITIZENS COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD Mayor Hanna stated Community Service Award for the month of December has been awarded to the employees of IBM for their work with the Adopt -a -Park Program. Dale Clark, Parks & Recreation Director, nominated IBM because of all their hard work in picking up trash, raking leaves, and cleaning up of the parks. Clark stated IBM has done everything possible plus .in their efforts. They make their clean up days a family affair, bring the whole family out to clean, and when they are finished, they end the day with a picnic at the park. Mayor Hanna awarded IBM with a Certificate of Appreciation from the City. CITY V. BOWLING SETTLEMENT OFFER Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of a resolution accepting a settlement offer in the eminent domain proceedings filed by the City against the heirs of Elvis Kelley for a lighting obstruction easement in conjunction with the Drake Field Airport Land Acquisition Project. City Attorney Rose stated the Council passed an ordinance in May of 1993 authorizing eminent domain proceedings to acquire an easement required in the Airport's lighting obstruction clearing project. The condemnation proceedings were necessary because they were having trouble finding the heirs of Mr. Kelley. The.2 heirs have now been located, and this case can be settled for $2,500. Alderman Williams asked if this would wrap up the condemnation cases, or were there more. December 7, 1993 Kelley Johnson, Assistant Airport Manager, stated there would be two more presented to the Council at the December 21 meeting. Williams, seconded by Odom, made a motion to accept the settlement offer of $2,500. Upon roll call, the motion passed by a vote of 8 to O. RESOLUTION 127-93 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE WRIGHT-PENCE V. CITY SETTLEMENT OFFER Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of a resolution accepting a settlement offer of an appeal filed by the plaintiffs regarding the proposed Masters Subdivision. Jim McCord stated he and David Horne represented the landowners who opposed the subdivision. The plat consisting of 18 lots was affirmed by this Council. The developers have revised the plat making a total of 15 lots all of which exceed an acre in size. This settlement has been agreed to by both the developer and the opposing property owners. The settlement agreement dismisses the appeal and also addresses the inadequacies of 24th Street. His clients have no objection to striking this section if the Council would like. He asked that it be included in the minutes that the Council is committed to improving 24th Street before any additional development is approved on Country Club Hill. Alderman Daniel asked where the sentence was located. McCord stated the sentence was in paragraph 6. Alderman Williams stated he agreed with McCord. He does not mind giving the Planning Commission his thoughts on this project. He would also question additional development in this area without the widening and resurfacing of 24th Street at least up to the first intersection on top of the hill. Alderman Miller stated he voted with the minority to support the Masters Subdivision. But, he also expressed his concerns about the street and water problems. Alderman Vorsanger asked if there was any word on this from the Planning Commission. Alett Little stated there has not been a Planning Commission meeting since this offer came up, but she wrote each of the commissioners and asked for their comments. She stated she did talk with one commissioner who was opposed to any street provision in the agreement. Alderman Odom asked if this had to go back to Plat Review. Little stated it did. December 7, 1993`` R ' Alderman Williams asked if approving this agreement would bind the Council in any way. Rose stated it would carry a great deal of weight and would be a commitment by the City. Alderman Vorsanger stated he heard from one Planning Commissioner who felt strongly that nothing else should be approved on Country Club Hill before another road is built for additional ingress and egress to the area. . • Alderman Edens asked why the City Council was being asked to vote" on this settlement agreement before the Planning Commission met on it. Bill Greenhaw, attorney for Wright -Pence, stated the revised plat is so different, it was re -submitted to the Plat Review Committee and is now scheduled to go to the Planning Commission. Alderman Williams stated the Council is only to approve the dismissal of the suit and will not be ruling on the plat. McCord stated the landowners have agreed not to oppose the revised plat if the City is committed to no further development until road improvements have been made. Everything is contingent upon the Planning Commission approving the revised plat.. Little stated the revised plan has been through the Plat Review and the Subdivision Committee. Their recommendations have been sent to the Planning Commission without regard to the.settlement offer.. Alderman Daniel asked if there would be no more homes built after these. Little stated all platted homes will be allowed to be built. They have been taken into consideration in the studies that have been done on the area. 1 Alderman Williams asked if the Council would be stepping on the toes of the Planning Commission or would they be arbitrary, if they accept this agreement. Rose stated the Council has the authority to do this, but you will be working,with matters normally left to the Planning Commission. Alderman Edens stated he -felt the Council would be making an interim rather than a final decision. • December 7, 1993 Alderman Williams stated the Council would be doing this to give the property owners some comfort or insight into how the City Council feels. Mayor Hanna stated the Council is considering this settlement offer because the developers are appealing where they were denied approval to develop 53 lots. The Council upheld that Planning Commission decision. If the Council does not do anything on this settlement offer, the case will go to court, and a judge will decide on the 53 lots. vorsanger, seconded by Williams, made a motion to approve the settlement offer and take the street requirement sentence out. Barry Baker, a resident of the area, stated he was glad the developer and the landowners have come together and agreed to compromise with this. He believes provision 2 in paragraph 6 in the agreement needs to be deleted. He stated this agreement has no legal binding authority. If another developer asks for a plat and gets denied, there is no legal basis for turning down the subdivision. vorsanger, seconded by Box, restated his motion to accept the settlement offer with the deletion of subparagraph 2 of section 6. Alderman Bassett stated he supports this motion with the deletion of the sentence. He has deep concerns about the road and traffic problems. He is pleased to see the compromise. He stated he would be reluctant to approve further development until something has been done with the road. Alderman Williams stated he does not have any problems with the settlement offer as written. He feels the road is overburdened already. Alderman Miller stated he would vote against any further development in the area without the road first being redone. Upon roll call, the settlement offer with the deletion of subparagraph 2 of section 6 was approved by a vote of 8 to 0. RESOLUTION 128-93 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of a resolution authorizing a temporary permit for a horse drawn carriage to be driven around the Fayetteville Square in conjunction with the Lights of the Ozarks during the 1993 Holiday Season. Mayor Hanna stated this item is to be pulled at the request of the petitioner. t.December 7, 1993 OFFICE OF CITY CLERK Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of an ordinance establishing the Office of City Clerk under the aldermanic form of government. City Attorney Rose stated both Sherry Thomas and himself have been working under the old ordinance. Since the change in the form of city government, these new ordinances are needed to bring the two offices into conformity. There will be no change in the jobs being done by either the Office of the City Clerk or the Legal Department. City Attorney Jerry Rose read the ordinance for the first time. Williams, seconded by Odom, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its second reading. Upon roll .call, the motion passed by a vote of 8 to 0, and the City Attorney read the ordinance for the second time. Miller, seconded by. Box, made a motion to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its ithird,;and final reading. - Upon toll call, the motion passed by.a vote of 8 to 0. The'City Attorney read the ordinance for the third • time. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed by a vote of 8 to 0. ORDINANCE 3743 APPEARS ON PAGE 6 9 LEGAL DEPARTMENT Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of a Legal Department under the aldermanic OF ORDINANCE BOOK X x v'// an ordinance establishing._ fors of government. City Attorney Jerry Rose read the ordinance for the first time. Odom, seconded by Miller, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance'on its second reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed by:a vote of 8 to 0, and the City Attorney read the ordinance for the second time. Miller, seconded by Odom, made a motion to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third and final reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed by a vote of 8 to 0. The'City Attorney read the ordinance for the third time. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed by a vote of 8 to 0. Upon roll call, the emergency clause passed by a vote of 8 to 0. ORDINANCE 3744 APPEARS ON PAGE 71 OF ORDINANCE BOOK KY Y// SEWER EASEMENT Mayor Hanna introduced consideration of an ordinance granting a sewer, easement for property located at 2336 Kantz Laneas requested by Fugitt, Inc. December 7, 1993 City Attorney Rose stated there was a 3 foot overlap of a 1 story brick home into the sewer line easement. This vacation will only be for that amount that the house is built over the easement. City Attorney Jerry Rose read the ordinance for the first time. Odom, seconded by Vorsanger, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its second reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed by a vote of 8 to 0, and the City Attorney read the ordinance for the second time. Miller, seconded by Odom, made a motion to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third and final reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed by a vote of 8 to 0. The City Attorney read the ordinance for the third time. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed by a vote of 8 to 0. Upon roll call, the emergency clause passed by a vote of 8 to 0. ORDINANCE 3745 APPEARS ON PAGE 7.3 OF ORDINANCE BOOR XX Vel STREET COMMITTEE MEETING Alderman Daniel stated there would be a Council meeting on Wednesday, December 15, 1993, at 4:30 Members of the Street Committee are Aldermen Bassett, Kit Williams, and Heather Daniel. Street Committee p.m. in Room 326. Len Edens, Woody She also stated a citizens of Rogers told her how much they enjoyed the light display in Fayetteville. 1994 BUDGET DISCUSSION Mayor Hanna stated regarding the personnel requests by the Police Department, staff has reallocated some of the funds in the budget and found sufficient funding for an additional juvenile officer and two civilian jailers. Mayor Hanna stated he- has proposed increasing the aldermen's salaries because of all of the time required for them to put in to do their jobs. He stated being an alderman is really a part-time job, and requires at least 20 hours per week. A lot of time is spent attending meetings and on the phone. Mayor Hanna stated the aldermen have made his job easier and has helped the citizens. By increasing the salaries, he hopes aldermen will seek reelection which will provide some continuity to the Council. Alderman Bassett stated he was glad there was funding for an additional juvenile officer. This will give the City two new juvenile officers. There is a great deal of interest and concern about all youth. He is pleased staff and the Mayor have found the money to pay for these. He stated Sgt. Frank Johnson met with the Juvenile Concerns Committee earlier today and expressed his concern December 7, 1993,+! abouttthe tons,of-requests for investigation by the Department of Human Services (DHS) that his department simply does not have the personnel to handle. Alderman Miller stated he concurs with Alderman Bassett. He was shown a huge case load by DHS, and they can only work on the most severe cases.. He strongly believes that the sooner you can work with kids, you will save .money in' the long run and be more successful with them. Mayor Hanna stated they had talked about the increase in the number of employees in the City, and now they will be increasing the number by 4 more. All of the new people that have been hired are in the service end of government, and there have been cuts in the administrative end. He thinks this is what the citizens want. Alderman Vorsanger asked where the $71,818 in additional 1994 funds came from. • Ben Mayes stated this is the budgeted excess revenues over expenditures for 1993 which will become 1994 operating revenues. .Mayor;Hanna stated there is enough money to handle the additional personnel. If income does not meet expectations next year,. then cuts will have to be''made. Alderman Odom stated he appreciates the offer of additional funds for the aldermen, and asked if he votes for the budget, will he also be voting for the pay raise. He is opposed to the raise.and does not feel comfortable voting himself an 'increase. Mayor Hanna stated he understands that, but he feels the aldermen deserve an increase..., ,Alderman Williams stated he feels the Mayor has done a good.jobiin finding the reductions. He is also proud of the work in the juvenile area. However, he agrees with Alderman Odom that the aldermen's pay should not be changed until the next term. He has •been happy being an,alderman, and he does not want or expect a pay increase. - Alderman Edens stated_ he agrees. He does not feel any City Council should give itself a pay raise. He agrees with the Mayor that this .is a time-consuming job, and adequate pay will have to be>paid'in order to get good people to run for the council. He hasno:problem with voting an increase for the new council that will take office January 1, 1995. ''If this Council passes a pay increase, ,the new council will know what they will be making up front. Alderman Miller stated he could probably use the raise more than anyone else -on the Council. But, the echoes Alderman Eden's December 7, 1993 concerns. He is in favor of higher pay to open up the aldermen jobs to more people. Mayor Hanna stated he appreciates the comments. He checked into salaries of other aldermen, and Little Rock pays $1,000 per month. He feels the aldermen deserve an increase and should set a precedent by voting themselves an increase. He does not expect a vote on this question tonight. He stated the Council may want to vote on this at the December 14 agenda meeting. Alderman Bassett stated he voted for no pay at all when this issue first came up back in November of 1992. He stated he would not be comfortable being paid for this job. However, he has come to realize that he was in error. In order to open up the aldermen jobs to as many people as possible, the aldermen have to be paid. He stated he would not vote to increase his pay, but he would vote to increase the pay of the next City Council. Alderman Daniel stated the aldermen are now compensated at a rate of $350 per month, and she feels that is a very generous amount. Alderman Bassett stated it does like other City jobs. However, be making decisions that affect take a lot of time to do this job, it is rewarding and fun as well to the City's future. Alderman Vorsanger stated he was proud of his colleagues on this council, and he knows how hard they work. Alderman Box asked Chief Watson how long would it be after the budget was approved before he could get his new people on staff. Chief Watson stated it takes about 6 months of training, but through clever scheduling, they will utilize the new officers waiting for academy training to fill the jailer spots until additional jailer spots can be funded. Mayor Hanna stated the 1994 Budget has $2,690,000 budgeted for street improvements and $1,584,000 for sewer improvements. The budget does discuss the possibility of a bond issue in 1994 to fund completion of the 36/42 inch water line. The bonds would be repaid from water and sewer revenue, and there would be no increase in rates. Cyrus Young asked when the next City Council would take over, in November of January? Mayor Hanna stated January 1, 1995. Young asked how much of the budget was discretionary and how much was not. ,December 7, 1993„'' Ben Mayes stated General Fund expenditures are about $13 million. These can be spent for any lawful purpose. They are used mostly for police, fire, parks, etc. So, these would be about the only discretionary funds in the budget. Mayor Hanna stated he read a study about how much state money is returned to Northwest Arkansas to be used on roads. He is concerned if Northwest Arkansas and Fayetteville are getting their shares. The report stated 23% of the state's money was coming back to Northwest Arkansas. However, a good portion of that is for the Highway 71 and Highway 112 projects. When you back these special funds out of the regular gasoline tax money that is supposed to come back to this area, Northwest Arkansas is only getting 7% of the state funds. So, we are not getting our share. Mayor Hanna stated he talked about 30 minutes with Governor Tucker about this, and he hopes more money will be returned to this area. Young stated this area definitely has more than 7% of the state's population. • Jeff Ward, 2450 Hampton Court in the Cedarwood Subdivision, stated there are severe drainage problems in his neighborhood. He requested some of the remaining $750,000 from the sales tax lawsuit be used to correct the drainage problems. He stated this project has been included in the 1995 budget, but due to the dangerous water that crosses Country Way and Sheffield Place when there are heavy rains, he requested this project be done in 1994. Alderman Edens asked what amount was earmarked for this project in 1995. Kevin Crosson stated $165,000. . Mayes stated the $750,000 has not yet been allocated to any project. Staff plans to address this issue within the next .few weeks. Alderman Williams stated Stubblefield Road has drainage problems as well. Alderman Bassett stated none of the Council disagrees that this is a problem. However, there are other areas that have problems as well, and they are trying to allocate the existing funds to address as many problems as possible. • Mayor Hanna stated these drainage problems really need to be addressed by the Street Committee. Martin Smith, a resident on Sheffield Place, stated he fears for the children in the area when there is such a heavy flow of water. The City installed a railing around the ditch that runs beside his property in an effort to make it safer. Now, kids sit on :the December 7, 1993 railing and watch the water flow. He is fearful that one of them will fall in and drown. Alderman Edens asked if the fund allocation would be looked at after the first of the year. Mayes stated it would. This allocation was not included in the 1994 budget process because they had no way of knowing how much money would be left from the sales tax suit when the budget process began. Alderman Vorsanger stated there was a bad drainage problem at Greenbriar and Mud Creek as well. Crosson stated that project is scheduled to be done in the spring of 1994. Alderman Bassett stated he was especially concerned about any life- threatening situations. Crosson stated that basically exists with all of the drainage problems, and that has been taken into consideration by staff when prioritizing the projects. Mayor Hanna stated he feels the Council should take a tour of all of these drainage problem areas. Alderman Miller stated he was going to move cautiously regarding putting the City into a debt situation when talking about a water and sewer bond issue. The bond issue is proposed for $8.5 million. According to page 100 of the budget, the City is already $37 million in debt now, and there is $3.4 million scheduled to be spent on debt reduction in 1994 of which $2.4 million is interest. Alderman Miller stated the proposed bond issue would cost about $8- 12 million in interest over a period of time. He would be asking staff to get the bond issue to the bare minimum amount required. He feels there should be a special election for the people to vote on whether or not they want a bond issue. Alderman Odom stated he agreed with Miller, he too wants to pay-as- you-go whenever possible. But, in order to get the sewer projects completed, every other capital project would have to be put on hold. He really sees no other choice than a bond issue to complete this mandated sewer work. Alderman Bassett stated the bonds would be paid back by the water and sewer revenues and not sales tax. He did not feel it was fair to characterize this as deficit spending. When people buy a car or a home, they too have to get a loan and pay back the bank. Alderman Miller stated he would like to have input from citizens on this issue. .December 7, 1993. Alderman Box -stated he sits on.the Water & Sewer Committee, and they have looked at other options. The only way•the City can complete the federally mandated work is with a bond issue. The only other funding source would be to raise rates at least 60%, and he hears a lot of complaints now about the rates. . Mayor Hanna stated $20 million of the debt is on the Northwest Arkansas Resource Recovery Authority, and that has not yet been resolved by the court. This Council is basically paying for the sins of its forefathers. $3.3 million of the debt is for the CEC, and that is paid from revenues of the CEC. Fayetteville's debt situation is not bad. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:18 p.m. • '♦ 1 4 .2J