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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-12-16 Minutes. 405 A MEETING OF THE FAYETTEVILLE CITY COUNCIL A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council was held on Tuesday, December 16, 1997, at 6:30 p.m., in the Council Room of the City Administration Building, 113 W. Mountain, Fayetteville, Arkansas. PRESENT: Aldermen Donna Pettus, Stephen Miller, Kit Williams, Len Schaper, Heather Daniel, Cyrus Young, Randy Zurcher, and Trent Trumbo; City Attorney Jerry Rose; Deputy City Clerk Jane Beth; staff; press; and audience. ABSENT: Mayor Hanna Acting as Assistant Mayor, Alderman Kit Williams called the meeting to order with eight aldermen present. NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT Alderman Daniel moved to nominate Charles Wallace and Truman Smith to the Airport Board and Jan Judy and Bill Ackerman to the Parks & Recreation Board. Alderman Zurcher seconded. Upon roll call, the motion carried on a vote of 8 to 0. CONSENT AGENDA Alderman Williams 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 December 2 regular City Council meeting; B. A resolution authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a lease with Fayetteville School District No. 1 for a park at Washington Elementary School; RESOLUTION 115-97 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE. C. A resolution approving payment of $25,000 plus a contingency of $5,000 to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department for acquisition of road right of way and temporary construction easements by the AHTD in association with the Mud Creek Bridge Improvement Project on Gregg Avenue; RESOLUTION 116-97 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE. Alderman Trumbo stated a citizen who lives west of Washington Elementary School has asked if this would be a more utilized city park in a residential area. Alderman Williams thought it might increase the use. The City has done this around schools all over town and it is not unusual. 1 406 Alderman Schaper moved the consent agenda. Alderman°Miller seconded. Upon roll call, the motion carried on a vote of 8 to 0. OLD BUSINESS NEW PAY RANGES AND STEP RATES Alderman Williams adopting new step adopting revised pay ranges employees as recommended by effective with 1998 payroll This resolution failed with Council meeting. introduced a request to reconsider a resolution rates for civil service fire and police and for hourly, salaried, and executive staff and Hay Management Consultants No. 2 beginning December 29, 1997. a vote of 4-2 at the December 2 Alderman Young moved to reconsider. Alderman Daniel Upon roll call, the motion carried on a vote of 7 to Alderman Zurcher voting no. seconded. 1, with Ben Mayes, Administrative Services Director, gave a history of this process. In 1989, the City and the Hay Consultant Group undertook a comprehensive pay plan study, which was adopted January 1, 1990. The primary objective of the pay -plan was to allow the City, as an employer, to be competitive in the marketplace. As a part of the plan, the City does a survey to makesure the pay ranges are competitive. This is the biannual update. This has been successful in reducing turnover and attracting good employees. s Mayes -stated that eventthough thereis one plan that covers the City, there are two gioups of •employees within the plan. The first group is non -civil service employees. They are paid on a merit system... Civil service includes police and fire uniformed Officers only.- Every non -civil -.service job is graded based on qualifications, education requirements, etc. Each grade is assigned a salary range. On an, employee's anniversary date, an appraisal•is,done..,Raises are based on that appraisal. An adjustment in the pay range for. non -civil service employees will slide that scale by the requested amount, 6%. There is no. immediate raise. Mayes stated the civil service employees have a step and grade - scale. An officer starts on step A. Step B is paid on the first anniversary. You go to step C on the second anniversary, etc. If you are promoted, you move up to the next higher step. - Mayes stated that when the Council approves a pay plan adjustment for the step people, the civil service people,all the steps go up, this year 3% and 5%. What that means is that everyone will receive a raise the day the increase is approved. This is different from non -civil service. Additionally, they will go to the next step on their anniversary date. 2 407 Mayes stated that this year in comparing the survey results to the current City pay, we used the City's 20 -year pay, the maximum paid for a ranked position. He apologized for not disclosing this change. It was done for a good reason and should have been better explained. In the past, the City took these surveys and tried to make them equivalent to our step G. This year we attempted to make the survey equivalent to our 20 -year highest pay by rank. It was done to simplify and to get better results. It just happens that the percentages are not as high this year as they have been the last couple of years. He stated this is not a result of the way the survey was done, but is what the marketplace shows. This is factual, with no political pressure. It is non -biased. No one has a problem with the survey itself. They are just asking us to use step G as opposed to the 20 -year step. Mayes stated it is staff's opinion that it is a good survey and the raises are appropriately calculated. He proposed having the Council pass the pay plan as presented. If the Council is uncomfortable doing that, he asked them to allow staff until the second meeting in January to go back to the 36 cities and change the surveys from 20 -year back to our step G equivalent. He stated he is not comfortable using our survey with our current step G. Mayes stated the firefighters agree that if the Council wants to not pass it the way it is, the Council can give staff until the second meeting in January to go back and make the surveys equivalent to the step G. The surveys and calculations will be redone and submitted to the Hay Group, as always, then brought back to the Council. He stated there are no guarantees on what the percentages would do. Mayes stated the impact on the budget of changing it to step G today would be an impact of approximately $103,000 on the general fund. A way to fund this would be to delay the hiring of all new positions in the general fund by two months. This will allow us to save the money needed, if the percentages go up a point or two. Mayes stated they'd tried to make the survey simpler and better in order to get good participation. He stated everyone supports the pay plan and are working together. The only disagreement is on this one piece of it. Alderman Young asked if Mayes was suggesting taking police and fire out of the plan right now and passing the rest of it. Mayes agreed, but only if the Council is not comfortable passing the entire change. If the civil service was not passed, he would like to see the other passed in order to cover any January anniversary dates and so that a retroactive calculation won't have to be done. If it is not passed until January, it will be made retroactive. .0-101 408 Don Bailey; .Personnel Director,stated it may be optimistic to suggest. are -survey could be.dorie by January. What has been questioned is the fire and police survey.technique-s. • Bailey stated the fire survey is more complicated than the police survey because ofthe types and kinds -of compensation. Analyzing raw pay data is not routine or straightforward. There are a. great number of differing methodologies of paying fire employees, and they are not administered in any uniform manner. He.listed many variables. The perception of what base -pay is varies•from. jurisdiction to jurisdiction. • Bailey stated if you complicate the survey and make it more lengthy, you heighten chances it won't be completed and returned. The survey was expanded from 21 to 36 cities, which gives enough breadth to compensate for any lack of .depth in the survey. The size was increased so the anomalies would be worked out in the arithmetic. Bailey stated this pay plan did not define or place limitations on survey methodology or additionalemployee compensation: As an example, 70% the firefighters receive and annual amount of $520 more than the stated,stepamount`because they are EMT qualified now.., That.$520..is not.utilized in determining whether they are underpaid or overpaid. -He stated there are plusesand minuses in the'suriey; but'on balance the recommended pay ranges are an accurate -r epresentation"of the market. He stated he holds to the recommendation originally made''to the_- Council. t . 'Alderman Young stated . heyhad assumed the Hay Group had done this acid asked why they hadn'-ttt E Bailey,responded he is operating under their guidelines. He stated they charge $200 an hour. Mayes added that the City has always done the work and then submitted it to Hay. It is a matter of economics. Bailey stated that over a two-month period, he had spent between 80 and 120 hours working on this. Bailey agreed the bottom line is -that basically.the way the question -was asked this year is:different from the way it wasc,,,.„ asked in the past. Five things were asked: What is your highest. paid person;, what is your entry rate; what is your middle rate, what is the -low; and what is the high. Alderman Young asked if this was in with the Hay Group guidelines. . Bailey replied there are many ways to approach this. The Hay Group does not direct any one way. As long -as it is within the parameters, they will approve it. The end result is essentially the same. 409 Alderman Williams stated this appears to be a more ob]ective.and easier way to do it. Mark Stephens, President of the Firefighters Association, stated this was brought to the Council's attention because they feel that comparing the 20 -year longevity top out was unfair based on other cities' policies of instituting longevity pay. We are penalized every time we promote and change positions. He stated they are asking that it be eliminated for comparison in the survey and for comparison on our part. They prefer a simple question asking for the pay excluding longevity, that it not be considered at all. Alderman Young asked if Stephens would prefer to have the fire left in if the Council passes it or be left out and redone. Stephens replied they prefer it to be set aside, pass it for the non -civil service and redo the survey and come back later for civil service. Stephens stated that in the past surveys, the 10-, 15-, and 20 - year have not been increased proportionally with the percentages presented by the Hay Group. They have stayed at a consistent level of $500 above the G or H step and $500 more for 15 -year and $500 more for 20 -year. They have not increased percentage -wise with the other steps on the page. He asked if the longevity pay would be increased and made like a regular step. It hasn't been in the past. It was a bonus reward for dedicated service in that rank. Alderman Daniel asked if the Council votes to exclude the civil service, would it be refigured and the Council have a choice. Stephens stated the choice is the Council's. They are not questioning the figures. They support having it redone, honoring the other employees, and passing the budget. They are just asking for the longevity to be taken out. Alderman Williams pointed out the only disadvantage would be to the battalion chief; but since 1992, the battalion chief's pay has been raised more than any other City employee's pay, an average of more than 5% a year. The firefighter's pay has been raised the second highest, an average of 4.3's a year. Alderman Schaper stated these numbers are the range changes. It is in addition to the step. The actual increase has been considerably more. Alderman Schaper stated the issue is how the question was asked. If you ask what the absolute maximum pay is, the answer you get is what you use to compare to our person doing the same thing. He stated he would not like to put our personnel folks through redoing a survey to come up with what might be a more subjective answer and one that may not make any difference at all. 410 Alderman Miller moved to pass the pay raises for non -civil service and to refer the civil service .back to restudy,,as:was offered by staff. Alderman Pettus seconded. Alderman Young verified that would be sending the civil service. back for restudy. Upon roll call, the motion carried on.a.vote of 6 to 2, with Aldermen Williams and,Schaper voting no. RESOLUTION. 117-97 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE. Mayes stated they would make every effort to have this by the second meeting in January. ,He -confirmed this.motion included both fire and police departents. 1998 BUDGET Alderman Williams introduced a resolution adopting the 1998 City .of Fayetteville Annual Budget and Work Program: This' resolution was tabled at the December 2 Council meeting. Ben Mayes, Administrative Services Director, agreed the budget could still be passed. He stated all hiring of new positions in the general fund would be delayed by an average of two months. a v r This- -could 'bedone+.admini-stratively-. '. 1 4. - n Alderman Williams asked for audience comment. - Jeff Erf,. 2711'` Woodcliff Road', suggested removing from the general fund eApenditures;.under'.general government'departments, Chamber of Commerce economic development services. He stated the /Chamber' of'Commer"ce is given muPto $100,000 a year to administer .'andimanage our_economic-development program. He stated he is concerned about their position on the Drake Field Marketing Plan. Apparently, the Chamber has decided not to support the plan. They have decided not to assist in maintaining Drake Field.as a viable regional air carrier airport. Alderman Zurcher proposed looking at this more thoroughly but passing the budget with that in there. Mayes explained the contract has a termination clause of.30 days written notice. Alderman Schaper stated we would like to keep economic '.development services in the budget. The question is whether the Chamber of Commerce is who should be doing it, if they disagree with the Council's marketing plan for the airport. - Rudy Furr, Airport Marketing & Development Coordinator, stated that when he joined the Chamber through the City, he was appointed to the subcommittee on Drake Field. At that point,he noticed there were two plans. One was the one adopted by the 411 Council, with the priority of retaining the airline service as a regional airport. The other plan is identical, except it does not address retaining Drake Field as a regional air carrier airport. The subcommittee voted 8-0 to send it to the full committee. At that point in time, the vote was to send it to the board of directors for adoption of the Council's plan. It was decided by the executive board and recommended back to the full Chamber board not to do that. Furr stated he has dealt with this through some of the language in the other marketing plan. He stated it is difficult. The attitude is that Drake Field will be replaced. Richard McKinney, chairman of the Airport Board and incoming chairman of the transportation committee for the Chamber of Commerce, stated the failure of the ratification concerns him. He stated the Chamber needs to be 100% behind Drake Field. Mayes stated this is more a contract issue than a budget issue. He stated a meeting would be set up with the respective parties. He cautioned that in hiring a marketing firm, we may hire the same one that represents the regional airport. In hiring the Chamber, you cannot always assume that their stand will be the same as what they are doing for us as a marketer. We need to meet with them and clarify this. Their membership represents more than just the City. Alderman Williams stated he was very surprised when the Chamber decided they could not buy into what the Council thought was best. He stated the economic development committee would address this with the Chamber. He noted times when the Chamber has supported Drake Field. Alderman Young stated that the Downtown Dickson Street Enhancement Project had a meeting a week ago. The question came up as to whether the City would approve some of the things they want to do. He stated that Bootsie Ackerman had said the City is behind it and was setting aside funds. He wondered where these funds are in the budget. Mayes stated it is not in the budget. Kevin Crosson, Public Works Director, stated he has never heard Bootsie Ackerman say that. He'd met with her last week and she did not indicate that she has the City's support of a conceptual plan. Mayes stated that the City contributed $15,000 in 1997, which was matched with membership dues and other fund raising. The City does not pay her a salary. Crosson stated his impression is that they fully intend to involve this Council in the decision making process, because they will ask for a substantial amount of the funds to develop the ti, 412 project. This is a community-based project. Once the conceptual plan is done,.it will be brought to the Council and. to the people who will be funding it. Alderman Zurcher stated they have taken a lot of public comment; but a voting membership on the Dickson Street Downtown Enhancement Project is $10O to join -a group which is going to make development suggestions to the City and use City funds. Alderman Pettus asked if the Council wants to clean up the water tower on Mt. Sequoyah,would there be funds available. Crosson replied the budget adjustment process allows the budget to be. amended at any time. Alderman Schaper moved to pass the budget. Alderman Miller seconded: Uponroll call, the motion carried on vote of 8 to 0. 1. ;:RESOLUTION.118-97 AS RECORDED..IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE. x. MILLAGE ROLLBACK Alderman Wil-liains introduce&aresolution requesting Washington. County to provide the City withthereappraisal figures necessary to determine hoW:much the City's,millage rate should be rolled back.'"to comply withAmendttient=59 This resolution was tabled at the December'2'Council meeting: City Attorney Rose reiterated remarks made previously at -agenda meetings. This resolution .simply requests that the County provide the City with the reappraisal figures necessary to determine whether and how much the City's millage rate should be rolled back. He pointed out that the third whereas clause, while not a part of the resolution, would appear to commit ehe City -to rolling back their-millage rates based on thesefigures,- without waiting for any action from.the courts. Alderman Williams agreed that was his intent. Ben Mayes, Administrative Services Director, stated the..County provides the City with a preliminary estimate of the increase. It.has.been less than 10% except for '94-'95, the year in - question, where it went up approximately. 38%.- He stated you are allowed to back out newly discovered property; newconstruction, utility properties, and others. He stated he. understands that once you back those out; you are veryclose to the allowed 10%. We don't have the final -numbers yet: . Alderman Williams stated this resolution is asking the County to give us those numbers so we'll know what to back out. Rose statedthe newspaper_ reported that. the County is seeking to provide .these figures. They might be ready in approximately 30 413 days. The County would like a written request for the figures. Steve Davis, Budget Coordinator, stated the problem is that the revenues received also include personal property. We don't have information that separates what taxes were paid on real property versus personal property. We are allowed a 10% increase. To get to whether a rollback is determined or not, we have to back out our newly found, newly constructed property. Looking at our records for 1993 and 1994, we issued building permits of approximately $210 million to $220 million. A house built and occupied in 1997 does not go on the tax rolls until the assessor sees the house and puts it on the tax rolls, as of January 1, 1998. Davis stated that Mr. Butler, County Attorney, indicated that the County is preparing the numbers to determine if the school districts have a rollback. Davis stated that Mr. Butler said the City would have to send something in writing to get the numbers. Alderman Trumbo stated he would be in favor of a resolution just asking for those figures, something that wouldn't require the City to roll back the millage until it is decided in the courts. Alderman Schaper stated a resolution is not necessary for the staff to make the request. Alderman Daniel asked the Council to consider an amendment or rewording that stated, "A resolution requesting Washington County to provide the City with the appraisal figures necessary to determine if the City's millage rate should be rolled back." Alderman Schaper agreed the Council should not assume there will be a rollback. He stated the third whereas clause should be stricken then the resolution passed if the Council wants it in writing. Alderman Schaper moved to strike whereas clause three. Alderman Daniel seconded. Alderman Williams opposed this. He stated he put the third whereas clause in because when it comes to the government taxing its citizens and there is an amendment that says the government is limited to 10% more a year after reassessment, excluding new construction, we ought to follow that and not wait for the courts to decide. Alderman Schaper stated he does not want to wait for the courts, but does want the data on which to base it. Alderman Williams stated the resolution does not say it would be done without any data. It asks for the data and at the bottom says if the data shows that the increase is there, then we should determine whether and how much the City would roll it back. He stated there is some intent that we would resolve questionable issues in favor of the taxpayersratherthan in favor of the government. Pete Reagan, firefighter and Fire Pension -Board member, urged the Council -to look at:this with an open mind.and to see if more money could be found through the budget Adjustment process. Upon roll call, the motion to strike- .whereas clause three carried on a vote,of 6.to 2, with Aldermen Pettus and Williams voting no. Alderman Williams supported submitting his resolution as amended. Rose. stated that, in addition to striking the third whereas clause, the title would be changed to read: ": ....necessary to determine whether and how -much the City's millage rate •should.be rolled back. . .." He stated he could make this change without action by the Council. Upon roll call, the resolution passed on a vote of 8 to 0. RESOLUTION 119-97 AS RECORDED IN..THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE: NEW•BUSINESS . Z t . _. - £ . f Annexation RZA97-17 * \ . Alderman Williams. introduced an -,ordinance annexing 76.95 acres located north4of Mission Blvd. nd east of Blue Mesa Dr., as submitted by:Marc Crandall onbeha1f.of Gary Atha. City Attorney:Rose read the ordinance for the first`time. Alderman Williams stated the Planning Commission voted 7-0-0to. recommend the rezoning. - . Marc Crandall, representing. Mr. Atha, stated this is nicely situated to become part of the City and the best and logical use would be low-density residential, as proposed. Alderman Miller asked if the neighbor to the east, Mr: Brown, had • been approached about this... . Mr. Crandall replied th'ey.,have met with Mr.. Brown many times He stated Mr..,Brown has taken the position,that this property be developed eventually and he iShappy with these preliminary ' designs. . Mr. Crandall showed a drawing of. the latest design, close to what they will go to preliminary plat with. Alderman Williams stated there is some concern about access. There is access to Highway 45, but the. other access goes over land not owned by the developer. 10 415 Mr. Crandall stated similar discussions have been had with the Planning Commission and planning staff. They have tried to accommodate the most logical spots for future connection. The Planning Commission felt this could be resolved when they get to it in the preliminary plat and planning part. He stated that with the help of the City, they would try to get to the Brookbury stubout to the north and get some type of Township extension to the south. They have had good discussion with the people along Township but have hit a brick wall with the lady who owns the land between this and Brookbury. Alderman Williams had concerns about building such a large cul- de-sac. It would be expensive to change in the future and people may look to the City to do it. Alderman Pettus asked about the Planning Commission's approval. Mr. Crandall stated that when the Planning Commission approved it, they decided that this was better addressed at the point when real plans and real roads are done. They made it clear they would look for a second form of ingress and egress. Alderman Williams reminded the Council the City is nearing sewer capacity at its plant. Mr. Crandall stated he'd received a letter from the water and sewer department which stated they did not see any problem with the sewer capacity. Alderman Miller stated this would have a 24" inch main right to the plant and would have minimal impact on our sewer and collecting system. Alderman Trumbo stated the Timbercrest homeowners are concerned about drainage and Savannah residents are concerned about density. Mr. Crandall stated the lot size and density are comparable to Timbercrest and Brookbury, about 54% of what is allowed in R-1 zoning. REZONING RZ97-20 Alderman Williams asked City Attorney Rose to put the rezoning on its first reading. City Attorney Rose read RZ97-20 for the first time. Alderman Williams suggested leaving both the annexation and rezoning on their first readings. SPRING PARK SUBDIVISION EASEMENT VACATION Alderman Williams introduced an ordinance vacating and abandoning 11 platted utility easements in Spring Park Subdivisionas requested by Jim McCord on behalf of Clary Development. City Attorney Rose read the ordinance for the first time. Jim McCord, attorney, stated that when the Planning Commission approved the large scale development plat it required that Mall Avenue be extended to the south through this development, which necessitated the vacation of an existing easement. The other easement vacation is a small encroachment discovered after the building was built. Alderman Young moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Alderman Miller seconded. Upon roll call, the motion ' carried on a vote of 7 to 0, with Alderman Zurcher not present for. the: vote, • 1 2 , ! Z City Attorney Rose read. the ordinance for the second time. Aiderman.Trumbo moved to suspend`the rules and go to the third and final reading: Alderman.Pettus seconded. .Upon roll call, the motion carried on a vote of 7 to 0, with Alderman Zurcher not present for the vote. ` I• City Attorney Rose read the ordinance for the third. time. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed on a vote of 7 to 0, with Alderman Zurcher not present for the vote. ORDINANCE 4071. IS RECORDED ON PAGE OF ORDINANCE BOOK' RAILROAD BID WAIVER Alderman Williams introduced an ordinance approving a bid waiver for a cost-sharing agreement with A & M Railroad for the upgrade of railroad crossings on Cato Springs Road. Kevin Crosson, Public Works Director, stated this is one of our worst crossings in town. This is a standard agreement. We are paying for materials only, at a cost of $35,610. This has been the most effective way to leverage action on crossings. Alderman Schaper stated the railroad is.required-to keep these'-' crossing in decent repair. Crosson stated this will be an upgraded crossing from what the railroad would typically put in. It will last much longer. City Attorney Rose read the ordinance for the first time. Alderman Daniel moved to suspend the' -rules and go to.the second reading. Alderman Miller seconded. Upon roll call, the motion carried on a vote of 7to0, with Alderman Zurcher not present for the vote. ' 12 417 City Attorney Rose read the ordinance for the second time. Alderman Schaper moved to reading. Alderman Daniel carried on a vote of 7 to for the vote. suspend the rules and go to the third seconded. Upon roll call, the motion 0, with Alderman Zurcher not present City Attorney Rose read the ordinance for the third time. There were no comments from the public. Randy Allen, Street Superintendent, stated there are actually three crossing that will be repaired on Cato Springs Road. This has been a very bad crossing for many years. Alderman Williams called for the vote. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed on ORDINANCE 4072 IS RECORDED ON PAGE WEDINGTON DRIVE WIDENING a vote of 8 to 0. OF ORDINANCE BOOR Alderman Williams introduced a resolution authorizing the City of Fayetteville to enter into a 50-50 cost sharing agreement with the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department for the widening of an approximate one -mile section of State Highway 16 located west of U.S. Highway 71. Charles Venable, Assistant to the Public Works Director, stated he'd received a phone call from the State highway department. The State wanted to know if the City is interested in a 50-50 cost share to do a section of Highway 16 West. Venable stated this would widen Highway 16 to four lanes out to Rupple Road and then taper it back to Meadowlands Drive, about a mile altogether. It would be left up to the State on how they want to do it. Venable stated he'd asked if they could get four lanes across the bridge on Highway 71 and was told the bridge is 50' wide and they could get four lanes across there. The State also said they would like to get this under contract by the end of next year. Venable stated there are no plans now to widen the bridge for bike or pedestrian lanes. Venable stated the cost, including right of way, utilities, engineering costs for design and construction, and actual construction would be about $2.25 million. Alderman Williams stated the Street Committee has discussed this. This is a major problem area and this project would go a long way in solving that. 13 418 Alderman. Schaper stated this is classified asa major arterial, and we have certain standards for this type road. He stated he would like the resolution to•say.that the design of this highway should meet all our standards for major arterials.` Alderman .Williams stated he would like to see some sort of.multi- use trail along it. Venable stated that on the east section, the outside lanes are wider than normal. He did not think anything would be marked but will be 14' lanes. Alderman Williams thought this would be subject to administrative discussions. Venable stated there will be 6' sidewalks integral with the curb. i `Th'e,tate has 'FSO' 'ofn.right€ofH;way there now. To have four lanes, WAIS the -planting strips, plUs:„ idewalks, they would need•100'. of . v. •-. 4 1 "3.. _ .. Alderman•Schaper,stated he.,wouldlike to keep the planting strip between?'the sidewalk'or.trail and the roadway. Alderman Zurcher stated this is not an optional thing, but is how we are,:to dbui-1d our, major arterials. .. i a.t e 4 t, Alderman Williams urged passing the. -resolution now and covering the technical details later on. Alderman Miller questioned spending this much money on this when there are traffic problems all over town. Alderman. Williams stated the City is trying to work on problems all over town. This is an opportunity to solve one of the longer lasting problems. Russell Black, owner of Westwood Gardens on Wedington Drive, applauded efforts to do something about the traffic flow out. there. He suggested going a little further to the west, possibly to Double Springs Road, to -avoid a bottleneck. He also hoped to eliminate at.least%one set of lights at the bridge.. He.stated the, drainage in that area would have -to be carefully.addressed. A resident of Double Springs Road'stated that by the time thia. road is done, the subdivisions out there will befilled up. `There will be potential for traffic to be backed up to Gregg Street. She suggested telling.the State there is almost no point in doing just a mile, to see if they won't extend their offer to Double Springs Road. Cyrus Kooshesh, North 46th Ave.., stated building this .road will mean a. year of construction iii the area; yet when it is done, it won't have solved much of the problem. He and his neighbors are willing to petition the Highway_,Department to extend to Double Springs Road. He asked that the City try to negotiate this with 14 the Highway Department. 419 Mr. Kooshesh asked the Council to reconsider its decision regarding S. Rupple Road, allowing the school board to consider it as one of the sites of the school. Alderman Williams stated this issue is not before the Council at this time and the Council is not prepared to discuss it. Alderman Schaper moved the resolution. Alderman Young seconded. Upon roll call, the motion carried on a vote of 8 to 0. RESOLUTION 120-97 AS RECORDED IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE. OTHER BUSINESS Alderman Daniel read an open letter to the City of Fayetteville from a citizen regarding the quick, courteous, and professional service provided by the City when a home was flooded with raw sewage. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Alderman Williams adjourned the meeting at 8:56 p.m. 15