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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-21 - Minutes -Council Member Sonia Gutierrez Ward 1 Position 1 Council Member Sarah Marsh Ward 1 Position 2 Council Member Mark Kinion Ward 2 Position 1 Council Member Matthew Petty Ward 2 Position 2 Mayor Lioneld Jordan City Attorney Kit Williams City Clerk Kara Paxton City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Meeting April 21, 2020 City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 1 of 22 Council Member Sloan Scroggin Ward 3 Position 1 Council Member Sarah Bunch Ward 3 Position 2 Council Member Teresa Turk Ward 4 Position 1 Council Member Kyle Smith Ward 4 Position 2 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council was held on April 21, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 219 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Mayor Jordan called the meeting to order. In order to create social distancing due to the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, Council Members Sonia Gutierrez, Sarah Marsh, Mark Kinion, Matthew Petty, Sloan Scroggin, Sarah Bunch, Teresa Turk, and Kyle Smith joined the meeting via online using a video conferencing service called Zoom. Mayor Lioneld Jordan, City Attorney Kit Williams, City Clerk Kara Paxton, Chief of Staff Susan Norton, Police Chief Mike Reynolds, Fire Chief Brad Hardin, Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker, and two staff members from the IT Department were present in City Council Chambers while demonstrating recommended social distancing. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor's Announcements, Proclamations and Recotinitions: Mayor Jordan: In light of the current health concerns, Fayetteville City Hall is closed to the public. This meeting is being held virtually. I am present in Council Chambers with a handful of essential support staff. City Attorney Kit Williams, City Clerk Kara Paxton, Chief of Staff Susan Norton, Police Chief Mike Reynolds, Fire Chief Brad Hardin, Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker, and two representatives from the IT Department. City Council Members, City Staff, and the public are participating online or by phone. Other than those of us you see before you, the voices you hear during the course of this meeting are being recorded for public record and piped into the 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 2 of 22 Council Chambers. Participation remains of the upmost importance to the City of Fayetteville. We have provided many ways to participate in the meeting, which includes contacting Council Members, City Clerk office or city staff prior to the meeting. The meeting can be viewed through Fayetteville's government channel online, YouTube, joining the Zoom conference by smartphone, tablet or computer. Instructions are shown onscreen. Staff can view when you join the meeting and when you raise your virtual hand. We ask that you refrain from doing this until the public comment portion of the item on which you wish to comment. I will provide a longer than usual period of time for you to raise your virtual hand. When recognized, please state your name and address for the record. Each speaker is allowed five minutes to comment, which staff will monitor. City Council Meeting Presentations, Reports, and Discussion Items: None Agenda Additions: Amend Ordinance No. 6292: An ordinance to amend Ordinance No. 6292 which granted the Mayor temporary extraordinary powers to provide for the safety and health of Fayetteville inhabitants and to pass an emergency clause. Council Member Smith moved to add the ordinance to the agenda. Council Member Marsh seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Smith gave a brief description of the ordinance. He spoke about ensuring good government oversights. He spoke about citizens having the opportunity for comments on policies that could be long lasting. He spoke about the Council having shared responsibilities in the policies that the Mayor passes. Council Member Gutierrez: It will allow us to reject one policy at a time and then have public input per policy. I feel that is opposite of the whole emergency decision we are allowing the Mayor to make in a state of emergency. I understand wanting to have a shared responsibility, but I feel this will slow things down. What would be the process? Council Member Smith: When the Mayor implements a new policy under the extraordinary powers ordinance, he can enforce those immediately, up until the next Council meeting. This would give us a chance at the next Council meeting to decide if something was out of line and give Council an opportunity to roll things back one policy at a time without rejecting the whole package. Council Member Bunch: I agree with Council Member Gutierrez. What if someone disputes one of the issues? Do we call a special session or bring it up at the next session? City Attorney Kit Williams: Assuming you pass this tonight, you will have approved the five policies that I read. If someone doesn't like one of the policies, they can move to amend it and remove the policy. At that point, it would be only the new policies the Mayor would issue before 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayettevilfe-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 3 of 22 the next meeting. If the Mayor issues any policies, we will a prepare a resolution for that one policy. It will be a resolution specifically for that one policy. It'll be up to the City Council if they want to accept or reject it. I don't think it will be very complicated. It will be just whatever policy, if any, that the Mayor might issue between now and the next City Council meeting. Council Member Turk: If we rejected Council Member Smith's resolution and extended the Mayor's emergency authority for another month, if he made another declaration and the City Council did not agree with that, could we at the next meeting rescind that emergency power or have some other mechanism to disagree with what he may have done? City Attorney Kit Williams: The City Council can always pass an ordinance to undo a previous ordinance. If there is some disagreement with how the Mayor had been using his temporary emergency powers, then you could request an ordinance be drafted to repeal those emergency powers with the policy you disagreed with. An ordinance is a little bit more difficult to pass than a resolution. There was no automatic way to either approve or reject these. That is what Council Member Smith's ordinance would do. His ordinance would say that if the Mayor issued any new policy based upon his extraordinary powers, there would be a resolution as a first item of New Business with Council approving or rejecting it. You can still do that with an ordinance. You don't have to have this for Council to maintain control of its inherent powers. Council Member Smith: Under this change, we would be approving the Mayor's actions by resolution, which would only need a simple majority and could go on Consent. It could be discussed at Agenda Session depending on the timing. Bringing forth a new ordinance to roll back something if you wanted to do that on one night would require suspension of the rules, multiple votes and would need six votes. Council Member Gutierrez: We would go to the next meeting and read all the policies that were enacted by the Mayor. If we didn't agree with one of them, we could remove one of the policies and then we would all vote on that one. That's why it is a resolution because we can take care of it at that one moment. Is that correct? City Attorney Kit Williams: No, that is not correct. If you look under Subsection 6, it says that the resolution would be to approve or reject any or all Mayoral policies not previously approved by the City Council. If you pass this ordinance without an amendment, you will be approving the five policies I just read to you. It would only be new policies that would be coming before you. Council Member Gutierrez: The future new ones, we could reject one out of seven? City Attorney Kit Williams: Yes. If he issues three new policies, you could approve or reject each one. Those will not be done in blanket. Mayor Jordan: Council, if you all want to pass this, I have no problems with this. Whatever I pass, I will be more than happy to bring back to you in two weeks and you can discuss it. I try to be as transparent as I can. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 4 of 22 Council Member Gutierrez stated her appreciation to Council Member Smith for his work. She appreciated Mayor Jordan's comments because the whole purpose was to give him the ability to make a decision. She stated she likes the idea of reviewing the policies and believes she might support it. Mayor Jordan: I don't have any problems with this at all. Council Member Scroggin: I plan to vote against this. If we had a different Mayor, then we might look at this differently. Mayor Jordan has been in office longer than I have been in Fayetteville. I have complete trust in him. We don't need this. Council Member Marsh: I have complete trust in our Mayor, but we are setting a precedent for future actions and that is why it's important to have some oversight. I'm happy to go through and approve everything the Mayor does during this time, but having balance of power is important. I plan to support this. Council Member Bunch: If a future administration deals with this, does this set the precedent that it has to be done the same way? City Attorney Kit Williams: It is always up to the future City Council to do exactly what they want. They don't have to follow what you did. Council Member Bunch: I have a lot of faith in our Mayor. He doesn't want to have to make some of these decisions he's having to make. I am not in favor of this and it could slow down the process. Council Member Kinion: I will not be supporting this. We talk about setting precedents for the future. In the future is when we have to review this to see if it's appropriate at that time. Currently, I'm happy with the situation without adding another layer to it. We are looking at this administration at this time with this environment that we are faced with. Council Member Smith: Regarding precedence, there is no legal requirement that a future Council follow our exact footsteps in the event of a different Mayor. I believe our current Mayor is doing a fantastic job and I have no qualms about letting him continue doing that. The way we handle the situation isn't just about setting a precedent for a future administration. It's also about advising a future Council in how they may handle a future situation. While they will be free to do their own thing, I hope we all learn from history. This is our opportunity to make sure we are operating good government, maintaining the appropriate separations, and giving our citizens as many guardians of their public trust as we can. Council Member Turk: The Mayor has been doing a terrific job. I see this as being unnecessary. I will not be supporting this. Council Member Smith, I appreciate your thoughtfulness and advocacy for more oversight. Council Member Smith: I don't want this to come up on the agenda in two weeks and would like to give it an up or down vote. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteviIle-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 5 of 22 Council Member Smith moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Marsh seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Gutierrez: I feel the whole purpose of the emergency clause is to make things as streamlined as possible and hate that this would potentially put any kind of blocks on that. This is a tough one for me because I do also want us to be able to review things. In the end, this is an emergency about health and safety. I trust that the Mayor will make those decisions. I will not be supporting this. Council Member Smith moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Kinion seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Mayor Jordan: I can do this any way you want. I will make sure that any policies I decide to implement, you will be given a copy of the policy. I will make sure you have it to review. If you don't agree with me, I don't have a problem with that. I am making the best decisions I know how to make for the health and safety of our citizens. If you don't agree with me, we can look at it again and you can contact the Chief of Staff or City Attorney. We want to be as open and transparent as we possible we can. Council Member Smith: Thank you, Mayor. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance failed 2-6. Council Members Smith and Marsh voting yes. Council Members Gutierrez, Kinion, Petty, Scroggin, Bunch, and Turk voting no. This ordinance failed Consent: Approval of the April 7, 2020 City Council meeting minutes. Approved Bid #20-32 Thorpe Plant Services, Inc.: A resolution to award Bid #20-32 and authorize the purchase of a chemical storage tank from Thorpe Plant Services, Inc. in the amount of $41,974.00 plus applicable taxes and freight charges for use at the Noland Water Resource Recovery Facility. Resolution 116-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Recreational Trails Program Grant Funds — Lake Fayetteville: A resolution to express the willingness of the City of Fayetteville to apply for and utilize federal -aid recreational trails 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayefteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 6 of 22 program grant funds in the amount of $440,000.00 for the reconstruction and improvement to the section of the Lake Fayetteville shared -use paved trail across the dam, and to approve a city match of $110,000.00 for the project. Resolution 117-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Arkansas Department of Transportation — Transportation Alternatives Program Grant: A resolution to express the willingness of the City of Fayetteville to apply for and utilize federal -aid Arkansas Department of Transportation - Transportation Alternatives Program Grant funds in the amount of $500,000.00 for the construction of the Clabber Creek Trail Tunnel under Garland Avenue at Van Asche Drive, and to approve a city match of $125,000.00 for the project. Resolution 118-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Housing Success Program: A resolution to approve a budget adjustment in the total amount of $25,000.00 recognizing funding for the Housing Success Program from the Endeavor Foundation. Resolution 119-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Walton Family Foundation: A resolution to authorize an application for a 50150 matching grant from the Walton Family Foundation in the amount of $3,000,000.00 for the reconstruction of Maple Street from Razorback Regional Greenway to Garland Avenue. Resolution 120-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk University of Arkansas Memorandum of Understanding: A resolution to approve a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Arkansas to provide housing to Fayetteville Fire and Police Department personnel who need to quarantine. Resolution 121-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Council Member Scroggin moved to accept the Consent Agenda as read. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. Unfinished Business: Enact Article X Pedal Carriages: An ordinance to Enact Article X Pedal Carriages into Chapter 117: Vehicle -Related Businesses. At the March 16, 2020 Special City Council meeting this ordinance was tabled. At the April 7, 2020 City Council Meeting this item was left of the first reading. Council Member Gutierrez moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 7 of 22 Devin Howland, Director of Economic Vitality stated staff is asking for an amendment to the ordinance that will make two changes. He stated the changes come as a request from the Fayetteville Police Department and himself. He stated in 117.123 (C), it would change the current word from investigation to background check to be consistent with code. He stated the second change is that it deletes 117.123 (B) (1) (d), which is proof of training and use of an operation of a pedal carriage pursuant to curriculum approval of the Police Chief. He stated he would like to add that when they looked at not only Police Department approving curriculum, but training programs are company specific. He stated if an applicant goes through a franchise, research indicates they will receive that. He stated he doesn't feel that it diminishes the safety, but it could have the unintended consequence where you have an entrepreneur start their own company and those training programs are not something that are broadly available to members of the public. City Attorney Kit Williams: The City Council should grant the amendment as described by Devin Howland. Council Member Turk: If you have an entrepreneur that starts up their own company and have no training at all, that seems to be a safety risk. Have you thought about that? Devin Howland: The ordinance has a lot of safety provisions built into it. It was developed by accessing other municipalities that have had a similar ordinance, many of which 21 years of age. They have to have a driver's license. For an operator to be issued a Certificate of Public Necessity, they will have to come back before Council and go through the Police Department. Council Member Turk: You and the Police Chief feel that with those added requirements, this will be covered? When it comes before the Council, we can ask these questions as well. The second amendment is to make sure this didn't hold up a legitimate operation by having to have it reviewed by the Police Department. Is that accurate? Devin Howland: I will defer to Police Chief Reynolds. It was also mainly looking at getting rid of the point of our Police Chief having to approve curriculum. Mike Reynolds, Police Chief. Trying to find the curriculum for a pedal carriage that you can do training on for my department and not having the expertise in that field was the biggest issue for us. We are trying to make this mirror with our taxicab ordinance. When I reviewed this, the two issues I had was the curriculum and the background investigation. We want the wording to be similar and do a background check. When I looked at the requirements for the background check with a valid driver's license, name of the four individuals that can vouch for a character reference, along with the valid Certificate of Public Conveyance, I felt comfortable with our ability to look at the applicant's background and provide a recommendation. Council Member Smith: What kind of driver's license would someone need to drive one of these? Do they need a CDL? Mike Reynolds: No, a CDL would not be required. The ordinance would require a valid driver's license. The applicant would have to be free and clear of any alcohol incidents for a year. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 8 of 22 Council Member Gutierrez moved to amend the ordinance by changing the wording in 117.123 (C) and deleting 117.123 (B) (1) (d) as described by Devin Howland. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. Council Member Gutierrez: Is there a limit on the amount of pedal carriages that can be in operation at any one time? Devin Howland: That is set by the City Council as you feel are necessary to serve the public, just like taxi cabs. Mayor Jordan: Chief, is that correct? Mike Reynolds: Yes, just like a taxicab ordinance. The Police Department would bring the applicant forward and it would be a Public Hearing. City Council and the Mayor would make the decision as to how many pedal carriage companies are going to operate in the City of Fayetteville. Devin Howland, Director of Economic Vitality gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated staff is recommending approval. Amber Sinclair, Entrepreneur at 729 West Beck thanked Devin Howland and Assistant City Attorney, Blake Pennington for working on the ordinance. She spoke in favor of the ordinance and believes it will be a great asset to bring to Fayetteville. Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Mayor Jordan thanked Devin and Blake for their work on the ordinance. He stated he looks forward to this and believes it will be a great addition to the city. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6300 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk RZN 20-6984 (2160 N. Crossover Rd./Salmon-Klinger): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-6984 for approximately 2.8 acres located at 2160 North Crossover Road from C-1, Neighborhood Commercial and R-O, Residential Office to CS, Community Services, and from RSF-4, Residential Single Family, 4 units per acre to NS-G, Neighborhood Services General. At the April 7, 2020 City Council Meeting this item was left on the first reading. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 9 of 22 City Attorney Kit Williams: This was amended at the last meeting, but not in exact wording. I would like to read the body. The Exhibits had to be changed after the motion that was approved at the last meeting by the City Council. Now the entire amount of property is in there and there's no longer that gap. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Garner Stoll, Development Services Director stated they did change the map Exhibit and did a new legal description to include the area of the amendment from the City Council meeting two weeks ago. Council Member Smith moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6301 as Recorded in the office orN:e City Clerk Public Hearing: Zion Road Construction Project Condemnation and Possession: A resolution to authorize the City Attorney to seek condemnation and possession of certain lands owned by Tracy Gaddy -Mayes needed for the Zion Road Construction Project. Chris Brown, City Engineer gave a brief description of the resolution. He stated he feels they are close to negotiating a settlement and may not need to use this authorization to move forward with filing the condemnation paperwork. Tracy Gaddy -Mayes, Owner spoke about trees being removed, reducing her yard, and starting a business in her home. She requested to know what she is going to do with cars pulling in and out. City Attorney Kit Williams: Even though we will get authority to do a condemnation case if we have too, we still want to negotiate with you and try to get as good a settlement for everybody as we can. We will listen to your concerns and do everything we can to resolve this without having to go to court. That is not our goal, but the project will need to move forward and if we can't get an agreement, we will have to get an immediate order of possession and then let the jury decide if necessary, what the actual monetary cost will be. Out first goal is to try and settle this with you. We will continue to work with you through my office as well as the City Engineer. We will be speaking to you about this in the future. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 10 of 22 Tracy Gaddy -Mayes: You are threatening condemnation with me? You are going to condemn my property that I have possession of. You are going to take out my whole front yard and all the shade it provides. It will raise my electricity bills. Council Member Smith: As I look at the maps and surrounding area, the property lines up to the right-of-way is kind of saw-toothed through there. I know you all have been working hard to get acquisition on lots of properties. Is that reflected in our maps? Chris Brown spoke about the map to give a point of reference. He stated they had been working on the project for multiple years because it was a previous bond project. He stated the curve is being flattened because it is a sharp curve. He stated unfortunately on Tracy Gaddy -Mayes property is that the curve is flattening across and coming into the yard a little. He spoke about the right-of-way. He stated there are some trees in the front yard that are impacted. He stated the alignment of the road is necessary to flatten the curve and make for a safer transition down the hill. Council Member Smith: When you take this into account with whatever you got across the street or will get across the street, what is the total right-of-way you are shooting for? Chris Brown: It's variable. We have 35 feet, so we've probably got about 70 feet of right -of way typically in this area. Council Member Smith: It's about a 58-foot cross section. Chris Brown: This is kind of a transition section. The previous section is quite a bit wider. We are starting to transition down in that area. There's a little bit more right-of-way necessary across this property because of the way of the transition, curve, and connecting the old and new layouts we had from the previous version of the plans. Council Member Scroggin: How much of a driveway will she have left? Chris Brown: I don't have specific numbers. One of the sticking points that we haven't quite worked out is we were going to add some turnaround on the driveway to allow her to have more space. It would widen the driveway on the property because she is losing some driveway length. We have been trying to negotiate to make sure she can still operate the way she would like on the property. Council Member Scroggin: Is there a current business there? Chris Brown: 1 don't know. Council Member Scroggin: Can we table this for two weeks to get some of these questions answered? Chris Brown: Two weeks would be adequate if you would like some more information. We can work on this Exhibit to add the actual right-of-way, show additional dimensions, and show some proposed driveway amendments. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteviIle-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 11 of 22 Council Member Scroggin: I support tabling this for two weeks. Council Member Gutierrez: In the negotiations have you spoken about if we take certain trees off, are trees being replaced and could that be part of the visuals next week? Chris Brown: We intend to place trees in the green space along the roadway. We typically negotiate the value of the trees and pay the property owner for lost trees. That allows them to replant trees however they would like or just take the cash and do other things they want to do. It keeps us out of having to plant trees on private property and then maintain them. I can give you more detail and amounts about previous negotiations if you would like. Council Member Gutierrez: That would be great. This way we could understand how many trees are going to be taken out. There was a brief discussion about the map drawings. Council Member Smith: On your survey exhibit, it doesn't have the house for context. It makes it hard to know exactly where those lines are when you compare it to a satellite image. For the broader project context, there is also a large notch of right-of-way that is not complete or as a wide as everything else diagonally across the street to the northeast. I would like to know where that is in your process and if that's something you are still working on or if you've already got what you want up there. Chris Brown: What you are seeing is right-of-way from our GIS Department. That is existing right-of-way. It may not be updated to show rights -of -way that we have acquired as part of this project. We will show the proposed right-of-way once we get everything acquired. Council Member Scroggin moved to table the resolution. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. This resolution was tabled to the May S, 2020 City Council Meeting. New Business: Extend Extraordinary Powers: A resolution to extend the temporary, extraordinary powers granted to Mayor Jordan in Ordinance #6292 from April 29, 2020 until June 2, 2020. City Attorney Kit Williams: Mayor, with your authority I've brought this to the City Council. There is a clause in Ordinance 6292 that would terminate the extraordinary powers on April 29, 2020 unless by resolution the City Council extends them. This would be the resolution you could use to extend the powers that you granted to Mayor Jordan until June 2, 2020. Mayor Jordan: Council, we said until June 2, 2020. If this thing starts to decrease before then, I will come back and end the extraordinary powers. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 12 of 22 Council Member Smith: I have already explained my thoughts on the policy. I am concerned this is something that we will be back on June 2, 2020 to extend for another month or potentially longer. I don't want a "no" vote on what I think is an overextended policy to in any way reflect a lack of confidence in the Mayor. I can't imagine a better person to be leading us through this. I disagree with continuing this now that we do have a functioning process back in place. Mayor Jordan: Thank you, Council Member Smith. Council Member Gutierrez moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the resolution passed 7-1. Council Members Gutierrez, Marsh, Kinion, Petty, Scroggin, Bunch, and Turk voting yes. Council Member Smith voting no. Resolution 122-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Amend Resolution 33-20: A resolution to amend Resolution 33-20 to reduce the amount of reappropriations to the 2020 budget by $4,608,000.00, and to approve a budget adjustment. Paul Becker, Chief Financial Officer gave a brief description of the resolution. Council Member Gutierrez moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call the resolution passed unanimously. Resolution 123-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Hawkins -Weir, Engineers, Inc. Amend 1 - Bond Project: A resolution to approve Amendment No. 1 to the Professional Engineering Services Agreement with Hawkins -Weir Engineers, Inc. in the amount of $46,680.00 for additional conceptual drainage design services associated with the project to alleviate flooding near the North College Avenue and East Sunbridge Drive Intersection associated, and to approve a budget adjustment - 2019 Drainage Bond Project. Chris Brown, City Engineer gave a brief description of the resolution. Mayor Jordan: I get calls when we have a lot of rain, particularly in the Spring and sometimes in the Fall. It floods bad. This is an area that I'm thrilled we are getting fixed. Council Member Smith moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Marsh seconded the motion. Upon roll call the resolution passed unanimously. Resolution 124-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Craft Bearing Company, Inc.: An ordinance to waive competitive bidding and approve the emergency purchase of two replacement bearings for the thermal dryer from Craft Bearing 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteviIle-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 13 of 22 Company, Inc. for the biosolids management site in the total amount of $36,505.60 plus applicable taxes and freight charges. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Tim Nyander, Utilities Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated it was presented to the Water & Sewer Committee. Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Scroggin moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6302 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk RZN 20-7014 (1324 W. Mt. Comfort Rd./Tillman B, LLC.): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-7014 for approximately 0.27 acres located at 1324 West Mount Comfort Road from RSF-4, Residential Single Family, 4 units per acre to RI-U, Residential Intermediate -Urban. Garner Stoll, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated the Planning Commission recommended approval of the RI-U zoning. He stated staff recommends denial, but would support RSF-8. Blake Jorgensen, Applicant stated the property is an odd lot that has frontage on both streets. He stated the main objective is to get a zoning that would allow a lot split. He stated currently under RSF-4 it would not meet the minimum lot width or lot square footage. He stated the options were to go to the Board of Adjustments or go for a rezoning. He stated the RI-U seemed to be optimal to both sides of the frontage on Hendricks and Mount Comfort. He stated staff supported RI-U on Mount Comfort, but was hesitant on Hendricks. He stated he is intrigued by the RI-U and it follows a pattern of zonings that the Council has passed. He believes the request meets the 2040 Goals of the city. Council Member Turk: My understanding is if you are able to get the RI-U zoning designation, you will be able to increase your density to four unrelated people per house, as opposed to the 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 14 of 22 RSF-8, which only allows three unrelated people to share a house. Is that part of the reason why you are advocating for RI-U? Blake Jorgensen: That was part of my dialogue with Planning Commission. The reality is I want to build a four -bedroom home. I don't want to discriminate who I rent to. It could be a single family that has kids going to school, but if some college kids did want to occupy the space, I didn't want to reject them based on the limitations. That goes for all my properties. You are seeing this all over town where residences are occupied by college students that may be unrelated. I simply by -right want that opportunity so that I don't have to discriminate. Council Member Kinion: Just because it goes on all the time, doesn't make it right. It impacts the quality of the established neighborhood. The neighbors I've heard from feel like this is an unsupervised dormitory and this is what we see in a lot of established neighborhoods. I could not support this in a neighborhood unless I heard a compelling argument. The neighborhood wants to protect the integrity of the neighborhood and I advocate that. Council Member Smith: What is the staff recommendation on splitting it to RI-U on Mount Comfort and RSF-8 on Hendricks? Did you prefer to skip the hypothetical in favor of a more master planned approach to the neighborhood? Garner Stoll: That is correct. It is zoned RMF-24 across the street, but immediately to the west is RSF-4. Immediately to the east we are anticipating additional request for RI-U. It's one of those neighborhoods that's a gem. It's got a variety of housing types and it is relatively affordable. It has amenities and is about to get more with the trail construction. It would be high on our list for a broader look. Council Member Smith: Mr. Jorgensen, staff won't give me a recommendation, but it sounds like you are interested in considering a split between the two. Doing one on one street and being open to RSF-8 on the Hendricks side? Blake Jorgensen: Yes, I'm not opposed to that. Bill of Assurances are speculation, but we do have something submitted that's public document that the other properties along this street have submitted for a RI-U rezoning. I'm not disagreeing with Council Member Kinion. I understand the majority of the people within Maxwell have apprehension, but on Hendricks Street, which is the point of contention, about 80% is owned by three people. The bigger owner of the rest of the property, Andrew Marks, has submitted it for a RI-U rezoning. Hendricks is going to change. It's owned by a few people and are in a mindset to redevelop this neighborhood. We want to do it right and do the best thing for the city. It's a zoning type that is supported in majority areas, however Hendricks Street has this asterisk that is up in the air. I hope we can redevelop it in a natural pattern that fits in with Fayetteville. This is the first request of several more properties down the pipeline that you are going to receive. The RSF-8 that was approved, was not approved by the applicant and it wasn't their first pick. They will be coming back with the same request. RI-U gives the ability to build traditional town form with some ADU's. Council Member Smith: I don't think there is anything wrong with RI-U. It's one of my favorite zoning types because it is flexible, but in this neighborhood, we have to look at how big a change 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 15 of 22 that would be. When we looked at the other recent Hendricks rezoning, it was asking to go to RSF- 8 and I voted for that, but it was a razor's edge. RI-U is way past the line for me in this neighborhood. I understand the appeal of it and building four -bedroom houses because you can economize your scale. What's the estimate on rent for a four -bedroom house? Blake Jorgensen: It ranges from $1,600 to $2,000. It's not the fact you are building four beds to rent. You want to rent to a multitude of people. I don't want it to be college kids. I don't want to be exclusive, but as soon as you take that out of the equation, I could develop it, sale it and then someone rents those four beds to unrelated people. I think it is wrong to do that when I'm being blatantly honest. I'm not in a hurry and don't mind tabling this. You are about to see the rest of the neighborhood requesting the same thing. The RSF-8 that was approved, they want to go to RI-U. It makes sense and it fits. Council Member Smith: On Hendricks Street, it ranges from 720 square foot houses up to 1,200 square foot. There are a couple of 1,600 square foot houses. I'm concerned about that being too much too fast for a neighborhood like this. It's going to change, but that would determine the type of change. If you were asking to put multiple smaller houses on there, I would probably be lining up right behind you. You are looking at a product for an affordable neighborhood that's going to be a completely different price market and that's the kind of neighborhood change that makes me nervous. Garner Stoll: The applicant says he is in favor of ADU's. That is associated with a use and not a district. If you have a single-family home, you can do an ADU, RSF-4, RSF-8, RI-U or any of the residential districts. Council Member Kinion: The last time we had a zoning discussion on this, I believe Mr. Marks approached us and said he did not intend to go RI-U and develop this. Until I hear from him, I'm going to have to take his word that he meant it when he was in front of us. To make a presumption that I don't know when that changed, I can't use that as a valid argument. Mayor Jordan spoke about leaving the item on the First Reading. Council Member Turk: I would like to leave it on the First Reading. Council Member Petty: What is the infill score for the property? Garner Stoll: I will have to get that for you. Council Member Petty: Didn't staff include it as part of their discussion when this memo was being written? Garner Stoll: Good point, but I don't have it. I will have it in two weeks. There was a brief discussion about allowing the public to speak. There was no public comment. Mayor Jordan: Is it agreeable to Council for this to wait two weeks? 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 16 of 22 Council Member Scroggin: I'm kind of worried that we keep attacking people in their occupation. We keep saying we don't want this specifically because we don't want students. We can talk about traffic circulation and a lot of issues without specifically calling out occupations. I'm sure if somebody said I don't want this because I don't want people from Tyson's working here, we would have an uneasy feeling in our stomach. Attacking students is not that much different. Talking about having four unrelated people and vehicle circulation is perfectly fine. I hope we can stop talking about specific occupations. Council Member Smith: The infill score is seven according to the maps. I'm not sure what the scale is. This ordinance was left on the First Reading. RZN 20-7020 (North of 540 W. Prairie St./Pearson): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-7020 for approximately 0.30 acres located at North of 540 West Prairie Street from I-1, Heavy Commercial and Light Industrial to DG, Downtown General. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Garner Stoll, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated Planning Commission and staff recommend approval. Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6303 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk RZN 20-7030 (SE of E. Huntsville Rd. & S. River Meadows Dr./Stonebrook): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-7030 for approximately 2.00 acres located Southeast of East Huntsville Road and South River Meadows from NS-L, Neighborhood Services -Limited to CS, Community Services. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 17 of 22 Garner Stoll, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated Planning Commission and staff recommend approval. He stated the applicant is offering to retain the Bill of Assurance. He stated Planning Commission and staff recommend approval with the Bill of Assurance. Blake Murray, Applicant stated he is trying to have a uniform zoning district for the remaining land along Huntsville Road. City Attorney Kit Williams: You are offering a Bill of Assurance for this rezoning? Blake Murray: I was under the impression it had to be carried forward with it. If it doesn't have to be, then we prefer not to have it. If that is what's needed to have a rezone, then that is what we are willing to do. City Attorney Kit Williams: My understanding is there was already a Bill of Assurance on this property and the Planning Department wanted to keep the Bill of Assurance. I don't know if they would recommend approval without it. A Bill of Assurance is generally offered to the City or City Council in order to obtain the zoning that you request, but it must be a voluntary offer by the landowner. Is this a voluntary offer of this Bill of Assurance? Blake Murray: Yes, sir. City Attorney Kit Williams: The City Council will need to amend the ordinance as originally read by the Mayor and myself. I have the amended ordinance which adds the subject to the Bill of Assurance. Garner Stoll: A problem with not having the Bill of Assurance is that it is attached to the remaining of the property. You would have an island without the Bill of Assurance and then it would apply to the remaining properties. It would cause some problems with calculations with cost sharing. Garner Stoll gave a brief description of what was contained in the Bill of Assurance. Council Member Scroggin moved to amend the ordinance by adding the Bill of Assurance. Council Member Turk seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Smith moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 18 of 22 Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6304 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk Amend §96.02 Unreasonable or Excessive Noise Prohibited: An ordinance to amend §96.02 Unreasonable or Excessive Noise Prohibited; Exceptions to extend the city's noise regulations to all vehicle -related businesses. City Attorney Kit Williams: Before I read the ordinance, would Council want to consider the amendment proposed by Council Member Marsh at the last meeting to include bicycles on city trails as one of the areas where excessive noise would not be allowed? Council Member Marsh: I have a unique perspective on the trail with it running through my backyard. I've noticed a significant increase in people using amplified sound on their bicycles. Riding by several times a day with multiple people doing that, it can become quite a nuisance. I would like to see our trails stay reasonably quiet and nature be the predominant experience on our trails rather than amplified music or preaching. Mayor Jordan: The amendment would be to include bikes on the city trails? City Attorney Kit Williams: Yes. Mayor Jordan: Is that correct Sarah? Council Member Marsh: Yes. Council Member Smith: Did we get the text of the amendment in an email? City Attorney Kit Williams: I think Blake sent it out to you, but if not, I can read it for you. Council Member Smith: Yes, I would like to hear it before I vote. City Attorney Kit Williams read the proposed ordinance amendment. Council Member Smith: So, it is amplified sound. It wouldn't apply to somebody using their own voice or noisy children? City Attorney Kit Williams: It says operating a sound amplified device. So, if they aren't using that, then it's not going to be prohibited. Council Member Marsh moved to amend the ordinance to include bikes on city trails. Council Member Petty seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 19 of 22 Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Turk: I would like for us to hold this. We made an amendment to the ordinance and I'm not sure the public has had enough time to know about it. I would like to give the public an opportunity to share their thoughts with us next time. This ordinance was left on the Second Reading. Amend the 2019 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Action Plan: A resolution to authorize an amendment to the 2019 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Action Plan to reflect CARES Act supplemental funding in the amount of $436,285.00. Yolanda Fields, Community Resources Director gave a brief description of the resolution. Angela Belford, Housing Authority: Is this about accepting the money? Yolanda Fields: Today, this is accepting the money. What we have out for public comment at this point are general funding categories, not specific program or project funding. There will be a public meeting when we develop the process for application for award. We are going to stick with our same process that we use for regular CDBG, but it will be gravely modified to bring us into a reasonable timeline and still meet our regs for HUD. Angela Belford: To clarify, the department at the city won't be giving the funds to individuals, but yet organizations. Non -profits will apply for those funds? Yolanda Fields: The housing and rental assistance will be an internal program. The funding for unsheltered homeless and health assistance needs, services, and supplies will be funding that will be available for entities in the community, non -profits that will be working with individuals who are low to moderate income and then the unsheltered homeless for unsheltered homes. Angela Belford: If we want to comment about the rental assistance, is it time to comment now or are we just accepting the money right now? Yolanda Fields: No, today we are accepting the funding. What is out there for comment this week is the general funding categories. Angela Belford: That means it will come back to Council? Yolanda Fields: It will come back to Council for approval of a budget adjustment for those general funding categories. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 20 of 22 Angela Belford: Yolanda, thank you for leading the city on getting this in front of City Council so we can accept this money. Don Bennett thanked Yolanda for bringing the item before Council. He stated he recommends Council approving the resolution. He stated he has concerns about how the categories came about and how the process is going to play out. He stated there hasn't been a lot of time to know about the item. He stated he is concerned that food is not mentioned, but instead says health needs. Yolanda Fields: In health needs, the goal of the general categories is to give us flexibility. Within the needs, services, and supplies that opens it up quite a bit. The reason it is moving so quickly is because HUD wants to do that. They want this to be in place and helping people as quickly as it can happen. I am already getting calls for help. I feel the urgency in the community for help. HUD is allowing us to amend our current 2019 CDBG funds and push more money into COVID assistance. My goal is to at least squeeze out another $100,000. As we move through this event, we are going to come up with different needs that we have. I have been in meetings with many multiple working groups and non -profits and these are the needs I'm hearing, which is how the categories were developed. HUD wants us to listen to the community. Don Bennett thanked Yolanda. He stated 30% to 50% of restaurants may not reopen. He spoke about unemployment leading to a great need for food distribution. He spoke about the priority of food. Council Member Smith thanked Yolanda for her explanation of category flexibility. He requested to know if Don Bennet thought there was a category missing to provide more flexibility. Don Bennett spoke about the CARES Act, which talks about distribution and delivery of food. He stated he speaks for Tri Cycle Farms, but speaks for other non -profits in their ability to continue to deliver because they are hurting because of their funding streams. He stated he is seeing an 85% increase across the country and the demand for food is high. He stated the topic of food needs to be part of the priority. Council Member Smith: What about distribution and delivery? Don Bennett: Distribution, delivery and storage capacities are going to be an issue, maybe storage capacities become into structures. Yolanda, what about the regular CDBG funding? Maybe that's an area more appropriate for that? Yolanda Fields: That was one of the things I shared at the Grow Fayetteville group. A lot of what I was hearing is overall assistance for individuals in need. That may be a need not so much because their jobs were affected by COVID or because they are quarantined because of COVID, but because there will be a need for food. Yes, the regular CDBG process, which begins the first week of August with a workshop is great. I'm already working with Seeds that Feed and provided them information. They plan to apply. We are here until the application process starts in August. We can provide technical assistance and review applications. We are here to provide assistance to anyone that wants to apply. There is a prioritization committee that will be used for determining 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 21 of 22 the COVID funding. We have representation from Fire, Police, Planning, and myself. We prioritize all the projects and we fund until the money is gone. It is all based on need. Melissa Terry spoke about food policy research. She spoke about a more resilient local food system or health care system. She spoke about the appropriateness to add a bucket of funding to the emergency use of funds to include local food systems. She spoke about Tri Cycle Farms ability to provide food. She stated there is an emergency spike occurring right now. She spoke about HUD guidelines. Council Member Marsh: Do we have the ability in the framework we are adopting to address these local responses? Yolanda Fields: Yes, there is in the health services. There has to be a methodology to document that people being served is a direct result of COVID. Council Member Gutierrez thanked Yolanda's speedy work. She stated there is a page in the requirements that list food delivery as one of the bucket possibilities. She stated it includes grants, loans, financial assistance, medical, cleaning, and other services that support home and health quarantine. Yolanda Fields: There is a section that are general guidelines. If you look at the top heading, that's economic assistance. HUD hands out information for all city sizes. Some big cities are getting millions of dollars. We are looking at assistance to individuals. There's not a bucket for business assistance within our $436,000. Council Member Gutierrez: Because we have our minimum group of funds we are working with, we are trying to respond to the areas that you have heard the most from? This way you can focus those funds into those areas? Yolanda Fields stated right. She briefly explained the document. She spoke about the ability to amend the 2019 CDBG funding for COVID. She reiterated her previous statements. Council Member Gutierrez spoke about wanting to make opportunities with funding for food and creating access for food resources. Council Member Bunch stated there isn't a whole lot of money in this first go -round and doesn't seem like it's going to go very far. She requested to know more from Yolanda about the $100,000. Yolanda Fields: I'm hoping to pull another $100,000 out of our 2019 CDBG funding and label it COVID,,so that it can move quickly. Our regular CDBG funding for 2021 will start in August. -HUD will allow me to try and pull some out of 2020 funding. As we move forward, needs will arise. Council Member Bunch thanked Yolanda for her efforts. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteviile-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes April 21, 2020 Page 22 of 22 Council Member Smith stated it is going to take both the $400,000 and the additional $100,000. He stated more is needed because it will run out quickly and there are a lot more people needing help. He spoke about stability and COVID related hardships. Council Member Marsh stated she would like to prioritize spending the money that not only addresses the COVID related needs now, but also builds capacity to continue to serve the community beyond this current crisis. She spoke about food insecurity in the community. Council Member Smith moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the resolution passed unanimously. Resolution 125-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Announcements: Susan Norton, Chief of Staff spoke about utility work and road closures on Zion Road. She spoke about closing Township Road for repaving. She spoke about the rescheduling of the Spring Bulky Waste Cleanup. Information can be viewed on the City of Fayetteville website. Council Member Smith: Residents who may have bulky waste piled up, can they bring that to the transfer station? Susan Norton: I will get back to you on that. Citv Council Agenda Session Presentations: None City Council Tour: None Ad'out-ent: 8:30 p.m. If 2 a FAYETTEVILLE ; L onel ord , Mayor Kara Paxton, CityClerk Treasurer zsee 0 :• ; 4N���. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar gov