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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-01 - Minutes -City Council Meeting Minutes March I, 2022 Page 1 of 19 Council Member Sonia Harvey Ward 1 Position 1 Council Member D'Andre Jones Ward I Position 2 Council Member Mark Kinion Ward 2 Position 1 Council Member Mike Wiederkehr Ward 2 Position 2 Mayor Lioneld Jordan City Attorney Kit Williams City Clerk Kara Paxton City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Meeting March 1, 2022 Council Member Sloan Scroggin Ward 3 Position 1 Council Member Sarah Bunch Ward 3 Position 2 Council Member Teresa Turk Ward 4 Position I Council Member Holly Hertzberg Ward 4 Position 2 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council was held on March 1, 2022 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. Oath of Office at City Council Agenda Session for Mike Wiederkehr, Council Member Ward 2 Position 2. In order to create social distancing due to the Coronavirus, Covid-19 pandemic Council Members Teresa Turk, Holly Hertzberg, D'Andre Jones, Mark Kinion, Sloan Scroggin and Sarah Bunch joined the meeting via online using a video conferencing service called Zoom. Mayor Lioneld Jordan, Council Members Sonia Harvey, Mike Wiederkehr, City Attorney Kit Williams, City Clerk Treasurer Kara Paxton, Chief of Staff Susan Norton, Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker, Chief of Police Mike Reynolds, Fire Chief Brad Hardin and staff members from the IT Department were present in City Council Chambers while demonstrating recommended social distancing. Council Member Scroggin arrived after Roll Call. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor's Announcements, Proclamations and Recognitions: None 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 2 of 19 City Council Meeting Presentations, Reports, and Discussion Items: Monthly Financial Report Paul Becker, Chief Financial Officer gave a brief description of the Monthly Financial Report. He stated the sales tax collections were for December, and they were some of the strongest collections he had seen for December, since he has been here. He stated overall, we were up 16% for sales tax collected. He spoke about other cities in the area doing well too. He stated the overall revenue for the month of January is very strong. He stated the hotel, motel and restaurants are coming back very strong. He stated retail trade was up strongly for the period. He stated the General Fund was up 15% for the period of January. He continued to speak about the other funds. Agenda Additions: City Council to Express the Support for the Ukrainian Military and Ukrainian Citizens': A resolution to the express the support of the Fayetteville City Council for the Ukrainian military and the Ukrainian citizens' brave defense of their country against the unprovoked, illegal, and brutal Russian invasion. Council Member Hertzberg moved to add the item to the agenda. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the resolution. Council Member Hertzberg: This would be a really simple, but important way we voice our support for the people of Ukraine, especially those who reside in the City of Fayetteville or in the State of Arkansas. Council Member Turk: I echo exactly what Council Member Hertzberg just said. Little Rock changed the color of the lights on one of their bridges over the Arkansas River. That was an important symbolic support for the Ukrainians and hopefully there are some city buildings that we could do something similar. I also encourage our citizens in any way they choose, to show solidarity with these brave Ukrainians. Thank you to Kit for drafting this for us. I've worked with the Russians on several occasions out at sea. The Russian people don't want war and they're just like us. It's when politics or a dictator, such as Putin comes into play that things go awry, but working side by side with them, they are a wonderful and hospitable group of people. I appreciate Kit including Section 3 in the resolution. Council Member Harvey thanked Council Members Hertzberg and Turk for bringing this forward. Mayor Jordan: Thank you to Council Members Hertzberg and Turk for bringing this forward. Thank you to Kit for drafting it. It is a very important document. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 3 of 19 Council Member Harvey moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Hertzberg seconded the motion. Upon roll call the resolution passed unanimously. Resolution 53-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Request to Delay the Deadline for its Application Process for American Rescue Plan Act Funding. A resolution to request that the administration delay the deadline for its application process for American Rescue Plan Act funding for non -profits and conduct a City Council Input Session. Mayor Jordan: Council Member Jones is bringing this item forward. Council Member Harvey moved to add the item to the agenda. Council Member Jones seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the resolution. Mayor Jordan: Council Member Jones is asking that we delay the applications into April and that we have an input session with the City Council. Is that right? City Attorney Kit Williams: That is what I understand. I will let Council Member Jones explain this. Council Member Jones: I have spoken with various nonprofits and individuals concerning the ARPA funding. Due to the current strains that nonprofits are experiencing, I would like to present this walk-on item. Covid-19 has impacted minority communities, far more than others. The majority of the local nonprofits that I've spoken with have worked diligently to support those who have been impacted by Covid-19. However, the following current projects must be provided by qualifying nonprofit that had been in existence for a minimum of three years, must have a minimum funding request of $50,000 and the American Rescue Plan Act funding will be provided on an expenditure reimbursement basis only are viewed as barriers for those who have been more severely impacted by Covid. According to the federal guidelines, fighting the pandemic and supporting families and business is struggling with its public health and economic impacts maintaining vital public services, even amid declines in revenue resulting from the crisis and building a stronger, more resilient and equitable recovery by making investments that support long term growth and opportunities, which these current nonprofits are working to do. I am asking for the City Council to extend the deadline, so we can look at how this can be more equitable to those nonprofits who have been supporting those communities who are historically oppressed. Susan Norton, Chief of Staff. Paul is going to explain the Rescue Plan terms that we, as a staff have proposed to work on. Mayor Jordan: Council, keep in mind that you all will ultimately be making decisions where this money goes. The way you all want us to distribute it, I am good with that. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 4 of 19 Paul Becker, Chief Financial Officer: The American Rescue Act money in the legislation and the rules associated with it have been frustrating, at best. We just got the final rules in at the end of the year, and of course, we've had them for over a year and made some expenditures already. Sorting out what is acceptable and what is not acceptable within the grant guidelines has been a difficult task for us. Essentially, the act provides for two things. In the case of what Council Member Jones is saying, is true. It provides that sub -recipients have to meet the grant guidelines, they have to make reports to us of where they are spending the money and ,going forward on how they're going to help the community. That's the basis we've been going on. They would have to report to us. We would evaluate whether or not they were doing it, and we have to evaluate under those circumstances. We are required to evaluate whether or not we feel that they can meet those qualifications. They have to agree to meet all the terms and conditions of that grant coming through federal funding through the Department of Treasury. They have got to meet all those grant requirements if they are sub -recipients. That's the safest way we go. It also provides for direct funding to beneficiaries for a lost revenue. Guidelines aren't the same, but we don't know what they do with the money. We just transfer the money to them and assume they've made the expenditures. Information is asked to show what qualified them for that, where did they spend the money and why do they need it. Those are two different criteria. We took the safest criteria saying we are going to grant to sub -grantees who are going to be here, who can qualify, who can meet the guidelines and provide services to our citizens. We are more than happy to discuss all these issues with the Council at open meetings, but I would like to broaden it if we're going to do that and let's discuss the expenditure for all ARPA funding. Mayor Jordan, at the State of the City, outlined what his interest were. His interest were workforce development, infrastructure and nonprofits. At this point in time, this particular discussion and the non for profits, you haven't funded that yet. You haven't appropriated money to do that, but if you want to look at this in more depth, we're certainly open to do that. As of now, we have appropriated $2 million of the funding we have received, which is near $9 million. We've got $6.9 million in funding. Mayor Jordan: I had three buckets when we started this. It was economic, environmental and social. I was going to leave it to the Council to decide how they want to distribute that. We've tried to put a few guidelines in there. Those have always been the main buckets. Susan Norton, Chief of Staff. A week ago, last Friday, we issued the Media Release that identified all the instructions and where the portal was to be found. Last week we spent some time visiting with some of the potential applicants who had questions and concerns that Council Member Jones has brought up about how they can be identified as eligible through the rules that we set up. We've been trying to work with them to help them identify how they can describe themselves, so that their issues are documented, and we would bring all of them to you to discuss. We will be happy to have a workshop for you all to weigh in on the rules. We did our best and we gave you all a preview of what we were thinking at Agenda Session about a month ago. We developed our portal according to that, we launched and now we are ready for your feedback. Council Member Jones: The biggest concern I have and that others have expressed is that the nonprofits who need it the most, don't even meet those basic guidelines. When it comes to evaluating because of the nonprofits who service those individuals who need it the most, they don't meet those basic qualifications and is still not equitable. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 5 of 19 Council Member Bunch: You're talking about organizations that don't meet the guidelines. Paul, don't they have to meet certain guidelines before they receive funding? Paul Becker: They do and there are two guidelines. One, is that they are a sub -grantee and if they are a sub -grantee, they've got to meet the terms, conditions and agree to that. We have to somehow assure ourselves they have the capability of doing that and that's why some of the rules were decided that way. The other thing is that it provides for reimbursement for impacted institutions and non -profits, but in those particular cases, they file what they have and what they've done. Then it's up to the city to evaluate if they meet the terms and conditions. Those are two options and if the City Council wants to go in that direction, we're open to listen. We made the decision we thought was safest and would be best to make sure the money was spent effectively. We are more than happy to look at other directions, as long as they are within the allowable guidelines. Council Member Jones: As it relates to the barriers of those guidelines you mentioned, they don't have to be in place, as it relates to the nonprofit that has been in existence for a minimum of three years and having a minimum funding request of $50,000. That's what I was referring too. We understand the guidelines. Those nonprofits are aware of the federal guidelines, but when we look at the federal guidelines, they do not reflect the projects must be provided by qualifying nonprofit that has been in existence for a minimum of three years and having a minimum funding request of $50,000. Some of these nonprofits have only been in existence, maybe for two years, and some of these nonprofits became a nonprofit because of Covid. Making it equitable, these are barriers for those groups who need it the most and who have been more severely impacted. These guidelines we have are not guidelines from the federal government and that's what the concern is. Paul Becker: I thought I was clear when I said there were two options. You're right, the guidelines for being in existence for three years is not specifically a federal guideline. There is a guideline for reimbursement. If you want to look at those, we are more than happy for a meeting or to discuss it with the Council. Council Member Scroggin: This seems like a good discussion at the input session. There should be some guidelines. There are reasons you don't want to give money out to organizations that haven't set a precedent. I think that's a good reason to vote for this input session and have those conversations. Council Member Jones: I would like to be clear. The nonprofit's that I spoke with, they're not concerned about having guidelines. They understand the regulations. They are just wanting to make sure they are equitable, and they are helping those individuals who have been impacted by Covid in the worst way. They fully understand the regulations. They've read those federal guidelines and they understand. They are wanting to make sure they are equitable. Council Member Turk: It would be helpful to have this input session and I hope we can schedule that. We need to make sure we get these ARPA funds distributed correctly, as they were designed to be distributed by the federal government and ensure we meet all the federal guidelines. Council Member Hertzberg: Council Member Jones, could you provide an example of one of the nonprofit's you've been speaking too? 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 6 of 19 Council Member Jones: Absolutely. I've spoken to several of them. I have spoken to Stacey Harper, LaKisha Harper and Solomon Birchfield. They are all saying the individuals they serve, that these guidelines currently don't help those groups. The bigger challenges are a lot of these churches and other groups is that their resources are almost depleted. This is one of the only opportunities that these nonprofits will have to be strengthened. Council Member Bunch: Some of those names you mentioned are familiar to me, but I can't quite place the nonprofit they are associated with. What are the organizations that the people you just mentioned associated with? Council Member Jones: There is food insecurity and a lot of the support groups who typically were experiencing issues before Covid and now these communities are really being impacted, such as African Americans, Hispanic, New Beginnings and homelessness. Those are the groups I have been having a conversation with. They are committed to working with groups who were historically impacted and now with Covid again, it's even worse. Council Member Bunch: I was wondering what the names of the organizations were. I knew the names of the individuals, but the organizations I don't know which they were. Council Member Jones: There is New Beginnings, White House Solution, Nate Wahls, Secondhand Smoke, and the Arkansas Justice Coalition. Those are just a few of them. Council Member Bunch: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Council Member Wiederkehr: I am familiar with HUD and CDBG. I'm speculating, but I'm assuming rather than starting with a blank slate, we might have looked at some of those program constraints and guidelines for evaluating applicants and kind of carried those over. I'm not familiar with the strings attached to ARPA, other than it is money coming through the federal government. There are ferocious audit requirements for us and you're simply attempting to safeguard the expenditure of funds to ensure we account for it correctly and remain in good graces. Is that a pretty good guess on my part? Paul Becker: Yes, it is. We looked at the HUD guidelines. Yolanda Fields is one of the people on our team that has been reviewing this. She runs our CDBG programs here at city. The guidelines given for the ARPA funds come from the Department of Treasury who normally does not have set guidelines, because they are not normally a granting facility, so these are rather broad. We are more than willing to discuss this. It's either we're going to reimburse for something that's happened, we're going to go forward and meet criteria to see what is happening with the funds and how it is serving the citizens. We are not negatively saying we don't want to discuss it. We are just saying we have a couple of options. I'm sure a lot of these groups that Council Member Jones is referring too, had done work. I'm not doubting that at all. If we are going to go forward, then we are going to have it prospective, then we have a record of what is being done so we can report that to the federal government. Council Member Jones: Is the reimbursement for the nonprofit or is that for the city? 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March I, 2022 Page 7 of 19 Paul Becker: There are reimbursements of two ways. Number one, it allows the reimbursement to the city for revenue losses. It provides for reimbursement, the non for profits for revenue losses also. It could apply to either. Council Member Jones: The nonprofits don't have to reimburse. Right? Paul Becker: If we go to the method of where their beneficiaries, which means we're reimbursing, they have to have some documentation or evidence of what we're reimbursing, but then they're not required because it's not prospective going forward. Council Member Jones: I was under the impression that the nonprofits don't have to be disseminated in that form. That's what I thought I read. Maybe that's just the way the city wants to do it because I don't think that is a federal guideline. If that's what the city is wanting to do, then that should be part of the broader discussion. Paul Becker: I guess somehow, I'm not being clear. There were two ways and two things provided for. One is a beneficiary, which once you disperse funds through beneficiary, that's essentially funds that have been done for impoverished areas that does not have an ongoing reporting requirement. If we treat it and we treat non for profits and make them sub -grantee, then they are subject to the distribution going forward. They have reporting requirements to us, and we must ensure that they're capable of carrying out all of the guidelines of the Treasury Department. There are two methods and we've read these extensively and they're open to interpretation. Council Member Jones: I understand that, but I thought that was after they received the funds, not before. I'm also looking at what other cities are doing. I don't think other cities are doing it in that manner. Council Member Turk: Clearly there's a lot of questions, and maybe we could schedule a meeting. I can make a motion to approve the resolution and us schedule a meeting in the next month and a half or so. Mayor Jordan: Council, let me put you at ease. If you want to extend the application for whatever period of time, I'm more than willing to do that. If you want to have meetings, I'm willing to do that. Susan Norton: I think I heard Council Member Jones ask for a Council Member workshop, so Council could provide input to the process. Council Member Jones: Absolutely. Mayor Jordan: You can take input or however you all want to do this. At the end of the day. Council will make the decision on how the money is dispersed. Susan Norton: Mayor, we will work on a workshop? Mayor Jordan: Yes. I'm good with that. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 8 of 19 Susan Norton: Provided, that Council passes the resolution. Mayor Jordan: That's fine with me. We will extend the deadline. How long do you want to extend the deadline? Council Member Jones: Probably until April 30, 2022. Mayor Jordan: I think we have to have the money spent by 2024. I'm sure we can work that in. The City Council received 6 public comments regarding this resolution. Mayor Jordan: You would like to extend the application until April 30, 2022. Is that correct? Council Member Jones: Yes. There is a report from 2020 from United Way and the Rockefeller Foundation that 76% of black households in Washington County cannot afford basic needs. A lot of these nonprofits are doing what they can to support these communities. There was a brief discussion about having a Council input session to discuss the rules. Council Member Jones: In this session, is it possible for the Council to even create our own rules that are conducive to the federal government? Mayor Jordan: Yeah. At the end of the day, that's why we are putting this session together to see what kind of rules you want to go by and stay within the confines of the federal law. Council Member Turk moved to approve the resolution, have a City Council workshop and extend the application until April 30, 2022. Council Member Jones seconded the motion. Upon roll call the resolution passed unanimously. Resolution 52-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Consent: Approval of the February 15, 2022 City Council Meeting Minutes. APPROVED Fayetteville Public Schools Cost Share Agreement: A resolution to approve a cost share agreement with Fayetteville Public Schools for the upsizing of a water line along Rupple Road with a refund in an estimated amount of $94,890.00 to be paid by the City of Fayetteville, and to approve a project contingency in the amount of $18,978.00. Resolution 54-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 9 of 19 Fire Department Annual Employee Service Awards Event: A resolution to approve a budget adjustment in the amount of $300.00 representing donation revenue to the Fayetteville Fire Department from the Reynolds family for the annual employee service awards event. Resolution 55-22 as recorded in the office of'the City Clerk Lion Manufacturing: A resolution to authorize the purchase of bunker gear coats and pants from Lion Manufacturing through NAFECO, Inc., pursuant to a Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Contract, in the amount of $101,869.95 plus applicable taxes and freight charges. Resolution 56-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Arkansas Department of Transportation Highway 16 Project: A resolution to authorize the dedication of approximately 380 square feet of right-of-way to the Arkansas Department of Transportation for the Highway 16 Project. Resolution 57-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Arkansas Historic Preservation Program: A resolution to authorize the Mayor to sign a grant agreement accepting a Certified Local Government grant through the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program to complete a community wide preservation plan and a cultural resource survey of the university heights and Haskell Heights neighborhoods. Resolution 58-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Bid #21-79 Sweetser Construction, Inc. - 2019 Trail Improvement Bond Project: A resolution to award Bid #21-79 and authorize a contract with Sweetser Construction, Inc. in the amount of $535,029.00 for construction of the Mission -Razorback Greenway Connector Project, to approve a project contingency in the amount of $60,000.00, and to approve a budget adjustment - 2019 Trail Improvement Bond Project. Resolution 59-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism's Outdoor Recreation Grant Program: A resolution to authorize the Mayor to sign a 50150 Matching Grant Agreement with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism's Outdoor Recreation Grant Program, in the amount of $220,000.00 for park improvements at Gulley Park. Resolution 60-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk RFP 21-10 The Field Shop,.Ine.: A resolution to award RFP 21-10 to The Field Shop, Inc. and authorize the installation of a new Tightrope Media Systems PEG channel playout system in the Television Center for the amount of $57,428.88 plus any applicable taxes and freight charges. Resolution 61-22 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 10 of 19 Council Member Harvey moved to accept the Consent Agenda as read. Council Member Jones seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. Unfinished Business: RZN-2021-087 (N. Futrall Dr. Between Wedington Dr. & MLK Blvd./Barnes South): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 21-087 located on North Futrall Drive between Wedington Drive and Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard for approximately 9.40 acres from RSF-4, Residential Single Family, 4 units per acre to CS, Community Services. At the February 15, 2022 City Council meeting this ordinance was left on the first reading. Council Member Harvey moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Turk seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Jonathan Curth, Development Services Director stated he had nothing to new to add to the request, but he gave a brief summary of the tour that was held for Council. Suzanne Clark, Applicant: The public comments on this property are very clearly indicated. They do not want development on this property. If the City wanted to decide that this property should be conserved in that manner, it certainly has the power and authority to do that through eminent domain actions. That is not a proper reason for denying a zoning request. This property is owned by the Barnes Family Trust and they have property rights and they should be allowed to develop the property in accordance with the City's goals. City staff put together a very detailed review that says it is compatible with the surrounding properties. It is in line with City Plan 2040, so CS is in line with the City's goals. If there is a legitimate land use reason for denying the zoning, I would be surprised it would have gone through the , Planning Commission with the unanimous recommendation to go to the Council. Council Member Harvey: I was at the tour yesterday and I want to thank the Forester, John and Jonathan for meeting us over there. It was helpful. I use to live just below the hill. It was helpful to go and visit because there has been a lot of development since I lived over there. The main reason I wanted to go was to see the slope, the topography and the access to get in and out of the property. When I lived there almost 10 years ago, 49 went from four lanes to six lanes and it made the work traffic worse, so now I try to avoid MLK at all costs. All the services that really need to happen in that area are on MLK. There are so many services. There's food, hotels, but that mountain is very sacred. I was picking up leaves, spores and I am a naturalist, that's what I do. I understand the rights of the individual to want to potentially get that up -zoned and potentially sell it for more money. It is important to think about climate change, the lungs of our community, why people come to Fayetteville, and why people live in Fayetteville. I am in Ward 1 and I have seen so much change, so much development, and so many trees going down. It is getting exhausting and I am ready to see that slow down. I think we need to rezone it, but I don't think we need to up - zone it. I think we need to down -zone it. I hope that possibly the residents around there find that 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar,gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 11 of 19 mountain so sacred and will be able to find a way to purchase that from your client. It needs to be preserved. I had a long conversation with the Forester afterward. I asked him to send me a report when I wanted to read something about a piece of property and what gradation of the forest, I needed to look at to understand the type of forest it is. He wanted to put it at three levels. He said it either has to be contiguous to another piece of forest, and I'm going to use the word significant, and in those two cases we have both. Council Member Scroggin: This property is just too prominent when we come in, the view scape and what it signifies. There is way too much opportunities for runoff to cause issues. I have issues with a blanket rezone. There are opportunities for transitions that can happen. Those would probably have to come through a PZD. When somebody owns something at a current zone, they do have the right to petition but they don't have the right to get whatever they ask. It seems that's what is being insinuated. Since they own it, they have the right to ask to do anything they want, and they can do anything they want but that's not the case. This area needs to be preserved and there's opportunities. I hope we can come up with a PZD that balances need and not just maximizing what they can earn. That's not Fayetteville and I think there is an opportunity for a PZD. I will be voting against it the way it is. Council Member Bunch: This property is a very pretty piece of property and it does have a lot of significantly sized trees on it. It's in the Hilltop Hillside Overlay District. That adds whatever it is zoned in that area and adds additional 5% of the tree canopy that has to be maintained. I was also very surprised that it was not steeper. I think of that hillside property as being much steeper than it is. Looking at all the applications that could be applied in the CS zoning, I am not convinced that is exactly the zoning I would want there. I also don't think that four houses per acre is appropriate there. I get what Sloan is saying about a PZD and we need to be a little tighter with some of our rezoning's because when we rezone things, there are so many things can go in a certain place. I do think this possibly needs to be rezoned. I do not think it needs to be down zoned. Talking like that places an unnecessary hardship on the people that are applying for this. Traffic is unfortunate but if somebody else wants to buy this property and make it into a nature preserve, I'm sure the people selling it would sell it to you for that. I don't know what the right zoning is but I'm not so sure we shouldn't rezone it to something else other than RSF-4. Council Member Turk: Thank you Jonathan and John Scott for the tour yesterday. I was struck by it not being as steep as I imagined. However, there was a lot of clay out there and we saw a spring that just came out of nowhere right out of the side of the mountain. This was fully matured treed area, so lots of carbon sequestration is going on. If it was rezoned to CS that would reduce the tree canopy requirement by 5%. I will not be supporting this zoning request. I would be open to other zoning types in the future, but I think CS allows for five stories. Having a five -story building in that area, even on a sloped area that wasn't as steep as I thought, and in such a prominent area is problematic. We have to always envision what's the densest and largest development allowed and go from there. Council Member Kinion: I agree with Council Member Bunch that the current zoning is not ideal. I think that someone does need to bring forward a rezoning that may be a better fit than the one we have in front of us. I am having a hard time with this. It is certainly property that needs to be developed in a different manner than four houses. Thinking about the property itself and the 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 12 of 19 geology and the hydrogeology, if you walk across it, it's a very wet clay area. It is also protected in the hillside part, that's a good thing, but looking at it and balancing it I don't think I can support the requested zoning. A PZD would be ideal. It is not that large of a piece of property, so it would not be extremely tough to get a PZD in there. Some type of rezoning would certainly be more appropriate than what it is now. Council Member Wiederkehr: I wanted to acknowledge the professionalism and the adequacy of the representation of the owners. I feel like their counsel has led them in the right direction and courteously represented them. The other thing going for them is the two sides multi -family zonings. It is not as if we are dealing with a pristine piece of property that is not already had development adjacent to it and on the third side the interstate. It was much flatter than I envisioned as well. The community's voice that I am hearing is that view corridors matter. Going forward for the City of Fayetteville, that's going to be something that is of value to the entire community and the identity in the DNA and sense of place that the City of Fayetteville has. While we cannot request that the applicant come to us and voluntarily offer a design or a plan going forward, that would allow them to adequately develop for their profit of portion of the property, while retaining view corridor for the community. From the concern that we are hearing, the view corridor and tree preservation, that is at the heart of the issue. That's legitimate and authentic for the identity of Fayetteville. I struggle with this because we have the property interest right and at the same time, they do have the right to develop the property currently. They are not being denied anything. I struggle with this despite the fact that the Planning Commission previously denied a UT and then approved this. I think it was to honor the movement of the applicant from their original application to a more appropriate application. They had three previous rezoning requests that were denied, and this was in essence an acknowledgement of them working with the City at that point. Council Member Harvey moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Turk seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. City Attorney Kit Williams: I agree somewhat with the applicant's attorney about what you can consider and what you cannot. I am hearing from City Council that you are not opposed to development of this property and you are not going to try to block development. It is developable as RSF-4, the most common zone in Fayetteville and even though it is on a hillside, it could be developed that way. I have heard suggestions for other developments or maybe splitting the lots, so that part of it could be developed in multi -family housing with the other part maybe not in such an intense use. I want to make sure City Council doesn't say that we must preserve the trees, so we are not going to let you develop. That's improper and we cannot do that. We have to follow the law. In this case, I heard a lot of good explanations from City Council. There's still a lot of development potential there even if it is not rezoned. City Council is not required to up -zone, even if that might be something the applicant wants, Planning would recommend, and Planning Commission recommends. That's not a requirement to the City Council to accept those recommendations. You can make your own decisions. Council Member Bunch: If this is turned down tonight, when can they reapply for a different type of zoning or whatever they might want to do? 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 13 of 19 City Attorney Kit Williams: If it is a different request for zoning, they don't have to wait. If they want to bring the same request back, they would have to wait a year or to some extent. Jonathan can elaborate on this. It is up to what the Planning Commission decides. If it is a much different zoning, even if it is a PZD or something that's mainly residential, I think they can bring it back immediately. Is that right Jonathan? Jonathan Curth: That's correct. It is up to the Planning Commission if the request is substantially different enough from what was denied, which in some cases can represent a change in zoning district. In other instances, it has represented offering other mechanisms like a Bill of Assurance to address a concern about height, if that was a focus of conversation. Council Member Bunch: Since you brought up the Bill of Assurance, which we don't have and we can't ask for, if someone were to offer something like that, do you think the Planning Commission would look at that like a substantially changed version? Would we just take it to Planning Commission to find out? Jonathan Curth: That's correct. It is the Planning Commission's determination. Council Member Bunch: It is my understanding and maybe I heard it wrong from the applicant, that they heard conversations from Planning Commission and they just decided to go with this. Someone had said if it was this zoning, we might do CS instead of UT, and that's how they came to their conclusion to apply for the CS. Maybe a little more finessing of this might be in the works. Planning Commission and City Council are two different bodies and we have different criteria. I think there's something that can be done with this property. It can be developed but it may need to have a special touch put on it to shape it up into something different. I think RSF-4 is not an accurate zoning for this. Council Member Kinion: Kit, if we don't want to move forward, so we will have more time, because I like what Council Member Bunch said, maybe we need to think about that. We have already said yes. We want to vote on it, so we are just here to do that. City Attorney Kit Williams: If you didn't want to advance, you can move to table. That's one way you wouldn't have to vote tonight but now that you advanced it to third and final reading then you are either going to vote on it or you are going to table it. Council Member Kinion: I think there was a lot of discussion that might be handled with a letter of assurance by the applicant and I want to give them time to consider that. They might not consider that at all, but it certainly would be an opportunity for someone to think about taking it to the next step. Council Member Kinion made a motion to table the ordinance to the March 15, 2022 City Council meeting. Council Member Bunch seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed 6-2. Council Members Hertzberg, Jones, Kinion, Wiederkehr, Scroggin, and Bunch voting yes. Council Members Turk and Harvey voting no. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 14 of 19 RZN-2021-092 (South of 375 N. Rupple D./Riverwood Homes & McBryde Family): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 21-092 located south of 375 North Rupple Road for approximately 5.34 acres from R-A, Residential Agricultural to CS, Community Services and approximately 0.34 acres from CS, Community Services to R-A, Residential Agricultural. At the February 15, 2022 City Council meeting this ordinance was left on the first reading. Council Member Scroggin moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Harvey seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Jonathan Curth, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated on the balance of issues, staff recommends in favor of the request. He stated the Planning Commission concurred forwarding the item unanimously to City Council. He stated staff has not received any public comment. Justin Jorgensen, Jorgensen & Associates: This was part of a blanket rezoning for the City. Part of that is we are working through the flood plain and our boundary. We are working with Alan Pugh and able to work through that and all the cross sections in the different areas. That is where we are at now. We have a boundary of a concept plan and we are working with him on what is useable and what is not. Council Member Turk: We are back to CS and a five -story building could be built right next to the flood plain and some of it would be in the flood plain if it is rezoned to CS. It's right next to a school. Yes, it has some connectivity constraints, but I have concerns about rezoning to such a high density. Council Member Scroggin: I would love it if the road was developed not in a single-family housing pattern. That's all we have seen from the developer this whole time. I have no reason to expect anything else. I would love to see something else, but I don't think Mark is going to build a five -story building. If he did, it would probably provide services to all those houses he has built out there anyway. Council Member Harvey moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Jones seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Harvey: This is a good place for density. I am concerned about the flood plain, but I also have a good trust of the ordinance we have to deal with the flood plain and do a good robust plan there that will protect those stream sides. I don't see any forest there. It looks fairly flat like it was farmland and then left over. I wouldn't like to see just one house on there since it so close to the school. It would be nice to have multi -family near the school. That's why I will be supporting it. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 15 of 19 Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed 7-1. Council Members Hertzberg, Harvey, Jones, Kinion, Wiederkehr, Scroggin and Bunch voting yes. Council Member Turk voting no. Ordinance 6538 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk Amend Sections 156.03 Development, Parking and Loading, 166.02 Development Review Process, 168.07 Permit Procedures, 168.09 Appeals and 168.10 Provisions for Flood Hazard Reduction: An ordinance to amend Sections 156.03 Development, Parking and Loading, 166.02 Development Review Process, 168.07 Permit Procedures, 168.09 Appeals and 168.10 Provisions For Flood Hazard Reduction of the Unified Development Code to address incorrect references, clarify what qualifies as existing impervious area, and remove redundancies and ambiguities from the flood damage prevention code. At the February 15, 2022 City Council meeting this ordinance was left on the first reading. Council Member Scroggin moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Turk seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed 7-0. Council Members Turk, Hertzberg, Jones, Kinion, Wiederkehr, Scroggin and Bunch voting yes. Council Member Harvey was absent during the vote. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Alan Pugh, Staff Engineer gave a brief description of the ordinance. Council Member Turk: Thank you Alan and Kit. I had a nice discussion with Kit, and we reviewed some of the constituents concerns and my concerns about changing satisfied to considered. Kit's explanation in his letter but also in discussion, was good and has alleviated any concerns I have about the provision. Council Member Turk moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Harvey seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. City Attorney Kit Williams: I would like to take this time to thank our Engineering Department and especially Alan Pugh not only for this correction measure but also for the other major drainage and flood protection measure that was adopted by City Council. I think that is going to make a big difference. It's going to protect our floodways and floodplains much better. We've been improving our flood regulations for decades now. I was on the Council when they did our first one and it was pretty minor. We have come a long way, but we're still not perfect. We are also facing a period that the climate is changing. I think we're all aware that the amount of flooding and the number of flood events are increasing. I would expect the FEMA maps to be changing and getting wider. I want to thank Engineering for getting us to the right position. I think there will be more to come. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville. AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 16 of 19 Mayor Jordan: I agree with Kit. We have seen a few changes since we were both on the Council. Alan, thank you very much for your work on this. You all have done some really great work. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6539 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk New Business: VAC-2022-002: (430 W. Dickson St./Tin Roof Bar): An ordinance to approve VAC 22-0002 for property located at 430 West Dickson Street to vacate a portion of a water/sewer easement. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Jonathan Curth, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated staff has not identified any issues with the request. He stated the applicant submitted all the necessary documents to our Water and Sewer Department, and they have given their consent. He stated the consent was predicated on the condition that Mr. Williams laid forth, which is the existing line needs to be relocated and dedicated within a new easement. He stated in addition, staff has proposed our typically boiler plate condition, which is any damage or relocation of anything within the easement will be at the applicant's expense. Matt Poe, Modus Studio, Representing Applicant: We have been through many Planning Commissions so far to get the building permit and working with CUP for outdoor music, ultimately to get this existing easement. To our knowledge there is no utility underneath it and the utility that may be running diagonal was understood to be abandoned in 1994. The restaurant plans to build some walk-in coolers along the edge of the property and there will be an outdoor container for refreshments built in the middle of this area for the outdoor music venue. Council Member Harvey moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Jones seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Harvey moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Jones seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Harvey: I'm looking forward to the business owners' plans. That's going to be a beautiful enter way off the new parking deck as people arrive to Fayetteville for the first time. I'm looking forward to the exciting innovative solutions. You mentioned a container and that sounds exciting. Good luck with the project. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 17 of 19 Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6540 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk VAC-2022-003: (100 N. Skyline Dr./Gremillion-Hicks): An ordinance to approve VAC 22-0003 for property located at 100 North Skyline Drive to vacate a portion of a water/sewer easement. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Jonathan Curth, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated staff has not found any issues. He stated the Utility Department has signed off on it. He stated staff is recommending approval with one condition, simply that any damage would be at the property or developer's expense. Andrew Hicks, Applicant: My wife and I bought the property about a year and a half ago. When we purchased it, our intention was to do a small addition on the east side of the present house. When we came down to do a preliminary walk through with Jonathan, they went through their records and found an easement that we were not aware of. We decided we would come back and do this process to ask to have it done. We would like to do a small addition or about a 1,000-foot footprint. We wanted to do something to make it a little bit more livable in the location where there's a current carport now. The easement is right under the present carport. Once we get that done, we would remove the carport and put an addition where it is. Council Member Harvey: Jonathan, number one on your recommendation on page two of the packet, you said you wanted to do a condition of approval. Do we need to add that or is that already in there? Jonathan Curth: Mr. Williams read that as a part of the ordinance. Council Member Harvey: That is part of the any damage of the existing facilities will be at the applicant's expense? Jonathan Curth: That's correct. Council Member Harvey: That's all I have. I just wanted to make sure that is in there. Council Member Scroggin moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Harvey seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Harvey 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. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 18 of 19 City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6541 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk Announcements: Susan Norton, Chief of Staff. Tomorrow, if weather permitting, there will be a prescribed burn at 1:00 PM at Lake Fayetteville Dam. The last in person public input session in this series for the Parks Master Planning Kick Off would be tomorrow 3:30 to 6:30 ptn at the Fayetteville Public Library Event Center. With the collected material from all the input sessions, a speak up page will be initiated to allow further input. City Attorney Kit Williams: Since City Council did not pass a resolution to extend the mask mandate, it will automatically expire tomorrow morning. The Mayor still has control over the City. He will determine if the mask will still be worn in city buildings. Elsewhere throughout Fayetteville a mask will no longer be mandated. City Council Agenda Session Presentations: Micromobility Update Sales tax report, Paul Becker Energy Report, Peter Nierengarten City Council Tour: Date: February 25, 2022 Time: 4:00 PM Address: Unaddressed; North of 2572 W. Orlando Drive Parking: Parking is available on -street at the northern dead end of Root Avenue Request: Rezone the property from RSF-4, Residential Single-family, 4 Units per Acre to CS, Community Services 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 19 of 19 t: 7:47 PM Uil \�tttttt►rrr�� an, Vayqr Kara Paxton, City Cler reasurer �,��'G0F FAYETTEVILLE : 113 West Mountain Fayetteville, AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov