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08/20/2020 MINUTES WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL August 20,2020 A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday, August 20,2020, at 5:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 205 S. Redding,West Memphis, Arkansas. Invocation was given by Council Member Helen Harris,followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Wayne Croom,Mayor Marco McClendon called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Sr. Deputy City Clerk,Patricia Lane,called the roll. Those present were: Mayor Marco McClendon, City Attorney Michael Stephenson and Council Members: Wayne Croom,James Holt, Lorraine Mohammed, Willis Mondy, David Murray,James Pulliaum and Charles Wheeless. Present by zoom were Helen Harris. Absent were Tracy Catt and Melanie Hutchinson. Also present were: City Accountant,Tori Perry and Evening times reporter John Rech. Quorum being present Mayor McClendon proceeded with the meeting. BID OPENINGS: NONE MINUTES: APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF AUGUST 6,2020. Council Member Croom made the motion, seconded by Council Member Wheeless to dispense with the reading of the minutes of August 6, 2020, City Council meeting and to approve them as submitted. Upon voice vote,the voting was unanimous to approve. OLD BUSINESS: 2nd READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO DESIGNATE FIVE MOST PUBLIC PLACES TO POST WRITTEN OR PRINTED NOTICES FOR THE PUBLICATION OF ANY LAW OR ORDINANCE OF THE CITY WEST MEMPHIS,AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES City Attorney Stephenson read the Ordinance by title only for the SECOND time. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Wheeless to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third reading. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance for THIRD and FINAL time by title only. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Wheeless to approve the ordinance. There being no discussion: Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. The ordinance was adopted and assigned No. 2554 2ND READING OF AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING A RENTAL PROPERTY ORDINANCE FOR THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS IN ORDER TO INSURE THE HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE OF THE COMMUNITY City Attorney Stephenson requested to amend the title of the ordinance to read as follows: AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING A REVITALIZATION, REINVESTMENT AND REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE HEALTH SAFETY AND WELFARE OF THE COMMUNITY Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Croom to approve the amendment to the ordinance. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve the amendments. City Attorney Stephenson read the Ordinance by title only for the SECOND time as amended. 2ND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO ABOLISH ORDINANCE NO. 1288 AND TO ESTABLISH RSIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CURBSIDE PICKUP OF BAGGED GARBAGE,WASTE AND REFUSE. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the SECOND time. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Mondy to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third reading. Discussion followed: City Attorney Stephenson said that there was some amendments to the ordinance that was previously mentioned at the last council meeting, and that on the last page of the ordinance there was no signature lines for the Mayor and City Clerks signature and it would need to be added. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion,seconded by Council Member Mohammed to approve adding the amendments. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance for the THIRD and FINAL time by title only. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Wheeless to approve the ordinance as amended. Discussion followed: Council Member Pulliaum said that he would like to see more communication with the citizens of West Memphis by social media and hanging door hangers, so that the citizens would be better informed and understand what they must do regarding the changes with trash and curbside pickup. Council Member Mohammed asked for an explanation of what was being abolished in ordinance 1288. Mayor McClendon said what that they are moving from back yard service to curbside service. The difference is that they are asking the citizens to pull their garbage cans to the curb starting September 1, 2020. Council Member Mohammed said that there has been some confusion regarding if garbage and curb side would be picked up on the same day. Mayor McClendon was unaware how the public received that information but said that it had not been decided on by Council or the Public Works Commission to move to same day pick up. Council Member Pulliaum reiterated communicating with the public through social media,city website, door hangers and the utility bills to keep the citizens better informed. Council Member Croom asked about what was being done to assist the elderly and handicapped with getting their cans to the curb. Mayor McClendon said they are working on that now and are compiling a list to identify individuals that will need assistance.They can also call the Public Works Department to get on the list. There being no further discussion:Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. The ordinance was adopted and assigned No. 2555. 2ND READING OF AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1105 BALFOUR PERMITTING A 150 FT. TALL COMMUNICATIONS TOWER IN A R-1 SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the SECOND time. NEW BUSINESS: Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Mohammed to read R-1. And 0-1 by title only. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. R-1 A RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE CREATION OF THE GRASS MAINTENANCE AND BUILDING DEMOLITION DEPARTMENT WITHIN THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS City Attorney said the resolution by title only. Council Member Mohamed asked for an explanation of the resolution. Mayor McClendon said that when Council asked the Mayor to streamline the Sanitation Department,what the Mayor did was to create the grass cutting department and the housing demolition department. The demolition department will help with the demolition of dilapidated homes that meet the criteria to be torn down. The rest of the sanitation staff will be moved to the grass maintenance program and they will assist with cutting properties that have been identified as having overgrown grass, once Council approves the purchase of the equipment. Mayor McClendon said they will still have to contract out some of the properties but feels that they will be able address more properties with the creation of this department.The department will be under the Public Works Department Director,Michael Bonner. They will begin utilizing this department next year. There being no further discussion: Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. The resolution was adopted and assigned No. 2240 0-1 AN ORDINANCE WAIVING COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR SLIP LINING WORK FOR THE SEWER LINE ON SOUTH WOODS STREET IN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS, ARKANSAS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES City Attorney Stephen read the ordinance for the FIRST time by title only. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Wheeless to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on the second reading.Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance for the SECOND time by title only. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Wheeless to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third and final reading. Upon voice vote voting was unanimous. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance for the THIRD and FINAL time by title only. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Murray to approve the ordinance. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. The ordinance was adopted and assigned No. 2556 Council Member Pulliaum made the motion seconded, Council Member Wheeless to add the Rejection Request to the Agenda. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous. REJECTION REQUEST- CITY ATTORNEY MICHAEL STEPHENSON City Attorney Stephenson explained that it was a demand made upon the City of West Memphis in a lawsuit and that is in the early stage of the lawsuit. City Attorney Stephenson said because it is in the early stages it means that the Municipal League is representing the City with Reservation of Right. City Attorney Stephenson said what that means is that until they develop the case to determine that the City has full coverage which means that they will have 90 per cent covered by the Municipal League and until they do that the City has no coverage and would be paying out the full amount of any settlement. City Attorney Stephenson is recommending that they reject and make no counteroffer to the demand that was made. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Wheeless to reject the offer. There being no discussion: Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to reject the demand letter. PERMISSION REQUEST: Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Croom to add the permission request for ABC Early Learning School to the Agenda. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Mondy to approve the permission request to allow ABC Early Learning School temporary occupancy at 703 Calvin Avery Drive for six months due to extenuating circumstances. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. Mayor McClendon asked for permission to pay$500.00 dollars of his Southland Charitable funds to These Old Bonez a community-based organization that provides services for senior citizens. Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Croom to approve the distribution of Mayor McClendon's Southland Charitable Day Funds of$500.00 to These Old Bonez organization. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. COMMITTEE REPORTS: UTILITY COMMISSION: Council Member Wheeless presented the Utility Commission report. The West Memphis Utility Commission met in regular session on August 13,2020 at 8:30 am. Safety Director Brett Sims reported that there was 149 days since last recordable injury, 298 days since last lost time injury,0 recordable injury for the month of July. General Manager Todd Pedersen presented the personnel update. He stated that there were four new hires and one voluntary resignation for the month of June. Utility currently has 10 open positions. The fourth item on the agenda was the bid opening for Station#9. Engineer,AJ Elhaj presented the two bids', they were Landmark Construction and Chris-Hill Construction. A J recommended the low bid from Landmark Construction in the amount of$759,000.00. The motion passed unanimously. The fifth item on the agenda was for the approval to create an Environmental Specialist Job position,no budget amendment will be needed. The motion passed unanimously. Assistant General Manager Ward Wimbish presented the Water/ Sewer Rate Analysis. Mr. Wimbish stated that an analysis was completed by Arkansas Rural Water Association, at their request,there was a shortfall found in the amount of$380,398 a year. Mr. Wimbish proposed a rate structure that would raise the minimum monthly charge from$2.89 to$3.98 and combine the multi-tier schedule into one flat rate of$0.077 per hundred gallons. Mr. Wimbish proposed that a rate increase would result in an average residential water bill of$9.08. Utilities would like to request a joint meeting on September 10, 2020 from 11:30am to 1:00pm to discuss the matter further. The next item on the agenda was approval to Hire Fisher &Arnold for Design of WWTP. General Manager, Todd Pedersen presented the agreement between West Memphis Utility Commission and Fisher&Arnold Inc. for the Scope of Service for the Wastewater Treatment Facility Expansion. He also, stated that according to the Consent Administrative • Order (CAO) Plan we have until December 31st of 2023 to get the project completed. Motion passed unanimously.The last item on the agenda was the Slip Lining for the Sewer Line South. Woods Street(Wastewater Budget). This was presented by Assistant General Manage Ward Wimbish. He is requesting permission to ask City Council to waive competitive bidding and award the work to Lining &Coating Solutions (LCS). The base quote is$69,926.00 and depending on how many service connections that are done the cost could be as much as $129,926.00. The motion passed unanimously to forward to Council for approval. FIRE COMMISSION: Council Member Mohammed presented the Fire Commission report. The Fire Commission met on August 11, 2020. The Fire Department has 1 Fire Chief Position,2 Firefighter positions,2 Firefighter/Paramedic positions and 1 Single Role Paramedic position JJ openings. There was 1 single-role paramedic resignation. There were no retirements. The department discussed the new engine 7 with the Commission. Fire Station 2 and 3 are still in the construction phase. Several personnel are in training and they are continuing to certify new personnel with minimum standards training and incumbent personnel are involved in professional development. EMS collections year to date is $273,771.51.The Trial Balance ending May 31, 2020 is 25.36% for Supplies and Services and 39.49% for Salaries and Benefits. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: Council Member Mohammed presented the Public Works Report.The Overlay projects are going as scheduled. Fleet reported that on the day of the August 04,2020 meeting there were 3 Front End loaders that were operational with none down.There were 4 Rear End loaders in operation with 1 down. There were 6 grapple trucks that were operational and 1 garbage truck down. City Engineer, Amanda Hick reported to the Commission that the South Loop 90%plans are ready to be submitted for the right of way. Pinnacle Consulting has been chosen as the contractor for the right of way. The East Barton job is now completed, and the sidewalks have been repaired the grass has been seeded and the area has been cleaned up.The Ten-Mile Bayou project ARDOT is still at 30% approval. They are still waiting on obtaining right of way approval.The Redding Street Bridge has been added to the bridge project list to be repaired with State funds. The Rich Road Bridge is waiting on the engineer design proposal from Garver. They are doing a hydraulic study and total replacement package on the bridge. Council Member Murray was able to get two traffic signs installed on Barton and McAuley posting the speed limit. The Commission was introduced to the new Sanitation Director,Michael Bonner. ADVERTISING &PROMOTION: Council Member Pulliaum reported that the Advertising& Promotion Commission has approved allowing the County Clerk to use the Civic Center for an early voting location. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Council Member Croom gave the Chamber Report. The Chamber Committee met by Zoom. They reviewed and compared the Covid-19 Budget with the 2020-2021 budget. APPOINTMENTS: NONE PRESENTATIONS: NONE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mayor McClendon shared Council Member Hutchinson appreciation to everyone for their prayers and support with the passing of her father. Mayor McClendon announced that the City of West Memphis partnered with T-Mobile and Share Collaborative to help people complete the Census.T-Mobile offered hot spots for people to be able to complete the census on mobile devices. Share Collaborative give out over 1000 mask and other PPE supplies. They will b doing another event before the end of September before the Census deadline.West Memphis is currently at 51%. In the upcoming weeks, the Mayor asked everyone to log onto W.W.W.2020 Census.gov and complete the Census as well as to cooperate with individuals coming to your residence, so that everyone can be counted, and the City can continue to be on a winning streak. CITIZENS REQUEST: CITIZENS REQUEST: Mr. Donald Ramsey a resident of 513 Balfour was not present at the council meeting on August 20,2020. Mrs.Joyce McCuiston a resident of 450 South Roselawn came before Council to address her and other resident's concerns with allowing tour buses and recreational vehicles in residential areas. Mrs. McCuiston provided pictures to the council to show the unsightly appearance of the vehicles. Mrs. Anita Bell a realtor also addressed council regarding the depreciation of properties due to the large vehicles being allowed to park in residential areas as well as the unsightly property,litter and debris and inoperable vehicles. Mrs. Bell said that code enforcement needed to do a better job at policing these issues and that it was not enough to do the City Beautiful clean up just twice a year. Mrs. Bell said the real estate property value has substantially been affected compared to surrounding areas. Having no further business to come before the City Council, Council Member Pulliaum made the motion, seconded by Council Member Wheeless to adjourn. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 p.m. PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 3rd DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2020. MARCO,MCCLENDON,MAYOR ATTEST: L. & dvx„, PATRICIA LANE, SR DEPUTY CITY CLERK Minutes prepared by Patricia Lane, Sr. Deputy City Clerk J J J