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05/20/2021 • PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES AGENDA WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL MAY 20, 2021 PRAYER: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: AMERICAN LEGION CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: BID OPENINGS: MINUTES: APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF MAY 6,2021 OLD BUSINESS: 2" READING OF AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR DEIBEL TOWING, PERMITTING AN AUTO WRECKER SERVICE IN AN 1-1 GENERAL INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT 2ND READING OF AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR SUNBELT CAR WASH SERVICES, PERMITTING A CAR WASH IN A C-1 GENERAL BUSINESS DISTRICT NEW BUSINESS: R-1 A RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE WILLINGNESS OF THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS -TO UTILIZE FEDERAL -AID TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM FUNDS- (AMANDA HICKS) R-2 A RESOLUTION CERTIFYING THE CONDEMNATION AND REMOVAL OF HOUSES, BUILDINGS AND/OR RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES CONSTITUTING A NUISANCE WITHIN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS CORPORATE LIMITS R-3 A RESOLUTION FOR THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS TO UTILIZE FEDERAL-AIDE TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM FUNDS (PAUL LUKER) PERMISSION REQUEST: PERMISSION FOR THE MAYOR TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS AND TOWER VENTURES TVT.LLC (TABLED ON MAY 6, 2021) COMMITTEE REPORTS: APPOINTMENTS: MINUTES WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL MAY 20, 2021 A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday, May 20, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall 205 S. Redding, West Memphis, Arkansas. Invocation was given by Councilor Harris, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilor Croom. Mayor Marco McClendon called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. City Clerk, James Pulliaum called the roll. Those present were: Mayor Marco McClendon, City Attorney Michael Stephenson, City Treasurer, Charlie Suiter Jr., and Councilors: Gheric Bruce, Tracy Catt, Wayne Croom, Helen Harris, James Holt, Melanie Hutchinson, Lorraine Mohammed, Willis Mondy, David Murray, and Charles Wheeless. Quorum being present Mayor McClendon proceeded with the meeting. BID OPENING: NONE MUNUTES: APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF May 6, 2021 Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to dispense with the reading of the minutes of May 6, 2021, City Council meeting and to approve them as submitted. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. OLD BUSINESS: 2nd READING OF AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR DIEBEL TOWING, PERMITTING AN AUTO WRECKER SERVICE IN AN I-1 GENERAL INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the SECOND time. 2ND READING OF AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR SUNBELT CAR WASH SERVICES, PERMITTING A CAR WASH IN A C-1 GENERAL BUSINESS DISTRICT City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the SECOND time. NEW BUSINESS: Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to read R-1, R- 2, and R-3 by title only. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. R-1 A RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE WILLINGNESS OF THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS- TO UTILIZE FEDERAL -AID TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM FUNDS- (AMANDA HICKS) Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve the resolution. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. The resolution was adopted and assigned No. 2254. R-2 A RESOLUTION CERTIFYING THE CONDEMNATION AND REMOVAL OF HOUSES, BUILDINGS AND/OR RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES CONSTITUTING A NUISANCE WITHIN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS CORPORATE LIMITS Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve the resolution. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. The resolution was adopted and assigned No. 2255. R-3 A RESOLUTION FOR THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS TO UTILIZE FEDERAL- AID TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM FUNDS (PAUL LUKER) Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mohammed to table the resolution Indefinitely. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to table indefinitely. PERMISSION REQUEST: PERMISSION FOR THE MAYOR TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS AND TOWER VENTURES TVT. LLC Councilor Wheeless made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to table the permission request until the June 3, 2021 Council Meeting. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to table. COMMITTEE REPORTS: PUBLIC WORKS: Councilor Croom presented the highlights from the Public Works committee meeting. The Public Works committee met on May 4, 2021. The committee discussed the RJN Group contract for the Stormwater mapping services. Utility Manager, Todd Pederson presented the bids for the flood pond repairs. Public Works Director, Michael Bonner presented the Fleet Report: there are 3 front End Loaders with 2 operational and 1 down, 5 Rear End Loaders all are operational and 6 Grapple Trucks with 4 operational and 2 down. The Public works department picked up 672 tires and Mayor McClendon reported that there are 400 tires that they are awaiting transport to the County for disposal. Councilor Mohammed reported on the Keep West Memphis Beautiful Clean Up day. Councilor Mohammed said the clean up was very successful and thanked all the volunteers for volunteering their time. Councilor Mohammed said that they had approximately 35 volunteers and they are looking forward to scheduling another clean up event sometime in the fall. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Councilor Croom presented the Chamber of Commerce report. The Chamber met on May 12, 2021. The Junior Leadership group graduation was held at ASU-Mid South on the evening of May 12, 2021. The chamber will be coordinating the Freedom Fest activities with the Advertising and Promotion Commission. The 74111 Annual Chamber Banquet will be at the Civic center on August 19, 2021. To purchase tickets, contact the Chamber of Commerce office. UTILITY COMMISSION: Council Croom presented the Utility Commission report. The Utility Commission met on May 13, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. Safety Director, Brett Sims reported that there was 184 days since last recordable injury and 568 days since lost time injury. General Manger, Todd Pedersen presented the Personal update. There was one new hire and no resignations for the month of April. The Utility currently has 12 open positions out of 83 budgeted positions. Mr. Pedersen updated the commissioners on the fuel adjustments. The March amount to be collected was $758, 548.86. The amount collected was $60,000.00 and the March residential sales were $960,499.09. The April fuel adjustment was $0.013908. The amount needs to be collected for April was $698,864.67. The May fuel adjustment is $0.020442. The amount that needs to be collected is $358,548.86. The Commission approved hiring F &A to do design for building around high service pumps. ADVERTISING & PROMOTION: Councilor Hutchinson presented the A & P commission report. The A & P commission met on April 20, 2021. Jim Jackson presented the finance report. The commission requested a redacted copy of the break down of vendors that are remitting Advertising & Promotion Taxes. Councilor Hutchinson said that the Freedom Fest has been scheduled for June 25, 2021 and they will provide further information later. The Civic Center reported that the events that were scheduled last year that had to be canceled because of Covid have been rebooked and bookings have continued to pick up. PERSONNEL COMMITTEE: FIRE COMMITTEE: Councilor Harris presented the Fire committee report. 3 Firefighters will be. graduating from fire fighter school in June. The commission also discussed an ongoing problem with overtime. The department would like to have 3 additional firefighter positions and they are also in need of a Fire Marshall vehicle. AIRPORT COMMISSION: Councilor Wheeless presented the Airport commission report. The commission approved giving City Treasurer, Charlie Suiter Jr. permission to propose refinancing. of the airport bond issues. Hanger # 3 rehab is still under way, it's approximately 75% complete. There has been a delay due to the availability of materials. The commission approved, pending results from the independent cost analysis, for Garver to proceed with submittal of the work order to the FAA for the North Apron rehab design and bidding services. APPOINTMENTS: NONE PRESENTATIONS: NONE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mayor McClendon announced that the state of the City's Finances remains a priority for him. He announced that the city finished out 2020 in the positive and if we continue to be conservative with our spending, we should have another positive year in 2021. Mayor McClendon said he has had discussions with the City Treasurer, Charlie Suiter Jr. on ways to save money. City Treasurer Suiter said that he and the Mayor met with Raymond James to discuss restructuring bonds for the Airport Expansion that was done some time ago. The city currently owes $2,355,000 thousand dollars. Mr. Suiter said by restructuring the bonds it will give them an annual savings of$28,000 dollars per year over the life of the bond, which is approximately 17 years. This would give the city a 17% savings of$400,000.00 thousand dollars. Currently the interest rate is 2.3%. Mr. Suiter said they are coming before council for their permission to move ahead with working with Raymond James and to get all the details in place and then come back before council to present the final figures. Council Member Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to give them permission to work with Raymond James to restructure the bonds. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. Mayor McClendon said the second thing that they have been working on is the revitalization of West Memphis. Mayor McClendon said in Ward 4 by taking down the Mayfair apartments and now being able to take possession of the property the city has been able to keep the property cut, removed trees and put down wood chips and will be removing the foundation. The Mayor said hopefully in the future if they can identify funding to support the project to be able to build affordable housing on the property. He also said they are looking to demolish several buildings on Broadway that have been an eyesore and nuisance to the community. The buildings identified are on 8th and Broadway, 9th and Broadway and the old Railroad building on Broadway. Mayor McClendon said by revitalizing Broadway we will be able to attract new businesses and improve upon the overall appearance of our city. They will be getting bids to demo the properties and bring them back before council for their approval. In Ward 5 they are looking at trying to get rid of the trailers that are dilapidated and have been an eyesore. He has been in talks with the housing authority to see about providing section 8 housing vouchers for the people that would be displaced once they are torn down. The last area addressed was Shady Grove and the abandoned and dilapidated houses that need to be demolished. Mayor McClendon said that he plans to get with the Planning & Development Department to see about using Community Block Grant money to demo some of the structures to try and improve the area. Mayor McClendon said the Shady Grove area is part of the community and he does not want them to feel neglected. Mayor McClendon addressed the I-40 bridge and the impact that the closing has had on the quality of life for the residents and business of West Memphis. Mayor McClendon said he has been in discussion with ARDOT, TDOT and politicians to discuss the impact on the I-55 bridge travel, roads, and our economy as well as the safety and welfare of our citizens. Mayor McClendon said he will be meeting with ARDOT, TDOT on Friday as well as Governor Asa Hutchinson to ask about some type of funding to help with general funds since we are being adversely affected and to see if the city qualifies for funds under federal emergency. Signage will also be provided to help direct the public to on and off ramps and South Loop. Councilor Croom asked about price gouging at the fuel pumps. City Attorney Stephenson said the Attorney General's office is addressing those issues. There is some verbiage that says prices cannot go up more than 10% over a period and can not be done in one day. Councilor Croom asked about the landbank regarding purchasing property. Mayor McClendon said that they had to pay a small fee to purchase Mayfair apartments and the liens were forgiven because most of the liens were because the city put the liens against property because of the city had to cut the property. The Department of Land sales is willing to work with the City to purchase land and further talks are in the works in the future. CITIZENS REQUEST: James Pulliaum requested to table his presentation to council on ways to move West Memphis forward until the June 3, 2021 Council Meeting. Having no further business to come before the City Council, Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Bruce to adjourn. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. PASSED and APPROVED this 3rd day of June 2021. MA1 CO MCCLEWDON, MAYOR ATTEST J S P LLIA , CITY CLERK Minutes prepared by, Patricia Lane, Sr. Deputy City Clerk