Loading...
12/16/2021 PLEASE TURN OFF CELL PHONES AGENDA WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 16,2021 PRAYER: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: V. F. W. CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: BID OPENINGS: MINUTES: APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF DECEMBER 2,2021 OLD BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 0-1 AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SERVICES,APPROVING A CONTRACT BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS AND THE WEST MEMPHIS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 0-2 AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING ON PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTING SERVICES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 0-3 ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR THE PURCHASE OF MOTOR FUEL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES PERMISSION REQUEST: PERMISSION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN FISHER ARNOLD ENGINEERS AND WEST MEMPHIS UTILITY COMMISSION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SCHEMATIC DESIGN OF A NEW SEWER COLLECTION SYSTEM THAT WILL SERVE THE 1-40 MEGASITE (OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT- MR. PHILLIP SORRELL) PERMISSION FOR MAYOR MCCLENDON TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS AND ETFC ARCHITECTS FOR HIGHTOWER PARK IMPROVEMENTS WEST MEMPHIS, ARKANSAS PERMISSION FOR MAYOR MCCLENDON TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS AND ETFC ARCHITECTS FOR TILDEN RODGERS PARK MINUTES WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL December 16, 2021 A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday, December 16,2021 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., City Clerk, James Pulliaum 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, Marco McClendon proceeded with the meeting. BID OPENING: NONE MUNUTES: APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF DECEMBER 2, 2021. Councilor Hutchinson asked for a correction to the minutes where it is stated that Councilor Mondy made the motion to adjourn. Councilor Mondy was not in attendance for the December 2, 2021, council meeting and the official minutes were corrected to reflect Councilor Bruce made the motion. Councilor Mohammed asked that a correction be made to the minutes on resolution No 2260 that she authored regarding the $2,000.00 bonus to be paid to the City Employees that was revised and assigned No. 2262 due to it being implied that there was a misspelled word. Councilor Mohammed said that she looked over the resolution that she wrote and was unable to find a misspelling and that she would like it to be recorded for record that there was no misspelling, and it was being changed because of wording. L Finance Director, Tori Perry said that she was unaware that it was implied that there was a misspelling, but that the resolution wording was revised because the Municipal League had suggested that she change the wording to reflect that the money was coming from the Cares Act Reimbursement. After listening to the audio recording of the December 2, 2021, council meeting it was verified that the mayor stated that the amendment to the resolution was due to the wording not because of a misspelling no correction was made to the minutes. (Audio is available in the clerk's office for review). Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the December 2, council meeting and to approve them as amended. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve the minutes as amended. OLD BUSINESS: NONE NEW BUSINESS: Mayor McClendon asked for permission to add the resolution providing for the adoption of a budget for the City of West Memphis, Arkansas for the twelve (12) months beginning January 1, 2022, and ending December 31, 2022, appropriating money for each item of expenditure therein provided for: and for I L other purposes. Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Monday to add the resolution to the agenda. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous. Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to read R-1, 0-1, 0-2, and 0-3 by title only. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. PERMISSION TO ADD THE RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR THE ADOPTION OF A BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS, ARKANSAS FOR THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2022, AND ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2022, APPROPRIATING MONEY FOR EACH ITEM OF EXPENDITURE THEREIN PROVIDED FOR:AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. City Attorney Stephenson read the resolution by title only. Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Harris to approve the resolution. Discussion followed: Councilor Bruce asked if there was something in the budget that they wanted to discuss changing could it be changed. Mayor McClendon said if there was something that the council wanted to consider changing the council could change it at the next council meeting. There being no further discussion: Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve.The resolution was adopted and assigned No. 2263. 0-1 AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, APPROVING A CONTRACT BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS AND THE WEST MEMPHIS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the FIRST time. 0-2 AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING ON PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTING SERVICES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance for the FIRST time by title only. 0-3 AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE COMPETITIVE BIDDING FOR THE PURCHASE OF MOTOR FUEL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance for the FIRST time by title only. Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom 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. Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Murray 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 the THIRD and FINAL time by title only. Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to approve the ordinance. Discussion followed: Utility Manager, Todd Pedersen gave council an explanation of the ordinance. Mr. Pedersen said utilities maintains the diesel and gas for the city, so every time the tanks get to a level that they need diesel or gasoline his purchasing agent David Goacher goes out and tries to receive three bids from three companies he receives the quotes and then gives it to the lowest recipient. Then they buy it and put it in the inventory and as other departments come in to fuel their vehicles the cost is distributed to those departments appropriately.The cost does not exceed the $20,000 amount where they must bid it out. City Attorney Stephenson said the amount is now $35,000. Councilor Catt said the quotes are filed in the clerk's office. There being no further discussion: Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve.The ordinance was adopted and assigned No. 2594. PERMISSION REQUEST: NONE PERMISSION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT BETWEEN FISHER ARNOLD ENGINEERS AND WEST MEMPHIS UTILITY COMMISSION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SCHEMATIC DESIGN OF A NEW SEWER COLLECTION SYSTEM THAT WILL SERVE THE 1-40 MEGASITE (OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT-PHILLIP 3 SORRELL) Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve. Discussion followed: Economic Development Director, Phillip Sorrell said it is a request to hire Fisher and Arnold who is under contract with West Memphis Utility to do the sewer system improvements that council approved earlier. The purpose of this engineering is to provide 30% design of the sewer that would extend to the 1-40 megasite. Mr. Sorrell said they are wanting to do this at this time because there is a lot of grant funds that they can apply for, for infrastructure and congress just signed a 1.2 trillion-dollar infrastructure bill. There will be money flowing for infrastructure projects and Senator Ingram has informed them that Little Rock through Covid funding will have money available for infrastructure. Mr. Sorrell said for them to go after some of the grant funding they will need a good engineering concept and cost estimate to put in the grant application. Mr. Sorrell said regardless of if they get the grants or not it puts the Economic Development Department in a better position for industrial recruitment on the site and will move them forward as it relates to what the utilities solutions look like when they have an industrial prospect in the city. They have already designed a route and a right of way for that route identified, good engineering plans and solid cost estimates that will compresses the time if they land a project to get sewer to the site. There being no further discussion: Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. PERMISSION FOR MAYOR MCCLENDON TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS AND ETFC ARCHITECTS FOR THE HIGHTOWER PARK IMPROVEMENTS WEST MEMPHIS, ARKANSAS Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mondy to approve. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. PERMISSION FOR MAYOR MCCLENDON TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS AND EFTC ARCHITECTS FOR TILDEN RODGERS PARK IMPROVEMENTS Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mondy to approve. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. COMMITTEE REPORTS: BUDGET COMMITTEE: Councilor Catt said that council took care of the Budget Committee request with the approval of the 2022 budget. City Clerk, James Pulliaum asked to elaborate on the budget. Mr. Pulliaum said that he as the City Clerk and the City Treasurer, Charlie Suiter Jr. are required to give a report as well, but they have not received all the information that they need to do the report. Finance Director, Tori Perry said that although she has been late, she has provided information up to September and asked did he give council a report. City Clerk, Pulliaum said that the council has that information in their packets, but he is requesting current information because State statute requires that he have that information. Councilor Catt said that they should have the current data for October in a day or two. AIRPORT COMMISSION: Councilor Wheeless presented the Airport Commission report. The Airport Commission approved a 3-year farming lease for the Crum Family farm to farm on. Susana with Garver Engineering reported that the bid openings for the runway marking rehab project will be on December 17, 2021.They are in the process of applying for a State Grant for that project. UTILITY COMMISSION: Councilor Croom presented the Utility Commission report. The Utility Commission met on December 9, 2021. Safety Director, Brett Sims reported that there were 35 days since last recordable injury, 778 days since last lost time injury and 2 injuries for the month of November. Personnel had no new hires and 1 voluntary resignation for the month of September Utilities currently has 17 open positions out of 83 budgeted positions. The Commission voted unanimously to approve signing documents to implement AMI. Councilor Croom said the AMI is an automated metering infrastructure where they will be able to read your meter through GPS. Utility Manager, Todd Pederson explained that they will be implementing a pilot project starting in July because the metering equipment is taking six months to arrive. Once they get the meters, they will run the pilot project for six months once it is determined that the pilot project is a success then they will do a full implementation Mr. Pedersen said he anticipates that it will not happen until 2023. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: The West Memphis Chamber of Commerce held its last meeting of 2021 in December and approved the budget for 2022.The committee also discussed future events such as the golf tournament and a Valentine themed mystery dinner. The chamber has worked tirelessly throughout the year to assist with citywide events and their official event calendar will be released on January 15t. The New year Swag boxes are coming back just in time for the new year. The swag box is filled for couples and or families and range in price from $25.00 to $50.00 and include local quirky items delivered to your doorstep for a fabulous party at home. The outgoing Chamber Board Members are Tandy Anthony, Jon Collins, Nick Coulter, Mallory Darby, Dr. Shakeb Hashmi, Tommy Rimmer, Dr Susan Jones, Matt Thompson, and Jack Poff Jr. The new board members will start January 1, 2022, and will be Lauren Carlson, Randy Catt, Dianna Nicks, Todd Pedersen, Michael Rushing, Ness Secrest, Randy Sullivan, Robert Thorne, Brian Wilson, and David Wolf. The 2022 President will be Shelby Moore of Fidelity Bank. J APPOINTMENTS: Mayor McClendon passed out the list of appointments for the Commission and Committees for 2022. Councilor Murray made the motion, seconded by Councilor Harris to appoint Councilor Hutchinson and Councilor Mondy to be reappointed to the Advertising & Promotion Commission for 2022. Discussion followed: Councilor Bruce asked if they wanted to recommend someone else could they. Mayor McClendon said that if the motion made by Councilor Murray and Councilor Harris did not pass then he could recommend someone else. City Attorney Stephenson clarified that the mayor has the power to make the appointments and the council has the power to approve or not approve. Mayor McClendon asked for a roll call vote. City Clerk,James Pulliaum called the roll.The roll call vote was as follows: YES: Catt, Harris, Hutchinson, Mondy, Murray No: Bruce Abstention: Croom, Holt, Mohammed, Wheeless With 5 Yes vote, 1 No Vote, 4 Abstention votes and 0 absent votes Mayor McClendon voted yes, the motion to reappoint Councilor Hutchinson and Councilor Mondy to the Advertisement and Promotion Commission PASSED. Mayor McClendon distributed copies of the debt for the city to the Council Members. NJ PRESENTATIONS: NONE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mayor McClendon announced that the Rich Road Bridge is officially open. Mayor McClendon thanked the City Council Members for voting to give the City Employees the $2,000 bonus and approving the raises for the City Employees within the budget. He also thanked the city family members for what they did for him personally and said it meant so much and showed that we are all in it together. Mayor McClendon recognized City Engineer/MPO Director. Amanda Hicks who was featured in the City &Town Magazine. Mayor McClendon asked for everyone to be in prayer for Arkansas State Trooper, Spencer Morris who was shot today during an altercation while on duty. Councilor Croom announced the 8th street Christmas sale is going on at both of their locations at 8th Street and 215 East Bond.The sale will run through Saturday from 10:00 a.m.to 4:00 p.m. mil Councilor Catt said that Finance Director, Tori Perry has received the Charity Day Funds from Southland and asked if any Council Members wanted to go ahead donate their funds today. Councilor Mondy made the motion, seconded by Councilor Bruce to add the distribution of Southland Charity Funds to the agenda. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. Councilor Croom would like to give $1301.94 to Steudlein Learning Center. Councilor Mohammed would like to give $1,000 to Billy Joel's LR Jackson Girls Club. Councilor Bruce would like to give $2,306.66 to the Wonder City Girls and Boys Club. Councilor Catt would like to give $1,301.94 to the VFW. Councilor Harris would like to give $2,000 to the LR Jackson Girl's Club and $1,053.25 to the Wonder City Girls and Boys Club. Councilor Murray would like to divide his 2,432.70 equally among Wonder Boys and Girls Club, LR Jackson Girls Club and Maurice Blair's Lead Program. Councilor Wheeless would like to give $1301.94 to the West Memphis Boys and Girls Club. Councilor Holt would like to give $650.97 each to the Missouri Street Church of Christ and East Arkansas Enterprise. Councilor Bruce made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve the distribution of the Southland Charity Funds as presented. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous. Councilor Bruce asked if Council would be able to sit down as a council and decide how to budget the Cares Act money. Finance Director, Tori Perry said yes council would need to decide how to budget the ARCA money. There is $76,000 left. Ms. Perry said that there is no deadline on the Cares Act Money because it was a reimbursement. CITIZENS REQUEST: Mr. Roderick Brown a resident of 7840 Pyramid Place Memphis, TN 38132 came before Council to request an Application of Public Convenience to operate a non-emergency medical transportation business in the City of West Memphis. was not present at the December 16, 2021, council meeting to get councils decision. Having no further business to come before the City Council, Councilor Mondy made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to adjourn. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m. PASSED and APPROVED this 6 day of January 2022. t-Al41/42 44( C(A'14------_ M RCO MCCLENDON, MAYOR I ATTEST M 5 P LLIAUM,CITY ERK s_____... .--2 Minutes prepared by, Patricia Lane, Sr. Deputy City Clerk