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05/05/2022 G J , MINUTES. WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL May 5, 2022 A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 1:00 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 1:00 p.m. City Clerk, James Pulliaum called the roll. Those present were Mayor Marco McClendon, City Attorney Michael Stephenson, City Clerk, James Pulliaum, and Councilors: Tracy Catt, Wayne`Groom, Helen Harris, James Holt. Melanie Hutchinson, Lorraine Mohammed, David Murray, Willis Mondy, and Charles Wheeless Present by Zoom was Gheric Bruce. Absent was City Treasurer, Charlie Suiter Jr., and Finance Director, Tori Perry . Also present was Evening Times Reporter, John Rech. Quorum being present Mayor, Marco McClendon proceeded with the meeting. BID OPENING: WEST MEMPHIS UTILITIES- 2022 SANITARY SEWER POINT REPAIRS Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve the bids, and refer them back to administration for distribution. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. MUNUTES: APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF APRIL 21, 2022 Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the April 21, 2022, council meeting and to approve them as submitted. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. • OLD BUSINESS: NONE • NEW BUSINESS: Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to read R-1 by title only: Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. R-1 A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE MAYOR AND THE CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE A DEED AND OTHER NECESSARY INSTRUMENTS OF CONVIENCE REGARDING TRINITY INDUSTRIES • City Attorney Stephenson read the resolution by title only. 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. 2272. PERMISSION REQUEST: PERMISSION FOR THE MAYOR MCCLENDON TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN RUBICON GLOBAL LLC. AND THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mohammed to give Mayor McClendon permission to sign the Rubicon Agreement. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve PERMISSION TO GIVE RAISES TO FIRST RESPONDERS, POLICE, AND FIREFIGHTERS Mayor McClendon asked councils permission to allocate $454,736.07 to start July 6, 2022, for the raises for the First Responders, Police and Fire Department. Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Bruce to table the permission request for two weeks. Mayor McClendon-asked for a roll call vote. City Clerk Pulliaum called the roll. The roll call vote was as follows: YES: Bruce, Catt, Croom, Holt, Wheeless NO: Harris, Hutchinson, Mohamed, Mondy, Murray, • • • ABSTENTION ABSENT: With 5 yes votes, 5 No votes, 0 Abstention votes, and 0 Absent votes the motion to table failed. Mayor McClendon said that he and Council discussed giving First Responders, Police Patrol Officers and Fire Department employees raises that would take effect on July 1, 2022, to allow them the time to see what money they get in from Southland or if they need to look at other ways to pay for the raises or if they needed to come back later and do a budget amendment if council passes it. Councilor Mohammed asked for clarification on the discussion regarding raises. Mayor McClendon said Councilor Bruce wanted to table this item for two weeks, because he felt that council did not have anything in writing showing how the raises would be dispersed before deciding. The mayor said that he presented the information to council at the work'session on how the raises would be dispersed and both departments are aware on how it would be dispersed. Councilor Catt said you could give these officers everything they are asking for without doing a budget amendment which they have not done one yet or prepared a spread sheet to document the information, however based on the numbers that council has in front of them today and the information given to them at the work session they could handle this without making any decision without all the information and give the officers the raises and hire the seven officers that they are short right now and over the next thirty days make the appropriations for the remaining six. Mayor McClendon said that the Council.has a legislative job to do, and he respects that, but he must deal with the city not being protected and he needs officers now. Mayor McClendon said this raise would show a sign of good faith and would help with retention and recruitment. Mayor McClendon said he has had conversations with several officers that have been approached by other departments from surrounding areas who have made them offers and they are on the fence in regard to accepting the offers, and as well as the money would help to recruit officers and build up the police department. He also said Southland is projected to have thirty thousand to forty thousand additional people in the city with the expansion of the- Casino and hotel Thursday through Sunday and Southland is a city within our city. Currently the city is working with officers that cover a thirty thousand population, and this would have them covering a fifty to sixty thousand population weekly. Mayor McClendon said he cannot afford to wait two additional weeks to try to retain officers and he needs to be able to recruit additional officers now. Councilor'Mohammed said that she is in favor of supporting this, but she agreed with what Councilor Catt said that if the city already has secured money in the budget to pay the First Responders, Police Officers, and Firefighters and the money they need to hire the seven officers she was in favor of doing it that way. Councilor Catt said without the data:in a spreadsheet it was impossible to give council accurate information. Councilor Catt said it is his personnel belief based on the information presented at the work session he would be in favor of not waiting until July 1, 2022, but to go ahead and give the Police Patrol Officers the $3.00 raise and Firefighters the $1.50 raise to become effective on the May 9, 2022,payroll without having to make a budget amendment and allocate for the seven officers but they still must address any shortage and they need accurate data to do so. Councilor Mohammed asked for confirmation that the money was already in the budget, she said because if they appropriate the money and everything goes well, they will be applauded, but if it goes wrong, they will be blamed and that is why they need to know that the money is already there to appropriate the money and hire the seven officers and come back later and hire six additional officers and do a budget amendment if need be. The mayor said the legislative body has the vote, but we are not in the position to wait. Councilor Catt reiterated that based on the information presented to council that they do have the money in the budget to pay the patrol officers, firefighters, and first responders and would allocate for seven of the thirteen patrol personnel that they are currently short and stay within the budget that they have right now and has been approved by council today. Councilor Catt asked if Mayor McClendon would have the supporting documentation ready by Tuesday May 10, 2022, and he would put it together. Councilor Catt said to keep in mind that there will be some drastic issues that will come up and they will need to address them, regardless of what the income stream is from Southland. He said going forward they need to find a way to make sure they can fund the additional six officers which they can do in two weeks and look at how these numbers relate to 2023. Councilor Catt said Southland funds as of December came in $800,000 dollars more than projected but those monies have not-been budgeted and there has been no amendment for how they want those funds to be spent, there is no doubt that the revenue will be more than anticipated. Councilor Catt said the city will still have $755,000 dollars that council voted on that has not been placed in the budget, nine-million-dollar for the Parks Department project that has not been placed in the budget yet. Once the revenue comes in and funds for the city debt repayment account you must pay the debt repayment first then you will have an accurate number of what is going to be left over to handle the request of what will be asked of council. Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Holt to amend the request to approve giving the raises and hiring of the seven officers to become effective on May 09, 2022. Discussion continued.. Councilor Bruce asked what the amount would be. Mayor McClendon said it would be $ 6,240.00 that would be paid to the Sargent to Lieutenant ranks. Councilor Bruce said he did not agree on how the raise was being given but that they did deserve it and said he foresees a problem with the others that did not get the raise and would like to see it done better going forward. The mayor said he would get with Councilor Bruce when he returns to discuss his concerns and would make every effort going forward to get with council to discuss these matters. Mayor McClendon said he is not losing his chiefs, assistant chiefs, or inspectors it is the lowest-ranking person. Councilor Croom asked to make an amendment to Councilor Mohammed's amendment to give the raise to everyone because he felt that in November they were going to come back asking for the raise. Councilor Catt said in 2023 they will address those issues once they get all that data. Councilor Catt said they also need to produce a plan should the funds fall short on how they were going to fund this to share with the people on where the funding was going to come from because we need officers and will need to hire officers. Councilor Mondy said they are — willing to pay for the citizens to be safe. Mayor McClendon clarified Councilor Mohammed's motion to fund the $454,736 dollars to pay Police Patrol Officers, First Responders and Firefighters and to hire seven officers with this fund to take effect May 09, 2022. There being no further discussion. Mayor McClendon asked for a roll call vote City Clerk, Pulliaum called the role. The role call vote was as follows: PERMISSION TO AMEND THE REQUEST FOR PAYMENT FOR FIRST RESPONDERS, POLICE PATROL OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS TO BECOME EFFECTIVE MAY 9, 2022 Yes: Bruce, Catt, Croom, Harris, Holt, Hutchinson, Mohammed, Mondy, Murray, Wheeless No: None Abstention: None Absent: None With 10 yes votes, 0 No vote, 0 Abstention votes, 0 Absent votes the permission request to amend the request for First Responders, Police Patrol Officers, and Firefighters to become effective May 9, 2022, Passed PERMISSION TO APPROVE THE REQUEST AS AMENDED TO PAY RAISES FOR — • FIRST RESPONDERS, POLICE PATROL OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS Yes: Bruce, Catt, Croom, Harris, Holt, Hutchinson, Mohammed, Mondy, Murray, Wheeless No: None Abstention: None Absent: None With 10 yes votes, 0 No vote, 0 Abstention votes, 0 Absent votes the permission request to approve the request for First Responders, Police Patrol Officers, and Firefighters to become effective May 9, 2022, Passed COMMITTEE REPORTS: POLICE COMMISSION: Councilor Murray presented the Police Commission report. The Police Commission met on May 2,2022 at 12:07 p.m. Captain Hall, Captain Presley, and Lieutenant Kennedy reported that the Community Outreach project was a phenomenal success during the month of April which included a parent meeting at Maddox Elementary and a meeting with clergy at the Eugene Woods Civic Center. On May 20, 2022, the department is planning an outdoor carnival for the children getting out of school for the summer. June 16, 2022, the department will be sponsoring a father/daughter dance. In October they will be sponsoring a Black-Tie event benefiting two local charities. The'department will have a scheduled day of prayer for our city and police department every Friday. Recruitment has remained a concern for the department. Saturations have been successful in curbing crime, and more are planned for the future or until the department is fully staffed. Dash cameras and audio recordings have proven to be useful in transparency for the public and the department. BUDGET COMMITTEE: Councilor Croom presented the Budget Committee report. The Budget committee reviewed the Southland Casino revenue Tax Revenue for April 2022. was $811,477.10 which was $345,481.89 over April 2021. The next item was the Improvement of inner communication from current committees with the Budget Committee for project funding approval purposes before the funding request goes before Council. Disposition of Tax Receipts collected for 12 months after Bond was satisfied for Crittenden County Detention Center to be determined the referendum would go before the voters in order to transfer this balance to the general fund with restrictions as to how these funds can be used. The committee reviewed the city's outstanding debt service for the Airport Bond $2,455,000.00,Municipal Buildings, $11,295,906.00 Sanitation Carts • $267,000, Library Bond $1,200,000.00E), Utility Bond $32,400,000.00, Pending Park Bond $9,000,000.00 and the West Memphis First Responders, Police and Fire Departments Personnel Salary Increase Funding Source. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: Councilor Mohammed presented the Public Works report. The Public Works Committee met on May 3, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. Public Works Director, Michael Bonner discussed the Rubicon contract that will be presented to council for their approval at the City Council meeting on May 5, 2022. Ms. Suzanna Marshall MPO Planner presented the revised proposal for Phase 2 of the Ten Mile Bayou Trail. The Fleet report was as follows: Front End Loaders 2 operational, 1 down, Rear End loader 4 operational none down, 1 Ann Bandits 2 operational none down, Grapple Trucks 4 operational 0 down. Recycle report: There was 12,000 pounds of recyclable and the department disposed of 1000 tires. Code Enforcement Report. Code Enforcement office George Phillips has been instrumental in resolving municipal code violations and is, doing a great job supporting the Clerk's office with the collection of late A&P gross receipt payments and delinquent privilege licenses as well as identifying contractors working throughout the city without licensing.Mr. Phillips has helped the clerk's office recoup over 9, 000 dollars in outstanding payments in March and April PARKS & RECEREATION: Councilor Mohammed passed out the!Parks Commission report to all of the Council Members. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mayor McClendon asked everyone to be in prayer for the Catt and Murray family that recently lost family members, as well as the Mohammed Robinson family that they have a successful surgery. Mayor McClendon also asked everyone to keep EMS Chief Charles Brakensiek in their prayers he was recently taken to the hospital with chest pains. Mayor McClendon asked all council members to make themselves available on Thursday, May 19, 2022, for the mediation hearing. It is imperative that all council members are there to vote on whether to mediate. It will be at local hotel, and they will notify the council members of the location when they get the information. Convention Visitor Bureau Director, Jim Jackson announced that starting Thursday May 5, 2022, the Civic Center will be hosting a Blues off Broadway event from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. There will be live entertainment, cold drinks, food trucks and other activities Due to inclement weather Blues of Broadway will be inside of the Civic Auditorium. They will be having Blues off Broadway every Thursday in May. APPOINTMENTS: NONE CITIZENS REQUEST: Ms. Tina Wade a resident of 1210 S. McAuley came before council to propose that the Area Agency on Aging be allowed to rent the additional space in the Roberta Jackson Center for $300.00 in addition to the $800.00 that they already. pay for the portion of the building that they already rent.They are wanting access to the other side of the building from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Discussion followed. Councilor Mohammed said if they were already in the building why should they have to pay additional rent for the other side. Councilor Mondy was opposed to giving them access, since the people in the community wanted to be able to utilize the space to have family reunions, repass, and other social activities, as well as there was a young lady that expressed an interest in wanting to host a summer reading program at the location. Councilor Mondy felt that was more inline on why the building was built and would be more beneficial to the community. Mayor McClendon thanked Ms. Wade for coming and said that council would discuss it further and let her know what their decision was. Ms. Liz Watkins a resident of 141 West Jackson came before council to speak on her support for allowing the Area Agency on Aging being allowed access to additional space at the Roberta Jackson Center for their senior activities. Ms. Watkins said she attends the center and in the current space they do not have enough space to move around. Mayor McClendon said he would get with the council to discuss and once they reached a decision, they would let them know and thanked Ms. Watkins for coming. Ms. Wendy Love-Smith a resident of 2095 South 20th street came before council to submit her application for certificate of Public Convivence for a non-medical transportation business., Ms. Love-smith said she has the desire to serve the community. The mayor said the council has her application a business plan in the packet, the council will review her information and decide at the May 19, 2022, council meeting at 5:00 p.m. for councils' decision. Having no further business to come before the City Council, Councilor. Harris made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mondy to adjourn. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m. - - PASSED and APPROVED this 19th day of May 2022. a1a e 4L - CO MCCLENDON, MAYOR ATTEST: CITY CLERK Minutes prepared by, Patricia Lane, Sr. Deputy City Clerk