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07/21/2022 • MINUTES WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL July 21, 2022 A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday, July 21, 2022, 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 Treasurer Charlie Suiter Jr., City Attorney Michael Stephenson, City Clerk, James Pulliaum, and Councilors: Gheric Bruce, Tracy Catt, Wayne Croom, Helen Harris, Lorraine Mohammed,David Murray, Willis Mondy, and Charles Wheeless. Absent was. Councilors James Holt and Melanie Hutchinson. Evening Times Reporter, John Rech was not present. Quorum being present Mayor, Marco McClendon proceeded with the meeting. BID OPENING: CDBG ROOFING REHIBILITATION- MARILYN PHELIX Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to table the CDBG Roofing Rehabilitation Bids until August 4, 2022. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. MINUTES: • . APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF JULY 7, 2022 Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the July 7,, 2022, council'meeting and to approve them as submitted. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. _ OLD BUSINESS: NONE NEW BUSINESS: NONE PERMISSION • .PEMISSION FOR THE MAYOR TO SIGN A MASTER SOFTWARE SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH RUBICON Council Member Mohammed made a motion, seconded by Council Member Bruce to give Mayor McClendon permission to sign the master Software Agreement with Rubicon. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. HIGHTOWER PARK PRESENTATION Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Bruce to add the Ladd Garry Architects presentation for HighTower Park to the agenda. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous • West Memphis Parks Director, Lorenzo Parker said that the reason that Garry Ladd Architects came before council today to present their plan is because the Parks Committee tasked them with producing the best usage for the cities dollars at Hightower Park to enhance the park. Mr. Parker said while they are showing the plans there are no cost figures, because they need councils' approval to move forward before, they can put it out for bid to see how much it is going to cost. Mr. Parker said that there is a possibility that the plans that they are looking at today that there might be some things that they will have to be removed or added dependent on what the bid is. Mr. Parker said that he felt that the Parks Committee and he as Parks Director relayed to the architects what was needed and wanted and what was a priority, and he felt that the architects came out with a great design and overall concept for the park that is esthetically pleasing down to the rest restrooms, basketball goals, and playground equipment so there, is much more than just the amphitheater. Mr. Parker said there might be some things they will have to tweak, they did have to do add alternates to the parking area just to cut down on some cost, so the next step is to see if council liked the design and move forward so that they can get some pricing on the project. Councilor Mohammed asked if it had been presented to the Design Review Committee for approval. • Mr. Parker said that would be part of the process then they would put it out for bid. Councilor Catt asked for clarification so that everyone was on the same page. Councilor Catt asked if the intent was to bid the entire project not just the one park. Councilor Catt said once they get the bids for all five parks then they would come back and revamp what they needed and once they produce a final plan then they can present it to the Design Review Commission, but he does not see any reason to present it to DRC until they get the numbers right. City Treasurer Suiter Jr said they usually get the Fire Marshall approval before they bid it out. Councilor Catt said once they get the bids back whatever they presented to DRC previously could have some concept changes, such as repositioning buildings or paint color, so he would wait until they get all their numbers back. Councilor Croom asked if they are talking about Hightower Park, and they have a limited amount of money in this bond issuance that council voted in. Councilor Croom asked what the status was on the Tilden Rogers Park. Mr. Ladd said that they were looking at completing one of the parks all the way with the cost estimated at 2.3 million to 2.5 million and that would leave 6 million to get through Tilden Rogers Park and looking at a phase 2 to pick up anything that was left over. Mr. Parker said that they are looking to do the entire ball field in turf and that is a large expense. Councilor Catt said what they presented to the people was as an entire project not bits and pieces, so the entire project needs to be bid at one time, so that they can find out what the numbers are and scale back overall, not just one park. Councilor. Catt said there were four parks that were part of that title and all of that must be considered so that they can find out how much of the 9 million they are going to exceed, and if it exceeds the 9 million, they scale the entire project back. Mayor McClendon said realistically they knew that 9 million would not be enough to do all the parks. Councilor Catt said then they need to bid the entire project out and get accurate data if it exceeds the 9 million 50 thousand dollars, they go back to the people to decide. Councilor Catt said that they have already allocated $671,000 dollars to handle the expense, if council keeps changing plans forcing them into additional plans they will have to give council a price on what it is going to cost to do another set of renderings, but eventually they are going to have to tell the public the people that approved this project what the total cost are, based off the conception that they were given not bits and pieces. Councilor Mohammed asked if they could not move forward with Hightower Park Plans. Councilor Catt said the people were given a plan that said we were going to do these four parks and,they were given conceptional drawings on what they would look like, the public approved that plan and the plan that they are presenting today is not that plan, and they need to do what the people voted on them to do. Mayor McClendon said that although he respects Councilor Catts position on this matter, he does not agree with waiting to bid the entire_project, because they all know that they will not be able to complete all four parks with 9 million 50 thousand dollars, but it is at the council's discretion on how to move forward. Mr. Parker said another thing to look at is that prices will constantly be increasing. Councilor Catt said we have put the project on hold for two years because of Covid and they might have to put it on hold for another two years to wait for prices to come down until they can actually do the project for what they told the people they were going to do it for. City Attorney Stephenson said he was not at all the meetings, but the meetings he attended where the public was at, they were shown, renderings and drawings of the whole package and that is what was given to the public when it was approved, and it was approved as a whole package. Attorney Stephenson said he agrees with what Councilor Catt has stated because that is what the people were provided the information on. Attorney Stephenson said things have changed regarding cost and every meeting that he has gone to the price for construction has skyrocketed, and that throws a kink in it, but it is what they represented to the public and so he thinks it must all be done for the 9 million•50 thousand, unless the.public says they want to spend more public money on it. Councilor Mohammed asked if they should not accept what they have presented to council. Attorney Stephenson said he is not saying to not accept what they are presenting to council, but he is saying that they need to go with what they presented to the public regarding what they are going to do with the money. Attorney Stephenson said his first thought is that they do not do anything differently.than what they presented to the public and voted on. Councilor Catt said they must look at what the entire project will cost and what they are asking for today is to bid on one aspect of the parks. Councilor Catt said the public voted on 9 million 50 thousand dollars for the entire package. Councilor Catt said 9 million 50 thousand dollars was the best estimate presented to the public for the parks. Mayor McClendon clarified what council was wanting was the cost and plans for all four parks Hightower, Tilden Rogers and the splash pads for Worthington and Franklin Park. Mayor,McClendon said hypothetically speaking they could spend 2 million dollars on High Tower Park, 6 million on Tilden Rogers Park and split 1 million between Worthington and Franklin Park. Councilor Catt said, or the bids could come in at 10.2 million dollars and they could say ok we will take the 2.3 million dollars that we are voting.on in November'and balance the books, but the council must have accurate information and they need the bids back to get that • information. Mayor McClendon asked how long it would take the architects to produce a plan for Tilden Rogers Park. Councilor Catt said there is already a rendering that has been done. Mr. Ladd said they would need to do a working drawing so that someone could bid it, you cannot bid off a rendering. Mr. Ladd said in previous discussions their. thought was that they would work on completing one park which was Hightower Park — and then what ever was left over would give them an idea of what they would have left over to do Tilden Rogers Park. Councilor Catt said that they have the rendering for Hightower Park and asked that they finish the renderings for the other three parks and get the bids on all four parks and see where they fall. Councilor Croom and Councilor Wheeless agreed. Councilor Catt said that they gave the public a rendering of a concept and asked them to spend 9 million dollars and they gave it to them, if you cannot deliver that rendering then you need to ask for permission to change it, changes should not be made without their say so. City Treasurer Charlie Suiter Jr. said that the cost for all four parks could not be done with 9 million 50 thousand dollars. Councilor Catt said bring back the bids and if it was over the 9 million 50-thousand-dollar amount than tell the people. Councilor Catt stated again that the people were given a rendering with a concept and that they should fulfill that promise. Mayor McClendon said that the concept that they were given for Hightower Park is around 2.3 million and 2.5 million dollars,due to the increase in cost and asked for estimated cost for the splash pads at Worthington and Franklin Park. Mr. Ladd said they looked into the cost and dependent up the size it could be between $300,000 to $500,000 dollars. Mayor McClendon said that Councilor Catt made a good point when he said, if the people approve the referendum on the 2.5 million dollars to the general funds the council could use that 2.5 million towards the parks if they chose to do it which would cover the parks:but it is up to the council. Garry Ladd Architects said they could look at making changes There' being no further discussion: Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor — Croom to approve the Hightower Park concept and to bring back the other three concepts as soon as they can, and council will decide. Mayor McClendon asked for a roll call vote. City Clerk, James Pulliaum called the roll. The roll call vote was as follows: Yes: Bruce Catt, Croom, Harris, Mohammed, Murray, Wheeless No: Mondy Abstention: None Absent : James Holt, Melanie Hutchinson With 7 yes votes, 1 No vote, 0 Abstention votes and 2 absent votes the motion to approve the High Tower Park concept was approved with the concept for the other three Parks to be submitted as soon as possible get a total bid package for all four parks. The motion Passed. COMMITTEE REPORTS: UTILITY COMMITTEE Councilor David Murray presented the Utility Commission report. The Utility Commission met on July 14, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. The June Safety Report was presented there were 28 days since the last recordable injury. 39 days since the last lost time injury and -2 recordable injuries for the month of June. Personnel _ update there were two new hires and no resignations for the month of June. The Utility Department currently has 7 open positions out of 79 budgeted positions. Assistant General Manager Ward Wimbish presented the bids for the $500,000 Gallon Concrete Repair and Painting. Mr. Wimbish recommended Morgan Painting who was the lowest bidder at $267,000.00. The motion to approve passed unanimously. Engineer, Peyton Smith presented the bids for Power Transformers he recommended that the commission accept the low bid from.Virginia Transformer Company Expedited in the amount of $1,763,286.00 the motion passed unanimously. POLICE COMMISSION: Councilor David Murray presented the Police Commission report. Code Enforcement The Police department has added two code enforcement officers, Police Officer Mike Antel, and Police officer Antoine Ford to assist Code Enforcement Officer George Philips with basketball goals, abandoned vehicles, motorcycles blocking city streets and sidewalks. The commission also discussed the ordinance concerning vehicles being parked on the street overnight being enforced. Personnel Update: Currently there are several officers in training that will be completing training soon. The commission discussed enforcing a juvenile curfew. Councilor Bruce said that the city seemed to be quieting down because of all the hard work by the police department and wanted to express his sincere gratitude and appreciation. Councilor Bruce said that the police department needs the councils support to enforce the vehicle ti • ordinance they need to be able to ticket the violators and or tow away abandoned broken down, and illegally parked vehicles. Mayor McClendon said that if the citizens that are in violation would take some responsibility and remove the dilapidated broken-down vehicles and not park on the streets and sidewalks over night the police would not have to tow them or issue a citation and they would not have to complain about the police officers giving them a hard time. Councilor Mohammed asked that they also enforce the removal of the blue garbage carts from the curb per the garbage ordinance and that citations be issued for those that fail to remove them from the curb. FIRE COMMISSION: Councilor Mohammed presented ' the Fire Commission report. The Fire Commission met Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Currently there are no vacancies in the Fire Department or EMS Department. Battalion Chief Vince Richardson will be retiring after 27 years of service on July 26, 2022. The Fire Department needs a battalion pickup truck. All Fire Stations are up and operational with no maintenance needed. The new training station at Fire Station # 2 is moving right along the containers have been moved and placed and are just waiting for wielding, painting, and fabrication. Currently there is 1 firefighter in EMT training which is a 5-week training class. There have been 1,169 EMS calls to date. The year-to-date EMS collections is $ 114,862.00 dollars. There have been some citizen concerns regarding the condition of the fire hydrants around the city, they have stated that some are in disarray, and some are not operational. Chief Clay did provide a list of the hydrants that need repair and or replacement and painting. Chief Clay said the department is responsible for making sure that there is sufficient water flow from the hydrants. Councilor Mohammed said that the fire department does not do any painting but suggested that perhaps they can discuss incorporating this into the Keep West Memphis Beautiful project in the future. Mayor McClendon said that perhaps the Sheriffs Department will be able to provide some trustees to help. PARKS COMMITTEE: Councilor Mohammed presented the Parks Committee Report. Councilor Mohammed said that Garry Ladd Architect spoke on earlier in the council meeting about the plans for High Tower Park. The committee also discussed that the dedication for Sonny Weems Park would be the 1st week in August. Councilor Mohammed said she would get the date and let council know. APPOINTMENTS: NONE PRESENTATIONS: NONE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mayor McClendon thanked Sheriff Mike Allen for giving the City of West Memphis 4 trustees that helped all week with cleaning up litter and debris at the trailer park where they did the groundbreaking and Mayfair Manor area, Clement Road, Jackson and 10 Street at a property that was demolished and throughout the City of West Memphis. The mayor said they did an amazing job and hopefully he will be able to use them again in the upcoming weeks:The mayor asked the council to identify any areas in their wards that they would like to see addressed and let him know and he would check to see if he could get the trustees to help, so long as it is within the guidelines to utilize the trustees. Mayor McClendon said while it really helped the city out, it also helped the trustees to earn $11.00 an hour to pay towards their fines to enable them to get released quicker. The women's facility has also been helping with cleaning 'up Broadway. Mayor McClendon said that everyone makes a mistake but needsthe opportunity for a second chance and they have done a wonderful job and provided much needed services to the City of West Memphis, and he appreciates it. Mayor McClendon said the Covid numbers are on the rise and asked everyone to be mindful. CITIZEN REQUEST: • Ms. Brittnay Williams a resident of 1208 Proctor Rd West Memphis, Arkansas, and Business owner at 700 N. Missouri Street West Memphis,Arkansas came before council for an application for a certificate of convenience to operate a non-emergency medical transport. Ms. Williams will come back on August 4, 2022, for council decision. J r • Having no further business to come before the City Council, Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mohammed to adjourn. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m. PASSED and APPROVED this 4 day of August 2022. 6•1.) ZeKe(;.-.‘ CO MCCLENDON, MAYOR ATTEST: J' ES PULLIA , CITY CLERK Minutes prepared by, Patricia Lane, Sr. Deputy City Clerk