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02/172022 MINUTES WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL February 17, 2022 A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday, February 17,2022, 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 Attorney Michael Stephenson, City Clerk, James Pulliaum, City Treasurer Charlie Suiter Jr., and Councilors: Tracy Catt, Wayne Croom, Helen Harris, James Holt. Melanie Hutchinson, Lorraine Mohammed, Willis Mondy, David Murray and Charles Wheeless Absent was Gheric Bruce. Also present was City Finance Director, Tori Perry and Evening Times Reporter, John Rech. Quorum being present Mayor, Marco McClendon proceeded with the meeting. BLACK HISTORY PROGRAM PRESENTATION- LORRAINE MOHAMMED Mayor McClendon thanked Councilor Lorraine Mohammed for keeping Black History Month in the spotlight and all her efforts to recognize people in the community that make a difference. Mayor McClendon said over 54 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King came to Memphis to fight for sanitation workers to be given a livable wage. The mayor said that he and the council also did that for the sanitation workers employed by the City of West Memphis when they voted to raise the sanitation department minimum salary to $14.00 per hour and he could not think of a better department too want to highlight the Public Works Department than today. Councilor Mohammed said the Public Works Department is committed to the maintenance and operation of the City of West Memphis infrastructure and assuring the safety and quality of streets, sidewalks, traffic signs, traffic lights, storm drains and sanitation. Through the initiative of the Capital Improvement Projects the Public Works Department actively works to improve the City Infrastructure. Their primary mission is to keep the amenities of the city attractive for the community to live and raise their families in. The department works hard to ensure the needs of the residents are met and strives to exceed that goal every day. The Public Works Department works closely with Federal, State, County, and the City of West Memphis Utility Department, where the public works department is responsible for the management of grant funded projects. The Public Works Department is committed to their jobs and are often required to work in inclement weather and even continued to work throughout the Covid Pandemic and in sometimes hazardous and unsanitary conditions. Councilor Mohammed said they are essential workers and provide a critical public service to the community and she is honored along with Mayor McClendon to recognize the Public Works Department on today. Over forty individuals were recognized with a total of 401 years of combined service to the City of West Memphis. BID OPENING: OPENING BIDS FOR PUMP STATION #3 AND #4 - _ REHABILITATION AND COMMON FORCE MAIN Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mondy to add the opening bids for pump station #3 and #4 rehabilitation and common force main bids and Southland Racing Charity Contributions to the agenda. Upon voice vote, voting was dFel el unanimous. ' Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Harris to accept the Y' bids as presented and to refer them back to administration for distribution. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. MUNUTES: APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 3, 2022 Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the February 3, 2022, council meeting and to approve them as submitted. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve the minutes. OLD BUSINESS: NONE NEW BUSINESS: Councilor Mohammed 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. R-1 A RESOLUTION CERTIFYING THE AMOUNTS OF LIENS IMPOSED ON CERTAIN PROPERTIES FOR GRASS CUTTING, CLEANING LITTER/DEBRIS AND TREE; LIMBS; ETC CONTRACTED BY THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE NO 1385. City Attorney Stephenson read the resolution by title only. Councilor Croom made the motion seconded by Councilor Mohammed to approve the resolution. Discussion followed. Councilor Catt said in reading the resolution he thought he noticed an error and asked if he could bring it back before council at the next meeting and amend it at that time. Mayor McClendon said yes. There being no further discussion. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. The resolution was adopted and assigned No. 2268. 0-1 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION 2 OF ORDINANCE NO. 2514 TO ESTABLISH COMPENSATION FOR THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS, ARKANSAS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Councilor Mondy made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to table the ordinance. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to table. 0-2, AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE NO, 2444 REGARDING RETIREMENT BENEFITS FOR THE POSITION OF CITY ATTORNEY TO APPROVE THE BENEFITS AS PROVIDED IN ARKANSAS CODE ANNOTATED SECTION 24-12- 120 AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the FIRST time. Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Harris to suspend the rules, and place the ordinance on the second reading. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the SECOND time. Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to further suspend the rules and to place the ordinance on the third reading. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the THIRD and FINAL time. Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve the ordinance. There being no discussion. Mayor McClendon asked for a roll call vote. City Clerk Pulliaum called the roll. The roll call vote was as follows: YES: Catt, Croom, Harris, Holt, Hutchinson Mohammed Mondy Murray, Wheeless NO: None ABSTENTION: None ABSENT: Bruce With 9 yes votes, 0 No votes, 0 Abstention votes, 1 absent vote the motion Passed. The ordinance was adopted and assigned No. 2598. 0-3 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION 2-171 OF THE WEST MEMPHIS MUNICIPAL CODE ESTABLISHING THE SALARY FOR THE POSITION OF CITY ATTORNEY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the FIRST time. Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Catt to suspend the rules, and place the ordinance on the second reading. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the SECOND time. Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Hutchinson to further suspend the rules and to place the ordinance on the third reading. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the THIRD and FINAL time. Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Catt to approve the ordinance. Discussion followed. Councilor Mohammed asked what the City Attorney's current salary was. Attorney Stephenson said it was a little over 100,000 and the 3% increase that was given to all city employees would put him at $103,809. Attorney Stephenson said because he is an elected official, he must have his salary increased by ordinance, the last increase he had was a cost-of-living increase in 2018. Councilor Mohammed said she thought the matter should go back i before the budget committee and wanted to know if it was in the budget. City Attorney Stephenson said it was because the retirement that he was supposed to.get was more than the $6,000.00 in his retirement account but there is no retirement account, and the increase would only be $3,000. Councilor Mondy asked if it would take affect next year. City Attorney Stephenson said it would be retroactive to January 1, 2022. There being no further discussion. Mayor McClendon asked for a roll call vote. City Clerk Pulliaum called the roll. The roll call vote was as follows: YES: Catt, Croom, Harris, Hutchinson, Murray, Wheeless NO: Holt ABSTENTION: Mohammed, Mondy ABSENT: Bruce With 6 yes votes, 1 No votes, 2 Abstention votes, 1 absent vote the motion Passed. The ordinance was adopted and assigned No. 2599 Councilor Mohammed said she had nothing against City Attorney Stephenson, and he has a degree and qualifications to earn the large amount that he earns but felt that after honoring the sanitation workers and public works workers earlier in the day that make so little money, that it would be an insult to approve the large amount. City Attorney Stephenson thanked everyone that voted yes. WEST MEMPHIS ARKANSAS COMMUNITY BLOCK GRANT ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM FINAL STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND PROJECTED USE OF FUNDS B-2021-MC-05-0009 Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mohammed to approve. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. WEST MEMPHIS ARKANSAS COMMUNITY BLOCK GRANT ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM FINAL STATEMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND PROJECTED USE OF FUNDS B-2022-MC-05-0009 Councilor Han-is made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. SOUTHLAND RACING CHARITY CONTRIBUTIONS MONEY Mayor McClendon said the Funds that are distributed between the 4 Boys and Girls Club Total is $48,177.51. The break down is $12,044.38. The total Southland Disaster Relief funds to be distributed is $4,604 the break down is $1,534.74 each to the Delta Neighborhood Act Council, Good neighbor Center and Hope house. The Southland total money for the mayor and council is $14,358.93 the break down is $1,305.36. Councilor Mohammed made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to approve. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous. PERMISSION REQUEST: PERMISSION FOR MAYOR MCCLENDON TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT WITH RJN GROUP, INC, - 2022 STORMWATER MAPPING Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Croom to approve. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. PERMISSION FOR MAYOR MCCLENDON TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT WITH PICKERING FIRM INC. TEN MILE BAYOU TRAIL PHASE 1-PLAT AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION PREPARATION Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Murray to approve. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to approve. COMMITTEE REPORTS: FIRE COMMISSION: Councilor Hutchinson presented the Fire Commission Report. The Fire Commission met on March 4, 2022. Three firefighter, one paramedic, two firefighters are fully certified and were placed in rotation and all vacancies have been filled. Six firefighters are in EMT school they will be testing on March 4, 2022. Training Officer Trevor Brewer will be retiring on March 4, 2022. They will be rededicating the station at Rich and Barton for operation in late March or early Apri1.12 staff members are being measured for PPE equipment. The 2012 Ford and I 2016 Dodge are experiencing extensive repairs and will need to be replaced soon. Station one needs a new roof quote are being taken. There have been 281 EMS calls and collections to date are $32,929.84. Several grants have been submitted under the Safer Grant Program and a grant has been submitted for two new Cascade System and hose dryer. The department has implemented new procedures and reduced overtime to $300,000 from $1,000.000 in 2020. The department has revised the sick leave policy to ensure compliance, revised the incident Action Plan, revised the fire marshal's office to improve efficiency and created a Grant Writing committee within the department. POLICE COMMISSION: Councilor David Murray presented the Police Commission report. The Police Commission met on February 6, 2022, at 12:02 p.m. Chief Bradley reported that IT Director, Joel Johnson gave a report on the new radio equipment that will serve four base stations, sixty-five vehicles, 110 handheld radios the cost will be 1.1 million dollars. The police department has hired eight new officers with six returning and all are certified. They lost three officers to higher paying jobs in surrounding counties. The commission discussed ideas on how to become competitive with salary and benefits to recruit and retain officers and have a recruitment team in place. The department currently has 67 officers and is budgeted for 87 officers. They have hired three uncertified officers that will be attending the academy in May and seven officers s are scheduled to graduate on February 17, 2022, and all schools have SRO's. There are currently eleven dispatchers out of fifteen budgeted positions. Police Chief Campbell is now on board and the moral of the department has had a positive turn around and officers seem happy and are looking forward to the trend continuing to improve. Our police department'did a great job during the recent ice storm and were out in full force to assist the community. Police Chief Campbell said public safety and service were not an option but a duty. They will collaborate with Community Outreach Coordinator, Tawana Bailey and implement more community policing. UTILITY COMMISSION: The West Memphis Utility Commission met in regular session on February 1, 2022, Safety Director, Brett Sims reported that there were 98 days since last recordable injury, 841 days since last lost time injury and 0 recordable injuries for the year 2022. There were two new hires for the month of January. The utility currently has eleven open positions out of 79 budgeted positions. Utility Manager, Todd Peterson presented the years of service award to five employees for their years of service at West Memphis Utilities and presented them with a plaque. The five employees recognized were David Goacher fifty years, Jerry Johnson thirty years, Denise Bosnick forty years, Jerry Madison twenty years and Beth Hinchey twenty years. PERSONAL COMMITTEE: Councilor Hutchinson presented the personal report. Mr. Calvin Reed gave the personal commission an update on Voya. Mr. Reed reiterated the importance of contributing to the 457 plans where employees can make contribution to their retirement plan. A representative from Cigna Ms. Shell Waller gave them an update on how to use the app for benefit information Emergency Management Director, Dewayne Rose presented the Emergency Management Plan update. The city had two days of inclement weather and the Public Works Department did an excellent job of preparing the parking lots and municipal buildings for safe entry for our employees. The city is also looking into a mass communication system for all city employees for emergency situations. The personal committee will be looking into electing a new chairperson next month. No written report submitted. CITY TREASURER/CITY CLERK REPORT: City Clerk, James Pulliaum said Finance Director, Tori Perry gave him a copy of the Finance report that is 178 pages. He is requesting that Ms. Perry have copies of the report to pass out to the Council. The next Budget meeting will be on February 24, 2022. APPOINTMENTS: Mayor McClendon said there seems to be some confusion about if there is an open position on the Airport Commission. Councilor Catt suggested that they table until he can review the report on appointments and bring it back before council at the next meeting. Councilor Croom made the motion, seconded by Councilor Mondy to table. Upon voice vote, voting was unanimous to Table until March 3, 2022. Councilor Croom asked who the council would be voting on . Mayor McClendon said it would be Mr. Bill Morris and if it were voted down then they would consider Councilor. Holt's nominee. Councilor Wheeless asked who the two open positions were. Councilor Catt to his understanding he believed it was Dr. Bryant and Marvin Stelle. PRESENTATIONS: WEST MEMPHIS FIRE DEPARTMENT- CHIEF EALY Fire Chief Ealy honored several Fire Fighters that have gone above the call of duty. Chief Ealy said often we forget the sacrifice that the men and women of the West Memphis Fire Department make putting their lives on the line to keep the citizens of West Memphis safe. Chief Ealy said he is proud of all the great things that the Fire Department has going on but is most excited about the Fire Fighter Fire Crew and Staff award that is given to a staff member that has displayed outstanding performance. The Fire Crew members to receive this award, was Private Nick Couples and Captain Kevin Catt. The Fire Fighter of the year award was awarded to Captain Zackery Bailey. The Staff Member of the Year award was presented to Division Chief Patria Roberts. Chief Ealy said on December 10, 2021, Truman, Arkansas was devastated by a catastrophic F2 tornado. He received a call for aid from Lt. May who is a Fire Fighter for the Truman Fire Department as well as the City of West Memphis. Lt May contacted Chief Ealey to inform him that the Truman Fire station had been hit and a nursing home, homes were on fire and people were trapped and hazardous gas was being released. Lt May asked Chief Ealy for mutual aid to assist the town of Truman. Chief Ealy said he contacted Mayor McClendon and immediately the mayor requested that all City of West Memphis Fire Fighters be recalled to assist Truman. Chief Ealey said today they would like to recognize all the Fire Fighters that responded to the call. The City of West Memphis awarded a certificate of meritorious service to following fire department staff on February 3, 2022, Fire Fighters; Holt, Bigness, Thornton, Couples, Ponds, Spears, Richie, Lorenz, Lieutenants; Allyworth and Johnson.cCaptains; Bailey. Gill, Catt, Bedinger, and Harris. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mayor McClendon announced that they had nine Police Officers to graduate today and seven out of the nine were born and raised in West Memphis. The, other two officers were for Jericho, Arkansas that went through training. CITIZENS REQUEST: Mr. Roderick Brown a resident of 7840 Pyramid Place Memphis, TN 38132 had recently come before Council to request an Application of Public Convenience to operate a non-emergency medical transportation business in the City of West Memphis. Mr. Brown has decided not to pursue operating a non- emergency medical transportation business in the City of West Memphis. Airport Director, Candra Suiter was not present at the Council meeting to address council. Ms. Marilyn Dancy a resident of 115 Joe Ed Lane Shady Grove, Arkansas came before council to speak on her property at 120 Shady Grove that was demolished by the City of West Memphis. Ms. Dancy said the home was boarded up and the grass was kept cut and she did not understand why it was torn down. Mayor McClendon said that certain properties were identified by the city inspectors as being dilapidated .or uninhabitable and vacant were notified in writing of the cities intent to demolish them and had she responded to the letters that were sent to her by the allotted time to inform the city of her plan to bring it up to code they could have worked with her. Council approved the demolition of the structures over a month ago. Having no further business to come,before the City Council, Councilor Harris 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 3rd day of MARCH 2022. 1/4=;44„,t,i..0.0 c 1-1/4 e CO MCCLE11tDON, MAYOR • ATTEST: J PU IA , CITY CLERK , • Minutes prepared by, Patricia Lane, Sr. Deputy City Clerk I, - . R,- ::b: