07/20/2023 i
MINUTES
WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL
July 20,2023
A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday,July 20,2023,at
5:00 p.m.in the City Council Chambers at City Hall,205 S. Redding,West Memphis,Arkansas.
Invocation was given by Pastor Levee,from Faith Community Church followed by the Pledge
of Allegiance led by Sr.Deputy City Clerk,Patricia Lane.Mayor Marco McClendon called the
meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. City Clerk,Patricia Joplin called the roll.Those present were City
Attorney Michael Stephenson,and Council Members: Gheric Bruce, Tracy Catt, Wayne Croom,Helen
Harris,James Holt,Lorraine Mohammed,David Murray. and Charles Wheeless. Absent was City
Treasurer,Charlie Suiter Jr,and Councilors Melanie Hutchinson, and Willis Mondy.Also
present was Finance Director,Tori Perry,and Evening Times Reporter Donald Wilburn.
Quorum being present Mayor McClendon,proceeded with the meeting.
BID OPENING: NONE
MINUTES: APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF JULY 6,2023
Councilor Catt made the motion,seconded by Councilor Croom to dispense with the reading of
the minutes of July 6,2023,Council Meeting,and to approve them as submitted.Upon voice
vote,voting was unanimous to approve.
OLD BUSINESS:
3rd-READING OF AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR THE
PROPERTY LOCATED AT 514 SOUTH 4TH STREET,PERMITTING A
VEHICLE REPAIR SHOP IN A I-1-C LIGHT INDUSTRIAL CORE ZONING DISTRICT
City Attorney Stephenson read the ordinance by title only for the THIRD AND FINAL time
Councilor Catt made the motion,seconded by Councilor Bruce to approve. Discussion
followed:Councilor Croom asked the mayor to take a roll call vote on the ordinance.The mayor
said he would,but he wanted to let Councilor Croom know that the individual asking for the
Special Use Permit is a different individual than the person who had previously made an
application for a special use permit for a wrecker towing service at the same address that the
council tabled indefinitely. Councilor Murray wanted to be able to meet and speak with the
individual making the application.The applicant,Mr. Rickey Carter a resident of 1808 East
Van Buren was present and came before council to answer any questions.Councilor Croom
asked what Mr.Carter's plans were for the location since it is a vacant lot and did he plan to
have wrecker service on the lot.Mr. Carter said he will be building a structure on the lot to
operate a collision and body repair shop and from time to time he would have to
tow cars in for repair.Councilor Bruce said his concern is that the property does not become an
eyesore to the community as a result of old car parts and wrecked vehicles.Mr. Carter said it
would not and that he plans to screen in his property,and he has plenty of room to store the
vehicles.The only thing that would be visible is the cars that have been repaired and are
waiting for customers to pick up or cars being dropped off that day. Mr. Carter said that he has
been in business for over seventeen years and owns another business located at 1305 Thompson
in West Memphis and one in Marion on Hwy 77 and is aware of how some properties that are
in the same business look,Mayor McClendon said he has been out with code enforcement
looking at some of the properties that are in violation,and he has seen Mr.Carters existing
business and he has been in compliance with code. Councilor Mohammed asked Mr. Carter if
he planned to start repairing cars or putting cars on the property before the building is
constructed.Mr.Carter said he was not. Councilor Mohammed said she lust wanted to get a
Mayor McClendon asked for a roll call vote. City Clerk Patricia Joplin called the roll. The roll
call vote was as follows:
YES: Bruce,Catt,Harris,Holt,Mohammed,Murray,Wheeless
NO: None
ABTAIN: Croom
ABSENT: Hutchinson,Mondy
With 7 Yes votes,0 No votes, 1 Abstention vote,and 2 absent the motion to approve the
ordinance passed.The ordinance was adopted and assigned No.2640.
NEW BUSINESS:
Councilor Bruce made the motion,seconded by Councilor Wheeless to add a resolution
approving a revision to the 2022 budget and a resolution approving a revision to the 2023
budget,and the permission request to sale city vehicles on Gov Deal and the mayor to
discuss the findings from the 2021 Legislative Audit findings previously discussed on January
24,2022 to the agenda.Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous.
Councilor Bruce made the motion,seconded by Councilor Murray to read R-1 and R-2
by title only.Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous.
A RESOLUTION APPROVING A REVISION TO THE 2022 BUDGET
City Attorney Stephenson read the resolution by TITLE only.Councilor Croom made the motion,
seconded by Councilor Holt to approve..Discussion followed:Councilor Catt said for clarification
purposes This represents three different items two for expenses and one for income stream that were not
in the budget because at the time they did not know what the dollar amount would be.There being no
further discussion Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve The resolution was adopted and
assigned No.2286.
A RESOLUTION APPROVING A REVISION TO THE 2023 BUDGET
City Attorney Stephenson read the resolution by TITLE only.Councilor Bruce made the motion,
seconded by Councilor Croom to approve.Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve.The
resolution was adopted and assigned No.2287
PERMISSION REQUEST: PERMISSION TO SALE CITY VEHICLES THROUGH GOV
DEALS
Mayor McClendon said previously they were selling city vehicles through public auction
but in the last two years they have been doing it through GOV Deals.This is where people are
able to bid on them through the interne,he said the action being taken today is to correct a
misstep and for auditing purposes,so that auditors are aware of the process that the city has
chosen to use to sale city vehicles through GOV Deals with councils' approval is on record.
Councilor Bruce made the motion,seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve. Discussion
followed:Councilor Catt said it was a misstep that they are correcting and there were 12
vehicles sold through Gov Deals.Councilor Croom asked if the funds go into the general fund
account. Finance Director,Tori Perry said the funds go back into the department where the
vehicles were purchased from. Councilor Mohammed asked if the vehicles had already been
sold.Ms.Perry said they had,she will have to go in and reconcile the money to the departments
that the vehicles came from.Councilor Holt said that he took issue with the permission request
because this was after the fact and that going forward all departments need to understand that
these issues must come before the city council before they sale anything for councils' approval.
Councilor Catt said that is what they are doing today in establishing procedures for any sales of
city assets going forward.There being no further discussion.Upon voice vote,voting was
unanimous to approve.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS:
CHAMBER COMMITTEE: Councilor Croom presented the Chamber report.The Chamber
met June 12,2023,They discussed upcoming back to school events and fall programs.
Crittenden County Leadership programs start in August.The West Memphis Chamber/Rotary
Golf Tournament is on August 25,2023,at Meadowbrook Country Club. They are taking teams
and sponsors now.
AIRPORT COMMISSION: Councilor Croom presented the Airport Commission report.
Susan Cook with Garver reported that reel Services will be here Sunday or Monday to install
the new self-serve update. Also,she has requested a timeframe from them on when the
preliminary work will get started on the jet rehab project. She also reported that there is a
Prebid meeting today for the rebid of the North Apron Rehab project. The bid opening is
scheduled for August 2nd.
PUBLIC WORKS: Councilor Catt presented the Public Works report.The first item
discussed was the cameras there are four cameras and they are now all up and running. Public
Works Director,Danny Montgomery,introduced himself to the committee and discussed his
plans and changes for the Public Works Department.Fleet Report:Front End Loaders all 4 are
operational,Rear End Loaders all 4 are operational, 1 Arm Bandits there are 2 and both are
operational,Grapple Trucks 4 are operational and 1 was down,but is back in operation now.
Recyclables: There was a total of 10,680 pounds of recyclable picked up and 800 tires which is
down from the 2500 that they picked up last month.
WEST MEMPHIS UTILITY:Councilor Catt presented the West Memphis Utility report. Safety
Report:There were 8 days since last recordable, 134 days since last lost time injury and 2
recordable injuries for the year. General Manager,Ward Wimbish gave an update on where
they are with the Wastewater treatment Plant bid opening.The low bid for the project was$43
million,and the high bid was$62 million. They received a grant from Arkansas Natural
Resource Commission,and they have bond money to go toward the project and he is looking at
other options to help fund the project.The search committee met Monday,July 10th at 2:00 p.m.
to discuss the update on recruitment campaign for general manager and on the Digital
Recruiting Program for construction manager.
FIRE COMMISSION: Councilor Catt presented the Fire Commission report. There were
4 new firefighters hired there effective hire date will be July 31,2023. There is currently no
vacancies on the Fireside.There is 1 vacancy for paramedics. There were no retirements,and all
of the PPE equipment is in. Vehicle Maintenance:Engine 6 was sold on Gov Deals"engine. "They
are in the initial stage of specking out a new aerial ladder platform truck. Building Maintenance:
Station 4 is having drainage problems. EMS:The EMS calls year to date are 2457 and EMS
collections year to date are$257,225.31.Friday July 21,2023,is the Jr Firefighter Day,Councilor
Catt handed out the flyer and a copy of the itinerary and invited all the council to come out.
Mayor McClendon said he wanted to take the opportunity to commend Chief Ealy and his staff
for the wonderful job that they are doing with the youth in hosting this event as well as how
they inspired the youth that participated in the Mayors Summer Youth Program that were
assigned to the Fire stations during the summer that have expressed to him that they are
interested in becoming firefighters upon graduating.Also,for their vision of trying to
collaborate with the West Memphis School District and Councilor Bruce to try and get a
firefighter training curriculum in the school district. Councilor Catt said there will be a
promotion ceremony on July 27,2023,at the Eugene Woods Civic Center at 2:00 p.m. and
would love to have council there.
APPOINTMENTS: NONE
PRESENTATIONS: Dr.Gilver Fowler,ESGR was not present at the Council Meeting.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Mayor McClendon announced that Councilor Willis Monday was recently hospitalized and
asked everyone to be in prayer for a speedy recovery.
Mayor McClendon said Nexera Solar contributed a $10,000 dollar grant for the Summer Youth
Program this year,and are looking at doing a larger tier on the Inclusion Park later down the
road and he was extremely thankful for their support.
Mayor McClendon announced that one of the cities oldest citizens Ms. Porter who was 111
years old recently passed away and wanted to express his gratitude for the contributions that
Ms. Porter made to the City of West Memphis and asked that everyone keep her family in their
prayers.
Councilor Catt extended his condolences to the Shorty Steele family.Mr. Steele was a Council
Member and a member of the Quorum Court.Mayor McClendon said they would keep the
Steele family in their prayers.
Councilor Holt said he did not get to go by the grand opening of Wonder Jr.High,but he has
since gone by the school and it is State of the Art,also after riding throughout the city and
looking at all the additions in the city he is astounded at the work that the administration has
done. Mayor McClendon said there will be an open house tonight at 5:30 at Wonder Jr.High
for anyone that did not get to go to the grand opening they will have an opportunity go by and
tour the school.
CITIZENS REQUEST: NONE
Having no further business to come before the City Council,Councilor Catt made the motion,
seconded by Councilor Wheeless,to adjourn.Upon voice vote,the voting was unanimous.The
meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.
PASSED and APPROVED this 3rd DAY OF August 2023.
`%'%dirt c LEIv�•r ot
` MARC MCCLENDON,MAYOR
yT'TEST:
PATRIC OPLIN,CITY CL RK
Minutes prepared by,Patricia Lane,Sr. Deputy City Clerk