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05.02.24 , • MINUTES WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL May 2,2024 A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday May 2, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. in the,City Council Chambers at City Hall, 205 S. Redding, West Memphis, Arkansas.The invocation was given by Councilor David Murray followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilor Tracy Catt. Mayor Marco McClendon called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. City Clerk, Patricia Joplin called the roll. Those present were Mayor Marco McClendon, City Attorney, Michael Stephenson by zoom, Council Members: Gheric Bruce, Tracy Catt, Helen Harris,James Holt, Melanie Hutchinson, Willis Mondy, David Murray, and Charles Wheeless.Absent was City Treasurer, Charlie Suiter Jr., and Councilors Wayne Croom, Lorraine Mohammed and Finance Director,Tori Perry. Evening Times Reporter Donald Wilburn. was also present quorum, being present Mayor McClendon, proceeded with the meeting. BID OPENING: NONE MINUTES:APPROVE OR CORRECT MINUTES OF APRIL 18, 2024, COUNCIL MEETING Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Harris,to dispense with the reading. of April 18,2024, Council Minutes and to approve them as submitted. Upon voice vote,voting was. unanimous to approve. OLD BUSINESS: 0-1 AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A SUBDIVISION REPLAT/LOT SPLIT FOR W. SERVICE ROAD/KROGER DRIVE OF LOT 5. PHASE 1 AND LOTS 8,9,AND 10,PHASE II OF WALMART SHOPPING CENTER ADDITION AND DESIGNATING KROGER DRIVE AS A CITY STREET City Attorney Stephenson read 0-1 by title only for the SECOND time.The ordinance will be placed back on May 16, 2024, agenda for its third reading. NEW BUSINESS. Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to read R-1, 0-1 by title only. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve. R-1 A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS,ARKANSAS,AND JAMES HARRIS,AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND THE CITY CLERK TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENTS ON BEHALF OF TH CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS City Attorney Stephenson read the resolution by title only. Councilor Bruce made the motion, seconded by Councilor Wheeless to approve the resolution. Discussion followed: Councilor Catt said for clarification the total amount would be$55,000 plus closing cost would be incurred. Councilor Holt asked what they intended to do with the properties. Mayor McClendon said that the city is purchasing the property to,,clear out the dilapidated structures that have been a nuisance to the community and they plan to recruit builders to build affordable housing in the city.There being no further discussion. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to approve.The resolution was adopted and assigned No. 2298. 0-1 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING OBLIGATIONS OF PUBLIC UTILITIES TO INSTALL AND MAINTAIN FACILITIES WITHIN THE CITY: IMPOSING FEES ON THE GROSS REVENUE COLLECTIED BY PUBLIC UTILITIES FOR SERVICES PROVIDED WITHING THE MUNICIPAL BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY: ESTABLISHING THE METHOD OF PAYMENT OF FEES; MANDATING COMPLIANCE WITH GENERALLY APPLICABLE RULES: EXEMPTING WEST MEMPHIS UTILITIES ON SERVICES;AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Councilor Catt made the motion, seconded by Councilor Bruce to table 0-1 until the May 16, 2024, council meeting. Upon voice vote,voting was unanimous to table the ordinance. PERMISSION REQUEST:NONE COMMITTEE REPORTS: BUDGET COMMITTEE: Councilor Catt presented the Budget Report. Councilor Catt said that Finance Director Tori Perry clarified some issues in regard to cost overruns on some of the Parks projects. He said Ms. Perry reviewed the items, made some corrections, and found that there are no overruns, and it should come in under budget,although there is a possibility that the cost of the playground equipment could come in over cost, but she does not feel that it will be a big concern. Councilor Catt said that the mayor and council will need to have a discussion on long term issues in regard to the Police Station and Fire Station# 1 on 7th Street that is over 65 years old and make some decisions. Councilor Catt said the city has debt and is not having any problems paying it back but suggested that the administration might want to look at restructuring the debt to pay it off sooner. He would like to schedule a meeting with the council for May 14, 2024,from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.to get everyone's opinions should they need to put it on the ballet, so they can do it 90 days before the election. PERMISSION REQUEST: NONE APPOINTMENTS: NONE PRESENTATIONS: NONE PROCLAMATION NONE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Councilor Mondy voiced his concerns with being approached by his constituents and having to explain to them about overgrown properties, potholes, and the repair of bridges etc. Mayor McClendon reiterated that as the representative of their wards it is the councils responsibility to be the voice of the people and to represent their constituents concerns and to keep him informed to see how they can best address the issues and take corrective action. He also said it is not the cities responsibility to cut people properties, it is the property owners responsibility.The city grass cutting department has done a great job trying to cut the properties, but it has been overwhelming.The mayor said while the city will do their part to help the responsibility should not solely fall on the shoulders of the city and that it is going to take the citizens to help and suggested that the communities form a community clean up and grass cutting group and if there are properties within their communities that are overgrown.The mayor said it is going to take everyone involved to get the city looking better. He has met with the Planning Director, Chad Bowman to come up with a plan to address the citizens concerns and to get derelict properties under control the city will continue to do their part in notifying property owners and holding them responsible and even spraying some of the properties to kill the grass and contracting with private grass contractors to absorb the over flow of properties that need to be cut if need be, but it cannot just be the cities responsibility to maintain the properties. Mayor McClendon said in two weeks he will have further discussion with council regarding his "Thinking Outside of The Box Proposal "with Guaranty Loan after council has voted on the ordinance for Walmart and Kroger Drive. Mayor McClendon announced that May 2, 2024, is the start of the Blues off Broadway event. It will be held every Thursday night in May at the Eugene Woods Civic Center located at 212 W Polk West Memphis,Arkansas from 6:00 p.m.to 9:00 p.m. there will be live entertainment,food trucks and cold beverages, bring your lawn chairs and enjoy the music.Tonight's event will feature Infinity Band and Grammy Award Winning Artist Mr. Sipp's. Mayor McClendon said that today is National Prayer Day and is asking the citizens to continue to be in prayer for the City of West Memphis.The mayor said today we are in a time where we really need prayer.The city of West Memphis just had another incident that hit close to him where a young man's life was taken too soon due to senseless violence. He said he remains strong in his Faith and believes that without a strong relationship with God and prayer for the healing of our city and guidance for our youth and the community getting involved we will continuously be faced with these types of tragedies. Mayor McClendon announced that the applications for youth to participate in the City of West Memphis Summer Youth Program would be available on Friday May 3, 2024. at City Hall located at 205 S. Redding West Memphis,Arkansas. Mayor McClendon gave an update on the status of the Rich Road Bridge.The mayor said although the Rich Road Bridge is not the responsibility of the City of West Memphis they have taken a lot of hits from the citizens in regard to the bridge. He said that he and the MPO Department have approved their part of the matching money to the State to.get the bridge fixed.The hold up is Walmart they have not signed authorization for a temporary construction easement.The 2 homeowners and Guaranty have already signed, and he is not sure what the delay is in signing since Walmart stands to gain the most due to the fact that the street beside Walmart is the street most people use to get to Walmart.The paperwork has J! " been given to Walmart twice already. MPO Coordinator Rhonda Standridge is trying to work with someone to try and get it signed so they can get it to the State, so that they can start the bidding process and then start construction.The mayor said he wanted to make sure that everyone knew that Walmart is the reason that they have not been able to move forward, he does not understand the reluctancy of Walmart to sign because the State will be repairing the easement once they complete construction.They even discussed how they could get around Walmart having to sign because they have three out of four signatures but there would be additional red tape that they would have to go through to try, and do it and it would cause further delay and he is just ready to get the Rich Road Bridge behind them. Mayor McClendon said that he will be holding several Take Action Tour Meetings in June, he will have Utility Manager, Bob Akins, Police Chief, Robin Campbell, Sanitation Superintendent Danny Montgomery, Street Superintendent Odel Slaughter available to answer any questions that the citizens might have.The mayor said they will be holding public meetings at Faulk Elementary on June 4', Richland Elementary on June 11",Weaver Elementary on June 18th• and Wonder Hr. High on June 25th. He said these meetings will enable them to meet with the citizens and give them the opportunity to voice their concerns. Mayor McClendon provided an update on Walkable West Memphis they will be doing 20th Street to 25th Street.The design is at 90%completion through MPO it will then go through the bid process and then they will begin construction. He does not have a start date yet, but they are expecting to start sometime in the third quarter of this year. Councilor Willis said that he talked to the Police Department to ask them to be more present because in the morning when people are driving East, and the sun is in your eyes it is difficult to see the children walking down the narrow streets. Mayor McClendon said that is another project that has taken a long time, and he has been trying to push it along. During the MPO meeting they also discussed being approved for 5 million dollars to start on South loop to try and redirect the four- wheeler trucks off of Broadway and onto South Loop. Councilor Mondy asked about 18th Street and 20th Street.The mayor said when they began working on the Walkable West Memphis Plan to put sidewalks in it was for 20th to 25th Street and the State was doing it. He said 18 and 19th Street are city streets and if council was willing to allocate funds to pay for those streets it would be up to council to do so.The mayor said that is why the meeting scheduled for May 14, 2024,will be important so that they can discuss some of the issues such as the open ditches in Ward 2 and 3 and the problem is there are a whole lot of issues that they need to address but only a little bit of money. Mayor McClendon said on May 11, 2024,The "Keep West Memphis Beautiful Event will take place from 8:00 a.m.to 12:00 p.m., anyone wishing to volunteer will meet at the City Hall Building located at 205 S. Redding in West Memphis,Arkansas. This is an annual event tee shirts, gloves,vest, and trash bags will be available. Mayor McClendon is asking for as many of the council members and citizens to come out and help clean up the city and their community.The mayor invited the council members to come out and get involved. If it rains on May 11, 2024, the makeup date will be the following weekend on May 18, 2024. CITIZENS REQUEST: NONE Having no further business to come before the City Council, Councilor Bruce made the motion, seconded Councilor Wheeless,to adjourn. Upon voice vote,the voting was unanimous.The meeting was adjourned at 1:40 p.m. PASSED and APPROVED this 16th of May 2024. MARCO CDON, MAYOR ATTEST: (.Z/40,..,._Jae...y.1;1.2 PATRICIA JOPLIN, CITY CLERK Minutes prepared by, Patricia Lane,Sr. Deputy City Clerk