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May 16, 1950MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COl1NCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS, _. .:.. _ _, ARKANSAS, _ HA?? !AND x~z~ ON_~AY ] 6,. ,1950.... _ __ -_---- .. The Council of the City of West Memphis met in a regular session at the City Hall in said City at 7:30 P.M. on the 16th day of May, 1950. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor and the roll being called there were; Present: Mayor p. M. ilacus in the chair, and the following named Aldermen: 0. I. Bollinger, C. H. Rowton, James Bledsoe, R. R. Morley, Curtis Foster, A. R. Manchester, P. B, Powers, and R. L. Garrison; and City Attorney J. H. Spears. Absent: City Clerk H. 0. Coats. The following proceedings were had to wit: Minutes of Council Meeting on May 2, 1950, were read and approved. Mayor Dacus advised the Council that the City for a number of years had been negotiating with various companies in an effort to secure natural gas in 1Yest Memphis, and at this time Mr. Dallas Raney of T, J. Raney & Sons of Little Rock, prkansas, was present to and had requested permission to present a franchise to the City for the distribution of natural gas. After discussion of the matter with Mr. Raney, an ordinance entitled "An Ordinance of the Council of the City of West Memphis, Crittenden County, Arkansas, Granting To T. J. Raney & Sons, the e~aiusive right and privilege and franchise to lay gas mains along the streets, avenues, alleys, roads and highways and other public places of the City for the purpose of distributing and selling natural gas to the inhabitants of said City and to others, and also the exclusive right to lay pipe lines in the streets, alleys, avenues, highways, roads and other public places and grounds of said City for the purpose of conveying natural gas through and of said City for distribution of natural gas to the inhabitants of said City, and to others beyond the limits of said G'i.ty, for domestic commercial and industrial purposes, and providing the regulation for the conduct of said gas distribution system, and other purposes,' was introduced in writing and read in full by Alderman Bledsoe. Alderman Powers moved that the rule requiring said ordinance to be read in full on three different days be suspended, and that said ordinance be placed on its second reading; motion was seconded by Alderman Morley, and thereafter the Mayor put the question on the adoption of said motion, and the roll being called, the following voted; Aye: Bollinger, Rowton, Bledsoe, Morley, Foster, Manchester, Powers, and Garrison. Nay: None. Whereupon-the Mayor declared the motion duly passed and said ordinance placed on its second reading. The ordinance was then read the second time by Alderman Rowton. Thereupon, Mayor Dacus requested that the third and final reading of the ordinance be post-poned until a later date in order to give additional time for consideration of the ordinance. Mayor Dacus next announced that the meeting was now open to hear any objectors to Ordinance No. 181 entitled "A Resolution providing for the issuance of 2.7G~ water refunding and improvement revenue bonds~to provide for additions to the v~rater-works system serving the City of West Memphis, Arkansas, and refunding the city's outstanding 3~ water revenue bonds; setting up certain funds; and declaring an emergency", said ordinance having been passed on May 2, 1950, and notice published in the West Memphis News, and this being the date which the Notice provided for objectors to come forth and make known their objections, if any, to the passage and approval of said Ordinance, and after diligent inquiry no one appeared to object. Thereupon the Mayor declared that said Ordinance had been duly passed; that no objections had been made to the passage and approval of said Ordinance, the issuance of said Bonds and other things contained therein and that said Ordinance was now in full force and effect. The following petition was presented to the City Council: May 11, 1950 We the undersign property owners of Cooper Subdivision of West Memphis, Ark. oP Crittenden County would like to come before the City Council to be taken into the City of YVest Memphis, ~1rk. Signed; Mr, and Mrs. L. E. Poston 20 Truman Rd. Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Wellington lh " Mr, and Mrs. Cary C. Tolbert la 'F Mr, and i(rs. Samuel A, Simmons 17 " Mr. and Mrs. ldark J. Phelps 16 " Mr. and Mrs. Lee C. Albritton 15 " Mr, and Mrs. Reuben K. Kolb 10 " Mr. and Mrs. M. H. Kemp 12 " Mr. and Mrs. J. 0. James 19 " Mr. and Mrs. Sam Wren 1' r- Mr, and Mrs. Norman Kee 1~ " Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Johnson 8 " Mr, and Mrs. Charles F. Burden 6 " Mr. and Mrs. E. Henley 7 '~ Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Sager 5 '~ Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Thweatt 3 " Mr. and Mrs. R. E, Daniels 1 " Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Bounds ~ " After discussion of the matter, the petitioners were advised to prepare or have prepared a map showing the territory and/or lands to be annexed to the City; that the City Attorney would prepare the necessary Petition to be circulated among the residences of the affected territory, and that if the proponents of the Petition were successful in getting it signed by a majority of the owners of the lands in the affected area, it should be returned to the City Attorney, who will prepare the necessary Petition for the filing in the proper Court to have said area annexed to the City of West Memphis. Mayor Dacus advised the Council that he had received the following letter; West Memphis, Ark. May 15, 1950 Mayor P. M. Dacus City Hall YYedt Memphis, Ark. Dear Mayor ~acust Attached to this letter is a list of names of people who are interested in having a censor board. As I can't attend the City Council meetings, I hope this letter will take the place of ~ presence. If our people in this world were all Christian people, we wouldn't have to have censor boards. The censor board protects those who are not Christian§. Although the censor board may not help the adult, it may have an influence on their children. We people who love God are not trying to run the town of West Memphis, we are only hoping our citizens and our city will be a Christian example for other surrounding towns. Mathew 18=20 says - ttFor where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,n I hope the people at your meeting will see things as I see them. The best always builds good character. Sincerely yours, Ruth Hughes (Mrs. Clyde Hughes) Mrs. J. Lcn Bell Mrs. C. H. Rowton Mrs. Oscar Barksdale Mrs. N. S. Garrott Mrs. J. Leighton Scott Mrs. H. J. Tucker Mrs. H, A, Hettis Mrs. Willie A. Murphy H. Greer Garrott ~## Mayor Dacus advised the Council that the Arkansas Municipal League had held a meeting in Forrest City for the consideration of the proposed "Municipal Home Rule Amendment~~. After discussion of the matter, data was given to the Councilmen for their study. Mayor Dacus advised the Council that the City did not have a Recreation Director at Y~orthington Park, and that he was of the opinion that it was advisable to have someone there to supervise the playground. After discussion of the matter, motion was made, passed, and adopted to hire Pete Coleman as Recreation Director at the salary of X150.00 per month during the months of June, July, and August. The second reading of an ordinance entitled ~'An ordinance providng for Fire Limits, and Regulations Governing the Construction, Alteration, Equipment, or removal of buildings or structures' was post-poned until a detailed report on the National Building Code could be rendered by Building Inspector Ifietzman, City Attorney Spears advised the Council he had conferred with an employee of the U, S. Post Office Department on the easement across certain property that the Department is contemplating purchasing in their building program. Thereupon, the following resolution was introduced in writing by Alderman Morley: R E S O L U T I O N BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of West Memphis that the easement found of record in Book 199, Page 80 in the office of the (;ircuit Court Clerk and ex-officio Recorder within and for Crittenden County upon and over North One Hundred Fifteen (115) Feet Lot 1, all of hot 2, Block 18 of Compress Subdivision be, and the same is, hereby waived and vacated in favor of the United States Government provided, however, the City shall not be required except by mutual agreement, to remove its sewer line, water line, poles and power line, or other utilities, and the City shall be permitted to maintain said sewer line, water line, power line and poles, and to maintain same in present condition, Motion was seconded by Alderman Bledsoe, and upon the matter being called to vote, the following voted: Aye: Bollinger, Rowton, Bledsoe, Morley, Foster, Manchester, Powers, and Garrison. Nays None. Mayor Dacus advised the Council that Bob Demuth, a member of the Plumbing Examining Board, had resigned; and that he recommended the appointment of Harry Flowers as a member of the Board. After discussion of the matter, motion was made, passed, and adopted to confirm the appointment of Harry Flowers as a member of the Plumbing Examining Board. Mayor Lacus advised the Council that due to the contemplated construction to be undertaken by the City it would be necessary to secure a larger dragline, and that the Tri-State Equipment Co., Inc, had made the following proposal: A Model 20$ Koehring Dragline complete with a five foot boom extension and a 5/8 yd. Hendrix Dragline Bucket, for a total price of X15,797..92, less X5,000.00 trade-in for your Bucyrus-Erie combination shovel and dragline, leaving a balance of X10,797.32, payable as follows: 3500.00 due January 1, 1951, payable by warrant due the following December 15, 1951 3500.00 due January 1, 1952, payable by warrant due the following December 15, 1952 3797.32 due January 1, 1953, payable by warrant due the following December 15, 1953 In the event you desire to take up the payments on this dragline sooner than the schedule set out above, we will allow you the following discounts: January 1, 1951 - ~ 1042,29 January 1, 1952 - 484.86 January 1, 1953 - 137.43 After discussion of the matter, motion was made, passed, and adopted authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to purchase the dragline according to proposal of Tri-State Equipment Co. The Building Inspector presented the following building permits he had authorized to be issued, motion was made, passed and adopted to confirm the actions of the Building Inspector in the issuance of the following permits: Ben Harrison Will Hoyle Bert Renegar Clyde Ralph Virginia Lovelace Arthur Goe Johnny Sparkman H. F. Spicer W. H. Hundhausen Charlie Johnson Angel & Bloom Henritta Irvin Harry ~swoski Wm. L. Johnson - 2 C, B. Thompson - 2 Motion was made by Alderman Garrison and seconded by Alderman Manchester to adjourn the meeting until 5:30 P,M. Wednesday, May 17, 1950, Upon the matter being called to vote, the following voted Ayes Hollinger, Rowton, Bledsoe, Morley, Foster, Manchester, Powers, and Garrison. Nay: None. ATTEST: C~ ~~S i~~ ~..%`'A.~ ~ C C ~~.. M'~llY-0~ APPROVED: JUNE 6, 1950