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May 5, 2011MINUTES WEST MEMPHIS CITY COUNCIL May 5"', 2011 A regular meeting of the West Memphis City Council was held on Thursday, May 5~h, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 205 S. Redding, West Memphis, Arkansas. Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. Invocation was given by Father Allen McCastlyn of the Holy Cross Episcopal Church. Phillip Para, City Clerk, called the roll. Those present were: Mayor Wi//iam H. Johnson, City Attorney David Peep/es, City Treasurer Frank Martin and Counci/ors, James Pu/liaum, Ramona Taylor Marco McC/endon, James Ho/t, Taz Tyrone, Phi//ip Carted Lorraine Robinson, and Tracy Catt. Absent were: Councilors, Herman Co%man and Willis Mondy. Quorum being present, Mayor Johnson proceeded with the meeting. BID OPENINGS MINUTES Councilor Pulliaum moved, seconded by Councilor Taylor to dispense with the reading of the minutes of April 21, 2011 City Council meeting, and approve them as submitted. Upon voice vote, the voting was unanimous. OLD BUSINESS and Reading AN ORDINANCE FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE, 2011 EDITION, PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF SUCH REGULATION AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. City Attorney Peeples read the Ordinance for the third and final time. Councilor Pulliaum moved, seconded by Councilor Taylor to approve the Ordinance. Mayor Johnson explained, per request of Councilor Robinson, this adopts a national set of standards and certifications for electrical work/workers. Upon voice vote, the voting was unanimous. The Ordinance was approved and assigned No. 2275 2nd Reading AN ORDINANCE VACATING A PORTION OF A UTILITY EASEMENT BETWEEN LOT 1 AND LOT 11, BLOCK 2, EUGENE WOODS SUBDIVISON TO THE CITY OF WEST MEMPHIS. City Attorney Peeples read the Ordinance for the second time. Councilor Pulliaum moved, seconded by Councilor Taylor, to suspend the rules and place the Ordinance on its third and final reading. Upon voice vote, the voting was unanimous. City Attorney Peeples read the Ordinance for the third and final time. Councilor Pulliaum moved, seconded by Councilor Robinson to approve the Ordinance. Upon voice vote, the voting was unanimous. The Ordinance was approved and assigned No. 2276 NEW BUSINESS Councilor Pulliaum made a motion, seconded by Councilor Taylor to suspend the rules and read the title only of R-1 and R-2. Upon voice vote, the voting was unanimous. R-1 A Resolution certifying the condemnation and removal of houses, buildings and/or residential structures constituting a nuisance within the City of West Memphis corporate limits. City Attorney Peeples read the Resolution. Councilor Taylor moved, seconded by Councilor Robinson to approve. The Resolution was approved by unanimous vote and assigned No. 1986. R-2 A Resolution authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to enter into an extension of the power supply agreement with NRG Power Marketing, LLC., and for other purposes. City Attorney Peeples read the Resolution. Councilor Taylor moved, seconded by Councilor Tyrone to approve. Mayor Johnson explained the contract, which expires 2013 with NRG supplying supplement electricity for West Memphis; extension is to give us stable cost through 2014 and a savings of $494,690. The Resolution was approved by unanimous vote and assigned No. 1987. PERMISSION REQUESTS Mayor Johnson needs permission to approve payment of a new fire truck in the amount of $275,000 to Pearce Manufacturing Company. Purchase was approved with Ordinance No. 2272. Councilor Taylor moved, seconded by Councilor Tyrone to approve. Upon voice voting, motion was unanimous. Permission requested for Mayor Johnson to sign contract amendment by and between the City of West Memphis and Brawley Consulting Engineers, Inc. Councilor Taylor moved, seconded by Tyrone to approve. Upon voice voting, motion was unanimous. COMMITTEE REPORTS Budget Committee -Councilor Catt reported based on the first four months revenue is down. The committee will be reviewing the next three months to see if the trend has improved and if necessary work with administration to lower expenses more in line with actual revenue. Department heads are working with Federal agencies to recover any expenses possible from the storms. Utility Commission-Councilor Tyrone reported commissioners approved several bids and there was a malfunction of a part at the sewage plant which has to be cleaned. As of now no fines have been placed. Public Works-Councilor Taylor requested that City Engineer, Phillip Sorrell, update on the storm and flood status. City Engineer, Phillip Sorrell, notes the rain gauge at the Waste Water Treatment Plant read 9.5 inches within 2 days in the first storm and 9 inches within 36hrs in the second storm. He also reported the preparation, the findings and the action taken in dealing with the two heavy storms in the past weeks. FEMA did come to assess the damage of the first storm. This visit is private sector help/aid mainly for individuals and residential areas. Another visit is due to assess for public assistants, which will support city clean-ups and recovery. City Engineer Sorrell introduced Rob Rash, CEO of the St. Francis Levee District, to update the public on the Mississippi River/Levee issues. Mr. Rash announced the Memphis gauge is at 45.2 feet which exceeds the 1927 flood levels. Mississippi River is projected to reach 48 feet and we are protected up to 57 feet. Councilor McClendon asked several questions concerning the storm procedures, clean-up, assistance for victims and evacuation procedures. City Engineer Sorrell gave a brief explanation of the storm procedures. City Engineer Sorrell notified the Council that the City will be picking up limbs and debris under a certain size. All large tree limbs and trunks must be cut up by home owners. Councilor Robinson expressed concern that debris not being picked up in a timely manner. City Engineer Sorrell explained again, we are waiting on FEMA. Only normal trash pickup is being done at this time. Mayor Johnson informed Council of the damage to the City Buildings. Councilor Catt suggested that we close flooded roads completely. More barricades maybe needed in cases such as this. Councilor Catt offered to meet with the local Home Builders Association to get extra built and donated to the City. ANNOUNCEMENTS CITIZENS REQUESTS Shabaka Africia announced NAACP next guest speaker will be Dr. Glen Fenter from MSCC on the 16t". Also commended the City Employees for a great job during the storm. Councilor Robinson gave a quick thank you to all who supported her during her campaign. Councilor Taylor gave a quick reminder of the Farmers' Market at Worthington Park. Having no further business to come before the City Council, Councilor Pulliaum moved, second by Councilor Taylor to adjourn. Upon voice vote, the voting was unanimous. The meeting adjourned at 2:25 p.m. PASSED and APPROVED this day of May, 2011 ~ ~L~`_ G WILLIAM H. JOHNS N, MAYOR ATTEST: PHIL ARA, CITY CLERK Min~ltrE~. parrbared by: Tracy Camper Jr. Deputy City Clerk 2010 STATE OF THE CITY MESSAGE We have experienced the most difficult year of my tenure in office. May 20, 2010 two of our fine young officers were brutally murdered during what should have been a "Routine" traffic stop. This attack was carried out with a 16 year old as the shooter, accompanied by his father and two (2) dogs in a van registered to a church. Both the father and son died in a shootout after they wounded our County Sheriff and his Chief Deputy. We will never fully recover from this tragedy and only hope our chief s efforts will prevent any tragedy of this nature from occurring in the future. 2010 saw slight improvement in our local economy but only very slight. Our general fund, which is our Troubled Area, survived another bleak year. Our total General Fund Revenue was $16,838,460.13 and our expenses were $16,825,947.23 leaving a positive balance of $12,512.90. This margin is not satisfactory for a city of our size, and in the future we will be required to analyze our situation and to either seek additional sources of revenue or reduce expenses and services. Our Sanitation Department continued to function in a satisfactory manner on the revenue it produces. The cost of fuel and equipment repairs and replacement will be creating a shortage possibly in 2011 so we are keenly aware of the potential problems on the horizon. The Street Department also functioned well with the revenue it received supplemented by funds accumulated. During 2010 we were awarded a grant totaling $1,202,000.00 from stimulus funds to completely rebuild a substantial portion of Glenn Bailey Drive. This major collector street was destroyed over a period of years by large trucks in the area. This project is now complete and open for public use. The Police and Fire continued to provide the quality service we have come to expect from them. Both departments are operating under personnel constraints as well as financial shortages. Fuel costs continue to be an obstacle for these public safety providers. The Utility continues to offer excellent service with no rate increases for the services they provide. The Utility Commission and Administration have successfully negotiated a three (3) year electrical contract to supply our supplementary needs for our citizens, this contract should not require any rate increase for our citizens. The Utility, like all other departments, continues to see its bottom line erode to dangerous levels and their margin is not satisfactory to retain the existing reserves and fund future capital needs. The Airport, Parks, A&P, Port and all administrative departments have existed on current revenues and all have no margin for error. The Planning and Development Department shows some sign of progress. This department issued nine (9) permits for new construction of commercial and industrial developments, along with five (5) permits for additions to existing commercial buildings. Additionally, the department issued another twenty- six (26) permits to remodel existing commercial buildings. These permits include the expansion of Awesome Product distribution warehouse facility on South 7~ Street and The Market Place retail center in front of Wal-Mart. Awesome products continue to become a shinning star in our community. As of the date of this report they own approximately 1,000,000 square feet of manufacturing and storage space. This is awesome for West Memphis.