PW 11/5/13 MINUTES
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
November 5, 2013
Members & Staff Present: Councilor Ramona Taylor, Chairman
Councilor James Holt
Councilor Lorraine Robinson
Councilor Willis Mondy
Councilor James Pulliaum
Phillip Sorrell, City Engineer
Rhonda Standridge, Administrative Assistant
Mike Antle, Code Enforcement Officer
Members & Staff Absent:
Guests: Frank Martin, Finance Director
Arburt Robinson
Moon Park
Ralph Hardin
MINUTES
Councilor Pulliaum made a motion to approve the minutes from the October 1St meeting,
motion was seconded by Councilor Holt. Upon voice vote, motion was unanimous.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Sorrell submitted information addressing the need for a sanitation rate increase. The
committee was provided a spreadsheet showing the current commercial dumpster rates versus
one of our competitors. Sorrell recommended a 30% across the board increase on
commercial accounts rounded to the nearest $5 mark. The proposed rates would still be
below those of the competition and would result in approximately the $100,000 in additional
revenue needed to balance the budget. All other existing rates including residential would
remain unchanged. After a lengthy discussion Councilor Robinson made a motion to approve
the rate increase with the prices being rounded to the nearest $5 mark. Motion was seconded
by Councilor Mondy, upon voice vote, motion was unanimous.
Code Enforcement Report— Mike Antle The Regional Maintenance Crew from Brickeys has
been working on the Stuart ditch and it is starting to look much better. We have scheduled
more work days in the future. Mike will be working with Rhonda to try to create some ads for
City Channel 17 in regards to abandoned vehicles, he has been in touch with several property
owners regarding their vehicles. He and Patricia Lane in the Code Enforcement Department
are working on a spreadsheet to show the progress they have made through Code
Enforcement efforts.
Keep West Memphis Beautiful Report— Lorraine Robinson— reported that the fall cleanup
on October 26th was a great success. There were volunteers on Mainstreet which were
treated to a pizza lunch and well as volunteers at 346 North Worthington helping to clean up
Ms. Strickers yard and volunteers at 712 South 14th helping to repaint that owners house.
Councilor Robinson said there were a lot of people who contributed to the clean up and she
has written a letter to the editor thanking everyone. She also mentioned that she is in the
process of filling out the application for a GIF Grant for $10,000 to be used on projects for
Keep West Memphis Beautiful. She also mentioned some tree limbs that were near Lalman
Trailer Park that needed to be cleaned up. Mr. Sorrell stated that we were already working on
getting those cleaned up.
Recycling Report— Rhonda Standridge The East Arkansas Solid Waste District Board has
approved the bids on the recycling trailers and the order has been placed with the low bidder
Pro-Trainer. The trailers have a 6 — 8 week turnaround time.
City Engineer Report— Phillip Sorrell— Street Overlay— Overlay is scheduled to begin on
November 12 and is expected to take 7-8 days to complete. Southland Drive Phase 2— Bids
were opened on October 30th and the low bidder was APAC at $2,253,000, which is below the
original cost estimate. The City share is 20% which is around $458,000. Tires—We currently
do not have a place for tires therefore we have quit picking up tires at the moment. The Solid
Waste District was providing a disposal trailer but that trailer has been removed and they are
working a new plan for tire pickup.
Councilor Pulliaum made a motion to adjourn; motion was seconded by Councilor Holt. The
meeting adjourned at 12:52 pm.