CITY COUNCIL MINUTES OCTOBER, 2021
CITY OF GASSVILLE, ARKANSAS
MINUTES FOR THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
OCTOBER 19, 2021
A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Gassville, Arkansas was held on Tuesday, October 19, at the Gassville Community Center. Council Member Seaman led those in attendance in saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and Police Chief Mayfield offered a word of prayer. The meeting was then called to order at 6:00 PM by Recorder-Treasurer Jeff Lewis, who acted as Presiding Officer in the absence of Mayor Jeff Braim.
Upon the calling of the roll, those in attendance were Council Member Ernest Adkins, Council Member Tim McFarland, Council Member Anita Seaman, Council Member Naomi Lassen, Council Member Kenneth Smith, Council Member Ralph Bird, Recorder-Treasurer Jeff Lewis, and City Attorney Ron Kincade. Department Heads in attendance were Police Chief Tim Mayfield, Water and Street Superintendent Tony Flippin, and Fire Chief Michael Glotzl.
The minutes from the September 21, 2021 regular meeting had been provided to each Council Member. Council Member Bird moved to approve the minutes as presented. This motion was seconded by Council Member Adkins. There were no additions or corrections asked for, whereupon Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be passed.
The minutes for the special public hearing held also on September 21, 2021 had been provided to each Council Member for consideration. Council Member Lassen moved to approve those minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Council Member Seaman. There were no additions or corrections called for, whereupon Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be passed.
The financial report for the month of September, 2021 was presented to the City Council. Council Member Lassen moved to approve the financial report as presented. This motion was seconded by Council Member Bird. There were no corrections asked for, whereupon Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be passed.
Police Chief Mayfield gave the police department report for the month of September, 2021. It was accepted into the record without objection.
Fire Chief Glotzl gave the fire department report for the month of September, 2021. It was accepted into the record without objection.
Council Member Seaman gave a report on behalf of the Cotter-Gassville Joint Sewer Commission. She reported that one of the Wastewater Treatment Facility operators will be testing next Spring for his Class II Operator License. She also reported that a check of the outside lighting around the facility and grounds indicated that only 2 of the 8 lights were working. There is a program through Entergy that will assist in replacing those lights with new LED lights. The local match for the program would be $1,014.00, for which there is already sufficient funds remaining in the budget to cover that expense. In other business, a new gear box for aerator no. 5 is needed. The existing one is not rebuildable. The costs for this will be coming from the capital improvement budget line item. The plant superintendent is working on permit renewals for the facility. This should be completed and finalized by the end of this year. The gates at the Mike Woods property have now been installed as part of the Red Apple Acres sewer system expansion project. That project is now approximately 80% completed, however the residences in the Red Apple subdivision are not yet connected to the system. Council Member Seaman also reported that the depreciation account balance is now $10,827.10, which will need to reach and maintain a balance of $50,000.00. With respect to the proposed "Phase II" collection system renovation project, the Mayor of Cotter has been meeting with engineers and with citizens to address their concerns on that project. The Joint Commission also initiated budget discussions for 2022 for both the Wastewater Treatment Facility and the Line Crew.
Council Member Lassen then gave a report on behalf of the Gassville Planning and Zoning Commission. She provided minutes from their last meeting to each Council Member. Two representatives from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture came and spoke to the Commission about the Tree City USA program and how the city can become a member. The requirements including creating a three member volunteer board to help the City Council draft an ordinance to implement a Tree City program for Gassville. The Mayor would then issue a Tree City proclamation to announce the program. Gassville would be required to spend $2.00 per capita per year, or around $4,200.00 per year, to implement and provide continued support for the Tree City program. In-kind work and labor at the rate of $22.87 per hour can be counted toward this amount so long as it is tracked and recorded. This applies to attending meetings, city employees addressing issues with trees, and also the hours that tree trimming crews for utility companies spend doing work in Gassville.
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Being a Tree City also makes Gassville eligible to receive additional points when applying for various grants. The Commission voted to recommend to the City Council that Gassville join the Tree City USA program.
In other Planning Commission business, Mr. Ben Strider presented plans for a proposed subdivision for an area between Factory Street and East Houser Ave. The area is already zoned R-1 residential. The Planning Commission pointed out to Mr. Strider that there are drainage issues in that area that he would need to address in his plans. The plans were approved by the Planning Commission. Finally, Council Member Lassen informed the City Council that Mr. John Schaub, a 14 year resident of Gassville, has expressed interest in filling a vacant position on the Gassville Planning and Zoning Commission and was being recommended for that.
Mr. Schaub was present in the audience. He was asked to introduce himself and answer any questions the City Council might have. After the introduction, Council Member Bird moved to appoint Mr. John Schaub to the Gassville Planning and Zoning Commission. This motion was seconded by Council Member Seaman. Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be passed.
Council Member Adkins then moved that the City move forward with obtaining Tree City USA designation and that an ordinance for that purpose be drafted and brought before the City Council. This motion was seconded by Council Member Seaman. Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was deemed to be carried.
Recorder-Treasurer Lewis then gave the building inspection report for the period of September 13th through October 11th. It was accepted into the record without objection. Chief Glotzl advised the City Council that Mr. Gadway, the Building Inspector, has been on a medical leave and that the Mountain Home Building Inspector, Mr. Ifland, has provided assistance to Gassville as needed.
The Personnel Committee had met on October 12th on several matters. The minutes from that meeting had been distributed to each Council Member. Council Member Seaman moved to approve those minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland.
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Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was deemed to be carried. The Personnel Committee voted to recommend two actions to the City Council, which are to be brought up later in the meeting as an agenda item.
There was no unfinished business.
Under new business, Mr. Brian Hass, CPA, was scheduled to present the 2020 audit of the Water and Wastewater Funds. He was not able to attend, however a draft copy of the audit was provided to each Council Member to review. Mr. Haas will attend a later meeting to answer any questions.
The next item on the agenda was discussion of the opioid litigation that the Arkansas Attorney General's Office has been involved in. City Attorney Kincade addressed the City Council on this topic. Mr. Kincade advised that the Attorney General has settled this case and that the City of Gassville can opt to participate in the settlement and receive proceeds therefrom if the City Council so decides. The process for distributing settlement funds to the participants will involve the Arkansas General Assembly formulating regulations. It is Mr. Kincade's understanding that there will not be any matching funds or such that Gassville would have to come up with before applying to receive settlement funds. The funds will probably be available for specific purposes only and not just for additional general purpose use. Mr. Kincade stated he did not see a down side to the City of Gassville signing on as a participant. The lawsuit is over and the settlement finalized. The more municipalities that sign on as participants then the more money that Arkansas should receive from the settlement. At the conclusion of Mr. Kincade's presentation, and after a period of questions, Council Member Adkins moved that the City of Gassville accept, approve, and participate in the settlement from the opioid litigation and authorizes and directs the Mayor to sign and execute the release documents provided by the Arkansas Attorney General's Office. This motion was seconded by Council Member Lassen. Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for discussion on the motion, then for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be carried.
A proposed engineering contract between the City of Gassville and Ellington Engineering Services, LLC for the new water well project was next on the agenda. Each Council Member had been provided with a copy of the proposed agreement.
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City Attorney Kincade pointed out that this is a standard engineering contract of the kind routinely used. Council Member Lassen moved to approve the proposed engineering contract with Ellington Engineering and authorize the Mayor to sign said documents. This motion was seconded by Council Member Bird. Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be passed.
Proposed Resolution 2021-07 then came up for consideration. This resolution concerned the acceptance of additional ARPA funds that have been made available. Council Member Seaman moved to introduce the proposed resolution and have it read. This motion was seconded by Council Member Adkins. Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be carried. Thereupon, Recorder-Treasurer Lewis read aloud the proposed resolution entitled:
"RESOLUTION 2021-07. A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING ADDITIONAL AMERICAN RESCUE AND RECOVERY ACT PLAN FUNDS FOR NON-ENTITLEMENT UNITS (NEUs) THAT DID NOT PARTICIPATE AND ADJUSTED 2020 CENSUS POPULATION."
Council Member McFarland moved to approve the resolution as read. This motion was seconded by Council Member Bird. Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and Recorder-Treasurer Lewis declared the motion passed and Resolution 2021-07 to be approved.
The recommendations from the Personnel Committee were then discussed. One of the items the Personnel Committee recommended that the City Council approve was a change in personnel policy, discussion item #2 in the minutes, which would add additional language to the "Resignation/Leve Employment" section of the personnel policy, to-wit: "Any full time employee who has five (5) years of continuous service with the City of Gassville shall be eligible for...." Police Chief Mayfield commented that he had suggested this change due to issues with short term employees resigning and being paid out for all of their accumulated benefits, particular sick time, which can cause a financial strain on the budget. This proposed change to policy would create a minimum length of employment time frame before severance benefits would be paid out upon separation of employment.
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Council Member Adkins moved to amend the employee personnel policy as recommended by the Personnel Committee in the manner indicated above. This motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland. Recorder-Treasurer Lewis then called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be passed.
The next recommendation of the Personnel Committee, which was discussion item #3 in the minutes, concerned modification to the employee wage adjustment that has already been incorporated into the adopted budget for 2021. The recommendation would be to double the amount of wage adjustment for city employees and for the Mayor that was previously incorporated into the budget. The Personnel Committee believes that this is deserved by the employees because of the tremendous strain and stress endured by employees this year because of the COVID 19 crisis. This would require an additional appropriation from the General Fund of $4,600.00, an additional appropriation from the Street Fund of $500.00, and an additional appropriation from the Water Fund of $500.00 for this purpose. Council Member Bird moved to approve the recommendation from the Personnel Committee for the addition to the wage adjustment and to authorize the additional appropriations in each fund as indicated above. This motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland. Recorder-Treasurer Lewis called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Adkins, McFarland, Seaman, Lassen, Smith, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be passed.
Prior to adjournment, updates in several areas were provided, to-wit:
1. The Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit has completed the 2019 and 2020 audits of city accounts. The Mayor, Recorder-Treasurer, Court Clerk, and Police Chief met with the auditor in an exit conference. The auditor stated it was a "very good audit", and it will be forwarded to the Legislative Committee in Little Rock. Council Members will be provided with a copy of the audit once it has been approved by that committee.
2. The Mayor has been in contact with three CPA firms to start the process of obtaining a federal compliance audit for federal dollars spent on the sewer system expansion project.
3. A progress meeting on the sewer system expansion project will be held on October 28th at 11 AM.
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4. The Mayor will be scheduling a meeting of the Water and Wastewater Committee and also a budget work session. Members will be contacted with the dates and times.
Council Member Adkins asked if any updates were available on the summer ball league program that has been discussed before. None were available. He also asked if the approval the City Council previously gave to the proprietor of the mobile food vendor stand near the East city limits to place two picnic tables outside was only extended to the proprietor who operated the venue at that time, or if it would also extend to a new proprietor who has now taken over the venue. Council Members felt that the new proprietor should also come before the City Council to seek that approval in case members have any questions or concerns about it. Council Member Adkins also addressed the Police Chief regarding equipment issues in a particular police vehicle.
Council Member Seaman noted that there is a parcel of property on Red Bud Road that needs some trimming and weed-eating done.
Finally, Superintendent Flippin gave a report on operational needs and issues concerning the sewer system expansion project, but he had no cost estimates at present and made no requests. Superintendent Flippin also reported that work will begin soon on tearing down the existing pavilion in the city park to make way for the new pavilion on order. The fire department will be able to undertake some training for fire personnel when this gets underway. A city employee also inquired about salvaging the trusses from the existing structure, but the City Council did not take any action on that matter.
There being no further business to come before the City Council, the meeting adjourned at 7:48 PM upon motion of Council Member Bird, seconded by Council Member Adkins, with all members voting in favor.
Submitted by: /s/ Jeffrey Lewis
Recorder-Treasurer
Approved by: /s/ Jeff Braim
Mayor
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