COUNCIL MINUTES OCTOBER, 2024

Date Posted: 11/20/2024

CITY OF GASSVILLE, ARKANSAS
MINUTES FOR THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
OCTOBER 15, 2024

A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Gassville, Arkansas was held on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at the Gassville Community Center. Mayor Braim led those in attendance in saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and offering a word of prayer. The meeting was then called to order at 6:03 PM by Mayor Jeff Braim, Presiding Officer, immediately following a public hearing that was held on proposed commercial water and sewer user rates.

Upon the calling of the roll, those in attendance were Council Member Kenneth Smith, Council Member Tim McFarland, Council Member Naomi Lassen, Council Member Ralph Bird, Mayor Jeff Braim, and Recorder-Treasurer Jeff Lewis. Council Member Anita Seaman and Council Member Ernest Adkins were absent. Department Heads in attendance were Police Chief Tim Mayfield, Fire Chief Michael Glotzl, and Water and Street Superintendent Michael Dewey.

The minutes from the September 17, 2024 meeting were presented to the City Council for consideration and approval. Council Member Bird moved to approve the minutes as submitted. This motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland. There were no corrections or additions called for regarding the minutes, whereupon Mayor Braim called for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be carried.

The financial report for the month of September, 2024 was presented to the City Council. Mayor Braim reported that the first payment the city received on the recently enacted ½ cent sales tax on water and sewer sales was in the amount of $14,056.89. Of that, $10,770.00 went to sewer and the remainder went to water. Council Member Lassen moved to approve the report as submitted. The motion was seconded by Council Member Bird. There were no corrections called for, whereupon the Mayor called for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the Mayor declared the motion to be carried.

Police Chief Mayfield then gave the police department report for the month of September, 2024. It was accepted into the record without objection. The officer assigned to the new Dodge Durango police vehicle was said to have given a good review on the vehicle.

Fire Chief Glotzl gave the fire department report for the month of September, 2024. It was accepted into the record without objection. The Fire Chief presented the City Council with a list of equipment items that he sought permission to remove from inventory and sell or swap. This included two items that are listed on inventory, being inventory item #211 and inventory item #219. All of these items of equipment were said to be unused, obsolete, and/or no longer of any use or value to the fire department. They are either to be sold off or swapped with other fire departments. Council Member Bird moved to authorize the removal from inventory and disposal of all these items. The motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland. The Mayor called for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be carried. In a final item of fire department business, Chief Glotzl asked the City Council to approve a change in the fire department's SOGs with respect to the manner in which subordinate officers are nominated and elected. After discussion, Council Member Bird moved to authorize this revision to the fire department's SOGs. The motion was seconded by Council Member Lassen. The Mayor called for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the Mayor declared the motion carried.

Mayor Braim then gave the building inspection report for the period of September 14th through October 11th. It was also accepted into the record without objection.

The Cotter-Gassville Joint Sewer Commission has not met since the last City Council meeting, however Mayor Braim did provide some updated information. Construction continues on the new line work. All manholes have now been poured. The old wet well has been filled in. Clean-up work is continuing. It is hoped that contingency funds from this project can be used for some additional work, but an environmental impact study will have to be completed first.

Council Member Lassen stated that she is seeking City Council approval to place a new poll on the city website seeking citizen input on whether or not a dog park is wanted or needed at Lancaster Park.

Mayor Braim announced that the Gassville In The Park Committee met recently and reviewed this year's festival held in June. The Committee wants to use revenue from the festival to assist with upgrades and improvements at the city park. They are asking the City Council to approve appropriating $4,000.00 from the Gassville In The Park account into the city park operation and maintenance budget for the purpose of continuing work on widening the walking trail. Council Member McFarland moved to authorize this appropriation as requested, which motion was seconded by Council Member Lassen. The Mayor called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the Mayor declared the motion carried.

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Moving on the unfinished business on the agenda, the City Council next took up consideration of Proposed Ordinance No. 2024-05 on its third reading. This proposed ordinance would adopt a revised personnel policy handbook. Prior to the third reading, Mayor Braim handed out another proposed revision dealing with employee uniform policy, pages 10 and 11. After discussion on that matter, Council Member Lassen moved to approve the uniform policy revision and include it in the new personnel policy handbook that will be adopted by passage of the ordinance. This motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland, with Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voting for the motion. The motion was carried.

Council Member Bird then moved to place Proposed Ordinance No. 2024-05 on its third and final reading by title only. The motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland. The Mayor called for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, 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 title of the proposed ordinance, entitled:

"ORDINANCE NO. 2024-05. AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE CITY OF GASSVILLE (2024) PERSONNEL POLICY HANDBOOK, SAFETY MANUAL, AND ARKANSAS ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE (AACP FOR POLICE DEPARTMENT) AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."

Council Member Lassen then moved to adopt the ordinance as read. This motion was seconded by Council Member Bird. The Mayor called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be carried and the ordinance adopted.

Under new business, the Mayor informed the City Council that sealed bids are still being sought for the sale of the fire department pumper and tanker that has been discussed at previous meetings. No bids from the current bid cycle have yet been received. If any bids are received, then a special meeting will be held on November 5, 2024 for the bid opening. However, before then Fire Chief Glotzl was asked to answer and discuss how the disposal of the tanker might impact the automatic aid agreements with other fire departments with respect to supplying water at fire scenes.

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Chief Glotzl stated he has spoken with the Fire Chiefs at Midway and Cotter-Gassville Rural. They are satisfied that the sale of the tanker would not cause insurmountable difficulties until such time as Gassville FD acquires a newer tanker. In fact, Chief Glotzl stated that those other departments indicated that having trained interior fire fighters from Gassville FD available to them is more important to those departments than having the tanker available.

Continuing under new business, the City Council took up consideration of Proposed Ordinance No. 2024-06 and Proposed Ordinance No. 2024-07, which would set commercial water and sewer user rates, fees, and deposit amounts. The water/wastewater committee made the recommendation for these, and as previously stated a brief public hearing was held on this matter prior to this meeting.

Council Member Bird moved to place Proposed Ordinance No. 2024-06 on its first reading. This motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland. The Mayor called for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, 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 ordinance in its entirety, entitled:

"ORDINANCE NO. 2024-06. AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH NEW COMMERCIAL WATER USER RATES AND COMMERCIAL WATER METER DEPOSIT FEES FOR THE CITY OF GASSVILLE WATER SYSTEM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."

Council Member Lassen then moved to place Proposed Ordinance No. 2024-07 on its first reading. This motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland. The Mayor called for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the Mayor declared the motion to be carried. Thereupon, Recorder-Treasurer Lewis read aloud the proposed ordinance in its entirety, entitled:

"ORDINANCE NO. 2024-07. AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH NEW COMMERCIAL SEWER USER RATES FOR THE CITY OF GASSVILLE WATER SYSTEM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."

Both proposed ordinances will return for a second reading at the next regular meeting in November.

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Mayor Braim then updated the City Council on various issues, to-wit:

1. As a follow-up to the discussion last month about the Baxter County 9-1-1 Call Center's operating revenue, Mayor Braim received information from Baxter County that the projected revenue for the 9-1-1 Center system for 2024 is $644,000.00. This is supplemented by County General revenue to provide an operating budget for the 9-1-1 Call Center.

2. The first batch of check stock used with the new CenterPoint accounting system has been depleted. New check stock has been received from First Security Bank at no cost to the city. Pre-existing (prior to CenterPoint) blank checks on several bank accounts are no longer needed and will be destroyed. A complete list of those including account name, account number, and beginning and ending check number range is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

3. Two proposals for inspecting and cleaning the inside of the city water tower tank have been received. The proposal from Kimery Painting is for $7,747.00. The proposal from MIDCO is for $4,651.00. Gassville's water source can be expected to be out of service for approximately five days while this inspection and cleaning takes place, during which time Gassville will have to purchase water from the Mountain Home water system. Council Member Lassen moved to accept the proposal from MIDCO and to authorize an appropriation from the Water Operation and Maintenance Fund in an amount sufficient to pay for that expense as well as the cost of water that is purchased from Mountain Home. This motion was seconded by Council Member McFarland. The Mayor called for discussion, then for the vote. Council Members Smith, McFarland, Lassen, and Bird voted for the motion. There were no nays, and the motion was declared to be carried. It was also noted that the outside of the water tower tank will soon need to be repainted as well.

4. With respect to the ongoing litigation over the new city well site, the Mayor stated he has just received some documentation from the Arkansas Department of Health, which will be reviewed with the attorneys.

5. Mayor Braim will be setting a budget work session sometime in November and will also be calling for a meeting of the parks committee.

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There being no further business to come before the City Council at this time, the meeting then adjourned at 7:28 PM upon motion of Council Member Bird, seconded by Council Member McFarland, with all members voting in favor.

Submitted by: /s/ Jeffrey Lewis,
Recorder-Treasurer

Approved by: /s/ Jeff Braim,
Mayor