City Council

CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE September 18, 2023 Page 759 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session Monday September 18, 2023 in the Council room of the Municipal Building at which time and place the following were present: Takella Motton City Clerk Lawrence Dorroh City Counselor Sue Grantham Mayor Tony Jones Sergeant at Arms Robinson Councilperson Glass Councilperson Bullington (Absent) Councilperson Lyons Councilperson Fales Councilperson Grable Councilperson Hood Councilperson Spence Councilperson The number of members necessary to consider a quorum being present, the Mayor called the meeting to order and announced the meeting was in session for the transaction of business. The first order of business was the approval of the regular session minutes for September 5, 2023. Councilperson Hood motion for approval, second by Councilperson Lyons with all in favor. Councilperson Grable motion for approval of the closed session minutes for September 5, 2023, second by Councilperson Hood with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Glass with all in favor. Police report; Chief Tony Jones reported that one of the vehicles in the fleet had 51,345 miles, and he turned it over to Jerry Hudgens in charge of maintenance. Mr. Hudgens stated that the vehicle in question was out of warranty with 9,756 engine hours, with the idle hours being at 321,961 miles. GM would charge $9,600.00 to repair the engine; and Mr. Hudgens asked someone local, that could do it cheaper with a couple of options. Councilperson Lyons motion to get an estimate, second by Councilperson Glass, which resulted in the following vote: Robinson Yes Glass Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Chief Jones stated that the crematory was in need of repairs, which could be done by B & L Cremation Systems Inc. in the amount of $2,879.00. Councilperson Hood motion for approval, second by Councilperson Glass, which passed unanimously.  Page 760 Chief Jones asked for the Public Safety Center parking lot to be sealed and striped by Precision Striping LLC in the amount of $8,800.00. Councilperson Grable motion for approval, second by Councilperson Fales, which would come out Sales Tax Capital Improvement, and passed unanimously. Chief Jones next request was for the canine to be brought in with expenses being paid by donors. There was discussion among the Council to table until everything was ironed out concerning expenses for the long haul. Councilperson Fales motion to table, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Robinson Yes Glass Absent Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Humane report; Karol Wilcox reported that a dog had been shot on West 4th St. by a nineteen year old, in which the police apprehended the individual with the gun. The dog is in the custody of the Shelter, and has been seen by a veterinarian, but its chances of survival are slim. The Department of Agriculture did their inspection, and the Shelter passed, but the back outside runs have to be redone with a fourth wall. There have been 73 pitbulls or mixes that have been taken off the streets of the City from January to date; 15 more animals have been taken in, with nine being adopted out and one owner redeemed. There are some events coming up, Sunday there’s an event “Blessing of the Animals” sponsored by Eastwood United Methodist church from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. All animals are welcomed as long as they’re contained or on a leash, there will be booths, animal look a likes, and other activities; all proceeds going to the Shelter. Also, October 11, 2023 at the Country Club there’s a nine hole three player scramble 50/50 raffle “Tees & Tails Glow Golf Tournament.” Registration is at 6:00 p.m. Tee off 6:30 p.m.; $75.00 per team, there’s also a $50.00 hole sponsorship which includes business logo on a sign at a tee box. Call Lisa McMahan for more details. October 14, 2023 the Eagles in Hayti will have an event for the Humane Shelter with a car show, costume contest, and other activities. Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported that there were six fire calls for the month of September, and only one was outside city limits, which was a grass fire on I55 September 16, 2023. Water report; Michael Epperson with Alliance Operations Report for August 2023 is a follows: Administrative/The eDMR was submitted, and the Compliance Monitoring Report for Groundwater Systems was completed and submitted. Treatment/The Third St Water operated normally, and the Treatment Plant is operating normally which is set to run in conjunction with the Third St Plant. The Wastewater Plant operated with a 94.5% BOD removal efficiency and a 98.3% TSS removal efficiency. Regulatory/There were eight Bac-T samples, and 34 Wastewater samples were taken and all passed DNR requirements. The yearly Whole Effluent Toxicity test was also completed at the Wastewater Plant. Collection & Distribution/There were 22 customer service orders, 54 line locates, three water leak repairs completed, and two meter setters replaced. A new junction box was installed at the S. Ward liftstation, and new level controls. The field was prepped for the land application of sludge at the Wastewater Plant. Safety/The Safety meeting was held on Lockout/Tagout and Electrical Safety. Repair Expenses were under budgeted by $4,862.00, and Chemical Expenses under budgeted by $1,153.00. A valve has to be installed on Locust & Madison; quotes are the following: G&C $5,571.00 Core & Main Page 761 $6,485.00 IMCO $7,400.00. Councilperson Hood motion to accept G&C proposal, second by Councilperson Lyons which resulted in the following vote: Robinson Yes Glass Absent Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported that Visu Sewer was back cameraing, cleaning, and lining sewer mains; there will have to be point repairs done also. Mowing is ongoing, and more Notices sent out. Liz Grove did come, and gathered all the information needed to make an assessment regarding the rate study. Utilities will have to be ran under the road, in which MODOT has a lot of stipulations to supply the marijuana facility. The truck stop looks like it will have to have a turning lane off of S. Ward, which also will be a MODOT stipulation. Councilperson Grable was concerned about the limbs and debris not being picked up in a timely manner. Mr. Gilmore explained that there had been breakdowns, and Waste Pro was trying their best to rectify the problem. Parks & Recreation; Lamonte Bell reported that the August turnover was as follows: Intake $5,435.55 Auto Draft $181.00 Interest $2.62 Total $5,619.77 Expenses $937.77 Turnover $4,681.40. Last week was the Casting Carnival with the Department of Conservation, which went extremely well. Tackle football has played a couple of games with the next one being a home game September 30, 2023 at the High School. Flag football will start tomorrow, and Kickball signups will be next. The swim team is doing well, but the pump is in need of repairs, which is being worked on. Water aerobics is also doing extremely well, hopefully the pump can be fixed, but Mr. Bell is being proactive in getting another one just in case it goes down. Paige Gillock reported that she had talked to the Chief about roadblocks for nonpayment of personal taxes. Collections from September 1, 2023 to September 18, 2023 are as follows: Real Estate $375.90 Personal Property $752.05 Miscellaneous $245.00 Total Taxes $1,072.97 Interest & Fees $299.98 Total Collections $1,372.95. Councilperson Lyons motion to go into close session for the purpose of personnel, and legal, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Robinson Yes Glass Absent Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Upon returning from closed session, and with no further business to come before the Council, Councilperson Grable motion to adjourn. Councilperson Hood second the motion, with all in favor. ATTEST: ___________________________________ Mayor ___________________________________ City Clerk