City Council

Page 764 PUBLIC HEARING City of Caruthersville The City of Caruthersville conducted a Public Hearing Monday October 2, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. in the Council room of the Municipal Building at which time and place the following were present: Mitzi Dell, Jonathan Brotz, Paige Gillock, Paul Shaw, Karol Wilcox, Tony Jones, Lynn Moss, Jordan Brotz, Teresa Tidwell, Trina Hollomon, Barry Gilmore, Leighan Fales, Takella Motton, Luther Robinson, Paul Glass, Jennifer Spence, Sue Grantham, Lawrence Dorroh, Don Grable, J J Bullington, Terry Privett, and Jerry Hudgens. The purpose of the hearing was to inform the public of the progress of the Sewer Mitigation CDBG project and the Street & Drainage CDBG project. The Sewer Mitigation project has been going on for two years, and the main scope of work is complete. There is $684,000.00 remaining for the project; Rich Cochran with Waters Engineering and Visu Sewer is working on a change order to do the extra work. Close out should be by spring. The Street & Drainage project is over half way done, there’s $159,000.00 left with the City’s in kind of $70,000.00 to be put forth. There may be a little left over, will continue working to see what comes about. Mitzi Dell stated that all obligations had been met and asked if there were any questions, and there were none. Councilperson Lyons motion to close the hearing, second by Councilperson Glass, with all in favor. CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE October 2, 2023 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session Monday October 2, 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 Spence Councilperson Robinson Councilperson Glass Councilperson Bullington Councilperson Lyons Councilperson Fales Councilperson Grable Councilperson Hood (Absent) 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 18, 2023. Councilperson Grable motion for approval, second by Councilperson Glass all in favor with Councilperson Bullington abstaining.  Page 765 Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of the closed session minutes for September 18, 2023, second by Councilperson Robinson all in favor with Councilperson Bullington abstaining. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Glass with all in favor. Next on the agenda was Duane Herbert, Operations Manager with Waste Pro introducing Jon Snyder the new Divisional Vice President. Mr. Snyder has been in his position for five months, and looks forward to working with the City. Duane Herbert wanted to address any issues or problems that the community may be having with Waste Pro. Lawrence Dorroh stated that Marilyn Dr. pick up was usually on Thursday, but now on Friday and sometimes Saturday or the next week. Mr. Snyder stated that Waste Pro was getting additional resources to the Blytheville site with trucks and staffing. At this point they are over staffed and will continue to be so. There is also an extra claw truck for the Blytheville location. Waste Pro was contracted to work Tuesday through Thursday, but actually works Monday through Friday to help keep the City clean. A lot of people in the community inquired of Macario working on the garbage truck, and not the claw truck. Mr. Herbert guaranteed Macairo would be back on the claw truck once his father-in law is moved to another position within the company. There was a question about the turnaround time for the pickup of debris. Mr. Herbert stated that Waste Pro was contracted to pick up a certain tonnage, and the City was over twice as much, but have cleaned up areas in spite of. Some of the citizens will put their debris on vacant lots instead of their property. Waste Pro will be issuing flyers about rules and regulations again so that people aren’t missed. Safety is of paramount importance, they give $10,000.00 every three years to drivers and $5,000.00 to the sanitation workers in safety bonuses. If trash is near a pole, fence, or mailbox, it may not get picked up, because the employee is responsible for the first $1,000.00 if there are damages. Unfinished business; Councilperson Grable stated that he had got a quote from ASA for speed bumps that are built up 20” wide and 20” high. Turns out that there were more against the speed bumps than for on Playground Rd. Paige Gillock stated that there was a petition that went out that was clearly a runaway for being against the speed bumps on Playground Rd. Assistant Chief Privett stated a solution could be a hand held radar to combat the speeding on Playground Rd. and other areas. Assistant Chief Privett gave a quote to the Mayor that will be reviewed at a later date. Police report; Chief Tony Jones reported that the department had gotten a call Thursday about a stolen vehicle coming from Dyersburg. Officers responded to the call, and Jerry Hudgens Sr. pulled over the vehicle on I55. As Chief Jones was approaching, he saw the driver dragging Hudgens down the interstate, and Hudgens broke loose, with the driver continuing to drive. He was eventually forced off the road and apprehended. Jerry Hudgens Sr. suffered injuries, and will return to work once he is released by the doctor. Councilperson Bullington revisited the canine issue, and stated that the Finance Committee didn’t think the City could afford the expense of the canine nor the liability during their meeting. With the expense of the upkeep of the dog and the equipment being taken care of by donors and the County giving the equipment for the vehicle, and the City assuming the insurance it would be plausible to put the dog into commission. Councilperson Bullington made the motion, second by Councilperson Page 766 Robinson, which resulted in the following vote: Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Budget; Councilperson Bullington made motion to adopt the budget with the addition of the budget amendments from the last meeting. Councilperson Glass made the second motion, which resulted in the following vote: Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Humane report; Karol Wilcox reported that the dog that had been shot was recovering, but the bullet was still in the cavity of its chest, and has been adopted. For the month of September the following occurred: Intake 43, Owner redeemed 5, Adopted 16, Rescued 4, and Euthanized 2. In house is 106, and they are still working three areas. Six of the puppies have been retrieved from the black dog that has been at Farm Bureau. The dog still has one of the puppies, and has been ditching in out of the culverts. Blessing of the Animals was a huge success, The Glow in the Dark Golf Tournament is underway, and Eagles in Hayti will be having their Fall event in October in support of the Shelter. There will also be an adoption event at Pet Sense in Sikeston October 21, 2023. The outdoor kennels were finished with the new specifications. There was a complaint after picking up a dog that was badly matted; the dog will be treated and kept until the courts make a decision about the owner. Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported that during the month of September there were 10 calls that were responded to. Three of which were out of town as follows: 9/16/23 Grass fire on I55, 9/21/23 Tractor on fire on County Rd 436, 9/24/23 Overturned vehicle with entrapment on Highway D. Training for the month was preplanning at Caruthersville Gin in preparation for the ginning season, and Hose Practices for the new recruits at Century Casino. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported two point repairs are being done on East 14th, and Visu Sewer is ongoing with their tasks. Asbestoses checks were done, and more houses will be torn down soon. Councilperson Bullingtion inquired about the buildings on Ward. The Ben Franklin building is not tied to the structural report, but the Davis building preliminary report hasn’t been issued as of yet. Discussions have been made concerning the Ben Franklin building with working towards tearing down the building by the owner. Business From the Floor; Trina Hollomon wanted to make sure that the speed bumps on Playground Rd. was a no go, and that it wouldn’t be coming up again. Councilperson Grable responded by saying he wasn’t out to sway any vote, and wouldn’t bring the matter up again. Councilperson Lyons motion to go into closed session for the purpose of legal, second by  Page 767 Councilperson Glass, which resulted in the following vote: Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Upon returning from closed session, Councilperson Lyons motion to make a budget amendment to add $4,000 to Administration Miscellaneous. Councilperson Bullington second the motion, which resulted in the following vote: Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Councilperson Lyons motion to close, second by Councilperson Glass, with all in favor. ATTEST: _______________________________ Mayor ______________________________ City Clerk