City Council

CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE October 16, 2023 Page 769 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session Monday October 16, 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 Grable (Absent) Councilperson Hood Councilperson Spence Councilperson Robinson Councilperson Glass (Absent) Councilperson Bullington Councilperson Lyons Councilperson Fales 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 October 2, 2023. Councilperson Bullington motion for approval, second by Councilperson Hood with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of the closed session minutes for October 2, 2023, second by Councilperson Bullington with all in favor. Councilperson Hood motion for approval of special session for October 9, 2023, second by Councilperson Lyons with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Hood with all in favor. Julie Coppage presented to the Council some of the things that some of the team members of the Pickle Ball team have been doing. Ms. Coppage has been playing pickle ball on and off for about three years. There are currently about 45 members of all genders and ages, and they play Monday and Thursday nights on the tennis courts. There are only a few designated pickle ball courts in the area, which include Sikeston, MO, Jackson TN, Jonesboro AR, and Memphis TN. The team has participated in raising money for St. Jude, and just recently participated in a tournament of over 100 people. With pickle ball being the fastest growing sport nationwide the participation level within the City will continue to grow. The members are requesting for the City to seek grant opportunities to construct a Pickle Ball court. Councilperson Bullington motion to seek grants for a pickle ball court, with the City in kind coming out of Sales Tax Capital Improvement. Councilperson Lyons second the motion, which resulted in the following vote: Page 770 Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported that during the month of October the Fire department has responded to 12 calls as of to date. There were four calls that were grass fires along the interstate, and two mutual aids from Hayti. The training for October will be Ventilation Practices and Salvage & Overhaul. There will be fire prevention programs for the next two weeks at the Caruthersville Elementary and McCarty R3 schools. The Fire department will also be a participant of the Trunk or Treat Fall Festival on Halloween. Library report; Marsha Hayes reported that the roof had been repaired, the biweekly story time was every Thursday, and they are now holding two exercise classes at 10:00 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Gary Lucy will be show casing his Muriel at the Library until the Exchange building is finished, and the Library will be giving out trick or treat bags after the parade. Councilperson Fales reported that Teddy Cheek stated at the last meeting the full board had met, and they had gotten a lot of things accomplished, and thought that Marsha Hayes was doing a great job as Director with getting grants, and the upkeep of the Library. Things were addressed that were wrong, and measures were taken to handle the situation. The Planning & Zoning Commission met October 9, 2023 regarding the Historic Preservation and Restoration Code in making the City a certified local government. The Commission is recommending to the Council a vote of approval for the code in being set as priority in the grant process with Bootheel Regional Planning Commission seeking funds on behalf of the City for the water tower. Counselor Dorroh stated that the next step would be to have a Public Hearing November 6, 2023 for an amendment to the zoning ordinance. Councilperson Hood motion to set the Public Hearing for November 6, 2023, second by Councilperson Lyons, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Police report; Chief Tony Jones reported that they would be giving their annual $1,500.00 towards the Trunk or Treat Fall Festival. The Police department will be putting in some overtime in investigations of the recent robberies of businesses. A Prescription Drug Store in New Madrid was robbed by going in through the roof, and a gun store in Dyersburg, apparently by a ring. Humane report; Karol Wilcox reported that the Glow in the Dark Golf Tournament brought in $6,000.00 for the Shelter, and the event in Hayti also went well. There were dogs adopted out to five states, and the push for now for the next two weeks will be for the cats. Traps have been put out in the Greenwell/Playground area for the dogs that have been a nuisance. Assistant Chief Terry Privett provided to the Council a proposal for 10 body cams in the amount of $14,000.00. This package would include a desktop, ten terabytes of external storage, 10 position docking stations and retention software. Councilperson Lyons stated that the bodycams were in the  Page 771 the budget. Councilperson Bullington motion for approval, second by Councilperson Robinson, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Assistant Chief Privett inquired about the SRO’s having the same benefits as other SRO’s in the surrounding areas with being off and getting paid during the school breaks except for the summer. Councilperson Bullington alluded to the fact of seeing something in writing stating the terms of their agreement. Councilperson Hood motion to table until information is gathered, second by Councilperson Lyons, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Assistant Chief Privett invited the Council out to look at the Evidence building before evidence is put in, the building is in its final stages of completion. It also looks like Flock Safety will be sending a refund that the department has been contending with them about for a while. Water report; Dustin Sterling with Alliance will be relocating, and expressed his appreciation with working with the City. Michael Epperson Operation Report for the month of September is a follows: Administrative/ eDMR was submitted and also the quarterly. The Compliance Monitoring Report for Groundwater Systems was also submitted to DNR. Treatment/ Third Street Water Plant operating normally, Industrial Treatment Plant also operating normally running in conjunction with the Third Street Plant. The Wastewater Treatment Plant operating with a 95.8% BOD removal efficiency and a 98.8 % TSS removal efficiency, and currently in the process of land application of sludge at the Wastewater Plant. Regulatory/ There were eight Bac-T samples taken, which required a repeat sampling, and they passed. Collection & Distribution/There were 23 customer service orders, 37 line locates, repaired a leak, and leaking flush line was disconnected from a flush box manhole. The 15th Street Industrial Water Tower was drained, cleaned, and inspected. For the month of August Repair Expenses were under budget by $9,723.00 and Chemical Expenses over budget by $1,665.00. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported that new plates were being ordered for City vehicles, Water and sewer taps are scheduled for Tuesday October 17, 2023 for the Good Day Farm Facility. Visu Sewer is continuing filming and cleaning sewer lines, point repairs were done on East 13th & 14th St., old flush boxes were removed and replaced with manholes, and concrete for several projects is being poured starting today. Mowing continues, and the lot behind the cemetery dead tree has been removed. The two old Ameren substations should undergo demolition soon. MODOT will be meeting with John Chittenden and Barry Gilmore this week to discuss turn lanes at the truck site on South Ward/84. Page 772 Parks & Recreation; Lamonte Bell reported having a slow month in part with the pool being down. Intake was $2,987.49 Expenses $575.20 Turnover $2,412.29. Mr. Bell will be picking up the motor for the pool in Ste Genevieve in the morning, and it turns out that the wrong motor has been put in for a number of years; horizontal instead of vertical. The days of the pump going down every six months should be behind us. Kickball signups have started, and flag football is on ongoing at the High School. Collector report; Paige Gillock collections from October 1, 2023 to October 16, 2023 are as follows: Real Estate $616.99 Personal Property $274.26 Miscellaneous $523.11 Total Taxes $1,217.69 Interest & Fees $196.67 Total Taxes $1,414.36. The tax statements will be going out before the next meeting. Budget report; Councilperson Lyons presented to the Council Missouri Lagers Supplemental Valuation cost study, which will be available for public inspection upon request. The Finance committee will be meeting to discuss any possible changes to the retirement benefits. New Business; Mayor Grantham reported that the City had already received a donation for the CPD K9 Fund, and needed to open up an account for the purpose of accepting donations towards the upkeep of the police dog. The Signatories would be Sue Grantham, Jimmy Lyons, J J Bullington, and Paul Glass. Councilperson Lyons motion to open up the account, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Introduction to Bills; Counselor Dorroh introduced a bill that would approve broadband construction agreement between the PD Fiber LLC and the City. Councilperson Lyons motion for the first reading by title only, second by Councilperson Bullington, with all in favor as follows: BILL NO. 2023-10 ORDINANCE 2023-10 AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A BROADBAND CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT Councilperson Lyons motion for the second reading, second by Councilperson Hood with all in favor. Councilperson Bullington motion for passage, second by Councilperson Lyons which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Councilperson Hood motion to go into closed session for the purpose of personnel and legal, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes  Page 773 Lyons Yes Fales Yes Upon returning from closed session, and with no further business to come before the Council, Councilperson Lyons motion to adjourn. Councilperson Hood second the motion, with all in favor. ATTEST: _______________________________ Mayor ______________________________ City Clerk