City Council

Page 780 CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE December 4, 2023 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session Monday December 4, 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 (Absent) Mayor Terry Privett Sergeant at Arms Bullington Councilperson Lyons Councilperson Fales (Absent) Councilperson Grable Councilperson Hood Mayor Pro Tem Spence Councilperson Robinson Councilperson Glass Councilperson The number of members necessary to consider a quorum being present, the Mayor Prom Tem 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 November 20, 2023. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval, second by Councilperson Glass with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of the closed session minutes for November 20, 2023, second by Councilperson Grable with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Grable, with all in favor. NOTICIE OF GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE PEMISCOT COUNTY, MISSOURI Notice is hereby given to the qualified voters of the City of Caruthersville, Pemiscot County, Missouri, that a General Municipal election will be held on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, beginning at six o’clock a.m. and closing at seven o’clock p.m. of said day. Offices open to candidates for the year 2024 are as follows: City Marshal 2 year unexpired term City Collector 2 year term City Treasurer 2 year term Councilperson Ward I 2 year term Councilperson Ward II 2 year term Councilperson Ward III 2 year term Councilperson Ward IV 2 year term Page 781 Any person desiring to file as a candidate for the above-mentioned offices may do so by filing a Declaration of Candidacy in the City Clerk’s office in the Municipal Building at 200 West Third beginning December 5, 2023 through December 26, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On the opening day of filing, the City Clerk’s office will be open the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Approval of Christmas Eve by being off on Friday December 22, 2023; no action taken, offices will be open. Unfinished Business; The Police department presented a body cam policy that would provide coverage of incidents unless otherwise that was private to an individual in which it would have to be recorded by the body cam to not to proceed to record by the individual. Counselor made amendment to the policy that any release of the body cam records would have to be done by authorization of the Chief of Police in consultation with the City Attorney, and only released upon court order or as required by law. Councilperson Bullington made motion to adopt, second by Councilperson Lyons, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Police report; Assistant Chief Terry Privett made reference to Reverend Jim Tom Pilcher as being the Police department Chaplain for a number of years, and wanting to make it official. Councilperson Lyons made the motion for the appointment of Reverend Jim Tom, second by Councilperson Bullington, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes The Shop With A Hero Event will be December 5th and 6th 2023 with the Police and Fire department participating in the event; proceeds are from donors and the Highway Patrol. On December 12, 2023 the Police department will be participating in the Shop With A Cop Event. They’re seeking applicants for six open positions within the Police department. Due to logistic issues with the river, Arcosa made contact with the department, and the Police will be shutting down the portion of Highway 84 and the Extended encompassing Arcosa off and on for a couple of weeks. There will be semis driving to get to point A to point B, which will be upon every hour until the loads are completed. Humane report; Karol Wilcox reported that they had been actively tracking on Greenwell, Playground Rd, and Grand. Grand has a major problem with 12 to 15 adult feral dogs which are on two properties with three sheds. There were eight dogs trapped off Grand, two off Greenwell, and two off East 19th St. Procedures have to be followed with stray holds, but the owners probably will not claim. There’s a canine infectious respiratory disease that’s within the U. S. and it’s fatal. It’s bacterial, and they’re advising people not to have nose to nose contact and extended stays around dogs you don’t  Page 782 know. The disease is within 15 states, and Missouri is not one, the closest being Illinois. Interstate transport will eventually be shut down, which will hamper Rescues and Adoptions. Make sure your dogs are boosted. Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported that there were five calls so far for the month of December as follows: Two structure fires, two alarm calls, and one vehicle fire. The Fire department will help with the Shop With A Hero Event. They will also be participating with the Community Food Drive at the Pemiscot County Courthouse on December 5, 2023. They also will participate with Shop With the Cop Event. Parks & Recreation; Lamonte Bell reported that the pool had been down again, but hope to have it up and running by the end of the week. Customer Appreciation will be December 9, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and kickball has started. Councilperson Grable made mention that a propeller for the motor for the pool was being looked into. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported that there’s a trash problem within the City with 40 to 60 percent of the trash cans are non-compliant, which slows down the pickup. They will be addressing the issues after Christmas with the best solutions to the problem. The well will be back online once the electrician comes back and finish up with his part. The starter on the generator near the lift station was repaired, with all the generators being operable. The gas pumps are being worked on; the hand log was gone through to see who made the purchases. The fiber has been moving down Truman, and people are removing flags from their yards, which could lead to expensive and dangerous consequences; don’t remove the flags. Mr. Gilmore provided estimates for a copier for the Water department and recommends GFI with it being the lowest bid with service agreement. Councilperson Bullington motion for approval, second by Councilperson Glass, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes City Collector; Paige Gillock reported collections for the month of November as follows: Real Estate $84,189.96 Personal Property $34,549.46 Drainage Districts $290.00 Miscellaneous $1,856.00 Total Taxes $120,403.68 Fees & Interest $481.74 Total Collections $120,885.42. Insurance; MOPERM renewal is up with an increase of 7.2 percent for liability and 20 percent for property; the inflation adjustment rate applied to structures is 10 percent. The renewal pricing for 2024 will be $317,249.00. Councilperson Bullington motion for approval, second by Councilperson Grable, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes New Business; Conexon Agreement; all requirements have been made for the grant for the Page 783 design services, and they will be soliciting contracts for the actual construction at a later date. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval with the authorization of the Mayor to execute on behalf of the City, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Business From the Floor; Councilperson Bullington was concerned about the perception of the City of Caruthersville as being a dangerous place. The incident that happened at the Gideon tournament caused the School District being suspended from the Bootheel Conference from the remaining of the year. Caruthersville was not playing, and had long left the tournament when the brawl took place, but with past incidents the Conference came to the conclusion to suspend Caruthersville. Caruthersville could possibly still play if the schools within the Bootheel Conference or other schools agree to play with limited access to tickets. The hope is that the community will get involved to change the perception of Caruthersville. Introduction to Bills; Counselor Dorroh made reference to the draft of the bill from the last meeting for the historic preservation and restoration code, and stated that first reading by title only was in order. Councilperson Grable motion for first reading, second by Councilperson Lyons, with all in favor as follows: BILL NO. 2023-11 ORDIANCE 2023-11 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE IV OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE TO ADD A NEW CHAPTER 420 RELATING TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION Councilperson Lyons motion for the second reading, second by Councilperson Glass, with all in favor. The question being will the bill pass and become law; Councilperson Lyons motion to adopt. Councilperson Grable second the motion, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes With no further business to come before the Council, Councilperson Hood motion to adjourn. Councilperson Lyons second the motion, which passed unanimously. ATTEST: _______________________________ Mayor Pro Tem ________________________________ City Clerk