City Council

Page 792 CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE January 16, 2024 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session Tuesday January 16, 2024 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 Terry Privett Sergeant at Arms Spence (Absent) Councilperson Robinson Councilperson Glass Councilperson Bullington Councilperson Lyons Councilperson Fales Councilperson Grable Councilperson Hood 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 January 2, 2024. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval, second by Councilperson Grable with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Hood, with all in favor. Police report; Assistant Chief Terry Privett reported looking into GPS for the patrol cars with Verizon whom they already have an account with. The Assistant Chief found three cellular lines that were active but not in use, and terminated the services. He also found two wifi boxes on the account that were also terminated. Terminating the five services will save $204.95 a month, which will break even for the cost of the GPS service. Assistant Chief also looked at two options for timeclock management through Swipeclock in which the software is used by the City’s accounting firm. Consideration will be made once the Finance committee have their meeting. Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported responding to 16 calls for the month thus far. There were six structure fires, 4 alarm calls, 2 gas leaks, 1 vehicle fire, 1 dumpster fire, and 2 medical assists. Fire Recovery USA collected $2,125.31 for two out of town vehicle fires, which would have been $500.00 each under the old system. The Fire department will be cooking nights during the Grizzly Jig Spring Show February 1, 2024 through February 4, 2024. Temple Baptist Church has been operating a warming center for the City since last Friday; special thanks for their outstanding community support. Public Works; Michael Epperson Alliance Operations Report for month of December is as follows: Administrative/The Compliance Monitoring Report for Groundwater Systems was submitted to DNR. Treatment/The Third St. Water Plant operating normally, and the Wastewater Treatment Plant operated normally. Regulatory/There were eight Bac-T samples and 25 Wastewater samples taken and  Page 793 all passed. Collection & Distribution/There were 22 customer service orders, 10 inspections completed. Also, leaks were fixed on Hwy U and S Ward, and six service lines were rodded out. Mr. Epperson introduced the new Operation Manager Tyler Hall who took Dustin Sterling’s position. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported that the equipment had been ordered and the agreement signed for the GIS system. Mr. Gilmore gave accolades to Terry Privett and Jess Cagle with aiding with the clean up after the big leak on Washington and Henrietta. The company that came down from Cape Girardeau was instrumental in not having to shut down the water to repair the leak. At this time the Street department only has one snow plow. Mr. Gilmore would like to purchase a snowplow that can be attached to the City trucks at a cost of $7,400.00. The gas pumps are working normally, but an upgrade needs to be done for the logging. There’s a Mcbox standalone system that’s cloud based that can track fuel usage, and you would have to sign in with a passcode. The cost of the Mcbox would be $3,634.92. The snowplow, and the Mcbox will be considered once the Finance committee has their meeting. Library report; Marsha Hayes reported having received a $6,000.00 grant for summer reading. Hopefully the theater upgrade with the lighting will take place by mid-March. As for now, the tech classes are 10 per class. Ms. Hayes is also working on a grant to get help to teach the classes. City Collector; Paige Gillock reported the following collections from December 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 as follows: Real Estate $209, 607.87, Personal Property $78,136.28, Drainage Districts $6,683.00, Miscellaneous $2,765.00, Total Taxes $296,200.90, Interest & Fees $1,045.00, Total Collections $297,245.90. Collections for January 1, 2024 through January 16, 2024 as follows: Real Estate $37,027.27, Personal Property $16,615.11, Drainage Districts $965.00, Miscellaneous $1,020.00 Total Taxes $54,728.46, Interest & Fees $898.92, Total Collections $55,627.38. Budget report; Councilperson Lyons reported that when the Finance committee meets, they will be going over the findings from the audit. Councilperson Lyons motion to go into closed session for the purpose of legal, personnel, and real estate. Councilperson Bullington second the motion, which resulted in the following vote: Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Upon returning from closed session, Councilperson Lyons wanted to know if there was a problem with the General Fund. The City Clerk stated that the fund had gotten low, but a check was deposited to satisfy the difference, and the very next day the turnover was deposited in the amount of $317,000.00. The General Fund is standing at this time at roughly $457,000.00, and more deposits will be made to the General Fund from the Sales Tax Capital Improvement Fund in which expenditures were budgeted for. In addition there are also expenditures that were budgeted for the regular Sales Tax Fund that can be recouped to be deposited into the General Fund. Councilperson Grable made reference to posts made on Facebook concerning the Baseball Page 794 Commission. Councilperson Grable says that that the Commission was doing a wonderful job, and the Park Board didn’t have any problem as to how it was operating. The concession stand was the issue, and needed to be ran by the Recreation Center. Councilperson made reference to the letter of compliance in which the Commission should bring forth their financials to the Park Board, which was not being done. Councilperson Grable stated that the Board would be meeting on January 21, 2024 to discuss the concession stand. Councilperson Lyons stated if the Baseball Commission purchased the concession stand supplies, than the Recreation Center taking over the concession stand could pose a problem. Councilperson Lyons made motion to adjourn, second by Councilperson Hood, with all in favor. ATTEST: ________________________________ Mayor _______________________________ City Clerk