City Council

Page 795 CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE February 5, 2024 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session Monday February 5, 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 Hood Councilperson Spence Councilperson Robinson (Absent) Councilperson Glass Councilperson Bullington Councilperson Lyons Councilperson Fales Councilperson Grable 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 16, 2024. Councilperson Hood motion for approval, second by Councilperson Fales, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons made motion for the approval of the closed session minutes of January 16, 2024, second by Councilperson Glass, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Hood, with all in favor. The next order of business was changing the next meeting to Tuesday February 20, 2024 in observance of Presidents Day. Councilperson Bullington made the motion, second by Councilperson Lyons, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of the audit findings, second by Councilperson Bullington, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Dustin Price came before the Council with a contract concerning the Baseball Commission operations of the Sportsplex and its facilities. Mr. Price went on to say that he didn’t think that Page 796 Parks & Recreation wanted to take on the maintenance of the premises which would include spring prepping, clay work, game prepping for the Instructional League, and facility repairs. Also the emptying of trash receptacles, lawn care, bathroom, and supplies. Mr. Price also stated that the concession stand only generated enough to pay the umpires and the concession stand workers. Lamonte Bell stated that he thought there had been some confusion as to what role the Park Board wanted to play; that the Commission was doing a fine job. Michael Buttrom stated the Park Board just wanted oversight as to the financials that nothing had ever been furnished upon request. Councilperson Lyons stated that there was a time in which the program was funded by the City, but not currently. Mr. Buttrom was concerned about not being able to use the facilities when the Sportsplex was not in use. After more discussion, it was decided that Lamonte Bell, Dustin Price, Mayor Grantham, and Counselor Dorroh would meet to come to a resolution. Police report; Assistant Chief Terry Privett Swap Clock proposal was recommended by the Finance Committee to be implemented city wide with a one-time charge to be paid out of the Sales Tax fund, and a reoccurring fee invoiced by Thomas Speight and Noble. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval, second by Councilperson Grable which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes The GPS for the patrol vehicles was also recommended by the Finance Committee with a one- time hardware cost being paid out of the Sales Tax fund, and reoccurring costs coming from the General Fund budget. Councilperson Bullington motion for approval, second by Councilperson Hood which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Assistant Chief Privett reported that there were shootings over the weekend by juveniles. He would like to see the school, churches, police, juvenile officer, and the community to create a program geared towards an outreach for the youth. Humane report; Karol Wilcox reported that the Shelter’s license was renewed for another year. For the year end 2023 the intake was 796 animals, and 121 pit bulls were removed through rescues and adoptions. The aggressive ones had to be euthanized. As of January there was a carryover of 61 animals, intake 49, 27 taken to rescue, 21 adopted out, and six euthanized. The issue on Collins has been taken care of with the support of officers. After taking dogs off Madison, there was a Parvo outbreak, which was a deadly strand. There’s a quarantine, and sanitation taking place with more vaccinations. The Shelter is recommending that you get your dogs vaccinated with the Parvo vaccine. There will be a vaccine clinic February 20, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The Shelter will try and offer free vaccines in the meantime through grant funding. Most of our adoptions are out of state; there were 200 cats adopted out last year, with the expectation to double this year.  Page 797 Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported to responding to one call since the last meeting on Highland due to smoke from a barbecue grill in the house. There’s an in house training program for new hires instructed by Jess Cagle, Thomas Guest, and Paul Shaw. There will be a four hour course on electric vehicle fires in Hayti February 24, 2024. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported that the State inspector would be here Tuesday for the inspection of the Dispensary. Usually there’s a lag time for about a week; by the end of February it should be open. For the month of January the county brought in right at $50,000.00 due to the 3% tax, not including the 2.5% sales tax. The Levee well should be up and running once Vandeventer comes and install the control panel. Ameren and the electrician has done their part; another water source will be available soon. The GIS system is in place, and they have start pinning locations. The transfer station is closed for the foreseeable future. The nearest transfer stations are in Dexter and Mississippi County. The current plan is for Waste Pro to run two trucks daily; the grapple truck will continue to run also. The Finance Committee made recommendation for the gas pump Mcbox software to be paid out of the Sales Tax fund for a one- time charge with no reoccurring cost. Councilperson Bullington made the motion, second by Councilperson Lyons, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Parks & Recreation; Lamonte Bell reported having a great turnover for January in the amount of $16,214.23. The Red Cross will be at the Recreation Center February 9, 2024 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. There’s a basketball tournament February 10, 2024 starting at 10:00 a.m. February 29, 2024 The All American Circus will be coming back. The grant has come through with USDA for the showers and locker rooms. There hasn’t been a selection for the contractor; but if the lower bid isn’t selected there will have to be justification as to why they weren’t selected. Library report; Marsha Hayes reported that the tech classes on Thursdays are limited to 10 people. The Harry Potter Night turned out be a great success. Ms. Hayes signed up for 75 trees for the Neighborhood Forest Earth Day Program. Go to the Library’s website and sign up for a tree, there are 250 trees available to be planted in Pemiscot County. Troy Cummings will be at the Library all day February 21, 2024 and his book signing is from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for his book the Notebook of Doom. City Collector; Paige Gillock reported collections from January 1, 2024 to January 31, 2024 are as follows: Real Estate $55,417.71, Personal Property $23,627.38, Drainage Districts $3,460.78 Miscellaneous $10,917.22 with $9,169.72 being Tourism Tax, Total Taxes $91,855.94, Interest & Fees $1,567.15, Total Collections $93,423.09. Budget report; Councilperson Bullington made a motion to have all past and future payments to UMB for the bond service to come out of the Sales Tax Capital Improvement Fund. Councilperson Hood second the motion, with all in favor. Page 798 Business From The Floor; Don Jefferies was concerned about the rumors of being able to access the top of the tower by going up stairs and walking around, which is not true. Mr. Jefferies did say that the stairs going up to each of the five landings inside the brickwork stand that goes half way up the tower would enable you to look through the windows. Ms. Moore revisited the extra charges associated with her billing for the rod job at her residence, and felt that MACO should pay, since they called for the rod job. Mr. Gilmore stated that with the bill being in Ms. Moore’s name that he couldn’t bill MACO, that Ms. Moore had called also, and that the City had been to her residence on numerous occasions. Councilperson Lyons motion for MACO to be contacted to pay for the rod job, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Counselor Dorroh introduced a bill to secure grant funds through DRA on behalf of the City for Viserion for a ramp for better traffic flow. Councilperson Bullington motion for the first reading, second by Councilperson Hood with all in favor by title only as follows: BILL NO. 2024-01 ORDINANCE NO. 2024-01 AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A GRANT AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN THE DELTA REGIONAL AUTHORITY AND THE CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE FOR THE PURPOSE OF SECURING GRANT FUNDS Councilperson Lyons motion for the second reading, second by Councilperson Bullington, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for passage, second by Councilperson Glass, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Counselor Dorroh introduced a Resolution that would allow the City of Caruthersville to apply for an award with DRA for the Fiscal Year federal award program cycle. Councilperson Grable made the motion to designate Mayor Grantham to perform all duties and administration of said award, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes  Page 799 Councilperson Lyons made motion, second by Councilperson Bullington that in the event of an administration change the new Mayor shall continue to have such authority under the Resolution, resulting in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Councilperson Lyons motion to go into closed session for the purpose of personnel and real estate, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Upon returning from closed session, with no further business to come before the Council, Councilperson Lyons motion to adjourn, second by Councilperson Hood, which passed unanimously. ATTEST: ________________________________ Mayor __________________________________ City Clerk