City Council

Page 844 CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE October 7, 2024 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session Monday October 7, 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 Jerry Hudgens Sergeant at Arms Bullington Councilperson Lyons Councilperson Fales Councilperson Grable Councilperson Hood Councilperson Spence Councilperson Robinson Councilperson Glass 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 of September 16, 2024. Councilperson Hood motion for approval, second by Councilperson Robinson, with all in favor Councilperson Bullington motion for approval of the closed session minutes of September 16, 2024, second by Councilperson Hood, with all in favor. Councilperson Hood motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Glass, with all in favor. Mayor Grantham made mention of the Historic Water Tower Preparation and Painting of the Steel Water Tank Bid. The opening will take place at 3:00 p.m. Thursday October 10, 2024. The Council will have to have a special meeting to approve the contractor for the bid. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources issued to the Arts Council an Environmental Remediation Oversight Letter of Agreement (LOA) for the Exchange Building. The LOA is a part of the application process for the Brownsfield/Voluntary Cleanup Program, and the Exchange Building site has been accepted into the program. Police report; Chief Jerry Hudgens reported that city stickers will began being checked for being in compliant with the payment of taxes. Notice will be given in the coming weeks. There were 375 calls since the last meeting, and there were 69 reports entered. The Police department toured the new Century Casino facility, and discussed safety plans and procedures for response calls for service at the casino. The Wounded Blue Annual Law Enforcement Summit was attended by the Chief and Assistant Chief; the stories and training that took place will hopefully allow changes to take place within the  Page 845 department. A Safety meeting was attended at the Caruthersville schools in which a safety plan and protocols were gone over in the event of an incident where the police were called for a severe incident. The department is also preparing a short presentation that they will present to students and the public to inform them of the risk that come with using social media for threats and bullying. Humane report; Karol Wilcox reported the following since the last meeting: Intake 54 cats/kittens and 49 dogs/puppies, Adopted out 17 dogs/puppies and 16 cats/kittens, Euthanized 4. A plan is being worked on for the alarm systems and renovations to the outdoor kennels. With the clearing of the Madison area, it appears that there’s more coming in. The previous hoarder on Highland with over 30 dogs removed, now has over 40 dogs, and with the outside agencies being disaster deployed, they could remain long term. There are repeat offenders with dangerous dogs, they move the dogs, and bring them back after court; there will have to be an amendment to the ordinance to curtail the behavior. The Glow Golf Tournament is October 11, 2024 at the Country Club, and the Rabies Vaccine clinic will occur October 12, 2024 between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported the following calls: Walker Terrace; Occupant smelled gas with nothing found, Taven Apt.; Couch on fire next to dumpster, I55; Vehicle fire, Laurant; Food left on stove with minor damage to cabinet, County Rd. 524; Alarm malfunction, Truman; Alarm malfunction with cancellation before arrival, Truman; Alarm with nothing found, Brown; Alarm malfunction. Tornado drills were conducted at the Middle and High schools. Also will be conducting fire prevention at the Elementary school. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore presented a proposal from Flynn Drilling in the amount of $15,550.00 to place a temporary pump in the well to measure output, because of the trouble with the well discussed previously. The Council would like to wait and make a decision at the Special meeting Thursday October 10, 2024. Parks & Recreation; Lamonte Bell reported that the turnover for September was $5,232.70. There will need to be another extension for the bids for stalls and showers that will be covered by a grant. Kickball is ongoing and is doing well. Mr. Bell was approached by being on a Board by a committee on gun violence to try and curtail the gun violence. These members are from Charleston, Sikeston, and Hayti. Chief Hudgens and Councilperson Hood will be a part of this team. The Board would also like to get the support of the Council; the next meeting will be November 6, 2024, they will also start meeting at the Recreation Center from time to time. Also, there could possibly be some grant funding for the program. Library report; Tacara Sullivan was introduced as the Interim Library Director, Ms. Sullivan has hit the ground running, she will have a three months probationary period. She has been training the part time and full time new hires, and look forward to doing good things for the Library. Mayor Grantham stated the Library Board was short a member, and recommended Jane Fike as a new member. Councilperson Fales motion for approval, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Page 846 Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes City Collector report; Paige Gillock reported tax collections from September 1, 2024 through September 30, 2024 as follows: Real Estate $1,025.64 Personal Property $760.91 Miscellaneous $400.00 Total Taxes $1,824.15 Interest & Fees $362.40 Total Collections $2,186.55 Business From the Floor; Davida Nellums representing Carter’s Funeral Home was greatly appreciative of the repairing/pavement of Franklin. There was broken asphalt and debris that was left behind, and wanted to know if there was going to be a cleanup. Mayor Grantham assured her that it would be taken care of. Ms. Nellums was also concerned about the possible drain off to the funeral’s home property. The culvert that’s nearby seems to have a drainage problem, and possibly needs a grate to prevent further problems. The City will be looking into the drainage issue. Introduction to Bills; Counselor Dorroh introduced the following bill: BILL NO. 2024-07 ORDINANCE 2024-07 AN ORDINANCE RATIFYING A CONTRACT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE AND THE CARUTHERSVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND PERFORM SAID AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CIT Councilperson Bullington made mention that the Arts Council had been working on the Exchange Building prospects for over a year, and had obtained a $1,000,000.00 grant for the project. The project will go out for bid in the next few weeks, which would cost $2,500,000.00 dollars. The Arts Council also received $500,000.00 from the State, and tax credits of $500,000.00 to sale to businesses. This would be 70% on the dollar for the tax credits in donations, and the other 30% can be used for federal deductions. The Arts Council will have continuous fund raisers to make up for any differences in the financing of the project. The building itself will serve has a venue, and the home for the Arts Council. It will be a great opportunity for businesses to keep money within the community. Renovations should be taking place after the first of the year. Councilperson Grable motion for the first reading of the bill, second by Councilperson Glass with all in favor. Councilperson Glass motion for the second reading, second by Councilperson Hood, with all in favor. Councilperson Glass motion for passage, second by Councilperson Hood which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Councilperson Hood motion to adjourn, second by Councilperson Bullington, with all in favor. ATTEST: ____________________________ Mayor _____________________________ City Clerk