City Council

Page 848 CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE October 21, 2024 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session on Monday October 21, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. in the Council room of the Municipal Building at which time and place the following were present: Sue Grantham Mayor Takella Motton City Clerk Lawrence Dorroh City Counselor Jerry Hudgens Sergeant at Arms Robinson Councilperson Glass Councilperson Bullington (Absent) Councilperson Lyons (Absent) Councilperson Fales Councilperson Grable Councilperson Hood (Absent) Councilperson Spence 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 October 7, 2024. Councilperson Glass motion for approval, second by Councilperson Robinson, with all in favor Councilperson Glass motion for approval of the special session minutes of October 10, 2024, second by Councilperson Grable, with all in favor. Councilperson Grable motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Glass, with all in favor. Police report; Chief Jerry Hudgens report is as follows: 324 service calls and 54 incident reports. The Department will be hosting a Crisis Intervention Team training Wednesday October 23, 2024. Saturday October 19, 2024 the department along with the Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s office worked a case in which there were several arrests and citations issued for various traffic and non-traffic offenses. A fugitive was arrested with multiple active warrants. Within the next couple of weeks there will be a roadblock checking for city stickers, which will be advertised on Facebook and local media. Humane report; Karol Wilcox report is as follows: Intake; 46 cats/kittens and 41 dogs/puppies, Adopted out 12 dogs/puppies and 14 cats/kittens, Rescue 1, Euthanized 4, one litter of premature puppies died along with a dog that was attacked by other dogs. Traps are being priced, down to one dog trap, and two smaller animal traps. Removing dogs from Madison again, owner will be cited in court. Dangerous dogs have continued to be taken from a person on East 5th St., and there’s a person that breeds pure bred pits here in town that is from out of town. The Glow Golf Tournament was a huge success at nearly $8,000.00 thanks to Don Grable, Lisa McMahan, Century Casino, and the Country Club. Over 174 vaccines were distributed to dogs and cats at the Vaccine Clinic. The Blessing of the Pets was  Page 849 also a great event hosted by Eastwood Memorial United Methodist Church. The Shelter hosted an adoption event at Petsense in Sikeston, adopting out three dogs and seven cats. The Humane Shelter has been asked to assist with troublesome dogs in Hayti, which is by no means possible, with the Shelter’s already overwhelming intake. Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported seven calls since the last meeting as follows: Interstate 55; fuel leak from a tractor trailer, Brown Ave.; alarm malfunction, Beckwith; grill burning out of control, East 18th St.; alarm malfunction, 4th & Grand; grass fire in ditch, Belle Ave.; food left on stove with extensive damage to kitchen, Truman Blvd; vehicle fire being a total loss. A fire prevention program was Presented to Elementary and R3 schools. This month in house training will be “Haz-Mat Response”. There will be four firefighters attending the Marble Hill MO seminar for Firefighters Response to Active Shooter-Rescue Task Force & Casualty Collection Point. Public Works report; Alliance Operations Report for the month of September is as follows: Administrative/Submitted the eDMR and Compliance Monitoring Report for Groundwater Systems to DNR. Water/Wastewater Treatment; The Trojan UV system is back online at 50% efficiency. A scheduled technician will make sure whether it’s an electrical issue before parts are replaced to restore the system back to 100%. /AWR replaced the transducer in the 3rd St. Water Plant transfer basin. Regulatory/Eight Bac-T samples and 32 Wastewater samples were taken and passed DNR. Collection & Distribution/There were 37 work orders completed, and fixed leaks on the Levee well, Beckwith, 7th & Eastwood, 9th & Eastwood, Laurant, and Grand. Safety/Training for the month was “Defensive Driving”. Repair Expenses was under budget by $5,630.00 and Chemical Expenses under budget by $3,356.00. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported the following: Mowing has begun on the 100 notices that were sent out the first of October. All City lots have been mowed, hopefully this will be the end of the mowing season. Bid packages are available at City Hall for the house at 409 Grand, and the deadline for submission is November 1, 2024. The bids for the demolition of 311 Ward is as follows: Welch Hauling $150,000.00, Struck Excavating $74,990.00, and Dormer Excavation $101,000.00. Discussion ensued with the possibility of legal with Spence voting on the demolition with an amendment of abstention in the voting. Councilperson Grable motion for the lower bid of $74,990.00, second by Councilperson Fales, with the following vote: Robinson Yes Glass Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Abstain There was a Planning & Zoning meeting scheduled October 16, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. to discuss rezoning a property. There was a quorum, but the person that made the request didn’t appear to make an official request, so the matter was open ended. There was also a Board of Adjustment hearing at 4:00 p.m. for a requested variance on setbacks, with the petitioner not being present a default was entered denying the request. It was discussed that acceptable compromises would be looked at. The lead service line is underway. The first step will be excavating and examining connections in individual meter pits, which will require participation of residents. Waste Pro is instituting their 3.5% increase in annual rates along with the City’s 2.5% increase Page 850 taking effect October 1, 2024, which will be reflective on the November bill. There’s termite damage at one of the hangers at the airport. Mr. Gilmore will be obtaining additional bids for the treatment. Rogers Hydrant has provided a list and quote to repair some of the hydrants, a copy of the full report is in Chief Moss’ possession. Mr. Gilmore will be attending the MRWC conference for a couple of days during the last week in October. There were three street repairs done on October 17, 2024, with four more scheduled before the month is over. The Department will be replacing the stop sign in Reynolds Park, and will dig out ditch and clean culvert on Franklin. The Fiber Project continues with 9.8 miles of the 12 being laid. Locates have been called in to begin installing the vaults necessary to blow the fiber through the lines. Next, splicers will connect the fiber in the vaults, and at that point customers will be ready to contract for services. There have been delays on the business loop. PD Fiber is working with the Port on constructing a building necessary to complete the business route. Hopefully it will be completed within the next month, and customers will be able to sign up. Parks & Recreation report; Lamonte Bell September turnover report is as follows: Intake $6,962.56 Expenses $1,729.86 Turnover $5,232.70. The Seismic Swim Team will be hosting there second swim meet Saturday October 26, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. Library report; Tacara Sullivan report is as follows: The front sliding doors were repaired to correct a lock issue. Awaiting response from Summit Roofing on a leak on the roof, a new water heater was ordered, and a leak was corrected on the replacement windows towards the back of the Library. Randy Guest was reinstated as IT., and is troubleshooting the camera systems. The annual Wall of Distinction was a huge success, and also the Career Fair. There were students from R-3 School District that visited the Library, and was provided with a library card. DAR met held a ceremony for Samantha Manners who shared her citizenship journey, and the Girl Scouts held a recruitment. For Halloween there will be a Story time and activity October 29, 2024 and a Treat Bag Giveaway on October 31, 2024. The Kennett Job Center will host a Job Fair October 30, 2024, and Yoga/Geri Fit, Handicrafters Art Class, ACLU, and Counseling/Therapy with PCHS are all still active at the Library. Collector report; Paige Gillock collections from October 1, 2024 through October 21, 2024 is as follows: Real Estate $767.28 Personal Property $262.53 Miscellaneous $317.32 Total Taxes $1,128.34 Interest & Fees $218.79 Total Collections $1,347.13. The Delinquent Personal Taxes as of October 2024 is $159,862.24. Business From the Floor; Patty Ann Rodgers had concerns about her Water bill, in which she was provided with a report that showed her usage. Ms. Rodgers thought maybe something was wrong with her meter causing her to have high bills. Michael Apperson stated that he would have someone to got out to her residence to perform a test to see if there was something wrong with the meter. Mayor Grantham and Barry Gilmore will be accompanying. Councilperson Spence motion to go into closed session for the purpose of legal and personnel, second by Councilperson Robinson, which resulted in the following vote: Robinson Yes Glass Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes  Page 851 Spence Yes Upon returning from closed session Councilperson Grable motion to adjourn, second by Councilperson Robinson, which passed unanimously. ATTEST: ________________________________ Mayor _______________________________ City Clerk