City Council

Page 856 CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE November 18, 2024 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session on Monday November 18, 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 (Absent) Sergeant at Arms Hood Councilperson Spence Councilperson Robinson Councilperson Glass (Absent) 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 of November 4, 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. Next on the agenda was the General Municipal Election Notice from the County Clerk as follows: December 10, 2024 First day to file declaration of candidacy for April 8, 2025 December 31, 2024 Deadline for filing declaration of candidacy for April 8, 2025 January 28, 2025 Final certification deadline for April 8, 2025 March 12, 2025 Last day to register to vote for April 8, 2025 The sample agreement from Bootheel Regional Planning was gone over for PD Fiber, and will be implemented once all the financials are applicable. Barbara Merideth reported on Wreaths Across America status, at this time they are short 250 to 300 wreaths to cover all the cemeteries. December 14, 2024 is when the wreaths will be placed and ceremony held. The wreaths this year will be $17.00; donations can be monetary or the purchase of wreath(s). You can contact Barbara Merideth or Mayor Grantham for the forms for the wreaths. Humane report; Karol Wilcox report is as follows: Intake; 46 cats/kittens and 41 dogs/puppies, Adopted out; 17 dogs/puppies and 14 cats/kittens, Euthanized 4 animals, and two died, Owner redeemed; two animals. Took in 17 dogs/puppies and 7 cats/kittens. There will be a Police & Fire  Page 857 Committee meeting on December 16, 2024. Still awaiting work on the outside kennels, which will have to be done before winter sets in. Also, still awaiting installation of alarms and panic button. The camera for the limb pile needs repairing, and a water heater had to be purchased. The Shelter cleared seven puppies off Truman that were feral and five off of Ward Avenue. In the last two weeks the Shelter has responded to 37 calls and five unfounded. There was talk about pitbulls and other animals being present at City events; there will be a ban in the near future for any animals other than service animals at City events. The exception would be events catered to animals, but no dangerous animals as outlined in the City ordinance. Owners can be fined for not adhering to the ordinance. Fire report; Lynn Moss report is as follows: 11/2/24; Alarm malfunction at 18th & Compress, 11/3/24; Structure fire on Walker, 11/3/24; Alarm malfunction at 18th & Compress, 11/7/24; Structure Fire on Ferguson, 11/7/24; Alarm malfunction on East 18th St. There was in house training on basic fire- ground operations. Fire safety training for December 13, 2024 and December 14, 2024 was “Fire Response to Active Shooter.” Public Works/Alliance; Michael Epperson operations report for the month of October is as follows: Administrative/eDMR, compliance monitoring report for groundwater systems, and the quarterly compliance monitoring report were all submitted to DNR. Water & Wastewater Treatment/Both plants are running efficiently, new probes were purchased to ensure accurate process control and DNR compliance. The staff along with Cogent restored service to the downed lift station pump, and the transducer and control board was also replaced. Regulatory/There were 8 Bac-T samples and 29 wastewater samples taken, and all passed DNR. The UV system was partially restored so the E-coli numbers didn’t pass DNR for the month of September. Collection & Distribution/Alliance completed 72 work orders, completed a new service tap for water and sewer, repaired four service lines, and repaired a main break with the assist of crews from St. Genevieve. Safety/The safety topic for the month was Excavation Safety & Proper Digging Procedures. Repair expenses were under budget by $7,084.00, and Chemical expenses were under budget by $5,579.00. The Lead Line Service Survey that was mailed out had the wrong return address with people thinking it’s not legitimate, but it is. Under the EPA every town in the U.S. has to an inventory of their service lines to determine if it’s lead, galvanized, unknown, or not lead. Letters were sent out to identify what the customer owns. An outside contractor will be identifying the materials from the City and the customer side of the meter. Eventually there will be someone going door to door to residents to identify those materials. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore presented to the Council the proposal from Flynn Drilling for the well #6 at the Water Plant on Third St. in the amount of $40,490.50. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval, second by Councilperson Grable, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Page 858 Grable Yes Mr. Gilmore received all the paperwork from Strack Excavating for the demolition of 311 Ward Avenue. This demolition can occur before the Christmas parade or after, and when Mayor Grantham signs off on the contract. Councilperson Bullington motion to award the contract authorizing the Mayor to sign off, second by Councilperson Hood, resulting in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Abstain Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Mr. Gilmore will be getting another estimate for the termite extrication at the Hangers, before making a decision on the company for extermination. Councilperson Bullington made mention that there were holes down at the river in which cones had been placed, and they removed the cones and put in stones and something to cover them up so they wouldn’t take away from the Christmas trees. Mr. Gilmore stated that they were water meters where trucks had ran over, but they will redo the boxes and put a metal cap on to be able to locate. Parks & Recreation; Lamonte Bell report is as follows: Intake $4,753.53 Expenses $1,213.99 Turnover $5,967.52. Collector report; Paige Gillock’s collections from November 1, 2024 to November 18, 2024 is as follows: Real Estate $54,904.90 Personal Property $20,236.63 Miscellaneous $1,875.00 Total Taxes $75,464.74 Interest & Fees $1,549.78 Total Collections $77,014.52 Mayor Grantham presented to the Council the renewal rate for MOPERM as being $312,659.00 with the last year rate at $317,249.00, and entertained a motion for acceptance. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval, second by Councilperson Grable, which resulted in the following vote: Hood Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes New Business; Housing Authority will be reducing their Security Policing Progam Funds to $52,500.00 a year as opposed to $105,000.00 a year. Chief Hudgens will need to go over the agreement, and Counselor Dorroh stated that there should be officer rather than officers clarified within the contract. With no further business to come before the Council, Councilperson Bullington motion to adjourn. Councilperson Lyons second the motion, with all in favor.  Page 859 ATTEST: _________________________________ Mayor ______________________________ City Clerk