City Council

Page 892 CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE May 5, 2025 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session on Monday May 5, 2025 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 Bullington Councilperson Lyons Councilperson Fales Councilperson Grable Councilperson Hood Councilperson Spence (Absent) Councilperson Robinson Councilperson Glass (Absent) 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 April 22, 2025. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval, second by Councilperson Robinson with all in favor. Councilperson Bullington motion for approval of the closed session minutes of April 22, 2025, second by Councilperson Lyons, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for the special session minutes of April 28, 2025, second by Councilperson Grable, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for the closed session minutes of April 28, 2025, second by Councilperson Bullington, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval for the reports and bills, second by Councilperson Bullington, with all in favor. Next on the agenda was the City appointments as follows: City Clerk/Takella Motton, Court Clerk/Nyoka Rushing, City Counselor/Lawrence Dorroh, Municipal Judge/Kim Carter, City Engineer/John Chittenden, City Code Enforcement/Barry Gilmore, Building Commissioner/John Ferguson, City Prosecutor/Lawrence Dorroh, Emergency Manager/Charlie Jones Councilperson Bullington motion for approval, second by Councilperson Grable, with all in favor. The Department Head appointments are as follows: Fire Chief/Lynn Moss, Police Chief/Jerry Hudgens, Public Works/Barry Gilmore, Recreation Center Director/Lamonte Bell, Librarian/Tacara Sullivan  Page 893 Councilperson Grable motion for approval, second by Councilperson Hood, with all in favor. The City Council Committees are as follows: Finance/Jimmy Lyons, JJ Bullington, Johnny Hood, Paul Glass; Police & Fire/Johnny Hood, Don Grable, Jennifer Spence, Leighan Fales; Street & Sanitation/ Luther Robinson, Don Grable, Paul Glass, Jennifer Spence; Water & Waste Water/Paul Glass, Luther Robinson, JJ Bullington, Jimmy Lyons; Insurance/Jennifer Spence, JJ Bullington, Leighan Fales, Luther Robinson; Diane Sayer Recreation Center/JJ Bullington, Jimmy Lyons, Johnny Hood, Paul Glass, Don Grable, Leighan Fales, Jennifer Spence, Luther Robinson, Sue Grantham Councilperson Lyons motion for approval, second by Councilperson Robinson, with all in favor. Counselor Dorroh made mention of the proposed contractual agreement with Tri State Properties Group LLC for the sale of all Lot 4 in the Caruthersville Industrial Park subdivision for the purchase price of $75,000.00. Also, the former Brown Shoe property proposed contractual agreement with Bootheel Management LLC for the purchase price of $30,000.00. Both will be inclusive with the vote on Ordinances 2025-10 and 2025-11. Police report; Chief Jerry Hudgens reported that several of the officers attended Mental Health Training classes. There were 397 calls for service, and 68 reports that were processed. The appointments for the police department are as follows: Office Clerk/Keri Forrester, Assistant Chief/Tony Jones Captain Shift Supervisor/Jeremy Darnell, Captain Housing Supervisor/Chris Thacker Lieutenant SRO/Bryan Burgess Sergeant Chief Investigator/Jesse Johnson, Sergeant Shift Supervisor/Shane Wiseman, Corporal Shift Supervisor/Corey Vaughn, Coprporal Shift Supervisor/John Brotz, Corporal/James Beaver, Assistant Investigator/Michael Sanders, SRO DARE/Montoya Covington, Patrolman/Jonathan Grays, Joshua Carter David Ward, Derek Methenia, Rodney Jackson, Joseph Pattillo, Ethan Kruger PT Patrolman/Jake Mitchell, Kevin Ables, Kaleb Johnson, Torrance Akins, Bryan Lacy, Katlynn (Steers) Evans. Councilperson Lyons motion for approval, second by Councilperson Hood, with all in favor. Humane report; Karol Wilcox reported that 17 animals had been removed from two residences, and were drove straight to Illinois. The Shelter has started their zero tolerance policy, everyone had a chance to get their tags and rabies shots Saturday. If there’s any dealing with dogs in any fashion, and they don’t have a tag or rabies shot, the owner will be ticketed. Trappings were concentrated on 11th and 12th Street, Grand, and Laurant. The 5K had 115 participants, and there were 153 dogs vaccinated at the Rabies Clinic. Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported four fire calls as follows: 4/16/25; Vehicle fire on Route U at Stubtown, 4/16/25; Grass fire on Route U West of Stubtown, 4/19/25; Fire reported as structure fire on Grand, 4/30/25; Brush pile on fire on Truman. Training for the month was the use of a hose roller, and there will be hose testing on all apparatus. The appointments are as follows: Assistant Chief Engineer/Kevin Curtis Captain/Randy Guest Lieutenant/ Jerry Hudgens Sr. Lieutenant/Troy Meales Engineer/James Rushing Engineer/Jim Lyons Fireman/Ron Warren, Tony Smith, Terry Rushing, Michael Coleman, B. T. Merideth, Thomas Guest, Paul Shaw, Brian Shelton, Jerry Hudgens Jr., Ross Pilcher, Jimmy Lyons, Dustin Drumright, Brock Pilcher, Jessica Meales, Corey Vaughn, Devan Ford. Page 894 Councilperson Grable motion for approval, second by Councilperson Hood all in favor, with Councilperson Lyons abstaining. Councilperson Grable inquired about the sirens not being heard at Riverview by the levee. Chief Moss stated that East Haven also has trouble hearing the sirens, and that a lot depends on the wind. The Council could possibly look into purchasing another siren for those areas. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported that the street repairs on East 8th St. and West 11th had been completed. The Department of Conservation was here April 30, 2025 for a fishing expedition; taking children out on the river. Before the fishing expedition took place, the park was a disaster with silt, mud, driftwood, trees, and the City crews cleaned it up. The Conservation commended them with the cleanup, with all things considering. Mr. Gilmore had a meeting with the Corps of Engineers, and Phase II of the flood wall project is almost completed. The sheet piles will be installed by mid-June; the storm water drain will have to be removed, and put back up with the sheet pile process being repeated. The project itself is at its’ projected time schedule. There has been a ton of sand issues involving the lift stations. The City crews have 40 working hours alone at the corner of Truman & 3rd St. The river stages and seep water has affected the Water & Wastewater Plants with increased challenges of wastewater to treat. The front part of the Cemetery fence has been fixed, and a panel will be put up on the side; the chain link portion in the back will also be fixed. The Library fence will have to have post or poles, the panels are ready for installation once the poles are in place. The airport gas pumps are working, awaiting installation of the card reader, and the alley behind the Post Office has been cleaned up. The Industrial Water Plant is down, which is not consistently used, but the engineer is looking at it. The fiber is being connected at several places within town or being flagged for those who signed up early on. CK Power will be here this week to service the generators. Recreation report; Lamonte Bell introduced John McCalister with CPC Cleaning, they could clean, strip, and wax floors, clean carpet, and the gym floor. McCalister clean the Caruthersville schools, and numerous businesses in Sikeston. CPC Cleaning would train the Recreation Center employees assigned to cleaning with their process of cleaning. The proposal will be looked over, and the Council will be getting back with Mr. McCalister. A. T. Floor Care also provided a quote for stripping, cleaning, and waxing of floors, and the cleaning and resealing of the gym floor. Mr. Bell reported that Lacey had ordered the HVAC, and will be giving a quote on removing the old units. They’re awaiting final costs for the materials from Hubbards for the bathroom partitions. Mayor Grantham also provided a quote for the patching of the roof of the Recreation Center, and the work that has be done on other buildings for the Council to consider. Councilperson Fales voiced that enough patching had taken place, and a new roof would need to be taken place. Councilperson Lyons wasn’t opposed to a new roof, but the insurance company needed to be contacted to see if it was covered for damages. Councilperson Bullington proposed to have an engineer to look at the roof with patching vs replacement with the Counselor stating that specs would have to be drawn up. Library report; Tacara Sullivan reported that Summer reading was underway, and the Mother’s Day event would be taking place tomorrow. Counselor Dorroh introduced the following bills with the contractual agreement mentioned beforehand:  Page 895 BILL NO. 2025-10 ORDINANCE 2025-10 AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A REAL ESTATE CONTRACT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE AND TRI STATE PROPERTIES GROUP LLC AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND PERFORM SAID AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY Councilperson Lyons motion for the first reading by title only, second by Councilperson Hood, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for the second reading, second by Councilperson Robinson with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for passage, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Robinson Yes BILL NO. 2025-11 ORDINANCE 2025-11 AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A REAL ESTATE CONTRACT FOR THE SALE OF THE FORMER BROWN SHOE COMPANY PROPERTY AND AUTHORZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND PERFORM SAID AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY Councilperson Lyons motion for the first reading by title only, second by Councilperson Grable, with all in favor. Councilperson Hood motion for second reading, second by Councilperson Lyons, with all in favor. Councilperson Lyons motion for passage, second by Councilperson Hood, which resulted in the following vote: Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Fales Yes Grable Yes Hood Yes Robinson Yes Barry Gilmore made mention of Code Section 710.020. Users Regulations regarding Rule No.5. Consumers shall keep all pipe and fixtures in proper repair, and in no case shall they permit a leak to exist to their knowledge, more than twelve hours without having the same attended to. The Superintendent of the Water and Sewer Department or any other officer of the City, shall have the authority to cut off the water. The Water department has been giving 30 days to fix a leak way above what’s been ruled for. With no further business to come before the Council, Councilperson Lyons motion to adjourn. Councilperson Hood second the motion, which passed unanimously. ATTEST: ________________________________ Mayor _____________________________ City Clerk