City Council

Page 912 CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE July 21, 2025 Be it remembered the Council of the City of Caruthersville met in regular session Monday July 21, 2025 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 Fales Councilperson Grable Councilperson Hood (Absent) Councilperson Spence Councilperson Robinson Councilperson Glass Councilperson Bullington Councilperson Lyons 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 July 7, 2025. Councilperson Bullington motion for approval, second by Councilperson Robinson, with all in favor Councilperson Lyons motion for approval of reports and bills, second by Councilperson Grable, with all in favor. Counselor Dorroh drafted bid packets for the pickle ball courts that he provided for the project managers, and stated that a motion to advertise would be in order. Councilperson Lyons made the motion, second by Councilperson Bullington, which resulted in the following vote: Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Police report; Chief Jerry Hudgens bi-weekly report is as follows: Saturation patrols are in effect, which are tactics where officers focus on specific areas simultaneously effectively saturating it with visible presence, aiming to deter aggressive driving, speeding, DUI/DWI, etc. The Citywide plan from July 13, 2025 through September 8, 2025 is Deterrence; high visibility presence, Proactive Safety; officers actively looking for violations, Data-driven; high incident areas are targeted. Likely Focus Areas; Speeding and reckless driving, Seat Belt compliance, DUI/DWI checks, Sticker & Registration compliance, Other high risk behaviors such as texting while driving, or following too closely. Humane report; Karol Wilcox reported the following: 118 animals in care, Adopted out  Page 913 24, Sent to Rescue 3, Intake 19, and Euthanized 1. The Shelter is working through a list of problem areas. There has been a heavy concentration on the Brown St. and East Haven areas, along with Grand Ave. Zero tolerance for vaccines and dog tags continue, and they’re in the process of setting up another vaccine clinic. The Shelter is in need of a heavy duty washer with the washing of six loads per day. The Shelter is looking forward to the implementation of an ordinance that will help with the repeat offenders, and they’re grateful for the donated animal food. Fire report; Chief Lynn Moss reported five calls as follows: 7/3/25; Carbon monoxide alarm on Gayoso, 7/6/25; Carbon monoxide alarm at Taven Apts., 7/7/25; Debris on fire on vacant lot, 7/9/25; Vehicle fire on South Ward overpass, 7/15/25; Carbon monoxide alarm on Laurant. The fire department will be participating in the BBQ cook off August 1, 2025 and August 2, 2025. There will be a fire safety presentation August 5, 2025 at Family First Home Health. As of now there have been 72 fire subscription renewals that have taken place. Water/Alliance report; Michael Apperson reported that the reseeding of the Waste Water plant was not taking, and sludge would have to be purchased from other plants at a cost of $5,000. Councilperson Grable motion for the purchase, second by Councilperson Lyons, which resulted in the following vote: Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Operations report is as follows: Administrative/the eDMR was submitted for June. Water & Wastewater/Water plant running efficiently, and the clarifier has been fixed at the Waste Water plant. Sludge will have to be gotten from Sikeston and surrounding areas to rebuild the activated sludge. Regulatory/Six Bac-T samples were taken and passed DNR, and 31 Waste Water samples. Issues with E Coli and suspended solids will occur until the plant’s activated sludge is built back up. Collection & Distribution/Staff is continuing to enter GIS data points. Leaks were fixed at Cooter Brown, Greenwell, Grand, Adams, Crow’s Nest, East 11th St., Henrietta, Fourth St., Ward, Jefferson, and Tenth St. Alliance completed 76 work orders. Safety/Staff trained on “Heat Stress.” Repair Expenses were over budget by $13,836.00, and Chemical Expenses were under budget by $15,955.00. Code Enforcement; Barry Gilmore reported that there may be a temporary solution to the drag racing by implementing a safety feature like the rumble strip that’s like on the right side of the roadway. Jones Concrete LLC was the only bid that was turned in for the concrete repair at the Probation and Parole office. Councilperson Fales made a motion to reject the bid because of some work that she said was done for other people that had cracks in the concrete. Councilperson Robinson second the motion, which resulted in the following vote: Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Page 914 Reports were received from Vandevanter for the annual inspection of the lift stations, in which Mr. Gilmore and Mr. Apperson will be going over to make a priority list. ASA has begun working on the paving project. The post have been put up at the Library, the panels will be put up next week and painted along with the posts. The bush hog is inoperable at this time, don’t know if the engine has to be rebuilt or a new tractor is needed. Library report; Tacara Sullivan report is as follows: 7/1/25; HVAC was serviced, 7/2/25; Lincoln University Extension movie day for their Summer camp, 7/7/25; Repair done on toilet in the ladies restroom. 7/8/25; The Bootheel Community Theatre started their weekly rehearsals, and will perform “Willy Wonka Jr.” sometime in August. 7/11/25; Gave tour of the Library to the President of the Missouri Library Association. 7/15/25; Last day of the “Color Our World Summer Reading Program.” August Events/8/1/25; The Emunah Podcast “The Power of Home”, 8/12/25; Family Movie Night, 8/16/25; Lincoln University Extension Talent Show, 8/26/25; Career Story Time & Activity, 8/30/25; Closed for Labor Day through September 1, 2025. City Collector; Paige Gillock Collections Report for July 1, 2025 through July 17, 2025 is as follows: Real Estate $7,046.17 Personal Property $3,019.62 Drainage Districts $650.00 Miscellaneous $534.21 Total Taxes $9,264.46 Interest & Fees $1.985.54 Total Collections $11,250.00 Budget/Finance; Thomas Smith & Noble provided the financials for June. The Financial Administrator, Rita Jones reported that she had started working with the Tyler software in June. She has also start doing the checks for the weekly bills, her official start date was July 1, 2025. New Business; Marla Johnson graduated with the class of 1974, and want to dedicate a bench at CHS August 2, 2025, and would like Council members there, and take a picture. Councilperson Bullington wanted to reiterate what the Exchange Building purpose was. It’s going to be a multipurpose building, a venue for events, office space, farmers market, etc. The building is structural sound. Next on the agenda was the following resolution: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF CARUTHERSVILLE, MISSOURI STATING INTENT TO SEEK FUNDING ON BEHALF OF THE CARUTHERSVILLE AREA ARTS COUNCIL THROUGH THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO PURSUE ACTIVITIES IN ATTEMPT TO SECURE FUNDING Councilperson Fales motion for approval, second by Councilperson Spence, which resulted in The following vote: Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Mayor Grantham entertained a motion to go into closed session for personnel, legal advice.  Page 915 Councilperson Lyons made the motion, second by Councilperson Robinson, which resulted in the following vote: Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Upon returning from closed session, Barry Gilmore reported that he had talked to a couple of providers to see how long it would take for them to get their contracts in order if trash services was put out for bid within 30 days. The truck will be ran 40 hours a week, with aiding with other City business if need be. It would also be pertinent to get more than one person with a CDL. Councilperson Lyons made a motion to purchase the grapple truck out of Sales Tax, second by Councilperson Fales, which resulted in the following vote: Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Counselor Dorroh will look at having the bid packets consisting of light commercial dumpster, and residential. Two trucks were found one in New Mexico, and the other in Van Buren, MO. Counselor Dorroh stated that finding a truck locally is improbable, so waiving the formal bid requirement would be in order. Councilperson Lyons made motion to waive the formal bid requirement, second by Councilperson Bullington, which resulted in the following vote: Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Councilperson Robinson motion to adjourn to have the Recreation Committee meeting, second by Councilperson Lyons, with all in favor. Councilperson Bullington presented 57 pictures of some of the concerns about the condition of the Recreation Center. Some of the pictures reflect wear and tear, and some neglect along with safety concerns. Bullington made the point that if someone was considering a membership, and saw the condition of the Recreation Center that they would probably seek membership elsewhere, in which some truly have. A2H can provide an assessment of the roof and a property condition assessment. They can give a plan that shows what can be done immediately and long term. A2H gave an estimate as to what can be done, and can do the bid specs. Counselor Dorroh stated that a Request For Qualifications would be done for professional services, they would be reviewed by the Council, enter in negotiations for the contract price, and if you don’t like the price, you would seek RFQ’s from other professional services. Councilperson Fales thought the Recreation Center should be closed down, and renovated. Councilperson Bullington made a motion to go into closed session, second by Councilperson Fales, which resulted in the following vote: Page 916 Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Upon returning back into open session, Councilperson Lyons motion to temporarily close the Recreation Center effective August 1, 2024 for repairs, and accept A2H proposal. Councilperson Fales second the motion, which resulted in the following vote: Fales Yes Grable Yes Spence Yes Robinson Yes Glass Yes Bullington Yes Lyons Yes Councilperson Lyons motion to adjourn, second by Councilperson Robinson, with all in favor. ATTEST: _________________________________ Mayor _________________________________ City Clerk