City Council

Minutes CITY OF CHEROKEE VILLAGE, ARKANSAS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING Thursday, September 19, 2024, 6: 00 P. M., CHEROKEE VILLAGE CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER— Mayor Rose called the City Council Meeting to order at 6: 04 PM. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE- Mayor Rose lead the Pledge of Allegiance. MOMENT OF SILENCE— A Moment of silence was observed. ROLL CALL, ESTABLISH QUORUM— City Clerk Penny Trumpy called roll call: Present: Harrison, R Tatum, Thompson, Martin, Rowland( phone), Mayor and City Attorneys. Absent: Smith, Ishmael and J Tatum. Quorum established. APPROVAL OF AGENDA— Council Member Martin motioned to amend the Agenda to include# 5 Council Members phone Attendance under New Business, seconded by R Tatum. Motion passed. 5 yes PUBLIC COMMENTS/ QUESTIONS ON AGENDA ITEMS( limit 3 minutes per person) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Council Member R Tatum motioned to accept the August 15, 2024 minutes, seconded by Council Member Harrison. Motion passed 5 yes CORRESPONDENCE: City Clerk read a thank you card from Sharp County Senior Center for fixing the AC unit and a Thank you card from Carol Jones acknowledging the work Angela in P& Z had helped her with. Mayor Rose then read an email from Matt Ramaglia LLP Websites thanking Misty and Penny for their hard work with the City' s website. FINANCIAL REPORT: Discussion Sales& Use Tax Street Dept Revenue Mayor Rose reported that the budget is 16% under budget. Council Member Thompson stated the grant for the Senior Center AC unit had been received and deposited earlier this month. MAYOR' S REPORT: Mayor Rose updates: Department heads have been putting together information to present for the 2025 budget. The City is still on track with sales taxes collection and street turn back monies for this year. The last couple months have shown a slight down turn in what we have been collecting but still on track for what was budgeted. The recent purchases of a new fire apparatuses, police vehicles, work at Tohi Trial, and improvements done at City Hall, lighting, phones, and computers where made with Federal CARE' s ACT and ARPA monies for which we are very grateful to have received. The parking lot at City Hall is back open; it has been repaired and stripped where construction work was done. The Highway project is still being worked on. They are building the roadway up to match the new bridge profile. The sides of the roadway will have a sidewalk with railing installed when finished. There was a 30 day extension to the deadline of construction contract due to delays beyond their control. The expected date to reopen the bridge to traffic flow is October 10tt', 2024. They are working on a small dam for the upstream side to allow for a pool of water to be at the botanical garden area. Maybe the work moving the utilities with the current project will make the next project smoother. The street crew has been busy cutting back overgrowth on the roads and putting down cold patch. The last batch made at the pug mill yielded around 650 tons to which around 450 tons were made earlier in the year and has been put down on the streets. Mr. Jeff Scott has been appointed to fill the vacancy on the airport commission. Mr. Scott has an extensive back ground in aviation from electronics, airframe, and power plant with inspector' s authorization. The airport commission wants to start an EAA chapter( Experimental Aircraft Association) which he served on a similar organization and would be very knowledgeable in getting one started here. The digital sign out front of City Hall has not been working correctly for awhile. The repair company has checked the sign out a couple of times. The mother board is out which controls the LEDs and cannot be repaired. The current location will make the sign hard to see after the road is complete. The Municipal League Insurance will no longer insure the sign due to it being broken. Mayor Rose would like to have a plan to remove it and at a later time replace it with a new sign. The lighting for the flags is connected to the same power supply that powers the sign and will be disconnected when the sign is removed. The flags are SID property so part of the planning will include them so the lighting for the flags is maintained. The grant for the Senior Center Air Conditions was received 8/ 27/ 24 in the amount of$3, 986. 54. Thank you to Council Member Thompson and State Representative District 2 Trey Steimel for making this possible to offset the total cost of replacing the AC unit. City Council Meeting September 19, 2024 Page 1 Council Member Thompson reported that the start date for construction at the Animal Control is October 7`h. The funds have been released from the trust account and will be deposited into the Valpour Account. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: See Cherokee Village Web site for reports on File. PLEASE SPEAK INTO THE MICROPHONE ANIMAL CONTROL: ON FILE- The Open house is 9/ 21 — 9- 3& 9/ 22— 9- 3. A$ 5, 000 grant from Best Friends was received. COMMUNITY SERVICE: ON FILE DISTRICT COURT: ON FILE h FIRE DEPARTMENT: ON FILE— Chief Dienst& Chief Lane spoke to the Highland 5' graders on 9/ 11. Truck or Treat PLANNING& ZONING: ON FILE POLICE DEPARTMENT: ON FILE OTHER REPORTS. PLEASE SPEAK INTO THE MICROPHONE ANIMAL CONTROL COMMITTEE MINUTES: ON FILE A& P MINUTES: NO REPORT AIRPORT MINUTES: ON FILE- Construction on the new hangers has been completed. P& Z COMMISSION MINUTES: ON FILE TRI- COUNTY SOLID WASTE: ON FILE A new manager was hired and doing a good job. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Trunk or Treat— Thursday October 31, 2024 from 5— 7 PM in City Hall Parking Lot. Currently 8 groups signed up. It is not too late to join the fun. Call City Hall to register. NEW BUSINESS: Short Term Special Use Permits Council Member Martin motioned to approve all permits a— d, seconded by Council Member R Tatum. Motion passed. 5 yes a. 2024- 12 Octoberfest Fundraiser Amanda Smith— Thursday 9/ 26/ 2024 8 am— 10 pm Innovation Hub b. 2024- 13 CVFD 5 K Run - Rob Smith October 19, 2024 c. 2024- 14 2024 Fall Elks Pepper Martin Memorial Turkeyshoot— Highland Elks 10/ 5/ 2024 10 AM. d. 2024- 15 CV Lions White Cain Walk October 3, 2024 6: 30 am to 8 am. Resolution 2024- 16 A RESOLUTION TO LEVY AD VALOREM TAXES FOR THE COUNTIES OF SHARP AND FULTON, ARKANSAS, FOR THE CITY OF CHEROKEE VILLAGE, ARKANSAS. Council Member Martin motioned to pass resolution 2024- 16, seconded by Council Member Thompson. Roll Call vote: R Tatum yes, Thompson yes, Martin yes, Rowland yes, Harrison yes. Motion passed. 5 ves Ordinance no 2024- 02 AN ORDINANCE SPECIFICALLY PERMITTING COUNCIL MEMBER HEATHER HARRISON OF CHEROKEE VILLAGE, ARKANSAS, TO CONDUCT BUSINESS WITH THE CITY OF CHEROKEE VILLAGE, ARKANSAS, AND PRESCRIBING THE EXTEND OF SUCH AUTHORITY; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Mayor Rose read the title of Ordinance no 2024- 02. Council Member Martin motioned to table this ordinance. Council Member Thompson explained his view of the ordinance as an exclusive contract and elected officials cannot be in an exclusive contract with the city. Discussion between Council Member Martin, Thompson and Harrison was voiced. Council Member Thompson seconded the motion. Council Member Thompson expressed the burden on Building and Grounds was less since a person has been hired and the time of year. The motion was amended to: table it until the Mayor deems it necessary to bring it up again. Roll Call Vote: Thompson yes, Martin, yes, Rowland yes, Harrison yes, R Tatum yes. Motion passes 5 yes. Bids for Pest Control and Landscaping— See Bids Received sheet. Mayor announced that Musick Pest Control was the bid to present to council for approval. Council Member Martin motioned to accept Musick Pest Control' s Bid a one year contract, seconded by Thompson. Roll Call Vote: Martin yes, Rowland yes, Harrison yes, R Tatum yes, Thompson yes. Motion passed 5 yes. On the Lawn Service Bids Mayor Rose suggest holding off until January 1", 2025 due to when the bids were put out we did not know there would be an extra employee in the Building and Grounds committing part of the money to the employment. This will need to be discussed with the budget committee. Council Member Harrison wanted to make it clear that she checked into doing work with city there was nothing said about a conflict. If she would have known that she would not have submitted a bid. City Attorney Jody said he would get clarification on State Statute and report back. Council Member phone meeting Attendance. Council Member Martin expressed concern of no written procedure for attendance by phone. Council Member Thompson stated that Municipal League allowed this during covid but then rescinded this procedure. Mayor Rose would like to see a Standard Operating Procedure in place concerning phone attendance. Council Member Martin addresses the City Clerk about how the attendance was reported. He wants it to state how members attended. City Clerk replied that the minutes show Present, Present( phone) or Absent and time of arrival if not in attendance at the start City Council Meeting September 19, 2024 Page 2  of the meeting. Emails are sent to Council with the dates of meeting, and information on packets are posted, and asking Council to let Clerk know if they are attending so council can be set up correctly. I hear from 2 people then find out when I enter the council room and time has been spent setting up and tearing down for those who are not there. Please answer the email and we will all be on the same page. Mayor Rose congratulated Council Member Pamela Rowland for receiving the E Wilson Green Award. This award is presented annually to someone who lives and/ or works in the Spring River area, which includes the cities of Ash Flat, Cherokee Village, Highland and Hardy. The award recognizes exemplary community service, volunteerism and/ or leadership. This award may only be won once and is presented at the SRACC annual awards banquet. COMMENTS/ QUESTIONS ON CITY RELATED BUSINESS( limit 3 minutes per person) Triston Causey expressed his concerns on the asking for bids, and hiring someone to do the same job. Council Member Harrison announced reminders of upcoming events - All information is on the Cities Face book page and website. Village Pride Clean up is October 5' h. Meet at King Roads. City Wide Drop off is October 12`h at the Municipal Building. City Attorney Jody Shackelford read the laws form the State Statue stating: With Councils approval of and Ordinance a Council Member may enter into a contract with the City. The Ordinance that was drafted and presented was done in compliance with this statue. ADJOURNMENT Council Member Martin motioned to adjourn, seconded by Council Member Thompson. Meeting adjourned at 6: 57 PM DATE: © / APPROVED- Steven R. Rose, Mayor ATT Penny Trumpy, City Clerk CHECK OUT CHEROKEEVILLAGE. ORG & CITY OF CHEROKEE VILLAGE ON FACE BOOK) INFO" ATIONBOARD OUTSIDE CITYHALL City Council Meeting September 19, 2024 Page 3