City Council

CITY OF LONOKE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES July 8, 2019 The Lonoke City Council held a city council meeting in the administration room of City Hall at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, July 8, 2019. Mayor Trae Reed called the meeting to order with the invocation given by Pastor Holden Lane, Lonoke Assembly of God. Deputy City Clerk, Regina Ibbotson was asked to call the roll. Deputy City Clerk Regina Ibbotson called the roll and declared a quorum. Mayor Trae Reed City Clerk Jeribeth Edwards (absent) Treasurer Phillip Howell Deputy Clerk Regina Ibbotson Council Members Matt Cordell, Alice Bridges, Suzette Elmore, Ryan Biles, Efrem Jones (absent) Raymond Hatton, Michael Florence and Koy Butler. City Attorney Ginger Stuart Police Chief Randy Mauk Public Works Jim Kelley Street Dept. Jim Ed Ransom C.C. Director Mike Brown Fire Dept. Justin Whittenburg Parks Director Roy Don Lewis News Media Jeffrey Smith, The Leader Visitors Jacob Estes, Rick Vance, Anna McClung, Greg Staggs, Deborah Moore, Jim Bailey, Gary Padgett, Jim Wiertelak, Russell Ivy and Cindy Reaves. MINUTES: Mayor Trae Reed asked for acceptance of the June10th meeting minutes as recorded. Raymond Hatton made a Motion to accept the minutes as read. Alice Bridges seconded the motion. Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT: A. Rick Vance, with Entegrity Solar Energy Options was present and gave a power-point and explained how the new “Solar Act” can benefit the City’s purchase of energy. He explained that there are tax credits associated with solar installation. Solar can provide 17% to 38% decrease in utility bills to the City. A possible $20,000 annual utility savings that can be locked in. Next step would be a project development agreement. Jim Kelley asked if there is cost involved for the transition lines from Entergy to Solar or service upgrades needed. Rick said that cost is part of the project. B. Deborah Moore, from the Lonoke County Library system. She presented the Lonoke Library statistics, increases and offerings. 2022 Executive Board Report - Anna McClung was present and gave an update on Lonoke 2022 Report. She presented minutes from the previous committee meetings. 1  CITY OF LONOKE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES July 8, 2019 STREET DEPARTMENT: Mr. Jim Ransom was present and gave a report on clean up after the storm. Talked about the issue of Pitbull dogs inside the city limits, which is an ordinance violation. No action from council. POLICE DEPARTMENT: Chief Randy Mauk was present and gave report. He mentioned that $7,170.00 has been billed to immigration and probation/parole. Chief Mauk said the addition of the K-9 has resulted in a few narcotics arrests. No action from council. PARKS/MOSQUITO: Mr. Pierce Johnson was present and gave report. Ball season has ended. There will be cosmetic up keep done at all parks. Mosquito control has hired two (2) new part-time drivers to help Mr. Bevill. No action from council. COMMUNITY CENTER: Mr. Mike Brown was present and gave report. Disc Golf course opened July 5th. Mr. Brown requested permission to purchase a new firewall for the center for $1050.63 from Network Services Group. Koy Butler made a motion to approve purchase. Suzette Elmore seconded the motion. Motion carried. FIRE DEPARTMENT: Fire Chief Justin Whittenburg was present and gave report. Mr. Whittenburg asked for approval to purchase Turn-Outs for $13,224.06 plus freight cost. Alice Bridges made a motion to approve the purchase. Raymond Hatton seconded the motion. Motion carried. Mr. Whittenburg referred to a quote from G&W Diesel for $19658.74 for needed repairs on a fire truck. He said the generator funds budgeted for 2019 would be used to pay for these repairs. Koy Butler made a motion to approve up to $20,000.00. Michael Florence seconded the motion. Motion carried. PUBLIC WORKS: Mr. Jim Kelley was present and gave report. Mr. Kelley presented 3 items for action. He presented a quote for emergency stand by generators. The water treatment plant quote $39,026.33 and the well sight $50,155.07. Koy Butler made a motion to approve purchase of both. Raymond Hatton seconded the motion. Motion carried. Mr. Kelley requested approval to replace 2 Lagoon diversion curtains damaged due to storm. Alice made a motion to approve bidding process. Matt Cordell seconded the motion. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS: A. AT&T Monopole Lease: Mayor Reed explained that there needs to be better AT&T service in Lonoke; coverage and capacity. further inquiries have led to the following: (1) Is the proposed location the best place and use of city land? (2) What are the terms of the lease? At a meeting held earlier in the day it was learned the tower would accommodate “First Net” an emergency response frequency as well. And the best positioning would be the lot behind the Museum. The lease agreement was looked over by Attorney Greg Fender of Local Government 2  CITY OF LONOKE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES July 8, 2019 Services, a law office near Atlanta, GA, whom suggested legal counsel should be obtained for negotiation purposes. Mr. Fender agreed to charge $5,000 to be paid if and when a contract is agreed upon. Mike Florence made a motion to approve a contract with LGS, Koy Butler seconded the motion. Motion carried. B. Condemned Properties: Mayor Reed said at the January council meeting we voted to table the condemnation list for six months, to give the Mayor & new council time to understand condemnations and allow the city to develop its own posture to handle them. The following will be the condemnation process. 1. Identify properties 2. Notify property owners 3. Condemn 4. Recoup costs Code enforcement will construct a case file to track the property status. Two (2) certified letters will be sent to the last known owner, a written notice will be posted on the premises, a one (1) day add will be posted in the local newspaper; all of which are with intent to notify the owner of the city’s intent to condemn the structure. The property owner will have 30 days to respond. If absent or there is failure to comply, the city council will vote to raze the structure. To recoup cost a priority of what’s considered a clean-up lien will be filed against the property. Koy Butler made a motion to remove all previously properties from the condemnation watch list. Raymond Hatton seconded the motion. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS: A. FUNDING FOR MSU STUDENTS TRIP TO LONOKE- Mayor Reed spoke about the opportunity to partner with the Landscape Architecture Department at Mississippi State University. They will use Lonoke as the site for next year’s curriculum. September 23rd and 24th they will come here with 24 senior level students to collect data on what the community’s greatest needs are. Less than $2,000 is need for accommodations and travel expense. Michael Florence made a motion to approve the cost, Suzette Elmore seconded the motion. Motion carried. B. LANDMARK CPAs 2018 YE WATER AUDIT REPORT- Phillip Howell guided the council through the audit report. Matt Cordell made a motion to accept the audit report, Koy Butler seconded the motion. Motion carried. C. CABLE FRANCHISE MANAGEMENT PROPOSAL FROM LGS – NO DISCUSSION/TABLED 3  CITY OF LONOKE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES July 8, 2019 PAY THE BILLS: Koy Butler made a motion to pay bills. Matt Cordell seconded the motion. Motion carried. BILLS ALREADY PAID IN MAY 2019 City General $95,378.28 Water $196,758.01 Street $13,411.48 Community Center $13,925.57 Retail One Cent $579.97 Water/Sewer Revenue $8.00 Criminal Justice $497.80 I.D.C. One Cent $2563.00 BILLS TO BE PAID IN JUNE 2019 General Fund $69,039.04 Water $30,210.63 Street $51,696.76 Community Center $2,806.05 Retail One Cent $147.00 Court Automation $773.50 Criminal Justice $379.33 ANNOUNCEMENTS: No announcements ADJOURN: Koy Butler made a motion to adjourn. Michael Florence seconded the motion. Motion carried. _____________________________________ Mayor Henry F Reed III Attest: _________________________________ City Clerk 4