City Council

Lonoke City Council Lonoke City Council Meeting June 9, 2025 The Lonoke City Council held a city council meeting at the multiple building at 6:00 p.m. Monday June 9, 2025. Mayor Wayne McGee called the meeting to order with the Invocation was given by Pastor Woody Evans, Brownsville Baptist Church. Dep. City Clerk, Regina Ibbotson called the roll and declared a quorum. Mayor Wayne McGee City Clerk Jeribeth Edwards (absent) Treasurer (Vacant) Deputy Clerk Regina Ibbotson Council Members Sean Simpson, Raymond Hatton, Stan Moran, Wendell Walker, Jane Derning, Dale Carothers (absent), Shane Hamilton, and Jim Ed Ransom (absent) City Attorney Ginger Stuart Police Chief Keith Graham W/S/S Supt. Robert Sullivan C.C. Director Mike Brown Fire Dept. Justin Whittenburg Parks Director Jonathan Curry Community Dev. (Vacant) News Media none Visitors: Rachel Whittenburg, Shirlene Perry, Gaylen McGee, Gene Eagle, Walter Wills, David Ramsey and Cindy Reaves Minutes: Mayor Wayne McGee asked for the acceptance of May 12th Regular Meeting minutes. Wendell Walker made the motion to accept the regular meeting minutes. Janie Derning seconded. Motion carried. Mayor McGee asked for acceptance of the May 12th Public Hearing minutes. Janie Derning made the motion to accept the May 12th public hearing minutes. Raymond Hatton seconded the motion. Motion carried. LONOKE COUNTY LIBRARY: A calendar to show the June activities was presented. COMMUNITY CENTER: Mr. Mike Brown was present and gave his report. The events going on are Baptist Health Check. He also noted that Basketball Camp will be held on June 24-26th and provided a preliminary schedule of some classes that will be added for the kids during the summer. FIRE DEPARTMENT: Chief Whittenburg was present and gave the report. A. Quote from Siddons-Martin for PM and Repairs on E-25 An estimate for preventative maintenance and to make several minor repairs from Siddons-Martin Emergency group was presented for $12,343.60. Wendell Walker made the motion to proceed with the maintenance and repairs on E-25. Raymond Hatton seconded the motion. Motion carried. Chief Whittenburg also made the council aware that our fleet is aging and the repairs are expensive. It takes two years for a new fire truck to come in once ordered. He would like to look at adding a new one in the fleet. He also noted that we need to look at upgrading and adding some storm sirens to be compatible with what the 911 operations center is using. He will present some more information next month. Page 1 of 3  Lonoke City Council Lonoke City Council Meeting June 9, 2025 PUBLIC WORKS (WATER AND SEWER): Robert Sullivan was present and reviewed his report. He noted that they had been very busy locating services and making repairs with all the fiber contractors in town. POLICE DEPARTMENT: Chief Keith Graham was present and gave the report. PARKS AND MOSQUITO: Director Johnathan Curry was present and gave a report. He noted that they would be spraying by plane on June 18th. He noted that the Handicapped Playground had been partially destroyed by a large tree. Pops on the Prairie is quickly approaching. Some have asked about vendors. Stan Moran made the motion to allow current brick & mortar stores within the City of Lonoke to set up downtown and sell during the festival. Raymond Hatton seconded the motion. Motion carried. A. Approval to Use Insurance Proceeds and Move Forward with Playground Surfacing & ADA Swing Set at Waggoner Park - Insurance proceeds total $36,053.97 on this claim. Janie Derning made the motion to accept the No Fault Safety Surface proposal for $27,870 and the Bluegrass Playgrounds quote for $8,750. This will rebuild the playground as it was originally. There is a difference of $566.03 that will be paid from the Parks maintenance budget. Stan Moran seconded the motion. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS: A. Solar Array Site Production Report- McKinstry provided a Site Production Report. No action needed. Walter Wills and David Ramsey of McKinstry were in attendance to review the ESCO project and to answer any questions. (Basic project information was provided in the council packet.) One of the main questions asked was how long the solar panels would last. The answer was 25 – 35 years, but they would need some maintenance along the way. Also, the amount of energy produced by the solar array for 2024 was approximately $102,886.50. Most of this energy is captured as credit on our utility bills. Any kWh produced and not used is rolled forward for future use. NEW BUSINESS: A. Quote from InLine to Repair Downtown Traffic Signals and Cross Walk Lights – A quote for $19,949.52 was presented to council to repair the downtown traffic signal and cross walk lights. ARDOT approved contractors are hard to find and they did the signal installation work on the I-40 overpass project. These repairs will be paid out of the Street Fund. Sean Simpson made a motion to move forward with the quote as presented. Wendell Walker seconded the motion. Motion carried. B. L & L Complaints – Sean Simpson asked it anyone had been having issues with the L&L service. Some responded that they had. C. Gaylen McGee requested to speak to the Council about de-annexing his property – Attorney Stuart told him she’d have to have council approval to move forward with researching that topic since some city utilities had already been installed out there and he was past the eight- year detachment period. She said she would personally advise them not to do it. She asked him to explain why he wanted to be detached from the city. A long chain of events was described with much of his issue being with the timeframe of how things are processed. He wanted his paperwork approved quickly, but it couldn’t be because he hadn’t followed the procedure and documents that were required hadn’t been provided to the city. He was Page 2 of 3  Lonoke City Council Lonoke City Council Meeting June 9, 2025 assured by the city attorney that de-annexation would take a lot longer than following the required process as outlined by the code. D. TRASH – There is a lot of trash laying around all over town. Code enforcement is sending out letters on this to property owners. E. HIGH GRASS – Many properties need to be cut as the grass is out of control. Code enforcement is sending out letters on this as well. F. RAISES – The Mayor asked the Council about moving forward with the COL increases. Janie Derning spoke up and said she’d prefer to wait until the financials are done. APRROVAL TO PAY BILLS: Janie Derning made a motion to pay bills. Raymond Hatton seconded the motion. Motion carried. BILLS ALREADY PAID In MAY 2025 City General $69,127.58 Water $66,593.42 Street $30,362.12 Community Center $15,067.85 Retail One Cent $753.50 IDC One Cent $34,924.74 Water/Sewer $2.00 Criminal Justice $16.26 Tax Clearing Fund $3,063.74 Court Automation $527.26 BILLS TO BE PAID JUNE 2025 City General $15,347.09 Community Center $2,091.34 Water $11,928.34 Street $7,680.71 ANNOUNCEMENTS- A. The Planning Commission will not have a regularly scheduled meeting in June. B. The City of Lonoke will be closed on Monday June 19th for the Juneteenth Holiday ADJOURNMENT- Janie Derning made a motion to adjourn. Raymond Hatton seconded the motion. Motion carried. Approved: Attest: ____________________________ __________________________________ Mayor Wayne McGee Clerk Page 3 of 3