Board of Directors

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF SILOAM SPRINGS, BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, HELD APRIL 4, 2023 The City of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, met in regular session at the City of Siloam Springs Administration Building on April 4, 2023. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Judy Nation. Roll Call: Allen, Carroll, Hunt, Rissler, Blair, Wiles, Smiley— Present. City Representatives Present: Christina Petriches, Acting City Administrator; Renea Ellis, City Clerk; Jay Williams, City Attorney; Chief Jeremey Criner, Fire Department; Chief Allan Gilbert, Police Department; Kevin Moore, City Engineer; Ben Rhoads, Sr. City Planner; and Don Clark, Community Development Director. Director Carroll led the opening prayer. The mayor led the Pledge of Allegiance. The mayor announced the plan should the weather turn to where shelter needed to be taken. The mayor announced to the audience the Board' s rules on public input and the fact that yielding your time to a second person wasn' t allowed. The Board agreed to stay with a 3- minute time limit for each speaker with allowance for additional short time to finish as requested. The mayor asked if there were any comments from the audience regarding an item not on the City' s agenda. Arthur Hulbert, 20705 Hwy. 16, gave an update of events that took place in the first quarter and upcoming events, including the Dogwood Festival, Fourth Friday, and collaboration with the Western Benton County Partnership. BJ Johnston, 605 Buffalo Gap Drive, referenced Mark 4: 35; told the story of Jesus calming the seas, and pointed out the moral of the story was not to fear the storm. JoeDee Higginbotham, 616 S. Wright Street, reported on an issue with her neighbor allowing raw sewage to drain on her property; the effects; asked that the city address the issue with the homeowner; and provided a written statement to give to each of the board members. James McGuirk, 412 W. University, pointed out the raging water next to his home during heavy rainfall events; that manhole covers come off, allowing raw sewage to encroach on his property along with debris; and pointed out city employees are not wearing their seatbelts when driving city vehicles. James Carroll, 2005 N. Carl, read an excerpt from the Herald Leader regarding the Patterson' s termination and lack of reasoning behind it, and his agreement with the terms of the contract; and stated he hoped the city hired effective management to keep the city in order. Brian McKenzie, 104 S. Maxwell, pointed out comments made in the previous board meeting about" boring" meetings and said he believed they were boring because what the city did was trusted the board to act with honor and integrity, and to bring the facts; said he believed Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 12 April 4, 2023 Letellier, Howard, Feyerabend and Lanker had followed Estes' advice about mutual respect; the public is acting with honor and integrity unlike some board members; that there has been a pattern of language, lies, gaslighting, personal attacks, etc., against certain citizens; reminded board members they were in a position of trust; and stated some directors should resign their post or be recalled. Kelsey Howard, 312 S. College St., said civic engagement is daunting; she is grateful for the directors who research and prepare for meetings; citizens rely on your guidance; civic engagement becomes more challenging when inaccuracies are spread; comments made at the last meeting caused citizens to do their own research; the trouble is the frequency of the inaccuracies misleading the citizens; inaccuracies included the comments about the contract of Patterson, but all members of the then current board voted in favor of the contract at the August 4, 2020 meeting and it is a contract model from ICMA; and that state law was conveniently changed; however, 14- 48- 116 hadn' t been amended since 1983. Matt Feyerabend, 414 S. Wright; continued with pointing out false statements that have been made including Steve Beers was a director who sat on the steering committee when Patterson was hired; said we were only 2 cities in AR with a city administrator form of government, when in fact there are 3; that not all directors gave glowing reviews, but copies of the reviews were denied due to no comments being in those reviews that led to the firing of Patterson; that a recall would cost the citizens $ 100, 000, when in fact, it would cost approximately$ 8, 700; and that these comments are misleading to the public. Jordan Howard, 312 S. College, said the tone at the last meeting was dismissive and patronizing; several want to sign the recall petition but are afraid to sign because of possible repercussions; fear is justified as seen in the termination without cause; that we can' t be lead by fear and intimidation, but must stand up to bullies; and there is just cause for the recall. Casey Lettellier, 610 E. Delaware, stated we' ve uncovered a" skin cancer" and we need to address it head on and not just put a Band- Aid on it; encouraged the audience to join Unite Siloam with the recall efforts. Rebekah Wyatt, 1109 E. Jewel Street, thanked the Board for letting citizens know we didn' t have a democratic leadership; said she doesn' t agree with the petition; that there was just cause; that 4 directors voted to terminate; asked people to fact check; thanked the board for their representation; and said she wished the next contract wouldn' t provide more than 3 month' s severance. Presentation: Manna Center. Marla Sappington gave an overview of the Manna Center' s history; what services it provided; the number of people it served; where food collections come from, including being a Tyson partner pantry; where clothing donations come from; pointed out that it had outgrown its current location, and asked if there was a possibility to lease the land owned by the city next to the Boys & Girls Club like the ground leases at the airport. Don Clark addressed the Board with information regarding a proposed recreation center location; the possibility of the Manna Center moving into the Boys & Girls Club building, with the Boys& Girls Club moving to the location by the rec center; stated he had spoken to Chris Shimer and that Shimer was amiable to the idea. The entire Board was in favor of a lease; asked Clark to bring further information, including a proposed lease, to the first meeting in May. The mayor asked if there were any comments from the audience regarding an item on the Consent Agenda. No on came forward. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 13 April 4, 2023 The mayor then announced that staff was requesting that Item" K" be pulled for the purpose of providing further presentation. No opposition was made. Consent Agenda: A. Regular Meeting Minutes/ March 21, 2023 B. Dedication of Utility Easements and Right- of-Way/ 2002 South Mt. Olive Street C. Dedication of Utility Easements/ 4000 Block of Ridge Road D. Dedication of Utility Easements and Right-of-Way/ 2000 Block of Brashears Road E. Budget Amendment/ Public Works Department/ Street Division/ Downtown Fog Seal and Restripe/$ 48, 507. 12. F. Electric Department/ Traffic Signal Detection Equipment/ H- GAC— Consolidated Traffic Controls, INC. /$ 194, 680. 36 G. Budget Amendment/ Electric Department/ Traffic Signal Equipment/$ 77, 781. 88 H. Purchase/ Electric Department/ Kubota KX040R3TP Mini Excavator/ Springdale Tractor Co. /$ 98, 796. 22 I. Police Department/ Additional Vehicle Purchases/$ 122, 000 J. Budget Amendment/ Agreement for Engineering Services/ Garver, LLC/ E. Kenwood Street/$ 589, 041. 00 K. Kayak Park Lease Agreement/ Illinois River Watershed Partnership( IRWP) L. 2022 Destruction Affidavit A motion to approve the remaining items on the consent agenda was made by Smiley and seconded by Hunt. Motion passed unanimously. K. Kayak Park Lease Agreement/ Partnership( IRWP). Travis Chaney, Illinois River Watershed Parks& Recreation manager, briefed the board on the RFP that had gone out; reasoning for the proposed lease; that the dates IRWP would operate the park would be on Friday through Sunday and on holidays beginning May 5th and ending on September 4th; Leif Kindberg with IRWC addressed questions regarding liability insurance; and Jerod Gelinas announced that there would be a life-jacket-loaner option at the park. A motion to approve the item was made by Allen and seconded by Rissler. Motion passed unanimously. M. City Clerk Salary Adjustment. Jay Williams briefed the item. A motion was made by Allen to increase the clerk' s salary by$ 250 per week, retroactive to March 8th and continuing for 30 days past the hiring of a new city administrator, which was seconded by Rissler. Motion passed unanimously. N. Acting City Administrator Salary Adjustment. Jay Williams briefed the item. A motion was made by Allen for the acting city administrator' s salary be increased $ 400 per week, retroactive to March 8th and continuing for 30 days past the hiring of a new city administrator, which was seconded by Smiley. Motion passed unanimously. O. Bond for Acting City Administrator. Christina Petriches briefed the item. Following questions from the board regarding the cost, what the bond covered; the amount needed, and current bond in place, a motion was made by Hunt and seconded by Rissler to table the matter to the April 18th Board Meeting. Motion passed unanimously. The board asked Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 4 April 4, 2023 Petriches to bring information to them on the costs of a$ 300K, $ 500K and$ 1MM bond at the next meeting. d P. Ordinance 23- 05 / 3` Reading/ Amending City Municipal Code/ Chapter 102 Zoning/ Self- Storage Facilities. Ben Rhoads briefed the item. A motion was made by Smiley and seconded by Carroll to place Ordinance 23- 05 on its third reading, suspending the rules and reading title only. Motion passed unanimously. An ordinance entitled: An Ordinance Amending Chapter 102 of the Municipal Code with Respect to Consumer Self- Storage Facilities; was read on its third reading. A motion to adopt Ordinance 23- 05 was made by Smiley and seconded by Rissler. Motion passed unanimously. d Q. Ordinance 23- 06/ Reading/ Amending Section 102- 21 of the City Municipal Code/ 3` Rezoning from I- 1 to P- D/ 21000 Block of South Arkansas Highway 16. Maegan Thomas briefed the item. Don Clark gave an overview of the street improvements plan, and options available if the board decided to move the extension of Quarter Road to a higher priority position. A motion was made by Smiley and seconded by Rissler to place Ordinance 23- 06 on its third reading, suspending the rules and reading title only. Motion passed unanimously. An ordinance entitled: An Ordinance Amending Section 102- 21 of the Siloam Springs Municipal Code( City Zoning Map); Rezoning( From I- 1 to P- D) Property Located at the 21000 Block of Arkansas Highway 16; was read on its third reading. A motion to adopt Ordinance 23- 06 was made by Carroll and seconded by Rissler. Motion passed unanimously. R. Ordinance 23- 07/ 2nd Reading/ Annexation of 18. 47 acres/ 2270 Dawn Hill Road. Maegan Thomas briefed the item. A motion was made by Rissler and seconded by Carroll to place Ordinance 23- 07 on its second reading, suspending the rules and reading title only. Motion passed unanimously. An ordinance entitled: An Ordinance Accepting the Annexation of Certain Territory Described as 2270 Dawn Hill Road to the City of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and Assigning Same to a Ward; was read on its second reading. S. Resolution 20- 23 / Preliminary Plat Development Permit/ Heritage Ranch Subdivision, Phase 4 & 5 / 2270 Dawn Hill Road. Ben Rhoads briefed the item. Kevin Moore reported on the traffic impact study findings. A motion to approve Resolution 20- 23 was made by Smiley and seconded by Carroll. Motion passed unanimously. T. Resolution 21- 23 / Significant Development Permit/ 3400 Block of East Highway 412 Neighborhood Storage). Maegan Thomas briefed the item. Smiley asked about possible Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 15 April 4, 2023 drainage issues, which was addressed by Moore. A motion to approve Resolution 21- 23 was made by Smiley and seconded by Rissler. Motion passed unanimously. U. Retention and Detention Ponds. Don Clark reviewed the handout provided and asked that any known issues with the ponds, be brought to staffs attention. Questions from the board included issues on property located in the county. Clark announced a workshop would be held on April 18th at 5: 30 pm. V. Update re: FOIA Statements by Blake Jones. Jay Williams briefed the item. Allen thanked Williams for the update. W. January Financials. Petriches pointed out that the February financials had mistakenly been provided and that the January and February financials would be available at the next meeting. X. Administrator' s Report. Petriches reviewed the report attached hereto. Directors Report. Allen explained the comments he made about Rissler not applying for the city administrator position in 2014, and indicated that was what he was told, but was later told she didn' t remember; he said there was no secret meeting on Halloween, it was simply a little girl trick or treating; that he was serving at the behest of the people; that he serves all the people not just a select few and that his term would be up next year; that he appreciated the attitude of cooperation from Kelsey Howard and her attitude for wanting what was best for the city; and quoted Luke 12: 11 - 12. Smiley thanked Sappington, Clark and IRWP for their presentations; said she had dropped in at the animal shelter and was very pleased with what she found, and said she was one of the founders of the animal shelter and thinks it plays a very important role in the city. Carroll reminded everyone that spring cleanup starts April 10th and that more information can be found on the city' s website; and said that this is the week of Easter, a celebration, remembrance and a time for physical hope; and that we as a city can operate in unity and be a blessing to one another. Rissler asked about the baby box at the fire department; Jeremey Criner said the current fundraising opportunity has almost been met. Rissler said she prayed the city has an amazing Easter and that everyone stays safe and she appreciates the reason for the holiday. Blair said she couldn' t talk about was what was said in executive session because the law doesn' t allow it, and violation could result in a fine up to $ 1. 5MM and up to 10 years in jail; thanked Petriches and Clark for the work staff is doing with drainage issues; that she thought the work of the Manna Center was awesome and hoped maybe Sappington and Tyler Carroll could work a deal for storage until a facility could be built; reminded everyone of the services and activities offered at the Senior Activity Center; said she had visited Ability Tree and what a wonderful facility it was for special needs kids and the community; pointed out a$ 35 membership fee would allow the availability of the facility to all citizens, including training on how to include those with special needs; and pointed out several opportunities, including Connections University; the need for volunteers; and stated a citizen had suggested wild flowers be planted in the median on Hwy. 412. Wiles said there was a lot of good information tonight and that it makes the job easier when information is received in a factual, well-thought- out way; and that he appreciated all the presenters. Mayor said she had attended a luncheon at John Brown University where Chip Pollard gave a State of the University address; that amazing things were going on at JBU; it is a top- notch Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 16 April 4, 2023 facility; with amazing programs offered to their students and encouraged the audience to schedule a tour and to get program information, as it was a great asset to the city. Hunt said her findings on executive session differed from Blairs'; that she had contacted the Arkansas Municipal League' s legal counsel and read the response she received which included no state law against discussion or penalty for doing so, and that the Board could decide if it wanted to set its own rule, but the way it was handled was best practice; asked Jay to look into it further; asked for an update on the Higginbotham property; thanked everyone for coming and thanked those who are praying for the city and city board; wished a Happy Easter; and ended with" Christ has risen; He is risen indeed!" With no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by Allen and seconded by Blair. Nation called for a vote. Motion passed unanimously. Y o uuwinuuyrirr cORPo Meeting adjourned. z. S' ATTEST: APPROVED: or, op U irirr „„,^" enea llii's, City Clerk, CAMC/ CMC Jud ation, ayor C. o• kyt 4. SARO  CITY OF Snoam Administrator' s Report April 18, 2023 1. Expenditures: Per Resolution 43- 22 121, 314. 00— 2500KVA 480/ 277 3PH Pad Mount Transformer/ Inventory 193, 096. 00— 2000KVA 480/ 277 3PH Pad Mount Transformer/ Inventory 1