Board of Directors

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF SILOAM SPRINGS, BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, HELD MAY 6, 2025 The City of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, met in regular session at the City of Siloam Springs Administration Building on May 6, 2025. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Judy Nation. Roll Call: Hunt, Wiles, Blair, Rissler, Carroll, Burns and Allen— present. City Representatives Present: Christina Petriches, Interim City Administrator; Jene' Fain, City Clerk; Jay Williams, City Attorney; Scott Miller, Chief of Police; Dennis Kindy, Public Works Director; Kris Paxton, Community Development Director; Ben Rhodes, and Senior Planner; Maegan Thomas, Planner II. Director Blair- Finn led the opening prayer. Mayor Nation led the Pledge of Allegiance. At this time, Mayor Nation asked if there were any comments from the audience regarding an item not on the City' s agenda. Mark Miller( 22587 Westwood Dr.) brought up a development that was passed on Oak Crest Rd two years ago and a part of that discussion was about moving Dawn Hill Rd. and Oak Crest Rd. up on the road improvement projects. The master street plan doesn' t list off the streets and the timeline in which those projects will be addressed. He would like for Dawn Hill Rd. and Oak Crest Rd. to be on this list. He understands that the county has given the city money to work on Oak Crest and would like an answer as to the timeline. He also wanted to mention that he went to go recycle four items at the transfer station and was going to be charged$ 28 to recycle those items. Rather than recycle, he chose to pay the$ 10 minimum to have them put it in the dumpster. He would like for the recycling fees to be looked at being more of a flat fee. He lastly was hoping everyone votes for the Airport Improvement Project, as a previous pilot and seeing the amount of people that are moving to this area needing hangar space. Arthur Hulber( 20705 Hwy 16) wanted to thank everyone for their support and all who came out to the Dogwood Festival. More people showed up Friday and Saturday compared to last year and new relationships built with economic development. He thanked all the city departments coming together to collaborate and make it successful. He appreciates how the city and board are supportive of businesses, but in talking with the staff, would like to see an ordinance revised for mobile vendors in the city. He would ask the board to pass that ordinance fairly quickly and look into the Hawkins permit. Corrie Irwin( 904 W Elgin St.) wanted to thank everyone who has reached out to her about her flower truck. She echoes what Arthur said and has not had much communication from the city as Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 12 May 6, 2025 to the reasoning behind her special event permit denial. She is running into a lot of road blocks working with the city in getting the right licensing and permits. She left a good paying job to start this business and would not have done it had the city told her she couldn' t. She understands glitches happen but the license was completely taken away. Main Street embarrassed her in front of customers and it has been a lot/ cost her a lot of money. She feels like something needs to happen to fix this issue because several businesses are leaving the city because of it. The mayor asked if there were any comments on an item on the Consent Agenda. There were none. Consent Agenda A. Regular Meeting Minutes/ April 15, 2025 B. Special- Called Meeting Minutes/ April 10, 2025 C. Grant Application and Grant Offer/ Federal Aviation Administration( FAA)/ Airport/ West Taxilane Construction( Design& Bidding)/$ 172, 300. 00 D. Approval of City Emergency Operations Plan( EOP)/ Authorization of Promulgation Signature for Mayor Judy Nation E. 2024 Destruction Order Director Allen asked that items D& E be removed and Director Burns asked that item C be removed from the consent agenda. A motion to approve the consent agenda with Items C, D and E removed was made by Allen and seconded by Carroll. Motion passed unanimously. Item C: Director Burns was asked if we were interested in selling the airport. He is for expansion and in the future land needs to be purchased as well as services that are needed for operations. There was discussion around land available for sale and compliments to James Harris for all of his hard work. A motion was made to approve Item C on the consent agenda by Rissler and seconded by Hunt. Motion passed unanimously. Item D: Director Allen had a question for Chief Miller. He would like for him to email the board as to who is on the committee and a copy of the comprehensive review. Chief Miller will forward the EOP Plan as well as the revisions that were made. The Committee is Chief Miller, Chief Kindell, and Kris Paxton as primaries. A motion was made to approve Item D on the consent agenda by Allen and seconded by Rissler. Motion passed unanimously. Item E: Director Allen asked if 7 years had to be approved by the board. Director Blair-Finn thanked the city for using Shredify to keep business in the city. A motion was made to approve Item E on the consent agenda by Allen and seconded by Rissler. Motion passed unanimously. Item F: Ordinance 25- 11 / 3rd Reading/ Amending Section 102- 21 of the City Municipal Code/ PD Zone Amendment/ 3500 Block of East Kenwood Street. Ben Rhoads briefed the item. There was discussion around the fact that this is an already started development and has had a lot of smoke complaints from nearby residents from burning of brush. ADQ has smoke management Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 13 May 6, 2025 guidelines and it could have slipped through on this development. A motion was made by Rissler and seconded by Blair-Finn, to place Ordinance 25- 11 on its third reading, suspending the rules and reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously. An ordinance entitled: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 102- 21 OF THE SILOAM SPRINGS MUNICIPAL CODE ( CITY ZONING MAP) AND REPEALING ORDINANCE 24- 12, ON PROPERTY LOCATED AT THE 3500 BLOCK OF EAST KENWOOD STREET; was read on its third reading. A motion to adopt Ordinance 25- 11 was made by Carroll and seconded by Rissler. Motion passed unanimously. Item G: Ordinance 25- 12 / 2nd Reading/ Amending the Master Street Plan/ Required Street Improvements/ Curbs, Gutters, and Sidewalks. Kris Paxton briefed the item. Jim Caldwell ( 609 S. Oak Hill) thanked the staff for all of their updates and work. A motion was made by Blair and seconded by Allen to place Ordinance 25- 12 on its second and third readings, suspending the rules and reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously. Rissler excused from vote. An ordinance entitled: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CITY OF SILOAM SPRINGS MASTER STREET PLAN; was read on its second and third reading. A motion to adopt Ordinance 25- 12 was made by Allen and seconded by Burns. Motion passed unanimously. Item H: Ordinance 25- 13 / 2nd Reading/ Amending Section 87- 36 of the City Municipal Code/ Subdivision Street Design Specification/ Frontage Improvements. Kris Paxton briefed the item. A motion was made by Allen and seconded by Carroll, to place Ordinance 25- 13 on its second and third reading, suspending the rules and ready by title only. Motion passed unanimously. Rissler excused from vote. An ordinance entitled: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING MINOR LOCAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SIDEWALKS; was read on its second and third reading. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 4 May 6, 2025 A motion to adopt Ordinance 25- 13 was made by Allen and seconded by Burns. Motion passed unanimously. Item I: Ordinance 25- 14 / 3rd Reading/ Amending Section 98- 65 of the City Municipal Code / Power Cost Adjustment. Phil Stokes briefed the item. A motion was made by Allen and seconded by Rissler, to table Ordinance 25- 14 until the May 20th meeting. Motion passed unanimously. Item J: Ordinance 25- 16/ 1st Reading/ Amending Section 02- 10 of the City Municipal Code/ Public Services Department. Christina Petriches briefed the item. The directors would like a flow chart of the restructuring. A motion was made by Allen and seconded by Rissler, to table Ordinance 25- 16 until the May 20th meeting. Motion passed unanimously. Administrator' s Report— Administrator' s Report is attached. Christina reported 7 expenditures in excess of$ 30, 000. She also mentioned to the board that on Sunday, May 4th, the Siloam Springs Fire Department Honor Guard led the community in a solemn observance as part of Bells Across America for Fallen Firefighters. She reminded the board about the tourism survey deadline on June 1st and encouraged everyone to fill it out. She also wanted to mention it is Public Service Recognition Week May 4th to 10th and this week we extend or heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated workers who keep our city running smoothly. Directors Reports— Mayor — May 4 — 10 is a week of celebration for serving and the 56th annual municipal clerks week. She received a call from ARDOT for study at the Kenwood intersection that does warrant a traffic signal. They plan to reduce the speed limit and place a four-way stop. She also received an email regarding basketball camps this summer and Siloam was chosen for Coach Cal to come set up a camp on June 5th. Hunt — She hopes there can be a resolution for Corrie and other businesses. She wants more communication with her. She has been encouraged with how we have handled other issues we need to do the same with these businesses. She read an article about the Public Service Recognition week and thanked the staff for all they do. Wiles— He feels like he is always telling staff what a great job they do and hopes that they don' t take for granted how much they are appreciated. He wants to call out the street department, a lot of things done are inconvenient, but they have to be done. They are working on his street this week and it is challenging since it is a cul-de- sac. They were working early and they were right in front of his house and there was a young man that was trying the vehicle that was tearing up the asphalt. He couldn' t go anywhere and they had a nice conversation and feels that it was very refreshing. He thanked the Street Dept. He appreciated the very informative trip for the Waste to Energy. Blair— She thanks Christina for her willingness and dedication to step up into the administrator position. She thanks Jene for all the hard work, professionalism and everything she has brought to the city. She thanked staff and Mr. Caldwell for their work on the sidewalk ordinance. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 15 May 6, 2025 Rissler— She thanked Jene for always being available for help and the work she does. She' s proud of Corrie for standing up and encourages her to keep standing up because we do want her here in Siloam. This also has affected Kris Paxton and her daughters' lemonade stands and wants to be creative and welcome small businesses. She is proud of Corrie and thanks Arthur for standing up for small businesses. Her and her husband volunteered at the Chamber tent at the Dogwood festival and had all positive comments about the new layout. She thanked Arthur and his staff for their hard work. She thanked PD and FD for the level of commitment to protecting our citizens. She was contacted by the school board member and health and wellness committee that wants to do a wellness program to encourage kids to enter into events. She would like us to look into that partnership. Carroll — He wishes for a quick and effective solution for Corrie Irwin. He likes to see the work done on the Bird Streets. He thanked Arthur and his crew for a successful Dogwood festival and he looks forward to the direction the city is continuing to move to make a good place to be. Last Friday city staff had a picnic and he was sorry to have missed it. He thanked Jene Fain for her work she does at the City and looks forward to meeting with Christina. Burns — He thanked the Fire Department for the Bells Across America, as well as the Police Department and Color Guard from NWA. He thinks more young people should attend. He thinks that the Dogwood Festival had great weather, he heard positives and negatives and understands that change is difficult. The change he is looking at for next year is a quality of life tax. He would like to work on board goals, specifically the American Legion and Community building as well as Sager Creek. This is partly because as the bypass grows, he does not want the City left behind. He has a concern on wastewater management. Kevin will be working with the company doing this work and we have to make it a priority. He lastly mentioned that resolution 05- 24 # 7 cell phone and pager, need to address that no pagers use anymore. It mentions cellphones be off or on silent and should not be used in meetings, but wants some etiquette on that and update it since they do use their cell phones for various purposes. Allen— He thanked Arthur Hulbert for working with staff for hawking permitting for future issues for mobile vendors. He thanked Kris Paxton for going the extra mile on his work for this project even if it didn' t go through. He feels that there is a solution for a business to fit somewhere in our codes regardless of the type of business to operate here in Siloam. He apologized to Corrie for what she went through and mentioned it shouldn' t have been that way. Main street does not speak for the city or represent the city and feels the words from Main street were out of line. He pointed out that regarding the controversial deck on Milling Around. After the third reading, he learned some things and heard the previous administrator told staff not to tell the board certain things. He had considered requested a reconsideration. He felt they did a good job on the building and still feels it was a wise decision, but would like to see more done on striping in front of the building. Lastly, there were comments on the City facebook page stating facts that were against what he previously stated. He also was not against employee raises. He would like to clarify tonight and if you question what was said, the meetings are all on the City website. He compliments the Police Department for the response to the online threat during the Dogwood festival. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 16 May 6, 2025 A motion was made to go into executive session by Rissler and seconded by Burns at 7: 53pm. The motion passed unanimously. The board returned from executive session at 8: 41 pm. With no further business, a motion to adjourn was made by Burns and seconded by Rissler. Meeting adjourned. ATTEST: APPROVED: aipncderk JdJu Nati , Mayor  1. 411 rrY OFSiloam Springs PP I Administrator' s Report May 6, 2025 Expenditures: In excess of$ 30, 000 31, 508/ Bell Lumber& Pole/ Electric Poles/ Electric Department 47, 778/ Enterprise/ Buy Out Remaining Lease of 4 Vehicles/ Police Department 48, 812. 85/ Diamond C. Construction/ Washington St. Sidewalks/ Streets Department 52, 071 / Superior Automotive/ Emergency Vehicle/ Police Department 52, 071 / Superior Automotive/ Emergency Vehicle/ Police Department 52, 071 / Superior Automotive/ Emergency Vehicle/ Police Department 54, 805. 20/ Superior Automotive/ Emergency Vehicle/ Police Department Per Resolution 11- 25 None 1. On Sunday, May 4th, the Siloam Springs Fire Department Honor Guard led the community in a solemn observance as part of Bells Across America for Fallen Firefighters. It was an opportunity to honor not only those who have died but also the men and women who continue to serve. 2. Reminder: The tourism survey is open through June 1st and can be accessed via our website, Facebook page, or by scanning the QR codes posted throughout town. Your feedback plays a key role in shaping the future of tourism in Siloam Springs— we truly value your input! 3. Public Service Recognition Week is May 4th to 10th, 2025. This week we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated workers who keep our city running smoothly. Your commitment, resilience, and service make our community stronger every day— thank you for all you do!