Board of Directors

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF SILOAM SPRINGS, BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, HELD JUNE 3, 2025 The City of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, met in regular session at the City of Siloam Springs Administration Building on June 3, 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; Seagan Morrow, Assistant City Clerk; Jason Davis, Community Services Director; Scott Miller, Chief of Police; Dennis Kindy, Public Works Director; Kris Paxton, Administrative Services Director; Ben Rhodes, Senior Planner. Director Brad Burns 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. Mary Nolan with the Siloam Springs Rotary Club wanted the board to know what the Rotary Club has been up to recently, including giving 500 dictionaries out to 5th graders, made$ 2, 000 worth of donations to non-profit organizations, hosted a foreign exchange student from Japan, and given a high school senior a scholarship. They also wanted to invite the board to an event on June 14th at 10: 30am at 401 W. University at the labyrinth healing garden where they will be dedicating two benches to two people that have had an impact on Rotary and the community, one being Stanley Church. Arthur Hulbert ( 20705 Hwy 16) mentioned they will be putting on their 3"d annual smart start business competition for an opportunity to win $ 5, 000 and the deadline for submittal is June 25th. The Chamber of Commerce is also doing an apex accelerator quarterly to assist small businesses with state and federal contracts. The first one will be June 12th. First Friday Coffee will be at Jordan Smithson State Farm this coming Friday and their monthly prayer meeting this coming Saturday. Mark Miller( 22587 Westwood Dr.) wanted to thank the police department, dispatchers and community services department for all of their work on a few issues they were having. Mike and Diana Horton ( 23063 Lawlis Rd.) presented Interim City Administrator Christina Petriches for all of her hard work and stepping up for the city to make changes and fulfill that important role. Rebekah Wyatt ( 1109 E. Jewell St.) reminded everyone of the UDC roundtable that is on June 9th. She would like for a couple of board members to attend this meeting to be livestreamed and encourages the public to attend. The mayor asked if there were any comments on an item on the Consent Agenda. There were none. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 12 June 3, 2025 Consent Agenda A. Regular Meeting Minutes/ May 20, 2025 B. Workshop Minutes/ Unified Development Code/ May 20, 2025 C. Reallocation of Budgeted Funds/ Golf Course/$ 50, 000 A motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Rissler and seconded by Carroll. Motion passed unanimously. Item D: March Financials Petriches shared that the March financials are in the meeting packet and she is available for any questions. Item E: Contract/ Utilities/ 1898 & Company/ Rate Study/ $ 153, 400. Jason Davis briefed the item. There was general concern about the board being in the know and hiring the same company that did the previous rate study in 2021. The board wanted to know what the state law requires surrounding rate studies and there was brief discussion about the necessity for an upcoming rate increase in the community. A motion was made by Allen and seconded by Rissler to table this contract until the June 17th meeting. Motion passed unanimously. Item F: Grant Acceptance / Twin Springs Park / Public Services / Parks & Recreation / Project for Public Spaces /$ 80, 000. Jason Davis briefed this time. There was discussion surrounding the contract dates with PPS, plans for upkeep of the park, its unveiling, and what the renovation area covers as a part of the bigger vision for the city. Katie Renard ( 702 E. Delaware) wanted the board to know she was saddened by the state of the springs and would like to make sure that the gazebo is kept up and remains a center point to Twin Springs Park. A motion was made to accept the grant by Rissler and seconded by Carroll. Motion passed unanimously. Item G: Ordinance 25- 16/ 2nd Reading/ Amending Section 02- 10 of the City Municipal Code/ Establishing a City Public Services Department. Christina Petriches briefed the item. The board would like a flow chart posted for the public to see once this is in effect. A motion was made by Rissler and seconded by Burns to place Ordinance 25- 16 on its second reading, suspending the rules and reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously. Item H: Ordinance 25- 17/ 2nd Reading/ Vacation of a Utility Easements/ 3017 North Hico Street. Kris Paxton briefed the item. A motion was made by Rissler and seconded by Burns, to place Ordinance 25- 17 on its second reading, suspending the rules and ready by title only. Motion passed unanimously. Item I: Ordinance 25- 18/ 1S` Reading/ Amending Section 102- 21 of the City Municipal Code/ Rezoning from A- 1 to R- 3 / 400 Block of Meadow Court. Ben Rhoads briefed the item. There was discussion around how many duplexes can fit in this lot, drainage issues that would need to be looked at, access roads, and mitigating concerns from neighbors at a priority when they go through the permitting process for building. A motion was made by Rissler and seconded by Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 13 June 3, 2025 Carroll, to place Ordinance 25- 18 on its first reading, suspending the rules and ready by title only. Motion passed 6- 1. Item J: Ordinance 25- 19/ 1' Reading/ Naming of Siloam Springs Memorial Park. Kris Paxton briefed this item. There was discussion surrounding the boundary of Memorial Park vs. Twin Springs Park and the union soldier memorial being included in Twin Springs park as originally discussed. The board requested a complete history of the parks and their names and maps of the original boundaries. A motion was made by Allen and seconded by Rissler to table this ordinance until the June 17th meeting. Motion passed unanimously. Item K: Resolution 22- 25 / Amend 2025 Board Rules. Christina Petriches briefed this item. There was discussion around the purpose of the use of cell phones during a meeting and preferences. Board packet timing was briefly discussed as well. Rebekah White( 1109 E Jewel St.) likes the board having access to communicating with citizens during the board meetings. She thinks that cutting people off from information, cuts them off from an important resource. A motion was made by Burns and seconded by Carroll to amend section 7 of the board rules to leave only the sentence " Cell phones should be turned off or put on silent mode within the Boardroom during Board of Directors meetings." Motion passed unanimously. Item L: Resolution 23- 25 / City Attorney Services. Christina Petriches briefed this item. There was clarification around the timing for representation as well as confirmation that the prosecuting attorney position staying with Williams Law Firm. The board had concerns with only two firms responding to the city' s outreach and would like to see more options if this opening arises again. They also discussed that the city has used Harrington Miller Law Firm before and they were impressed with the work that had been done. A motion was made to approve Resolution 23- 25. Motion passed unanimously. Administrator' s Report —Administrator' s Report is attached. Christina had no expenditures in excess of$ 30, 000. She reported that there is a lot of mulch available for citizens free of charge at the transfer station, as a result of the tree debris from the storm cleanup efforts. The summer reading program kicked off at the library and Parks& Recreation is hosting the annual Kids Fishing Derby this coming Saturday. She also wanted to remind the board that the Fourth of July Block Party is back for a second year. Directors Reports— Allen— He wanted to make sure that the city is still picking up debris from the storm cleanup. He extended appreciation to PPS for the grant funding and Travis' team for working on that grant. He believes that the UDC meeting needs to be streamed and open to everyone and would like for the city to go the extra mile for citizens. He thanked Williams Law Firm for all of their hard work and for taking the city to the next level and apologized to Harrington Miller Law Firm for having them last on the agenda. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Page 1 4 June 3, 2025 Burns - He requested a workshop of the Headworks wastewater improvement at the next board meeting on June 17`h. He would like for the city to reconsider the conversation to the people that were wanting to purchase the airport. He feels that there may be budget constraints in the future for airport projects. He believes that Sagar Creek is an asset to the community, but that we also don' t need to leave the Community building out of the conversation for renovations. The American Legion has been replacing a lot of flags around town and wanted the city to be aware that they may be requesting funding in the near future. Carroll - He looks forward to seeing what all will go into the headworks project. He welcomed our new attorney' s and is very encouraged by the proactive approach to city issues. Rissler- She mentioned that there is a blood drive competition between Police and Fire on June 13`h from 12pm- 6pm. She also wanted everyone to be aware of the flag retirement ceremony put on by the VFW on June 14th at 11am. She would like for everyone who can to come to the first Friday coffee that the Chamber of Commerce mentioned and said that Constitution Camp will be back on July 14th and would love another resolution presented to the kids this year if the board allows. She also is excited about the ribbon cutting for her daughters farm stand on Friday at 9am. Blair- She thanked the attorney' s for being here and would like to know where the process is at with the Oklahoma land sale money. She also would like for the UDC meeting to be livestreamed and for there to be public input. She wanted everyone to begin being proactive with their pet care with the 4th of July around the corner. Wiles - He went to look at the problems at the community building this afternoon and sees that there is a lot of work to be done. Hunt- She welcomed the new attorney' s and would like the status of the grant money for the main street bridge. She also would like as much information as we have up to this point about the headworks project. ooliiiiiirilloo i? ORA With no further business, c,. to adjourn was by Hunt and seconded by Anew a motion made s9,,,,/ Meeting adjourned. S11.00 A. G...` R, A': ATTEST: APPROVED: Q SPRINGS Pam` ;= S,,, E- i..---..-..,.,-:.. tA p. SEAL oE a..‘., c Je - : in, CityClerk SpR , PQ`,`` Ju ation, yor  1CITY() I Snoam .Spings June 3, 2025 Administrator' s Report Expenditures: In excess of$ 30, 000 None Per Resolution 11- 25 None 1. Storm cleanup efforts included a significant amount of tree debris, resulting in an excess of mulch at the transfer station. Citizens are welcome to pick up mulch free of charge. 2. The summer reading program had a great kick off today at Siloam Springs Public Library. From fun events to exciting prizes, there' s something for every age group. See details on our website. 3. Parks and Recreation is hosting a Kids Fishing Derby this Saturday, at 7: 30— 9 AM in Sager Creek behind Fire Station 2. 4. The Fourth of July Block Party will be back for a second year and staff have begun planning. It will be held on Friday, July 4th from 5 PM to fireworks. This year, we' re excited to welcome two- time Arkansas Country Music Entertainer of the Year, Tyler Kinch to Siloam Springs to headline the party. I