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22 NOV 03CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 3, 2022 6:00 P.M. – 6:20 P.M. REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING - CITY HALL - #1 MUNICIPAL DRIVE The City Council of the City of Jacksonville, Arkansas met in a regular session on November 3, 2022 at the regular meeting place of the City Council. Council Member Bolden delivered the invocation and Mayor Johnson led a standing audience in the “Pledge of Allegiance” to the flag. ROLL CALL: City Council Members: Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains answered ROLL CALL. Mayor Johnson also answered ROLL CALL declaring a quorum. PRESENT NINE (9) ABSENT (1). Council Member Smith was absent. Others present for the meeting were: City Attorney Stephanie Friedman, Public Works Director Jim Oakley, Finance Director Cheryl Erkel, Police Chief Brett Hibbs, Fire Chief Alan Laughy, Lieutenant Ryan Wright, IT Director Emily Osment, City Engineer Adam Whitlow, Jim Moore, Jeff Elmore, Wyatt Elmore, Jerry Sanders, and Johnny Simpson. PRESENTATION OF MINUTES: Mayor Johnson presented the minutes of the regularly scheduled City Council meeting of October 20, 2022 for approval and/or correction at the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting. APPROVAL AND/OR CORRECTION OF MINUTES: Council Member Bolden moved, seconded by Council Member Ray that the minutes of the regularly scheduled City Council meeting of October 6, 2022 be APPROVED. MOTION CARRIED. CONSENT AGENDA: REGULAR MONTHLY REPORT/ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT Council Member Bolden moved, seconded by Council Member Mashburn to approve the regular monthly report for October 2022. OCTOBER PERMITS/LICENSE ISSUED INSPECTIONS PERFORMED Building Permits 14 Building Inspections 32 Business License Electrical 56 Plumbing 63 HVACR 27 REGULAR MONTHLY REPORT/ANIMAL CONTROL Council Member Bolden moved, seconded by Council Member Mashburn to approve the regular monthly report for October 2022. ADOPTION FEES $ 0.00 SPAY/NEUTER FOR ADOPTED DOGS 0.00 FINES 944.00 CONTRIBUTIONS 1,317.00 TOTALS $ 2,261.00 ROLL CALL: Council Member: Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 3, 2022 6:00 P.M. – 6:20 P.M. WATER DEPARTMENT: WASTEWATER DEPARTMENT: FIRE DEPARTMENT: DISCUSSION Requests for Fire Department appearances at public & private events Fire Chief Alan Laughy related that the Fire Department has received multiple requests for private events, which are not City-sanctioned, such as parades, birthday parties, business marketing, or other community events. He explained that those requests used to be few, and far between, so they honored them, however, when Covid hit, it resulted in a lot of people not able to get out of their homes. He noted that his Department did what they could, but word spread fast and caused the requests to come in faster, adding they were tracking them pretty well until they had gotten busy. He shared that with his staffing being down ten people, the number of emergencies increasing consecutively over the last ten years, high turnover rate, and new rookies coming in resulting in increased training hours, they do not have time to do as much as they used to. He confirmed they do still continue to support City-sponsored events such as Festiville, Fourth of July fireworks, AYSSB events, Christmas parade, etc. He mentioned they have had requests where citizens ask if an engine could be left there, but he is not willing to part with and leave the approximately $750,000.00 worth of lifesaving equipment. He brought up that some have asked for them to show up for ten to fifteen minutes, but oftentimes they cannot because at any given time, they have between two and three ambulances outside of the City and two out of the four engine companies out on emergencies; that is on a typical day, not even a heavy day. He stated if at any given time, two out of the four engines are out of district, if they have a commitment to District 1 for a private event, that obligates a third district to be out of their zone, and that affects response time. He explained that their response is tracked by ISO, adding that they have an ISO rating of 2, which is the second best, and he would like to keep it like that. He concluded that although they would like to honor all requests, they cannot; they are doing the best they can to use taxpayer’s dollars to be ready to respond to emergencies. POLICE DEPARTMENT: STREET DEPARTMENT: Request to accept bid: JP Wright Loop Rd. Rail Grade Separation City Engineer Adam Whitlow stated they opened bids for the Loop Road project, which he understands has been a twenty-year project that has finally come to fruition. He explained that the low bid was from Weaver Bailey Contractors at $14,998,531.18 and they are seeking acceptance of that bid that is within the revised projected budget they anticipated. He shared that from what he understands, the City has matching allocations ready to go for it. Mayor Johnson clarified that it is an 80/20 bid, but the City is getting some reimbursement. CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 3, 2022 6:00 P.M. – 6:20 P.M. Engineer Whitlow confirmed that at the end of it, the City will be getting around a $400,000.00 contribution from the Railroad since they are closing down a crossing. When Mayor Johnson inquired about the County helping out, he could not fully confirm. Council Member Blevins mentioned that when there is a huge itemized list like this, there may be an opportunity for the City to go back and ask about specific items before they accept the bid. He pointed out that there are three items on the bid that, between the low and the high bid, are almost $2 million in difference. He gave an example of line-item number 36, which is the Maintenance of Traffic, where Weaver Bailey quoted $764,891.00, but Mehaffy quoted $150,000.00, which is approximately a $600,000.00 difference. He asked if that is something they could go back to ask Weaver Bailey about. Engineer Whitlow replied that with a unit priced bid, the City either accepts it or they do not. He would have liked to have five bidders to compare across the board. Council Member Blevins pointed out that these three items are personnel-based. Engineer Whitlow explained the assumption is that bidders put the appropriate amount of profit and cost in the individual line-items, but the fact is that it is at their discretion where they stack their profit and costs. He confirmed that even though it is a line-item bid, the City cannot legally cherry pick what they like about the bid and what they do not. Council Member Ray moved, seconded by Council Member Bolden to accept the low bid of $14,998,531.18 from Weaver Bailey Contractors. MOTION CARRIED. SANITATION DEPARTMENT: PARKS & RECREATION: PLANNING COMMISSION: COMMITTEE(S): GENERAL: a. PUBLIC HEARING ORDINANCE 1711 (#30-2022) AN ORDINANCE CREATING AND CERTIFYING TAX LIENS AGAINST REAL PROPERTIES AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS WITHIN THE CITY FOR BALANCES DUE FROM SERVICES RENDERED BY AND/OR ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, ARKANSAS; AND, FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Council Member Bolden moved, seconded by Council Member Ray to place Ordinance 1711 on FIRST READING. ROLL CALL: Council Member Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. (0) voted NAY. MOTION CARRIED. Whereupon City Attorney Friedman read the heading of Ordinance 1711. Mayor Johnson opened the public hearing at approximately 6:10 p.m. CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 3, 2022 6:00 P.M. – 6:20 P.M. With no one requesting to comment, Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing at approximately 6:11 p.m. Council Member Bolden moved, seconded by Council Member Ray to APPROVE Ordinance 1711 on FIRST READING and SUSPEND THE RULES and place Ordinance 1711 on SECOND READING. ROLL CALL: Council Member Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Council Member Ray moved, seconded by Council Member Bolden to APPROVE Ordinance 1711 on SECOND READING and SUSPEND THE RULES and place Ordinance 1711 on THIRD AND FINAL READING. ROLL CALL: Council Member Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Council Member Ray moved, seconded by Council Member Sansing to APPROVE AND ADOPT Ordinance 1711 in its entirety. ROLL CALL: Council Member Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. ORDINANCE 1711 (#30-2022) APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 3rd DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2022. b. ORDINANCE 1710 (#29-2022) AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 1536, MODIFYING JACKSONVILLE MUNICIPAL CODE § 5.04.070 (PRIVILEGE LICENSE DUE DATE AND DELINQUENCY PENALTIES); AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Council Member Bolden moved, seconded by Council Member Rains to place Ordinance 1710 on FIRST READING. ROLL CALL: Council Member Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. (0) voted NAY. MOTION CARRIED. Whereupon City Attorney Friedman read the heading of Ordinance 1710. City Attorney Stephanie Friedman stated there are businesses that are delinquent on their food or hotel/motel tax and this will make it easier for the Finance Department to hold reissuance of their annual license until they are up to date on all that is owed. Council Member Bolden moved, seconded by Council Member Sansing to APPROVE Ordinance 1710 on FIRST READING and SUSPEND THE RULES and place Ordinance 1710 on SECOND READING. ROLL CALL: Council Member Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. Council Member Ray moved, seconded by Council Member Sansing to APPROVE Ordinance 1710 on SECOND READING and SUSPEND THE RULES and place Ordinance 1710 on THIRD AND FINAL READING. ROLL CALL: Council Member Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING NOVEMBER 3, 2022 6:00 P.M. – 6:20 P.M. Council Member Bolden moved, seconded by Council Member Rains to APPROVE AND ADOPT Ordinance 1710 in its entirety. ROLL CALL: Council Member Dietz, Bolden, Blevins, Sansing, Ray, Mashburn, Traylor, Twitty, and Rains voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED. ORDINANCE 1710 (#29-2022) APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 3rd DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2022. c. Preliminary 2023 Budget Mayor Johnson stated that everyone was presented with the preliminary budget, adding that he has seen several Council Members at the budget meetings. He explained at the next Council meeting they hope to have the potential budget to review after the revisions are made. APPOINTMENTS: UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: ANNOUNCEMENTS: Code Committee Council Member Twitty shared that she would like to start a committee regarding Code-related things they did not cover before, such as flower beds and fencing. She stated that Jim Moore has agreed to help her on it and offered others to be on the committee with her. Council Members Blevins, Rains, and Dietz volunteered to be on the committee. Senior Center Events Council Member Twitty related that on the first and third Monday of the month the Senior Center has Bingo. She shared that the first and third Friday of the month there is Karaoke at 6:00 p.m. Lien Ordinance Council Member Dietz suggested identifying guaranteed methods for collecting debts owed to City and City Attorney Stephanie Friedman assured him that the City is using the full extent allowable by State statute. ADJOURNMENT: Without objection, Mayor Johnson adjourned the meeting at approximately 6:20 p.m. MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully, ________________________ _________________________ Susan L. Davitt MAYOR BOB JOHNSON City Clerk-Treasurer