REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS DECEMBER 6, 2004

Transcription

1 REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS DECEMBER 6, 2004 MEMBERS PRESENT: The Board of Directors of the City of Texarkana, Arkansas, convened in regular session at 7:00 PM on December 6, 2004 with the following members present: Mayor Horace G. Shipp, Assistant Mayor Thomas Potter, and Directors Kathy Dunphy, Laney Harris, Sue Johnson, Weldon Johnson, and Londell Williams. Also present were City Manager Charles Nickerson, City Attorney Ned Stewart, and City Clerk Patti Scott Grey. INVOCATION: The invocation was given by Director Weldon Johnson. MAYOR S SPOTLIGHT AWARD PRESENTATION: Mayor Shipp spoke briefly about the Mayor s, Home of the Month and Business of the Month Spotlight Awards. He asked the Abernathy family - Ray, Rick, and Donna, and Nelly Pierce, and Kim Watson to come forward as he read the proclamation for Business of the Month. The proclamation declared Nelly s located at 3401 Genoa Road, as Business of the Month for December 2004 in recognition of their work and dedication to making their business location and our community a more attractive and better place to live. They accepted the award and thanked the Mayor and Board of Directors. Mayor Shipp then commented that Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead could not attend tonight s meeting and he would present their Home of the Month award at a later date minutes.doc 1

2 The proclamation declared the home of Robert and Margie Whitehead, located at 3415 Will Greer Road, as Home of the Month for December 2004 in recognition of their work and dedication to making their home and our community a more attractive and better place to live. CITY EMPLOYEE SERVICE AWARD: Mayor Shipp presented awards to the following City Employees: Kenya Buffington, Marvin Huseth, Ronnie Ward, and Shawna Yonts. Each one of the recipients received a City of Texarkana, Arkansas, Employee Service Award and a Texarkana, Arkansas City pin. The awards recognized Kenya Buffington for 5 years of service with the Community Development Department; Marvin Huseth for 5 years of service with the Texarkana Water Utilities; Ronnie Ward for 20 years of service with the Texarkana Water Utilities; and Shawna Yonts for 5 years of service with the Police. The employees accepted the honor and thanked Mayor Shipp, the Board of Directors, and City Manager Charles Nickerson. Mayor Shipp commented that James Horne III, Sandra Merritt, and Elnora Payton were unable to attend tonight s meeting and he would make sure they received their awards and pins for 10 years of service with the Police Department; 5 years of service with the Finance and Fire Departments; and 10 years of service with the Water Utilities consecutively. CONSENT AGENDA: Director S. Johnson moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Assistant Mayor Potter and carried unanimously. The items approved by consent were: MINUTES: The minutes approved were of the regular meeting of November 15, minutes.doc 2

3 RESOLUTION NO. 5147: Resolution No grants permission to St. Edward s Church for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe procession at 4:45 a.m. on Sunday, December 12th. RESOLUTION NO. 5148: Resolution No sets the date for a public hearing to receive comments regarding a petition to abandon the real property (sidewalks and parking spaces) abutting Lots 7-11, Block 56 and Lots 1-18, Block 68, ORIGINAL CITY OF TEXARKANA, Miller County, Arkansas. The street right-of-ways are located on both sides of the 600 block of East 3 rd Street, the East side of the 200 block of Ash Street, and the West side of the 200 block of Laurel Street. (Family Service Agency (c/o Charles Deville, Executive Director)). REGULAR AGENDA: ORDINANCE NO. L-195: An ordinance was introduced to be entitled, "AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. K-286". Said ordinance rezones a tract of land located at 1905 & 2001 East 50 th Street from R-2 Single-Family Residential to C-3 Open Display Commercial. The property is legally described as: The S feet of Lot 3 and the E½ of the S feet of Lot 4, Block 1, FBC SUBDIVISION, Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas. Director Williams moved to have the ordinance read in abbreviated form. The motion was seconded by Assistant Mayor Potter and carried unanimously. The ordinance was read the first time. Public Works Director Carl Conley commented that Mr. McGee was not present tonight, so he would review Mr. McGee s report and speak briefly in regard to the item minutes.doc 3

4 He stated the property owners purchased three lots a couple of years ago for their business. Approximately one and one-half of their lots are already zoned C-3 Open Display Commercial. They constructed an office building on the property that is already zoned C- 3. They are seeking to rezone the remaining part of the two lots adjacent to East 50 th Street from R-2 Single-Family Residential to C-3 Open Display Commercial for another office building. The property is adequately served by the existing municipal water and sanitary sewer service. East 50 th Street is classified as a collector street. There is no access to IH30, which is adjacent to the property on the North side. The property is not located in the 100-year flood plain. When rezonings are considered, the City s 1988 Long-range Comprehensive Development Plan recommends the property remain zoned residential. However, there have been recent commercial rezonings on the North side of East 50 th Street and adjacent to this property on the West. Few, if any conflicts with adjacent land uses are anticipated. There was no one present in opposition to the rezoning at the public hearing conducted by the Planning Commission on November 9, The Planning Commission recommends approval of the rezoning by a unanimous 7-0 roll call vote. Mr. Conley asked if he could respond to questions. Director S. Johnson asked Mr. Conley to point out the location of a Church and the Pastor s residence on the map he provided. Director Williams moved that the rules be suspended and the ordinance be placed on its second reading. The motion was seconded by Assistant Mayor Potter. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dunphy, Harris, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Potter, Williams and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were seven ayes and no nays. The ordinance was read the second time and the Mayor declared the ordinance open for discussion minutes.doc 4

5 Director Williams then moved that the rules be further suspended and the ordinance be placed on its third and final reading. The motion was seconded by Assistant Mayor Potter. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dunphy, Harris, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Potter, Williams and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were seven ayes and no nays. The ordinance was then read the third and final time and the Mayor declared the ordinance open for discussion. The Mayor then put the question, "Shall the Ordinance pass?" The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dunphy, Harris, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Potter, Williams and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the ordinance passed, as there were seven ayes and no nays. ORDINANCE NO. L-196: An ordinance was introduced to be entitled, "AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ARTICLE V, CHAPTER 7 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS, TO REVISE CERTAIN DEFINITIONS UNDER BUILDINGS AND BUILDING REGULATIONS; FOR DECLARING AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES". Said ordinance amends the Code to revise the definition for public buildings. Director Williams moved to have the ordinance read in abbreviated form. The motion was seconded by Assistant Mayor Potter and carried unanimously. The ordinance was read the first time. Mr. Conley spoke briefly in regard to the item, stating currently Section of the Code of Ordinances requires all public buildings in the city to have its electrical wiring in conduit. Public buildings are defined within this section and are further defined under minutes.doc 5

6 Section Multi-family dwellings where the number of dwellings does not exceed twelve (12) and the number of units per floor does not exceed eight (8) are exempt from the requirement. The National Electrical Code adopted by the City does not require the wiring of multi-family dwellings in conduit. Because of this, it is the recommendation of the City s Electrical Board that all multi-family dwellings be deleted from the definition of a public building and be exempt from wiring in conduit. Mr. Conley asked if he could respond to questions. Director W. Johnson wanted to clarify that multi-family dwellings were removed from the list of public buildings; therefore it would not require those dwellings to be wired in conduit. Mr. Conley said that was correct. Jim Pallas, Wallace Architects Field Representative, Sedalia, Missouri, spoke briefly about his project, the AborPoints Apartments. The Wilhoit Real Estate Group rezoned a 5.0 acre tract of land in the block of Oats Street from R-3 Low Density Residential to R-4 Medium Density Residential for a multi-family development for senior citizens. He commented on how amending the ordinance would benefit other developers. Mr. Pallas thanked the Board. Director Williams asked Mr. Pallas if the ball field near their project location would be disturbed. Mr. Pallas said that part of the ball field would be used. Director Williams commented that when the project came before the Board, earlier this year, he was assured the ball field would not be disturbed. After some discussion, Assistant Mayor Potter moved that the rules be suspended and the ordinance be placed on its second reading. The motion was seconded by Director S. Johnson. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dunphy, Harris, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Potter, Williams and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor minutes.doc 6

7 declared the motion carried, as there were seven ayes and no nays. The ordinance was read the second time and the Mayor declared the ordinance open for discussion. Assistant Mayor Potter then moved that the rules be further suspended and the ordinance be placed on its third and final reading. The motion was seconded by Director Williams. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dunphy, Harris, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Potter, Williams and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were seven ayes and no nays. The ordinance was then read the third and final time and the Mayor declared the ordinance open for discussion. The Mayor then put the question, "Shall the Ordinance pass?" The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dunphy, Harris, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Potter, Williams and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the ordinance passed, as there were seven ayes and no nays. CITIZEN COMMUNICATION TIME: Assistant Mayor Potter spoke briefly about a new program provided by The Golf Center, 3903 E. Broad Street (Highway 67), called the First Tee Program. Mr. Potter said it was a very good program for children. The program is non-profit and teaches children to be better citizens through golf. He commented that the program gives young individuals that would not otherwise play golf an opportunity to learn the game. The children are taught the official rules, sportsmanship, and golf etiquette. EXECUTIVE SESSION: The Mayor announced that the Board would go into executive session. MEETING RECONVENED: The meeting was reconvened by the Mayor following the executive session minutes.doc 7

8 RESOLUTION NO. 5149: Resolution No was read in its entirety. Said resolution makes the following appointments: Heating & Air Conditioning Board of Review R. D. Fomby 11/21/ Housing Authority Gene Harrelson 11/29/ Plumbing Board of Review Ron Henderson 11/21/ Public Facilities Board Carl Conley 11/30/ Eston McGee 11/30/ Assistant Mayor Potter, seconded by Director S. Johnson, moved to adopt the resolution. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dunphy, Harris, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Potter, Williams and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted, as there were seven ayes and no nays. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Board, on motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously carried, the meeting adjourned. ATTEST: Horace G. Shipp, Mayor Patti Scott Grey, City Clerk minutes.doc 8

9 minutes.doc 9