REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS NOVEMBER 21, 2011

Transcription

1 REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS NOVEMBER 21, 2011 MEMBERS PRESENT: The Board of Directors of the City of Texarkana, Arkansas, convened in regular session at 7:00 PM on November 21, ROLL CALL: Mayor Smith asked the Clerk to call the roll and the following Board Members were present: Mayor N. Wayne Smith, Assistant Mayor James Mike Jones, and Directors Chad Dowd, Laney J. Harris, Sue Johnson, and Londell Williams. Also present were City Manager Harold E. Boldt, City Attorney Ned Stewart, and City Clerk Patti Scott Grey. Director Ruth Penney Davis was absent. Mayor Smith asked it be duly noted there was a quorum present for tonight s meeting. INVOCATION: The invocation was given by Director Londell Williams. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Director Londell Williams led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. COMMENTS FROM THE MAYOR: Welcome and Board Meeting Procedure: Mayor Smith welcomed the public and city staff to tonight s board meeting. He spoke briefly about the Agenda Item and Citizens Communication Cards. He pointed out the cards and agendas along the rail for tonight s board meeting. The Mayor asked any audience member interested in speaking at tonight s board meeting to complete one of the cards and turn it in to the City Clerk. The Mayor said this would help run an organized meeting and allowed the Clerk to have the necessary information for the meeting minutes. He stated any citizen could comment 1

2 on any item the board would vote on and express their desires, but would be limited to five minutes. Boy Scout Recognition: Mayor Smith recognized Taylor Sexton, a member of Trinity Boy Scout Troop 707, who attended tonight s meeting as a part of a requirement to earn his Citizenship in the Community merit badge. Mayor Smith welcomed Mr. Sexton and wished him well in his endeavors. Audience Member Recognition: Mayor Smith recognized several members of his family, including his youngest son Brian Smith, his daughter-in-law Elaine Smith, and his grandchildren Drew Smith, Cali Smith, and Lacy Smith. He also welcomed his wife of 43 years, Brenda Smith. BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING TIME: Mayor Smith said the Board of Directors met on the first and third Monday of each month at 7:00 PM. There had been some discussion and comments the board would like to change the meeting time to 6:00 PM. He would like to hear comments for or against the change. Director Johnson said it would not bother her to move the meeting time up to 6:00 PM. Mayor Smith asked if she would be able to make it at that time. Director Johnson said yes. Mayor Smith asked Assistant Mayor Jones if he would be able to make it at 6:00 PM. Assistant Mayor Jones said yes. Mayor Smith asked Director Harris for his comments. Director Harris said he did not agree with changing the time to 6:00 PM. He said citizens would not be able to attend other community meetings that started at the same time. Mayor Smith asked about the procedures for changing the meeting time in the Rules of Order and Procedures Manual. Director Johnson asked if the board could compromise and make the meeting time 6:30 PM. She asked Director Harris if that time would be better. 2

3 Director Harris said there would still be a conflict with other community meetings. Assistant Mayor Jones said having the meetings start at 6:30 PM would allow time for workshops. PRESENTATIONS: Toys for Tots Foundation: Mayor Smith recognized United States Marine Corps Sgt. Aaron Montalvo, who spoke briefly in regard to the Toys for Tots Foundation. He said he was with the Marines located at 2515 College Drive, Detachment 2-6 Water Battalion that trained the Reserves. He was the Toys for Tots Coordinator last year and he would like to reach out to the community a little bit more by expanding the Toys for Tots program. Last year, he started with a softball tournament and it went very well. Twelve teams participated in the tournament last year. It was supposed to be an overnight Iron Man Tournament, but the weather did not cooperate. The entry fee was a toy and over 300 toys were donated. He noted he was coordinating another softball tournament this year on December 2 nd and December 3 rd at Hobo Jungle Park. Sgt. Montalvo thanked the board for its support with the Toys for Tots program and he wished everyone another successful year. Mayor Smith restated the events dates, December 2nd and 3rd, and the location Hobo Jungle Park. NO ACTION REQUIRED: Mayor Smith noted the section, No Action Required, on tonight s agenda in response to Director Harris ordinance (Ordinance No. M-15, passed and approved November 1, 2010). Mayor Smith reminded the board members they had the option, if there was an emergency, to waive the time requirement. This could be done with a majority vote of the board where a quorum was present. Mayor Smith said he would proceed by reading the item captions. Mayor Smith read item 8A, which would approve the FY2012 Budget; item 8B, which would approve the TWU FY 2011/2012 Budget; and item 8C, which would approve the Texarkana Regional Airport s 2012 Operating and Capital Improvement Budgets; and item 8D, which would amend the FY2011 3

4 Budget (Resolution No. 5740), appropriating money to purchase 1.2 acres for Holiday Inn Texarkana Convention Center additional parking. Mayor Smith said items 8A through 8D had no special requests to be added to tonight s agenda for approval; therefore, those items would be considered at the next regularly scheduled Board of Directors meeting on December 6, He then noted item, 8C, included a presentation of the 2012 Airport Authority Budget by Airport Director Steve Luebbert. Mayor Smith recognized Airport Director Steve Luebbert. Mr. Luebbert spoke briefly in regard to the item, stating the Texarkana Regional Airport celebrated its 80 th Anniversary on June 15, 2011 and it had come a long way. As a general rule, no public airport with less than 250,000 enplanements a year can be financially self-sufficient, was a quote by Mr. Steve Horton, VP Leibowitz & Horton, Airport Management Consultants. Texarkana Regional had less than 30,000 enplanements a year. Section 6-38, Ordinance B , ; Code stated if the budget as proposed contemplates a deficit, each of the cities upon approval of the budget, shall assume and pay its proportionate share of the deficit, such share to be determined on a per capita basis Arkansas share was percent and Texas share was percent. From , the airport had a net negative 23 percent of income, possibly because passenger traffic was down to a negative 27 percent. In 2011, there were 11 months of positive growth possibly from advertising and local economic recovery. The unknowns of the business outlook were the presence of American Eagle and the price of fuel. The traffic level decreased by 16 percent in 2011 and the passenger count increased by ten percent. Parking days also increased to 13 percent and rental cars increased by 11 percent. The request for the Texarkana Regional Airport was $128,384 from Texas and $106,064 from Arkansas. A servicein-kind of $14,000 was also requested. The budget included a three percent pay raise; $22,000 in marketing; presumes ADA funded grants; and adds $5,000 for adverse weather. Mr. Luebbert mentioned the wildlife hazards such as the plane crash on the Hudson River. The airport was built around wetlands and any improvement required approval from the Army Corps of Engineers. The Texarkana Environmental Assessment Target Study Schedule would begin with 4

5 a Public Open House and Mr. Luebbert encouraged everyone to attend. He spoke of the need to assess the condition of the airport s main runway. The average life span of a runway was 12 to 15 years and the runway would have 13 years of service in He said the airport was dependent on the health of the airlines and depended on city subsidies. Texarkana demographics were borderline for the support of a commercial airport. Texarkana, Arkansas $120,000 return on investment would enable $145,000 of Texas-side funds; enabled a $3.35 million budget and $300 million economic impact. It also enabled the continued development of the new front door for the convention center and new business to Texarkana. Mr. Luebbert also spoke about the new road to the airport and the new terminal. Mayor Smith said he would not approve a pay raise for airport employees. Director Williams said he was aware the board had to approve the airport s budget. He said the airport was an autonomous group. He asked Mr. Luebbert when Texas was going to pay the quarter million to a million dollars it owed the airport. He said at that time, Mr. Luebbert agreed and stated it was in the hands of the Texas Legislature. He said Texarkana, Texas owed Texarkana, Arkansas a million dollars, and he had not heard any more about it. Mr. Luebbert said he did not explain the situation as well as he should. This was an initiative to play catch up with what Little Rock, Arkansas had contributed to the airport. Texas legislature did not allow the Texas Department of Transportation to do the same thing as the Arkansas Department or Aeronautics. The initiative he discussed was to try for a line item budget entry one time and close the gap on what one state provided and one state had not. It fell apart when the lawyers said there was no legal mechanism to pursue and it failed due to the million dollars deficit. He said maybe the airport could pursue this debt, but it certainly would not until Texas was more economically stable. Director Williams said Texarkana, Arkansas paid $125,000 a year for the operation of a fire station at the airport. He said Texas still owed Arkansas $1 million. Mr. Luebbert said the issue with Texas occurred before he was employed at the airport, 11 years ago. That facility was constructed with federal funds and the City of Texarkana, 5

6 Arkansas used it to provide structural services as well as aircraft services to the airport. There was some matching money from the Texas-side. There was a disagreement between the two sides on the fairness of the cost-share. Therefore, we took the airports operation back from the city and assumed it under the mantel of the airport exclusively. We now receive and have received for about seven years a cost share from both cities to operate the airport s fire station. The cost share may not have been right in the past and there have been those that have raised this issue, but it had been corrected. Director Williams said Texas-side still owed Arkansas money, no matter what other arrangement they had. He said Mr. Luebbert said last time, this issue was before the Texas Legislature and they would not tell Texarkana, Texas that they owed Texarkana, Arkansas a million dollars. Mr. Luebbert said he agreed with Director Williams. CONSENT AGENDA: Assistant Mayor Jones moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Director Johnson and carried unanimously. The items approved by consent were: MINUTES: The minutes approved were of the regular meeting of November 7, RESOLUTION NO. 5846: Resolution No granted permission to St. Edward s Catholic Church for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe procession at 4:00 AM until 5:00 AM, on Sunday, December 12, The procession route would begin at the corner of Beech and East Fifth Streets and proceed west to Ash Street, south to Broad Street, west to State Line Avenue, north to East Fifth Street, and east to Beech Street, and the Texarkana, Arkansas Police Department would assist with traffic control. St. Edward's Church was authorized to have the requested procession. 6

7 REGULAR AGENDA: RESOLUTION NO. 5847: Resolution No was read in its entirety. Said resolution awarded a construction contract for Cooper Tire Road and Facility Improvements to J.R. Pope Company, Inc. Mayor Smith recognized Public Works Director Paul D. Hackleman. Mr. Hackleman spoke briefly in regard to the item, stating a request for a resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into a Construction Contract for stabilization of sub-grade for Cooper Tire Road shoulders and concrete pavement replacement within Cooper Tire Facility to J.R. Pope Company Inc. in the amount of $221,394 and a contingency in the amount of $22,140 was made. Any contingency funding remaining after project closeout shall return to the line item it was originally budgeted. The contingency funds were being set aside for unknown issues that could occur during construction. CLB Engineers, Inc. prepared the engineering design for the project and tabulated the bids. The appropriation required for this item to come from funds under the criteria established for the Fiscal Year 2010 Economic Adjustment/Disaster Supplemental Appropriations Program provided by Economic Development Administration (EDA). He said he would be happy to respond to any questions. Director Williams, seconded by Director Dowd, moved to adopt the resolution. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Harris, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted, as there were six ayes and no nays. ORDINANCE NO. M-34: An ordinance was introduced to be entitled, "AN ORDINANCE AMENDING RULES OF ORDER AND PROCEDURE MANUAL FOR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO RESCIND ORDINANCE NO. M-15 THAT PROVIDED "ALL RESOLUTIONS WITH EXPENDITURES OR REVENUES (ANNUALLY COLLECTED) THAT EXCEED TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS AND ORDINANCES (OTHER THAN ZONING ISSUES) WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS A MINIMUM OF ONE BOARD MEETING 7

8 PRIOR TO ITS FIRST READING AND/OR MOTION." ; FOR DECLARING AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES". Said ordinance would amend the Rules of Order and Procedures Manual and rescind Ordinance No. M-15, which was introduced by Director Laney J. Harris. Mayor Smith said he placed this item on the agenda tonight. He said this ordinance has been in effect for a year. He said this ordinance delayed the board s ability to act and there are other avenues available. Any board member could table any item. He asked the board to rescind this ordinance and allow the Rules of Order and Procedures Manual for the Board of Directors to return to the way it was. He said following this ordinance was difficult and extra work for city staff. He said he was not sure the board was meeting the intent of the ordinance. Director Harris said the ordinance had two issues. One was a money issue and the other was accountability to enhance the public s trust. He said it was not for a notch on his belt. He thanked all the board members, who originally voted for the ordinance. He said on tonight s agenda, the airport budget and TWU s budget could have been approved, but the board would not have time to study the budgets before voting. He said he kicked the idea around before bringing it to the board. He asked business people and also Public Works Director Paul Hackleman, who said at the last city where he worked, an item was presented to the board one month before a vote or motion. He said Item #11 did not meet the ordinance guidelines, because the amount was less than $20,000, at $17,200. This item could have been voted on at the last meeting. Director Harris said he brought forth this ordinance for the people he represented, not only in his ward, but the entire city. Director Williams moved to have the ordinance read in abbreviated form. The motion was seconded by Director Dowd. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. Director Harris voted nay. Mayor Smith recognized Director Harris, who referred to the Rules of Order and Procedure Manual, which states the following: 8

9 Readings All ordinances shall be read aloud at three different meetings unless the Board of Directors votes to suspend this rule in accordance with Arkansas Statute The reading of an ordinance's title shall constitute a complete reading of the ordinance unless objected to by any member of the Board of Directors in which case the ordinance shall be read in its entirety. The ordinance was read the first time in its entirety. Director Williams moved the rules be suspended and the ordinance be placed on its second reading in abbreviated form. The motion was seconded by Assistant Mayor Jones. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Harris, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were six ayes and no nays. The ordinance was read the second time and the Mayor declared the ordinance open for discussion. Director Williams then moved the rules be further suspended and the ordinance be placed on its third and final reading in abbreviated form. The motion was seconded by Director Dowd. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Harris, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were six ayes and no nays. The ordinance was then read the third and final time and the Mayor declared the ordinance open for discussion. Assistant Mayor Jones made a motion to approve the ordinance. The motion was seconded by Director Johnson. Mayor Smith asked the Clerk to call roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. Director Harris voted nay. The Mayor declared the ordinance passed, as there were five ayes and one nay. EMERGENCY CLAUSE: The Mayor then called for a vote on the emergency clause and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. Director Harris 9

10 voted nay. The Mayor declared the emergency clause passed, as there were five ayes and one nay. RESOLUTION NO. 5848: Resolution No was read in its entirety. Said resolution amended the FY2011 City Clerk Department Budget to include the Arkansas Humanities Council (AHC) grant in the amount of $17, with an in kind match of $16, to fund the preservation and publication of historic City records. Mayor Smith recognized City Clerk Patti Scott Grey. Ms. Grey spoke briefly in regard to the item, stating this was a housekeeping item. On February 7, 2011, the City of Texarkana, Arkansas Board of Directors authorized the submission of an Arkansas Humanities Council (AHC) grant to fund the preservation and publication of historic City records. The City s match contribution would be met through key personnel salaries and fringe benefits working on this project (See Resolution No. 5750, passed and approved February 7, 2011). On April 12, 2011, the City Clerk Department was informed the Arkansas Humanities Council Board of Directors approved the grant in the amount of $17,200 with an in kind match of $16, The in kind match would include salaries and fringe benefits of key production personnel working on this project. Due to the fact the City Clerk Department was not aware whether the department would receive the grant, the grant funds were not included or listed as a line in the FY 2011 City Clerk Department budget. At this time, the City Clerk Department was requesting the FY2011 Budget (Resolution No. 5740) and the City Clerk Department Budget be amended to include the Arkansas Humanities Council (AHC) grant to preserve and publicize Texarkana, Arkansas s historic records. This would allow the department to make the necessary reporting and monetary adjustments for the AHC and auditors, without having the Professional Services line appear to be over budget. Simply, there would be an AHC Grant Fund line, which all revenue and/or expenses would be clearly noted. Ms. Grey said she would be happy to respond to any questions. 10

11 Director Williams, seconded by Director Johnson, moved to adopt the resolution. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Harris, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted, as there were six ayes and no nays. PUBLIC HEARING: Mayor Smith opened a public hearing to receive comments regarding the renaming of East 54 th Street to U of A Way. Charles Dieffenbacher, 4421 E. 54 th Street, spoke in favor of the street renaming, stating he talked to everybody in the vicinity and there was nobody opposed to the name change. He asked the Mayor and the other board members to vote for the name change, because the city had been trying to get the university here for some time. Gwen Osborne of Osborne Development, 3417 E. 54 th Street, spoke against the street renaming, stating everything she was and everything she owned was at the E. 54 th Street address. She said she loved that land, which was purchased from the city. She said her family was entrepreneurial and a few years ago, they built an 11,000 square foot office building. The building housed 42 companies, which were registered with the State of Arkansas. Those companies had stationery and business cards. There were eight families of Osbornes, who received their bills and processed their checks at that building location. It would be a nightmare for her and her family to make all those changes. There were also websites that have that address and they had loads and loads of vendors. She said it was not a good thing for her family or the other businesses in that building. She said she was thrilled the university would be located on E. 54 th Street. She was very supportive and wanted to help the university in any way she could. The address change would be quite a burden. She said a traffic light was needed on E. 54 th Street. Ms. Osborne also made the suggestion to have a very large sign on the corner of Bobby F. Ferguson Park to point the way to the university. She said it would be much easier to see than changing the name of the street sign. She asked the board to consider her business interest. She said it would save her lots of time, lots of money, and lots of confusion. 11

12 Director Harris asked how much it would cost to have the companies addresses changed. Ms. Osborne said she did not know. She did not put a number to it. She said it would be thousands of dollars. She said having the 42 companies, having new checks made, having the tax bills from land they own all over the United States, and everything else that had to be done was just a pain in the butt. Director Harris said he felt the City should bear the cost of Ms. Osborne s street address change. Ms. Osborne said it would help, but she did not want to do it. It was the mess of it all, the tedious details and things that fall through the cracks. Mayor Smith asked if anyone else in the audience or any board members had additional questions or comments concerning this item. No one else came forward; the Mayor declared the public meeting closed. ORDINANCE NO. M-35: Director Harris made a motion to amend the ordinance to have the City bear the cost of Ms. Osborne s street address changes. The motion failed for lack of a second. An ordinance was introduced to be entitled, "AN ORDINANCE RENAMING EAST 54TH STREET BETWEEN LOOP 245 AND CLAY PIT ROAD TO "U OF A WAY"; FOR DECLARING AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES". Director Williams moved to have the ordinance read in abbreviated form. The motion was seconded by Director Dowd. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Harris, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were six ayes and no nays. The ordinance was read the first time. Director Williams moved the rules be suspended and the ordinance be placed on its second reading. The motion was seconded by Director Dowd. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Harris, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. 12

13 The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were six ayes and no nays. The ordinance was read the second time and the Mayor declared the ordinance open for discussion. Director Williams then moved the rules be further suspended and the ordinance be placed on its third and final reading. The motion was seconded by Director Dowd. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Harris, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were six ayes and no nays. The ordinance was then read the third and final time and the Mayor declared the ordinance open for discussion. Director Williams made a motion to approve the ordinance. The motion was seconded by Director Dowd. Mayor Smith asked the Clerk to call roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. Director Harris voted nay. The Mayor declared the ordinance passed, as there were five ayes and one nay. EMERGENCY CLAUSE: Director Williams, seconded by Assistant Mayor Jones, moved to approve the emergency clause. The Mayor asked the Clerk to call the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Dowd, Johnson, Jones, Williams, and Smith voted aye. Director Harris voted nay. The Mayor declared the motion carried, as there were five ayes and one nay. Director Williams said in the past, the city had renamed streets and if the city paid the cost to Ms. Osborne to have her addressed changed, it would only be setting a precedent. CITIZEN COMMUNICATION TIME: Director Laney J. Harris spoke briefly regarding due process and the red tagging of vehicles. He said he was concerned vehicles were being removed without due process and going before a judge. He said this issue was brought up in legislature last year to give cities that opportunity, but it was voted down by the state. Public Works Director Paul D. Hackleman said the current ordinances of the City of Texarkana called for a car to be tagged for a certain number of days. Once those days expired, the city ordinance said the car would be towed. 13

14 Director Harris asked if the violator went before the judge. Mr. Hackleman said no, sir. Mr. Harris said then you get into the issue of due process. Mr. Hackleman said the ordinance would have to be changed. Code Enforcement was enforcing the ordinance the way it was written. He said he spoke with a citizen who threatened to sue the city. Mr. Hackleman read the ordinance to the citizen, who agreed; the ordinance was applied correctly. The citizen said he did not like it and would come before the board. Mr. Hackleman said his department would look at the existing city ordinances in 2012, if the board approved the 2012 budget. Then those items could be addressed at that time. Currently, the ordinance was enforced as it was written. Assistant Mayor Jones said a citizen, whose car was tagged contacted him. The citizen said he would contact his attorney. The attorney advised the citizen not to sue the city, because he would be wasting his money. Mayor Smith said if the police find a car that was obstructing traffic or was abandoned, they had it towed. He said every citizen had the right to sue anyone over anything. He asked the city attorney to look into the ordinance to ensure the city was not opening itself up to liability. He said he was sure every ordinance was reviewed by the city attorney to make sure the city met the law. The city could still be sued. Director Harris said he wanted to clarify his concern was for cars on private property, not cars on the street. Mr. Hackleman said there was one incident that came before him and Assistant Mayor Jones when a car was removed from the owner s driveway. City Attorney Ned Stewart asked if the city was towing cars off private property when the owner asked the city to do so. Mr. Hackleman said usually the neighbors complain. But, yes, if a car was on private property there was a procedure of which it could be towed. The city ordinance was very strict, if you had a car that was considered abandoned, and the definition of abandoned was 14

15 super strict. The car had to be covered in a garage. If the car was viewable, it was considered abandoned. Mr. Stewart said the city used to have a rule, about a car parked in the front yard and inoperable. Mr. Hackleman said if the car did not have current state tags or insurance, it was abandoned. It was very strict. He said the city had two code officers for the entire city. One officer had tagged over 60 cars in the last 15 days. He said his department had really stepped up code enforcement for the entire city. Code violations citizens thought were acceptable and were not code enforcement officers are advising those citizens to cease and desist or to come into compliance. Assistant Mayor Jones asked Mr. Hackleman to repeat what he said about abandoned cars not garaged. Mr. Hackleman said a lot of people did not have garages. He said if a car did not have state tags or insurance that made the car abandoned by definition. Mayor Smith said an abandoned car could be housed in a garage and it would be okay. If it was in plain sight without state tags or insurance, it could be tagged by code enforcement. Mr. Hackleman said if you planned to take a project car in and it did not run or have proper tags or insurance, it would be considered abandoned, unless it was housed in a garage. Mr. Stewart asked if code enforcement tagged the cars and gave the owner s notice before the car was towed. He also asked if there was any provision in the ordinance, allowing a citizen to challenge it. Mr. Hackleman said the owner had so many days to come into compliance or to store the car. There was an instance where someone dragged the car into their backyard. Unfortunately, the citizen also had police issues and was arrested the same day the car was towed. Director Harris said the key word was due process. Mr. Hackleman said there were two procedures, one for private property and one for public right-of-way. For cars on private property, the owner had ten days to correct it. Director Harris asked if the owner went before a judge in court. 15

16 Mr. Hackleman said the city was not issuing tickets, it was towing abandoned cars. Assistant Mayor Jones and Mayor Smith said they wanted to hear about the ordinance from the city attorney. Mr. Stewart said if the car was inoperable and did not have current state tags, after ten days notice, the car could be towed. The city was not taking possession of the car. It was just moving it to another place where it would not be in the yard. The owner could reclaim it and may have to pay a towing fee. The city ordinance did not allow abandoned vehicles to be parked in the yard. Gwen Osborne of Osborne Development said she wanted to thank the board and the city staff whether she agreed with their decision tonight or not. Mayor Smith commented he anticipated good things for Texarkana, Arkansas in the upcoming year. Mayor Smith thanked the City Manager and City Staff. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Board, on motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously carried, the meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM. ATTEST: N. Wayne Smith, Mayor Patti Scott Grey, City Clerk 16