RESCHEDULED REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS JANUARY 17, 2006 MEMBERS PRESENT: The Board of Directors of the City of Texarkana, Arkansas, convened in rescheduled regular session at 7:00 PM on January 17, 2006 with the following members present: Mayor Horace G. Shipp, Assistant Mayor Londell Williams, and Directors Shirley Bradley, Kathy Dunphy, Sue Johnson, and Weldon Johnson. Also present were City Manager Charles Nickerson, City Attorney Ned Stewart, and City Clerk Patti Scott Grey. Director Chad Dowd was absent. INVOCATION: The invocation was given by Director Kathy Dunphy. 2004 AUDIT PRESENTATION: Mayor Shipp asked City Manager Charles Nickerson and Finance Director Harold Boldt to make a few comments regarding the 2004 audit before introducing CPAs Rachel Cooner and Rhonda K. Jones with Holliday, Lemons, Cox, P.C. Mr. Nickerson and Mr. Boldt gave a brief overview of the audit. Rachel Cooner reviewed a PowerPoint presentation regarding the 2004 Audit Report. She reviewed each section of the audit. She explained that the total net assets decreased by $879,692. She gave an overview of City funds, Arkansas fund of Texarkana Water Utilities, Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and Arkansas Advertising and Promotion (A & P). 01172006minutes.doc 1
Director W. Johnson asked Ms. Cooner if the cash monies in the fund balance were compared to anything from the previous year. He said he understood it would be difficult to pay bills with receivables. Rhonda Jones asked if she could answer that question. She said a comparative was not done, but she agreed. CONSENT AGENDA: Director S. Johnson moved to approve the consent agenda. The motion was seconded by Director W. Johnson and carried unanimously. The items approved by consent were: MINUTES: The minutes approved were of the rescheduled regular meeting of January 3, 2006. RESOLUTION NO. 5265: Resolution No. 5265 accepts the 2004 audit as prepared by Holliday, Lemons & Cox, P.C. RESOLUTION NO. 5266: Resolution No. 5266 accepts the bid meeting specifications submitted by Mako Compressors, Ocala, Florida, for a breathing air refilling system for the Fire Department in an amount not to exceed $19,732.00. Chief Honea commented in his summary that Mako Compressor Co. was the leading company in air refilling systems, they had been in business for many years, and had a good reputation for local service. RESOLUTION NO. 5267: Resolution No. 5267 declares the following Police Department vehicle surplus and authorizes its disposition in accordance with Arkansas law: 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe 4-door VIN 1GNEC1391XJ347037 01172006minutes.doc 2
The vehicle listed above will be transferred to the City s insurance company for its salvage value and the Police Department will use the insurance money received from the claim settlement towards the purchase of a late model Tahoe or equivalent. REGULAR AGENDA: GERALD HAIRE PROJECT DISCUSSION PRESENTATION: Mayor Shipp asked Mr. Nickerson to make a few comments regarding the Gerald Haire project then he introduced City Planner Eston W. McGee, II. Mr. McGee reviewed a PowerPoint presentation regarding the project and asked if he could respond to questions. Assistant Mayor Williams asked if this pertained to being in the city limits. Mr. McGee answered yes that was exactly what the petition was pertaining to. Attorney Kirk Patton, who represented Gerald Haire, gave a background of the Heatherwood Subdivision. Mr. Patton explained that the subdivision contained eighty-five acres of land or thirty-one lots. Each lot would contain one to seven acres of land. The lots were priced anywhere from $40,000 to $70,000. This subdivision also contained an eighteen acre lake. Mr. Patton explained that each home built in this subdivision would have a minimum of 2500 square feet. The prices of the homes would range between $250,000 to $500,000. All electrical and telephone wiring was placed underground. The streets are constructed and the fire plugs are installed. Mr. Patton commented on five contracts that were already signed with one provision the contracts would be null and void if this subdivision was not annexed into the City. Due to this land being outside of city limits and applicable to Arkansas State Income Tax, the contracts would be null and void. He informed the Board of Mr. Haire using $753,531.66 of his own money to develop the subdivision. 01172006minutes.doc 3
Director W. Johnson asked if the Board could hear from Chief Honea of the Texarkana, Arkansas Fire Department and Chief Harrison of the Texarkana, Arkansas Police Department on the matter. Chief Honea told the Board the ISO rating was being determined at this time. The City would be rated approximately every two to four years in the future. This particular subdivision would be located five miles from the nearest fire station, which could decrease the ISO rating. He commented that water sprinklers could be installed in the homes, helping with the ISO rating, but they would have to be installed at the homeowner s expense. Director S. Johnson asked Chief Honea if the unpaved streets could hinder fire trucks from getting to the homes. Chief Honea said he felt the roads would not be much of an issue that the hard surface process described to him, would allow the fire trucks to service the homes. Assistant Mayor Williams said the Board should go ahead and approve this subdivision to be annexed. He said business follow residential areas. Chief Honea said he did not oppose the annexation. He did say he would like the area to be properly staffed for fire protection. Mr. Nickerson commented that it was a beautiful subdivision and would be a great addition to the city, but that he had reasons for concern with the annexation. He said we should use undeveloped land already in city limits. By annexing in more land we would be denigrating the level of service we could already provide. In essence, when we extend the city limits line out further we cannot provide adequate services to those areas. He went on to say when we annexed in land in 2000, we were not able to provide adequate drainage or road service to citizens. The city is already stretching its resources. Mr. Nickerson commented on the property tax and how funds from those taxes did not in any way benefit Texarkana, Arkansas. He said the taxes for many of those areas went to the Genoa School District and that most of the land in question for 01172006minutes.doc 4
annexation would be in that district. He cautioned that if we extend the city limits by annexing in this subdivision, the city would be using the limited resources already devoted to the current city limits. Chief Harrison said he was opposed to annexation of this land a couple of years ago, but now felt annexation would not significantly impact police services. Director W. Johnson asked Chief Harrison if response time would be slower if this area was annexed into the city. Chief Harrison said he believed it would not impact police services or response time. He said it would be no different than responding to a call four or five miles down Interstate 30. Mr. Patton said he felt as if City Boards, on both sides of the city, were trying to control development. He said development would go wherever money was willing to be spent for development. Gerald Haire said he knew the property, which Heatherwood Subdivision sets on, needed to be annexed. He said he was led to believe it would be annexed. Mr. Haire commented on having developed this land to code and was very proud of this development. He said demographic, traffic count and rooftops were a major factor in developing any area. He said there was land located near his subdivision that would be annexed in also. He commented on further development. Paul Matthews, 1981 Cook Road, President of Fernwood Home Association said he was not opposed to annexation of this area; however, it was a one hundred sixty acre development that was originally sold to member of this association and they want their part of the subdivion. Director W. Johnson said the biggest problem he could see was overcoming the understaffing and ISO rating of the Texarkana, Arkansas Fire Department. He said the last time we annexed, we took in substandard structures. Director W. Johnson said we needed to take care 01172006minutes.doc 5
of what he had right now and not dilute our service to the citizens. He said in his opinion, the biggest negative, in not annexing in this area, was the $18,000,000.00 boost in revenue it could bring to the city. In the long run it would be a good deal, but in the short run it would be a real strain. He said right now we could not afford to take care of the substandard road already in the city. Director S. Johnson asked, if the citizens who live in manufactured housing realized, once they were annexed, they would be under enforced guidelines in regard to manufactured housing. Mr. Nickerson said it was the city s intent to open the dialogue, regarding this issue, the broader question would be should the Board lift the annexation moratorium. Director Dunphy asked if our ISO rating would affect insurance coverage or premiums in the City. The answer was yes. Assistant Mayor Williams said he felt that fifty-one percent of the owners in this area would be for annexation, so the Board should vote to approve annexation now. Director Bradley commented on how great it was that the City of Texarkana, Arkansas, was trying to grow. Mayor Shipp said his main concern for annexing in this area was that the City would over-extend itself. He said he felt as if there would be a difference in response times for fire and police services. He commented on his feelings of it being a mistake when the city annexed land in 2000. Mayor Shipp said the City annexed in substandard roads and structures and he did not want to do that again. He further said he did not want the City to have the reputation of annexing in land to avoid the Arkansas State income tax. 01172006minutes.doc 6
Assistant Mayor Williams said he wanted to make a motion to have the board vote on whether or not they would support Mr. Haire s annexation. He commented that Mr. Haire just wanted to know if he should proceed with the annexation. City Attorney Ned Stewart briefly counseled the Board. He commented that if the Board were to vote, the vote would be non-binding, due to the fact that Mr. Haire had not officially gone through necessary channels to bring the item before this Board. In other words, there were state statues and procedures to follow and Mr. Haire and his attorney Kirk Patton were fully aware of those procedures. He commented that if he understood the situation correctly, Mr. Haire was only asking the Board to review this matter and give him direction as to how to proceed on the matter. Mr. Patton and Mr. Haire agreed they understood the procedures, but they would like some indication as to how the Board felt on the matter. Mr. Stewart asked that the motion be restated to include non-binding for clarification purposes. Mayor Shipp asked Rev. Williams to restate his motion for clarification purposes. Assistant Mayor Williams, seconded by Director Bradley, moved to have the Board vote, nonbinding, on whether or not they would support Mr. Haire s annexation once it has been through the proper channels and is again presented to this Board for final approval. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Bradley, Dunphy, W. Johnson, Williams voted aye. Directors S. Johnson and and Shipp voted nay. Both Director S. Johnson and Mayor Shipp again commented that they had nothing against Mr. Haire s proposed annexation, but they had the same concerns the City Manager had. They were concerned whether the City would be able to adequately serve the proposed annexation area. ORDINANCE NO. L-243: An ordinance was introduced to be entitled, "AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. K-286; FOR DECLARING AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER 01172006minutes.doc 7
PURPOSES". Said ordinance rezones a tract of land located in the 5700 block of Tennessee Road was R-1 Rural Residential and requesting that the tract be rezoned RM Residential Manufactured Home for a 4-lot manufactured home subdivision, the same being more specifically described as follows: Three adjacent tracts of land in the E½, NW¼, NW¼, Section 35 and the E½, SW¼, SW¼, Section 26, and more particularly described as follows: The N½, E½, NW¼, NW¼, Section 35, Township-15-South, Range-28-West, Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas containing ten (10) acres of land, more or less); AND ALSO A one-half (½) acre tract of land in Section 26, Township-15-South, Range-28- West, Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas and described as follows: BEGINNING at the Northwest corner of the East Half of the Northwest Quarter of the Northwest Quarter (E½, NW¼, NW¼) of Section 35, Township-15-South, Range-28-West; THENCE North 109 feet; THENCE Northeast along the Public Road 145 feet to Smith Line; THENCE South 163 ½ feet; THENCE West 134 ½ feet to the Point of Beginning, and containing ½ acre of land, more or less; AND ALSO A tract of land in the Southeast Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter (SE¼, SW¼, SW¼) of Section 26, Township-15-South, Range-28-West, Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas, and being more particularly described by metes and bounds as follows: BEGINNING at the Southeast corner of the SE¼, SW¼, SW¼ of Section 26, Township-15-South, Range-28-West; THENCE South 89 º 25 West, with an existing fence along the South line of said SE¼, SW¼, SW¼ 538.21 feet to a fence corner; THENCE North 03º 34 West, with an existing fence 130.71 feet to a fence corner of the South side of Tennessee Road; THENCE Easterly with said fence line along south side of road along following bearings and distances: North 69º 50 East 164.43 feet, North 72º 37 East 100.01 feet, North 71º 12 East 99.41 feet, North 72º 49 East 112.35 feet to a fence 01172006minutes.doc 8
corner; THENCE South 18º 57 East with an existing fence 292.09 feet to the POINT OF BEGINNING and containing approximately 2.46 acres of land, more or less. Assistant Mayor Williams moved to have the ordinance read in abbreviated form. The motion was seconded by Director W. Johnson and carried unanimously. The ordinance was read the first time. City Planner Eston McGee spoke briefly in regard to the item, stating Shirl Brunell owned the three adjacent tracts of property that she proposed to combine and rezone from R-1 Rural Residential to RM Residential Manufactured Home for a proposed 4-lot manufactured home subdivision. There are two (2) existing mobile homes plus a single-family dwelling on the property. These dwelling units are income-producing properties for Ms. Brunell. She is seeking the rezoning to permit the addition of one (1) new multi-section manufactured home on the property. A formal final subdivision plat will have to be prepared, approved, and recorded that creates four individual lots for each of the three existing dwelling units plus the proposed multisection manufactured home. The rezoning request was unopposed at the public hearing conducted by the Planning Commission on December 13, 2005 and the Planning Commission recommends approval of this rezoning request by a 6-0 roll call vote (one commissioner was absent). Dr. Brunell, a noted local psychologist, died on December 18, 2005 and had been represented by her office manager, Phyllis Howard who had general durable Power of Attorney. Mrs. Howard has initiated probate and is the Executrix and personal representative of Dr. Brunell s estate. The Board action requested is to consider an ordinance rezoning the property from R-1 Rural Residential to RM Residential Manufactured Home. He asked if he could respond to questions. 01172006minutes.doc 9
Director S. Johnson asked how someone would access this area. City Planner Eston McGee showed her a map in his PowerPoint Presentation, which showed access by Tennessee Road. Mayor Shipp asked City Planner Eston McGee to show him the lots on the map. He then asked if anyone from the audience wished to come forward and speak in support of or against this ordinance. Carlton Kemp executrix of this land spoke in support of the ordinance. Assistant Mayor Williams moved that the rules be suspended and the ordinance be placed on its second reading. The motion was seconded by Director Dunphy. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Bradley, Dunphy, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Williams, and Shipp 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. Assistant Mayor 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 Director Dunphy. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Bradley, Dunphy, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Williams, and Shipp 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. The Mayor then put the question, "Shall the Ordinance pass?" The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Bradley, Dunphy, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Williams, and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the ordinance passed, as there were six ayes and no nays. 01172006minutes.doc 10
CITIZEN COMMUNICATION TIME: Suzann Howell, 2120 Pecan, President of the Master Gardener Association said she was happy to inform the board that they would be hosting the Arkansas State Master Gardener Association Convention. She asked the Board for help in finding a location for the convention. The Mayor asked her to come see him and he would help in that matter. 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. RESOLUTION NO. 5268: Resolution No. 5268 was read in its entirety. Said resolution makes the following appointments: Heating & Air Conditioning Board of Review Charlie Cook 11/21/2005----2008 Plumbing Board of Review Jackie Kirkland, Sr. 11/21/2005----2008 Housing Authority Vickie Barry Johnson 11/29/2005----2010 Assistant Mayor Williams, seconded by Director S. Johnson, moved to adopt the resolution. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Bradley, Dunphy, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Williams, and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted, as there were six ayes and no nays. RESOLUTION NO. 5269: Resolution No. 5269 was read in its entirety. Said resolution makes the following appointments to the reorganized Historic District Commission (per Ordinance L-240): 01172006minutes.doc 11
Historic District Commission 1. Dr. Jon Hall 2. Kathy Stewart 3. Jimmy Smith 4. Frank Poff 5. Harvey Woods 6. Jay Gleason 7. Amanda Black Keeney Assistant Mayor Williams, seconded by Director S. Johnson, moved to adopt the resolution. The Clerk called the roll and the following vote resulted: Directors Bradley, Dunphy, S. Johnson, W. Johnson, Williams, and Shipp voted aye. The Mayor declared the resolution adopted, as there were six ayes and no nays. BUDGET COMMENTS: Assistant Mayor Williams commented that when the Board voted on the budget there were items in the budget that were voted upon, but were not clarified and had not been achieved. He said one of the items in the budget was parity being retroactive and at a certain percentage. Chief Harrison said it was his understanding after the Board meeting in which the budget was voted on, that there would be a 3% increase in parity and a 3% retroactive increase from July of 2005 through December 2005 and then another 3% effective January 2006. He said looking at their paychecks it only showed a 4½% increase and he did not think that was what was approved. Chief Harrison said he could not get anyone to explain to him why the increase was only 4 ½ % instead of what the Board had approved. 01172006minutes.doc 12
Director W. Johnson said there would be a committee meeting Monday, January 23, 2006, and brought before the Board the next board meeting. He agreed there were some misunderstandings. Mayor Shipp said he shared the same concern. He said he had gone back and looked at some correspondence regarding the budget issue. He said there was some confusion as to the percentage increase of parity. Assistant Mayor Williams said he felt like he tried to bring the discrepancies to the Board s attention before taking a vote. Mayor Shipp said there were some miscommunications and misconceptions, but he wanted the committee to meet and correct the problem. He said there was nothing to hide. It was simply a misunderstanding on his part. Officer Yontz said she did not feel the misunderstanding was on the police side of the issue. She said the miscommunications should have been resolved before the last committee meeting. Officer Yontz said the Texarkana, Arkansas Police officers knew what was being approved. 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 01172006minutes.doc 13