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SEPTEMBER 2024 REGULAR MEETING City of Van Buren, Arkansas Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the City Council Monday, September 23, 2024 Van Buren Municipal Complex CALL TO ORDER 5:30M The regular meeting of the Van Buren City Council was called to order by Mayor Joseph P. Hurst at 5:30PM. City Attorney and Reverend Jacob Howell led the invocation. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Joseph P. Hurst. ROLL CALL 5:31PM Present: Council Member Madison Simmons, Council Member Shannon Newerth-Henson, Council Member Tonia Fry, City Attorney Jacob Howell, Mayor Joseph P. Hurst, City Clerk- Treasurer Shawnna Reynolds Absent: Council Member Tyler Wood PRESENTATIONS - AWARDS None CONSENT AGENDA 5:32PM After determining there were no reported objections or unfinished business, Council Member Tonia Fry moved to approve the consent agenda which consisted of: o Minutes from August 26, 2024, Regular City Council Meeting o Financial Statements o Department Reports Motion was seconded by Council Member Madison Simmons. All in favor. None opposed. Consent Agenda approved. Mayor Hurst declared the consent agenda passed. NEW BUSINESS 5:32PM Resolution 09-01-2024 Accepting Bid for Fire Department Metal Building Project City Clerk-Treasurer Shawnna Reynolds read the resolution in its entirety. Mayor Joseph P. Hurst stated this was a project that had been approved with ARPA funds and would be built at 30th Circle. Fire Chief Tim Arnold addressed the City Council and mentioned it was a 60' X 80' building that would house fire equipment. Request for bids were published in a local newspaper on August 29th and August 31s', 2024 and the lowest bidder was Steel Building Erectors with a bid of$103,750.00. Motion to adopt Resolution 09-01-2024 was made by Council Member Mike Kneeland. Seconded by Council Member Matt Dodson. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Resolution 09-01-2024 Accepting Bid for Fire Department Metal Building is adopted with five yeas and zero nays. Mayor Hurst declared the resolution passed and signed same in open council, duly attested by City Clerk-Treasurer Reynolds. Resolution 09-02-2024 Accepting Bid for Street Department River Road Overlay City Clerk-Treasurer Shawnna Reynolds read the resolution in its entirety. Mayor Joseph P. Hurst stated this was a project that had been discussed in 2023 as a future project and the need for this improvement is great. The Street Department has done much of the prep work to save on the cost of the project. Request for bids were published in a local newspaper on August 18th and August 19th, 2024 and the lowest bidder was Moore Contracting with a bid of$165,450.00. Motion to adopt Resolution 09-02-2024 was made by Council Member Mike Kneeland. Seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Resolution 09-02-2024 Accepting Bid for Street Department River Road Overlay is adopted with five yeas and zero nays. Mayor Hurst declared the resolution passed and signed same in open council, duly attested by City Clerk-Treasurer Reynolds. Ordinance 18-2024 Amending Building Permit Fee Schedule City Clerk-Treasurer Shawnna Reynolds read the ordinance in its entirety. Council Member Madison Simmons moved that the rules be suspended, and the ordinance be placed on its second reading. The motion was seconded by Council Member Mike Kneeland, followed by a unanimous vote by the council. The Clerk read the ordinance the second time by title only. Council Member Madison Simmons moved that the rules be further suspended, and the ordinance placed on the third and final reading. The motion was seconded by Council Member Mike Kneeland, followed by a unanimous vote by the council. The clerk then read the ordinance for the third and final time by title only. Planning Department Head Wally Bailey addressed the City Council and stated that has been a project in the works for seven (7) months with the Planning Commission. This involved a lot of cleanup of the current files and this should replace what has been in place since 1997 regarding building permit fees and a new formulary based on cost of construction. He mentioned many differences in surrounding cities and noted that Van Buren was far under cost of permits by several thousands of dollars in some instances. He didn't believe that an increase in building permit fees would price Van Buren out of the market. Planning Department Head Wally Bailey stated there had been five (5) public hearings on this topic (3/5/24, 4/2/24, 5/7/24, 7/2/24,7/3/24) and there was no public opposition. He mentioned that there will be a review of these fees every five (5) years moving forward. There is also an increase in the collection for Sidewalk Construction Fund from .03 cents per .10 cents to 15%of each building permit. It was approved unanimously by the Planning Commission Motion to adopt Ordinance 18-2024 was made by Council Member Mike Kneeland. Seconded by Council Member Shannon Newerth-Henson. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Ordinance 18-2024 Amending Building Permit Fee Schedule is adopted with five yeas and zero nays. Mayor Hurst declared the ordinance passed and signed same in open council, duly attested by City Clerk-Treasurer Reynolds. Ordinance 19-2024 Rezone R-2 to C-2 701 and 703 Fayetteville City Clerk-Treasurer Shawnna Reynolds read the ordinance in its entirety. Council Member Matt Dodson moved that the rules be suspended, and the ordinance be placed on its second reading. The motion was seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry, followed by a unanimous vote by the council. The Clerk read the ordinance the second time by title only. Council Member Matt Dodson moved that the rules be further suspended, and the ordinance placed on the third and final reading. The motion was seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry, followed by a unanimous vote by the council. The clerk then read the ordinance for the third and final time by title only. Planning Department Head Wally Bailey addressed the City Council and stated that this rezone is a corrective rezoning as the property has been used for commercial use for year. It is property next to Morton Dental and will be used for a new dental clinic. It was approved unanimously by the Planning Commission Motion to adopt Ordinance 19-2024 was made by Council Member Shannon Newerth-Henson. Seconded by Council Member Matt Dodson. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Ordinance 19-2024 Rezone R-2 to C-2 701 and 703 Fayetteville is adopted with five yeas and zero nays. Mayor Hurst declared the ordinance passed and signed same in open council, duly attested by City Clerk-Treasurer Reynolds. Motion to approve the emergency clause made by Council Member Tyler Wood, seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. The Emergency Clause passed with a vote of five yeas and zero nays. Mayor Hurst declared the emergency clause passed. Ordinance 20-2024 Levying the Millage Tax 2024 City Clerk-Treasurer Shawnna Reynolds read the ordinance in its entirety. Council Member Mike Kneeland moved that the rules be suspended, and the ordinance be placed on its second reading. The motion was seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry, followed by a unanimous vote by the council. The Clerk read the ordinance the second time by title only. Council Member Mike Kneeland moved that the rules be further suspended, and the ordinance placed on the third and final reading. The motion was seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry, followed by a unanimous vote by the council. The clerk then read the ordinance for the third and final time by title only. Mayor Joseph Hurst stated that this is an annual ordinance that is presented to the City Council and it is very important to the revenue of the city as it nets approximately$670,000 annually. This must go before the quorum court after it is approved by the City Council. There was discussion relating to raising the millage in the future. Motion to adopt Ordinance 20-2024 was made by Council Member Tonia Fry. Seconded by Council Member Matt Dodson. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Ordinance 20-2024 Levying the Millage Tax 2024 is adopted with five yeas and zero nays. Mayor Hurst declared the ordinance passed and signed same in open council, duly attested by City Clerk-Treasurer Reynolds. Motion to approve the emergency clause made by Council Member Matt Dodson, seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. The Emergency Clause passed with a vote of five yeas and zero nays. Mayor Hurst declared the emergency clause passed. �a MISCELLANOUS and GENERAL DISCUSSION 5:34PM Mayor Joe Hurst advised the City Council and the public in attendance and via recording that the City of Van Buren just received final approval of our two-year (2022-2023) legislative audit and there were zero findings. Since there were no findings this served as an announcement regarding the audit. Mayor Hurst complimented all Department Head's and the City Clerk- Treasurer's office on this achievement. There was no further miscellaneous and general discussion. ADJOURNMENT 6:12PM Council Member Madison Simmons made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Council Member Matt Dodson. The motion passed 5-0. The Regular Meeting of the Van Buren City Council was adjourned at 6:12PM. beck Tfe�s ATTESTED: �1� �� APPROVED: City of Van Buren ���.,L �V"( Shawnna M. a nolds ��d� �0� Jo ph P. Hurst City Clerk-Treasurer Fo"dCounty,P��a� Mayor A ,• �� � ' �� ,; , � � . �., : "� ' ) ���'� � �' r ••... �- 1 ,,, r,/Ii,J �