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APRIL 2023 REGULAR y 1 City of Van Buren, Arkansas Minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting of the City Council Monday, April 24, 2023 Van Buren Municipal Complex CALL TO ORDER 5:30PM The regular monthly meeting of the Van Buren City Council was called to order by Mayor Joseph P. Hurst at 5:30PM. Reverend and City Attorney Jacob Howell led invocation. Mayor Hurst led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL 5:33PM Present: Council Member Kenneth Bell, Council Member Matt Dodson, Council Member Madison Simmons, Council Member Mike Kneeland, Council Member Tonia Fry, Council Member Tyler Wood, Mayor Joseph P. Hurst, City Attorney Jacob Howell, City Clerk-Treasurer Shawnna Reynolds Absent: None AWARDS Teasie Harris and Johnnie Smith retired from the Fire Department having been with the Fire Department since 1988 and 1989 respectively. CONSENT AGENDA 5:40PM 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 March 27, 2023, City Council Meeting o Street Closure and Entertainment District Temp Expansions: ■ Steampunk Festival-Food Truck o Resolution 04-01-2023 Disposal of Fixed Assets Street/Fire Depts o Financial Statements o Department Reports Motion was seconded by Council Member Tyler Wood. All in favor. None opposed. Consent Agenda approved. v � T NEW BUSINESS 5:56PM Ordinance 14-2023 Adopting 2021 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code Planning Director,Wally Bailey stated that all updated code books went into action in 2021 however the city did not have access to those codes until recently. The importance of having these current code books on file in the City Clerk's office is because it will affect our ISO rating, which is very important for insurance purposes. With this addition,the City of Van Buren now has the most current Arkansas Fire Prevention Code books. Motion to adopt Ordinance 14-2023 made by Council Member Madison Simmons. Seconded by Council Member Mike Kneeland. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Ordinance 14-2023 Adopting 2021 Arkansas Fire Prevention Code is adopted with six yeas and no nays. Ordinance 15-2023 Working without a Permit Planning Director, Wally Bailey stated that the Planning Commission met to discuss the Fire Code books but also addressed the fact that there are many repeat offenders of those who are not obtaining the required building permits. The Planning Commission determined that there would be a fee assessed of$250 for failure to obtain the proper permit. It will be the responsibility of the Building Department to enforce this new penalty. Motion to adopt Ordinance 15-2023 made by Council Member Tyler Wood. Seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Ordinance 15-2023 Working without a Permit is adopted with six yeas and no nays. Ordinance 16-2023 Purchase of Fire Department Vehicle Fire Chief Tim Arnold and Mayor Hurst stated this was in the budget for last year but there were supply chain issues due to the Covid Pandemic. There has been a vehicle at Orr Chevrolet that will meet the Fire Department needs. Council Member Madison Simmons asked if there was a location in Van Buren to purchase the vehicle,thus keeping tax dollars in our city,to which Chief Arnold explained that there we no vehicles inside the city limits that would meet the need of the Fire Department. Motion to adopt Ordinance 16-2023 made by Council Member Kenneth Bell. Seconded by Council Member Matt Dodson. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Motion to approve the Emergency Clause was made by Council Member Kenneth Bell. Seconded by Council Member Matt Dodson. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Ordinance 16-2023 Purchase of Fire Department Vehicle is adopted with six yeas and no nays. Ordinance 17-2023 Purchase of Cedar's Country Club Mayor Hurst stated that the city has had their eye on this property for a long time. Soon there will be public interest meetings for how to best utilize this property to benefit our city. He mentioned that he was excited to see the possibilities unfold. There has been an appraisal done in the past to determine the purchase price of$190,000.00 The City of Van Buren will be responsible for cleaning up the property. Motion to adopt Ordinance 17-2023 made by Council Member Kenneth Bell. Seconded by Council Member Tyler Wood. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Motion to approve the Emergency Clause was made by Council Member Tyler Wood. Seconded by Council Member Matt Dodson. Roll Call. All in favor. None opposed. Ordinance 17-2023 Purchase of Cedar's Country Club is adopted with six yeas and no nays. Miscellaneous and General Discussion 5:56PM Connie Martin from Almost Home Shelter presented their quarterly report. She mentioned that there are currently 26 dogs at the shelter, and they have issues 24 vouchers for Hubbs Veterinary for spay/neuter. This is to be applied against the matching grant we have in place to cover those charges. Fines for abandonment and cruelty are currently being evaluated. The improvements made with the$93,000 donation from the city are moving along as they have started breaking up the concrete to begin the expansion. There is no official end date set for the project as they are working with a lot of volunteers and must work with volunteer type scheduling. Mayor Hurst asked if there were any questions or statements from the public. Ronnie Teague lives on South 7th and addressed a dog problem in that area of the city. He stated that the owner doesn't keep what is a vicious dog on a leash. He was concerned about public safety. He also stated that the sidewalks are broken into pieces and are a trip hazard to residents in the area as there are many elderly and disabled that could be injured. Tyna Barkley, lives on South 7th and stated she wanted to comment that she lives in the same area as Ronnie Teague and that there is a definite problem with a vicious dog in that neighborhood. She states she witnessed the dog kill a cat and that she has video of the dog owner threatening neighbors. She asked that the city help them resolve this issue. Samantha Meadows of 1710 Emma states she was at the council meeting in March and that to date she has not had a resolution to the storm debris being cleaned up. Yard Waste Department Head,John Karstens stated he would come out to her property to discuss this issue directly. Mayor Hurst advised her that he would reach out to the Municipal Utilities to discuss the issue with her pipes and would be back in contact with her. There were no further miscellaneous or general discussion items. ADJOURNMENT 6:21PM Council Member Madison Simmons made a motion to adjourn,seconded by Council Member Tonia Fry. The motion passed 6-0. The Regular Meeting of the Van Buren City Council was adjourned at 6:21PM. ATTESTED: APPROVED: V ` Shawnna M. Re nolds Jo ph P. Hurst City Clerk-Treasurer Mayor r -5 G\erk Tre751 C't Y of Van Buren f✓t� 3"� r �" Nair Amy v�ryCounty,P11 "I le Ile 4 e r ' r 4 4