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Minutes for the City Council meeting on November 18, 2002
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CITY COUNCIL MINUTES - NOVEMBER 18, 2002
The Jonesboro City Council met Monday, November 18, 2002, at 6:30 p.m. A full quorum was in attendance. Present were: Mayor Hubert Brodell, City Attorney, Phillip Crego, City Clerk, Donna K. Jackson, and ten council members. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. Councilmen Kelton and Young were unable to attend.
Councilman Moore moved, seconded by Councilman Perrin to approve the minutes of November 4, 2002, as previously delivered. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy.
Councilman Rorex offered the following ordinance for first reading:
ORDINANCE TO REZONE PROPERTY FROM INDUSTRIAL (I-1) TO COMMERCIAL (C-3) LOCATED ON THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF JOHNSON AVENUE AND HOWARD STREET. (Gernon Vail)
Councilman Tate moved, seconded by Councilman Roddy to suspend the rules and place on second reading. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. Councilman Rega moved, seconded by Councilman Tate to further suspend the rules and place on the third and final reading. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. Councilman Tate moved, seconded by Councilman Roddy for the adoption of the ordinance. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. The ordinance was assigned number 3381.
Councilman Perrin offered the following ordinance for first reading:
ORDINANCE TO REZONE PROPERTY FROM AGRICULTURAL (AG-1) TO COMMERCIAL (C-3), LOCATED AT 3400 STADIUM BOULEVARD. (A. C. Williams, Calvary Chapel Church)
Councilman Crockett moved, seconded by Councilman Rorex to suspend the rules for the second and third readings. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. Councilman Rega moved, seconded by Councilman Crockett for the adoption of the ordinance. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. The ordinance was assigned ordinance number 3382.
Councilman Copeland offered the following ordinance for first reading:
ORDINANCE TO REZONE PROPERTY FROM COMMERCIAL (C-3 AND C-5) TO RESIDENTIAL (R-3), LOCATED ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF LAKEWOOD DRIVE, EAST OF HARRISBURG ROAD. (Tipton Ross)
Councilman Tate moved, seconded by Councilman Roddy to suspend the rules for the second and third readings. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. Councilman Copeland moved, seconded by Councilman Perrin for the adoption of the ordinance. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. The ordinance was assigned ordinance number 3383.
Councilman Tate offered the following ordinance for first reading:
ORDINANCE TO APPROPRIATE $182,000 FOR THE CLEARING, GRUBBING AND CONSTRUCTION OF A CONCRETE DITCH ALONG THE S. SIDE OF STEELE STREET, EAST OF KITCHEN
Prior to the first reading Councilman Tate amended the wording of the ordinance in Section 1 as follows: “for the clearing, grubbing and construction of a concrete ditch along the south side of Steele Street, east of Kitchen as per plans by the City of Jonesboro engineering staff. Councilman Tate explained this ordinance would be approved subject to approval by the Finance Committee. Councilman Tate moved, seconded by Councilman Perrin to suspend the rules for the second and third readings as amended. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. Councilman Rega moved, seconded by Councilman Tate for the adoption of the ordinance. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. Councilman Copeland moved, seconded by Councilman Moore for the adoption of the emergency clause. A roll call vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. The ordinance was assigned ordinance number 3384.
Councilman Tate moved, seconded by Councilman Crockett for the adoption of a resolution authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the following contracts and agreements for the following MATA rights-of-way: John and Realma Bradley, 1400 Overhill Road, Parcel 96; John Douglas, 1901 W. Nettleton, Parcel 97; Hetty White, Betty Sue Treadway, James White, and Ben White, 1801 W. Nettleton, Parcel 93. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy. The resolution was assigned number 2002:58.
Councilman Moore moved, seconded by Councilman Perrin to pull item 6, Bid No. 2002:28 - Dozer for the Sanitation Department, from the agenda until the Sanitation Committee could review the bids. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy.
Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Rega to set an appeal hearing for December 2, 2002, at 6:00 p.m. for the purpose of hearing comments regarding denial by the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission of a zoning change from Residential (R-1) to Commercial (C-3), located at 5205 E. Johnson Avenue. The appeal was filed by Mr. Bill Cope and his attorney, Martin Lilly.
Under new business, Mayor Brodell provided his proposed 2003 Budget to council members including council-elect candidates. Mayor Brodell reported his proposed budget dipped into city reserves by $2,962,000.67 but did not include funding for the Transit Authority. The Mayor’s budget included $200,000.00 for ADA mandates and $1, 000,000.00 for drainage cleanup. Mayor Brodell requested all questions regarding the proposed 2002 budget be referred to him, his assistant Larry Johnson, or Finance Director, Larry Flowers.
Mr. David Eagle of the Finance Department reported on the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, better known as GASB 34. Mr. Eagle explained that even though GASB 34 is not a law the consequences for non-compliance would mean auditors could not give a clean opinion which would impact Jonesboro’s ability to receive future grants or other funding. GASB 34 requires some changes in the way financial statements are combined and presented in published reports and requires additional records be kept relative to the government’s fixed assets (i.e. Reporting of infrastructure and depreciation).
Councilman Province moved, seconded by Councilman Rega to sell one acre of property located off Strawfloor Road to City Water and Light for the construction of a water storage tank. Councilman Province, Chairman of the Building Committee reported the property had been appraised for $9,000.00 but the Committee was recommending selling the property for $1.00 due to all the services CWL provides to the City of Jonesboro. A voice vote was taken resulting in all members voting aye. Those members were: Tate, Rorex, Crockett, McCall, Rega, Province, Moore, Perrin, Copeland and Roddy.
Councilman Moore again requested a response from Mayor Brodell regarding a letter sent November 1, 2002, by Associated Engineering. The letter explained there were discrepancies in engineering plans compared to construction of the following five roadways: Greensboro Road, Nettleton School, Philadelphia Road, Kathleen Road and Industrial Drive. Mayor Brodell objected to the fact that it was several years after the work had been done before Associated Engineering brought it to his attention. Councilman Moore explained Associated Engineering recently discovered the discrepancies due to the construction of a new subdivision off Richardson Road. Councilman Tate explained Associated Engineering designed the new subdivision based on Richardson Road plans, but discovered Richardson Road was not built according to their specifications, which changed their whole drainage plan. Mayor Brodell stated he was not notified by the Planning and Inspection Department or the developer and someone should have said something at that time. Councilman Moore explained the Developer just discovered the engineering plans were not followed and that is why he was requesting a response from Mayor Brodell. Mayor Brodell stated he was willing to meet with Councilman Moore, but did not appreciate his bringing problems up in front of everyone when he was unprepared to answer his questions. Councilman Moore contended a council meeting was the appropriate place to bring up issues, and reminded Mayor Brodell that the minutes reflected his request made two weeks ago. Councilman Moore also stated he had asked Larry Johnson, Mayor Brodell’s assistant, to inform him of the request. Councilman Moore again asked for a report on the five roadways by the next council meeting. Mayor Brodell asked if Councilman Moore would be willing to meet with him, the City Engineer, and the Street Superintendent. Councilman Moore stated he did not know anything about the projects, but would be willing to meet if Mayor Brodell would tell him the day and time. Councilman Tate stated it was not just Richardson Road and referred to a letter dated March, 2002 that he sent to Mayor Brodell. Councilman Tate explained he and City Engineer, Claude Martin had reviewed every set of engineering plans that the City of Jonesboro had paid for, and discovered none of the streets had been built according to engineering specifications. Councilman McCall stated he also had raised questions regarding engineering specifications being ignored when the termination of Street Superintendent, Gene Barnett was being discussed, but no response was provided. The questions raised by Councilman Moore, Councilman Tate and Councilman McCall were: Who made the decision to change the engineering plans; How much money did the City of Jonesboro spend for the plans; and How can this be prevented in the future.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.