Eureka Springs City Council held a brief budget meeting before the regular meeting on Jan. 13. Finance Director Michael Akins said he called the meeting so the aldermen could ask questions or make suggestions.
Alderman Terry McClung asked if the budget had been changed in any major way since the last time the council saw it, and Akins responded that he had built in some room to move money around or adjust line items if needed. As an example, Public Works Director Simon Wiley had found that with the upgraded sludge system they were producing more sludge than before, which caused the cost of disposing of it to go up from its original line item cost of $5000. Wiley was unsure how much more it would be, so he is keeping cost at the original number but make changes once they are better informed.
Akins was asked about why the money for the fire department had gone up on a line item for small equipment and gear and Akins said the fire department needs $35,000 for replacement gear, safety, and small equipment that council had voted for.
Alderman Harry Meyer pointed out that the police department is asking for two more new cars in 2025 and asked why they weren’t buying used cruisers from other departments. Akins explained that in 2024 they had bought new cars because ESPD found that used cars broke down very quickly and weren’t saving the department money.
Buying two new cars worked well and expanded the life of current vehicles and the time between buying new ones.
The regular meeting started with appointing people to commissions, and aldermen David Avanzino and Steve Holifield had their positions on the CAPC renewed.
Wiley said that the new upgrades to the sludge basin and conveyor the plant was running better than it had in the entirety of Wiley’s tenure. When asked about alternatives to hauling the sludge, Wiley said that it can be composted, which renders it safe to put directly on the ground, however the city’s composting plant isn’t big enough to meet State requirements.
He said that Fayetteville has a plant with a process for cooking and dehydrating sludge into a powder, however, this process does not kill harmful bacteria so the powder cannot be spread on the ground. He referenced the adjustments that might be made in the budget to haul away the sludge.
Alderman Susane Gruning asked if there had been any significant leaks in the water lines due to the cold weather and Wiley gave a list of leaks that had been fixed. McClung said that water had been shut off in a section of town without warning and had upset people, and there had to be a better way of informing the public.
Avanzino pointed out many updates are posted online but McClung argued that not all people have the means or ability to use that resource, and that Public Works needs to find a better way of informing the public of disruptions.
Mayor Butch Berry had talked to engineers regarding water and sewer updates, next month council will hold a workshop to go over the plans. Wiley said on Wednesday he would be attending a hearing to see if Eureka Springs would be awarded a $6,000,000 loan and would post the state’s decision on Facebook.
- Ordinance 2361 vacating a portion of Carroll Street was approved. A new ordinance, 2368, concerns peddlers and home solicitors. Since the city by law must allow them, it was decided to update city code and impose $75 for a registration fee and permit good for three months.
- Council will continue following the Arkansas Municipal League’s rules. Meetings will continue to be on the second and forth Monday of every month with adjustments for holidays and emergencies. The Mayor Pro Tem position that was held by Terry McClung last year changed to Steve Holifield in a three-to-two vote. There was declaration of a vacancy for a citizen from ward one. Applications are being accepted at the city clerk’s office and are due by the next council meeting.
- Discussion of the sale of a piece of city property to an individual hoping to build a house on Mill Hollow Rd. went to a vote to hear the man’s offer, if it seemed low, they would have an assessment and then advertise for bids.
- The issue of the permanent entertainment district at Pine Mountain Village was revisited with Gruning want to make sure that the district could run for the next two years. City attorney Forrest Jacobi reiterated that it cannot be held in abeyance or stopped from operating, but people can vote on whether to keep it in the 2026 election. Gruning wanted him to clarify to the public that just because a permanent entertainment district downtown had been voted against several years ago didn’t mean there was a ban on permanent entertainment districts. Jacobi said that only the downtown area had been voted against, there was nothing to say there couldn’t be permanent districts in other areas of the city.