Berryville Mayor and Carroll County Solid Waste chair Tim McKinney was present at council’s May 9 meeting requesting assistance from Eureka Springs for the solid waste district.
With the rapid increase of fuel prices, McKinney explained that the district’s fuel costs had skyrocketed, using the example of April’s costs being $10,000 above the monthly fuel budget. He said the district is requesting cities in the county add a fuel surcharge to their annual budget; in Eureka Springs’s case it would require amending the contract with CCSW.
The surcharge would function with CCSW creating its budget in January and if fuel prices rise beyond the budget, then cities would be charged for the difference. If prices drop in the year, then a credit would be given. McKinney explained that the district needed to recoup the recent losses to keep functioning, and that either cities take the burden through a surcharge, or the district would be forced to issue rate increases to customers.
Alderman Terry McClung asked McKinney if he had the amendment to the contract ready for council. McKinney said he did not, but the CCSW board would be meeting later in the week to approve the application of surcharges. McClung said “we don’t know the meat and potatoes” of the contract changes and that it was prudent for council see changes before taking a vote.
McKinney asked that council give Mayor Butch Berry authorization to agree to the contract amendments after CCSW presented them. McClung continued to voice hesitation to agreement without the amendment in front of council, but a motion to authorize the mayor to sign the amendments passed unanimously.
Ward map getting second look over
City Clerk Ann Armstrong presented council with proposed changes to the redrawn ward map that council approved in Ord. 2324 at their last meeting. Armstrong said that she wished to adjust to align with Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping that the state uses and would be based on recent census data.
She told council it would be a break from tradition, where currently the ward maps are drawn based off number of voters registered in each ward and expanded or contracted to have an equal number of voters in the three wards. If integrated with GIS data, the ward maps would match census blocks. Armstrong said that the integration with the state’s GIS data would mean it is easier for citizens to see finer details of the ward maps on the city’s website once uploaded, and that she was willing to make a new address list for each ward.
No incumbent will be affected by the changes to the approved ward map and council agreed to have a new ordinance drafted to make the changes.
To text or not
Discussion was held about a resolution to have aldermen’s personal phones and laptops turned off at the start of each meeting. Alderman Harry Meyer said that texting between aldermen would be violation of open meeting law and aldermen Melissa Greene said that at recent commission meetings she had watched an audience member and commissioner texting. She said it was “obvious” they were communicating.
McClung said members of council were adults and should be able to refrain from texting one another or others about city matters while at the table. Aldermen Bill Ott, saying he had no opposition, questioned if rules were already in place that prohibited them from sending emails and texts about official business at the table. There was also back and forth about what would be procedure if an aldermen needed to look something up to assist in their understanding of items. No resolutions or motions were made.
Other Items
- While no action was taken, discussion of public comment procedure passed between aldermen. Currently, one may sign up before a meeting intending to speak during Public Comments. McClung said that he felt if the period for public comment has not been declared the public should be able to sign up even if the meeting has already started.
- Council authorized the mayor to seek a grant under the Transportation Alternative Program. The grant is an 80/20 match with a maximum amount of match from Eureka Springs of $20,220 for a project maximum of $101,100. If awarded the grant would be used to install a five-ft. wide sidewalk along the east side of West Van Buren from Nelson’s Chapel to the Community Center.