Mayor Butch Berry told city council on Monday his office is continuing its search for another place to hold city meetings, as City Hall has heard consistently in recent months about holding meetings in a space more compliant with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He said he went with Mayoral Assistant Kim Stryker and Building Manager Don Matt to the Auditorium to assess pros and cons of the lobby.
Berry said Matt and Stryker arranged tables and chairs in the Aud lobby and determined that besides seating for council, the mayor, city attorney and city clerk, there could comfortably be 15 seats for others, which is eight more seats than the jury room at the courthouse.
There would be difficulty with the quality of the video because of lighting, and telecast of the meeting would not be live as it is now. It would be doable, although alderman Terry McClung contended gaining only eight seats and losing the live telecast was not much of a gain. Alderman David Mitchell added the site was not much more ADA-accessible than the courthouse, and Berry added that the main theater of the Auditorium would be too costly because of heating and cooling for only a handful of people.
Berry also looked at other alternatives, one a building across the street from Eureka Springs Hospital currently occupied by Dr. Charles Beard. The building will be available early in 2018, but would need a few modifications and not have live telecast. Berry estimated it could be configured to seat maybe 40 extra people, and could be a permanent location for meetings as the city already owns it.
He also checked out the basement of the Transit Building, which would need modifications and would be ADA-compliant, but again, telecast would have to be tape-delayed.
Alderman Bob Thomas, a member of the ADA Complaint Review Committee, stated the city must accommodate those with disabilities, and the Aud lobby would be a temporary improvement until they settle on a permanent location. He insisted the city needs to do something right away, not in six months.
Alderman Mickey Schneider noted the city is moving forward on relocating, and wanted more information about other alternatives before making a decision. Thomas moved they continue the meeting in the Aud, next door to the courthouse, for 15 minutes and return to the jury room for a vote on whether to move there temporarily. Adamson was his second.
Berry asked Rick Bright, finance director of the City Advertising and Promotion Commission and acting manager of the Auditorium, to address use of the Aud for meetings. Bright said the lobby is serviced by the big HVAC unit at the back of the building, they keep the thermostat set at 80°, and it takes three days to cool the building down. The unit does not work just for the lobby. A second unit kicks in to control temperature in the main theater. It can cost $8000 to heat the main theater for one concert.
Thomas’s motion was voted down, Terry McClung, Mitchell, Schneider and Kristi Kendrick voting No. Berry will continue the search.