Eureka Springs City Council met Monday Feb. 9, reconvening after the snowstorm cancelled their last meeting. In public comments, several residents of Owen, Mountain, and Elk streets raised complaints about the lack of snow and ice removal on their streets. Residents said they were told by Public Works that these streets were not on the list for plowing, and that speed bumps were a problem for the snowplows.
Commenters said they believed that as taxpayers, they are entitled to protection and safety from the city. They also pointed to inconsistencies in protocol – one woman noting that when her husband required hospice transport during a storm some years ago, the city had accommodated her request to clear Owen St.
Safety concerns for retirement-age residents were brought up repeatedly.
The residents asked council to review the hazardous street policy to create a better plan for snow removal. One offered the city a hand in marking the speed bumps for the snowplows. Another encouraged council to create a committee to help improve snow removal response times, offering to serve. When the plow did come through, it tore out some speed bumps. A request was made for its replacement, preferably with stronger ones like those on East Mountain.
Interim Public Works Director Sean Mellon apologized for the issues with snow and ice removal. Mellon explained that they had two plow trucks going 24 hours a day from the start of the storm into Monday. He confirmed that a priority list for plowing did exist and there had already been discussion with the mayor about revisiting it as well as purchasing rods for marking speed bumps, and plows for the smaller trucks to clear narrower roads. “It’s a work in progress and we’ll visit that problem,” Mellon said.
Moving into water and sewer updates, Mellon reported a main water leak was repaired on US 62 just above Wanderoo, caused by cold temperatures and ground shifts. Barrows construction hit an 8 in. main coming off the Pivot Rock Tank – cause for the water outage last Friday. Seven feet of water line was replaced. Another smaller water leak occurred on US 62 in front of Osage Creek Lodge, and they are awaiting ARDOT’s equipment to repair it.
Alderman David Avanzino also asked if Barrows Construction would be held accountable for the use of city “manpower” to fix things that they had broken and turned to Alderman Terry McClung for insight. “Barrows, I assure you is a very responsible company. Anything that they do wrong- they’ll fix it,” McClung said. “Things get missed because there are still water lines here that they still don’t know are there. That’s the kind of problems you have in this town – Barrows is not the problem – unfortunately they just hit a line that was there that wasn’t marked – it’s gonna happen, it’s ok.” Mellon noted that that was why previous director Simon Wiley had instigated their new GI system. Wiley’s last day of work for the city was Jan. 31. The city told the Independent he is assisting during the transition, and the position has already been posted.
Alderman Steve Holifield served as Mayor pro-tem while Mayor Butch Berry was absent due to illness. Holifield provided an update that Berry had been moved to a private hospital room and asked that positive thoughts and prayers be sent his way.
New Business
Alderman Harry Meyer raised discussion of the Post Office’s failure to deliver water bills. He said the “best thing we can do is make it a little easier for people to pay their bill by actually giving it to them each month.” Meyer said it came to his attention it is a more common occurrence than he’d thought, and suggested the city use envelopes.
Finance Director Michael Akins said in November the P.O. did lose a section of the city’s bills, which they were able to correct and that it was the only time in his experience that it occurred. Akins said new technology that would allow for city bills to be viewed and paid online. Previously it required purchasing cloud space, which was too expensive.
Avanzino, a CAPC commissioner alongside Alderman Susane Gruning, said that there are a handful of businesses in town that are refusing to pay delinquent CAPC taxes despite notices and individual visits from the CAPC director. Avanzino asked City Attorney Heather Owens if the city could pull business licenses under these conditions. McClung said it was his understanding that the city could withhold renewal of businesses tax permits, but not business permits. Owens said she needed to investigate to be sure. “I want to get clear,” said Avanzino, “I hate to see any business in town shut down but the blatant disregard of paying a tax is something that we do need to address.”
Other Business
- ES Hospital CEO Tiffany Means gave an update that mirrored her comments on hospital financials during that commission’s last meeting on Jan. 19. She said the hospital is addressing gaps in “financial systems” that go back years. She also noted vendor commitments and contracts that were not changed with the hospital’s redesignation to REH, and that the hospital had been under-billing since 2023 and a “fragmented” AR process had resulted in $1.3 million in delayed or lost revenue that is being addressed. She assured aldermen that these discoveries do not reflect on the quality of care at the hospital and that clinical practices are “compliant, up-to-date, and sound.”
- Former hospital employees Richard and Samantha Webb submitted letters to saying council has focused only on the financial aspect of hospital issues, completely ignoring the human side of things. The Webbs declared they will continue to stand before council until something is done on both sides.
- Matthew Pankrez and Ratha Lawler were approved for Cemetery Commission Pos. 4 and 5.
- Application for Cemetery Commission Pos. 3 is under review for Chris Ridenhour. McClung motioned to approve but Avanzino wanted to speak to him first.
- Vacancies were announced in Planning, CAPC, and Hospital Commissions.
- Ordinance 2383 repealing section 2.48.020C of the Eureka Springs Municipal code regarding the collection of district court fines and for other purposes. The ordinance is intended to resolve issues of communication between the district court and the police department, making it so people must make payments directly to the courthouse. Passed unanimously on its third and final reading.
- Discussion of the proposed sale of lots 12-16, block 46 on Raleigh and Armstrong to Lyla Allison was deferred as McClung wished to view the property first.
- The agenda was amended to postpone discussions of a downtown permanent entertainment district and elimination of I&I charges.
- Public Works reported that parts for the UV system, sludge equipment, and valves have arrived and they are waiting for various engineering companies to complete those repairs.
- In closing comments, Avanzino acknowledged former hospital employees Richard and Samantha Webb, asking Owens to find out what would be in council’s hands to address.