Council waggles (not the middle) finger

Before getting to the agenda at Monday’s city council meeting, focus was on the July 27 City Advertising and Promotion Commission scheduled meeting that failed to have a quorum due to a verbal altercation between commissioners Nick Roberts and James DeVito. Roberts and commissioner Autumn Slane walked out before the meeting was called to order.

The topic was brought up due to multiple expired positions and Mayor Butch Berry’s seeming surprise that the CAPC’s financials had failed to be approved. Slane is a city alderman and CAPC commissioner, as is Roberts. She explained that with CAPC Chair Jeff Carter out for a month, DeVito was in line to chair the meeting, but DeVito’s seat expired at the end of June. Slane said that she and Roberts believed that expiration meant DeVito could not run the meeting.

Slane also voiced concern with the CAPC budget, saying that while Paradise Marketing was telling the commission they were seeing good results, she was not “seeing that translate” for those running businesses in town. She lamented a shortage of town-wide events, car shows, and the lack of a calendar, as well as a lack of planning for next year’s marketing which she said should be being planned now.

While council did not go over these concerns, it may be noted that there have been several car shows hosted in Eureka Springs in 2022 and more scheduled before the end of the year. Despite work being done on a new website, the CAPC regularly updates their current eurekasprings.org website calendar.

The CAPC measures success through a mix of advertising metrics and money received through taxes it collects from food, beverage and lodging. Year-to-Date tax collections for 2022 have been positive when compared to both 2021 and 2019, and when compared to the 2022 budget. It has also been noted at several previous CAPC meetings and workshops with Paradise Marketing that 2023 marketing planning will begin in Q4 of this year.

Alderman Harry Meyer asked City Attorney Forrest Jacobi if a commission seat is filled by a person even after expiration of their term if that person remains in that seat until a replacement is chosen. Jacobi answered in the affirmative. Alderman Melissa Greene read state law confirming the same, that elected officials remain in their seat after their term expires until their replacement is confirmed.

Greene voiced that she was disappointed to have “people take the law into their own hands” and “throw a meeting” and that it was inappropriate to attack another commissioner. Meyer agreed, and described Slane and Roberts leaving as “childish,” saying that decorum was needed at the meetings. Meyer continued saying that Slane and Roberts are council’s representatives at the meetings and motioned to have Roberts removed from the CAPC. Greene seconded.

Alderman Terry McClung suggested that council should not manage the CAPC, and they need to learn to work together. He said it was Slane’s and Roberts’s first time serving on the commission and that there is a “learning curve.”

McClung said that council needs to let their terms run for the rest of the year, explaining that people get heated and “that’s the nature of the beast,” and it was up to all of them not to let things get out of hand when there’s tension.

Slane argued that she was fearful of getting into a lawsuit and it was wrong for Meyer to call it childish. She explained that when someone is “flipping the bird across from me” she didn’t feel comfortable staying in the situation and did not wish to be a part of something that may be illegal.

While Greene did capitulate that it was wrong for DeVito to use the universal sign of anger, she once again pointed to Roberts and Slane saying they had taken the law into their own hands. It was voiced at some point that alderman Bill Ott could replace Roberts on the CAPC to bring “calm” to the commission and eventually the question was brought to vote.

The motion to remove Roberts from his position failed 2-2-1 with Greene and Meyer voting Yes, Slane and McClung No and Ott abstaining

Mud Street tunnels discussed

Slane brought up to council concerns of public safety when it comes to the underground drainage tunnels running underneath lower Spring and Main Street, questioning when it was the city’s responsibility to handle infrastructure should such tunnels cave in.

While this was in reference to a 2010 drainage tunnel engineering report, other alderman agreed that those tunnels were a potential problem. McClung, pointed out though, that it was mostly a private property issue.

Both he and Berry explained that in the years after that report leading up to 2016 the city had made a Hazard Mitigation Plan and by 2016 had proposed a tax district to allow the city to have a process to go in, maintain and repair those tunnels as situations arose. Berry said that at the time property owners had not wished to join and the project was stopped, but he also pointed out that many property owners along Main Street, including the city, had done the repairs needed underneath their parking areas. Berry also offered to Slane that she take a look at the city’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Other Items

• Laurie Crammond and Charissa Litherland were approved for Parks positions 4 and 7 unanimously.
• #2326 Camping on private property passed its second reading with a 4-1 vote with Slane voting No.
• Berry was quick to shut down discussion on the Fire Department, saying that issues brought up, such as lack of training, were being fulfilled and payroll concerns were all administrative issues and had already been discussed with the fire chief and resolved.