Holiday Island City Council passed two ordinances and a resolution at its regular May 18 meeting beginning to establish commissions and formalize City Code of Conduct.
Ordinance 2021-002 authorizes Holiday Island to create a Planning and Zoning Commission. The ordinance allows for city council, through a second ordinance, to serve as the commission and Zoning Board of Adjustment, or for the mayor to appoint five commissioners with the advice and consent of council. Commissioners who fail to attend 70 percent of meetings within a 12-month period shall be deemed to have resigned.
The job of the Planning Commission is to assist in creating and enforcing any planning and building ordinances the commission asks council to adopt. In the original presented ordinance one of the five appointed commissioners would be a city council member. The change gives the mayor and city council the option to choose whether that single commissioner would be a city council member or not.
Commissioner Ken Mills made the motion to approve the ordinance as amended, and Pat Elwood seconded.
Ordinance 2021-003 says that Holiday Island elected officials hold themselves accountable to the City of Holiday Island Code of Conduct, which covers conduct in public meetings and with the public in general. Council member Lynn Dumas said that the ordinance was close in wording to Resolution 2021-006 adopted in January, but that its influence stretched to not only municipal officials but to boards, commissions and committees as well. The ordinance would repeal that resolution.
Mills made the motion to adopt, and council member Graves seconded.
Other Items
- Resolution 2021-020 was passed unanimously authorizing Holiday Island to join the Municipal League. Council member Jerry Pittman made the motion with Graves seconding.
- Up to $3,000 was approved to come out of the street fund to assist in the upgrade of the city’s front entrance. Mayor Dan Kees said he wasn’t sure it was needed since $15,000 had already been approved for the front entrance upgrade but wanted it approved in case the extra money was required.
- Kees gave an update on American Rescue Plan funds saying he hoped they would receive funds
despite not being a city during 2020. He said that they were not the only city looking for an exception in Arkansas to receive funds and that he has been working with U.S. Rep. Steve Womack’s office to receive funds.
The next city council meeting will be Thursday, June 17 via Zoom.