Mayor assesses health and wealth of the city

Mayor Butch Berry delivered his 2017 State of the City address at the Jan. 23 Eureka Springs city council meeting, and thanked department heads for conscientious attention to watching budgets while still providing services to citizens following his spending freeze imposed in the spring of 2016.

Berry said the Police Department had more than 1600 calls during 2016, issued 1120 citations and made 320 arrests. Surprising to some, Berry noted, there were 183 noise violations cited.

ESPD also was actively involved with programs at the school, finding ways to reach out to the community and speak out about domestic violence.

Nick Samac, 20-year veteran of the Fire Department, was hired as the new chief, and Berry noted Samac’s deft handling of his budget after the spending and hiring freeze. ESFD handled 178 fire and rescue calls and 1300 EMS calls with 12 full-time staff and 25 volunteers.

Berry said Public Works made money on water sales for the first time in several years. He worked with PW Director Dwayne Allen to identify areas where the city could proactively make changes leading toward long-term fiscal responsibility.

First on the list was to finish replacing faulty water meters. Berry said there were only 12 commercial meters left to install and 83 percent of residential meters are in place. All remaining meters have already been purchased. Another priority in 2017 is fixing leaky pipes in the delivery system, and Berry set a goal of reducing leakage by 20 percent.

The city got a non-matching $200,000 grant to improve drainage at a spot just east of Main Street, but progress on implementing the grant has been on hold pending a cultural inventory of the area to be improved. Berry said once the project is completed, the city would be able to apply for other similar grants.

In an effort to move the water and sewer systems toward being self-sufficient, Berry has decided to redirect funds originally allocated for a new Public Works building toward three projects at the sewer treatment facility: installing storage capacity, allowing the city to buy chemicals in bulk; building a water testing facility to save on mandatory testing which Public Works now must outsource; and buying a generator for powering the facility during times of peak electricity usage. Each of these improvements will pay for themselves fairly quickly and thereafter reduce ongoing city expenses.

Berry commented the Transit Department is the only one in the state that is self-sufficient. In 2016, rides were up 3.6 percent and tram ridership increased by more than 20 percent.

The City Advertising and Promotion Commission collected $1.4 million in taxes, a 7.7 percent bump over 2015. Berry commented that through Internet marketing the CAPC is able to reach a more targeted audience, and will expand its outreach to Chicago, Indianapolis, Austin and Houston. The CAPC also hopes to hire a new events coordinator this year.

The Parks Department hired Justin Huss as director. He purchased a new fleet of boats for Lake Leatherwood City Park last summer, and that has already paid for itself. He created new bike camps and improved the cabins at LLCP, plus he and Parks staff and volunteers have brought new attention to the trails at LLCP by participation in the recent International Mountain Biking Association world summit. Berry said as a result, serious trails riders from all over the world came to LLCP to ride.

Berry’s primary goal for 2017 is to increase the city’s effort to address needs of the water and sewer systems. “We cannot continue to keep passing the problem along to another city council,” he said. He added that he would present a proposal to council in February regarding an increase in water and sewer rates that would at least allow the city to meet the minimum bond covenants and possibly pay for some new pipes.

Berry said climbing out of the fiscal hole will take everyone working together, and if anyone has ideas to offer, he will listen.