Eureka Springs City Council held a regular meeting on Jan. 25, beginning with Mayor Butch Berry’s deferral of the State of the City address to an undetermined date. Berry then discussed vacancies on both the Planning and the Parks commissions and provided the council with quarterly financial reports from the CAPC, Parks, and the Cemetery.
There was one public comment from citizen Rick Bright, who took direct issue with the mayor’s procedural handling of the vote on Jan. 11, where council appointed new members to the CAPC. Bright, the CAPC Finance Director, said he has no issue with the outcome of the vote, but said, “I do take issue to the manner of which those votes were taken.”
Bright said that aldermen were told by the mayor that they could not vote for themselves, and said he believes nobody has the authority to tell aldermen they cannot cast a vote for themselves. “They cannot be forced to abstain from the vote,” he said. He suggested that a proper and legal vote be retaken, allowing aldermen to vote as they deemed necessary.
Berry sent an email Tuesday morning citing Lanny Richmond II, legal counsel for the Arkansas Municipal League (AML), saying, “A council member may not vote on their own appointment to a municipal office. See ACA 14-42-103(b)(2).”
Rezoning or spot zoning?
38 Prospect was rezoned from Victorian Residential (R-1) to Quiet Commercial (C-3) in a tie-breaking vote from the mayor. Alderman Terry McClung argued against the rezoning, with support from aldermen Harry Meyer and LauraJo Smole, saying that since the houses next door to this location are residential, approving this rezoning request would be deemed “spot zoning.”
“You’re not supposed to spot zone,” McClung said. Berry defended his choice to rezone saying, “It may be spot zoning at this point,” but said he believes that area will eventually become commercial.
Final decisions
- Both 44 and 46 Armstrong were rezoned from Victorian Residential (R-1) to Commercial (C-1) in a unanimous vote.
- Council unanimously approved an emergency clause for the ordinance establishing the Pine Crest Subdivision, off of Pivot Rock Rd., but deferred reading and voting on the ordinance to the next meeting. McClung said the ordinance could be read and approved three times at the next meeting once the city attorney completes it.
- Resolution #792, establishing a Hate Crime resolution introduced by Mayor Berry, was unanimously approved. The resolution supports individual human rights and legislation for enhanced penalties for crimes committed on the basis of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, homelessness, disability, ethnicity, color, ancestry, service in the United States Military, or sex. Berry said he will share it with the Arkansas Governor’s office.
- Berry said the city will be receiving two electric charging stations to be placed in the Planer Hill parking lot, at no cost to the city. The stations will be provided and installed by Adopt a Charger, a nonprofit organization providing communities with fee-free electric car charge stations for accelerating the wide-spread adoption of electric vehicles. Berry stated the location at Planer Hill is perfect because the electricity will be provided by solar panels on the city building in the parking lot.
- April Griffith provided an application to serve as a Hospital Commissioner, Position Five. Her application is expected to be reviewed and considered at the next regular meeting. Griffith is the Carnegie Library Director since 2019.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. in the AUD.