Ordinance to waive bidding gets started

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City council’s Proposed Ordinance 2240 would waive requirements of competitive bidding for purchasing self-contained breathing apparatuses for the Eureka Springs Fire Department. Alderman Terry McClung mentioned at Monday’s council meeting he noticed the proposed ordinance in front of them differed from previous discussion. He said he remembered they had discussed purchasing ten of the apparatuses, and the maximum cost to the budget was $80,000.

Aldermen agreed to strike the first paragraph, and Mayor Butch Berry said he had reservations about other parts, but urged aldermen to pass the revised ordinance on its first reading, and he would bring more information to the next meeting.

Aldermen agreed to commit to the purchase of ten of the devices, and Berry said grant funds might help with the purchase. Council passed the first reading of the proposed ordinance.

Final Items

  • Chair Ken Ketelsen of the City Advertising and Promotion Commission said the first quarter was strong for CAPC collections, and they are making a big push for the May Festival of the Arts. Geofencing has proved to an effective advertising tool, and social media continues to be “the best bang for the buck.” As an example, he pointed out Eureka Springs has more than 53,000 likes on Facebook compared to around 10,000 for Fayetteville.
  • Council voted to reseat Jay Fitzsimmons to the Parks Commission.
  • City clerk Ann Armstrong showed council a list of city documents from 2008-2011 that would be destroyed.
  • Council approved a resolution for putting two old fire department vehicles and an old police vehicle on the auction block.
  • Another formality was unanimous approval of Resolution #680 which would authorize use of Rule #4 of the Arkansas Fire and Police Board. This is one step in the process of applying for an increase in pension amounts for eligible retirees. Final decision on the request is made in Little Rock, and the decision has nothing to do with the city budget.

Next meeting will be Monday, April 25 at 6 p.m. There will be a budget workshop at 5:30 before the meeting.