MINUTES OF COUNCIL

SEPTEMBER 26, 2006

The Batesville City Council met in regular session on September 26, at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building. Mayor Joe Biard presided over the meeting. Councilmember Pectol gave the invocation. Upon roll call the following Councilmembers answered present: R.L. Carpenter, Fred Krug, Doug Matthews, Dana Mynatt, Jerry Pectol, David Shetron, Stephen Smart and Paula Terrell. Also present were the City Clerk and the City Attorney.

COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS

Mr. Chadwick Smart addressed the council with concerns about the conditions of the soccer fields.

Ms. Donna Ernest, new director of Main Street Batesville, addressed the council to introduce herself and thank the council for the support for the Main Street Batesville program.

ROUTINE BUSINESS

Councilmember Matthews moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting and Councilmember Carpenter seconded. All voted for.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

***DISCUSSION OF ATV ORDINANCE

Mayor Biard said after last weeks reading of an ATV ordinance, it was brought to his attention that the city currently has an ordinance that covers operating ATV’s on city property. That being the case, Councilmember Shetron moved to remove the current proposed ordinance from consideration. Councilmember Pectol seconded and all voted for.

***DISCUSSION WITH CHAD SMART

Councilmember Smart moved to place Mr. Chad Smart on the agenda for further comments and Councilmember Mynatt seconded. The roll call count was 5 for (Terrell, Carpenter, Matthews, Mynatt and Smart) and 3 against (Krug, Pectol and Shetron). The motion passed. Mr. Chad Smart returned before the council and said he felt monies received from the county for parks improvement were not being spent properly. After a lengthy discussion, Councilmember Krug suggested that Mr. Chad Smart get with him and Councilmember Terrell who are both liaisons to the Parks and Recreation Commission and see if they can help resolve the problem.

***DEBBIE FRAZIER REPRESENTING BATESVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Ms. Debbie Frazier with the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce addressed the council and presented them with a resolution adopted by the Chamber Board of Directors. The resolution is in support of remediation prepared by the Wastewater Taskforce. They recommended professional parties be employed to research and develop a plan to educate the public with regard to the Wastewater ballot issue and to solicit private funding to support such action.

***AIRPORT COMMISSION UPDATE

Mr. Charles Barnett with the Airport Commission addressed the council on the Airport’s behalf with a general update and gave his appreciation to the council for their support of the Airport.

***DISCUSSION WITH UTILITIES REQUESTED BY DANA MYNATT

Utility Commissioners Charles Schaaf, Stephen Case and William Gramig along with Utilities Manager Larry Tharnish and Nick Baxter, Technical Coordinator addressed the council. Ms. Mynatt said it was her understanding that the commission was going to report back to the council once they received the recommendations from the Utilities taskforce regarding policy and procedures for the Utilities Department. Mr. Schaaf said he thought that the council was given a copy of the recommendations and said the commission adopted all their recommendations plus added a few additional safeguards. Ms. Mynatt then asked if the commission was looking at revisiting their policy for pay raises for their employees in light of the recent complaint of one of their employees. Mr. Schaaf said that currently the Utilities does not have a written policy in place but they were in the process of doing so.

***COUNCIL BREAK

Councilmember Mynatt moved to take a five minute break and Councilmember Smart seconded. All voted for.

***DISCUSSION WITH SHERIFF’S OFFICE REQUESTED BY DANA MYNATT

Chief Deputy Steve Jeffery addressed the council to answer question by Councilmember Mynatt regarding ATV’s within the city limits.

***PROPOSED ORDINANCE TO RE-ZONE PROPERTY IN BLOCK 32 AND BLOCK 52 OF THE SCHOOL ADDITION FROM C-1 TO R-1

Councilmember Carpenter introduced an ordinance that would re-zone property owned by Mr. Ben Earls from C-1 to R-1. Mr. McClure showed the council where the property was located on the zoning map. Block 32 is located between Vine and Oak Streets and 9th and 10th Streets and Block 52 is located between Oak and Neeley Streets and 9th and 10th Streets. Mayor Biard read the ordinance in full and Councilmember Shetron moved to suspend the second and third readings. Councilmember Matthews seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Carpenter moved to adopt the ordinance and Councilmember Matthews seconded. The roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2006-9-3. Councilmember Matthews moved to adopt the emergency clause. Councilmember Terrell seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against.

***PROPOSED ORDINANCE TO REZONE PROPERTY GENERALLY IN THE WATER AND ELM STREET AREA FROM R-2 TO R-1

Councilmember Matthews introduced an ordinance that would re-zone property owned by Clint and Mayfan Thomas from R-2 to R-1. The property includes several blocks between Elm and Water Streets and 8th and 11th Streets. Mayor Biard read the ordinance in full and Councilmember Matthews moved to suspend the second and third readings. Councilmember Terrell seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. Councilmember Matthews then moved to adopt the ordinance. Councilmember Carpenter seconded and the roll call count was 8 for and 0 against. The ordinance was given #2006-9-4.

COMMENTS FROM DEPARTMENT HEADS

None

COMMENTS FROM COUNCILMEMBERS

Councilmember Terrell said she was scheduling a traffic control meeting for Thursday, September 28th at 4:30 PM.

Councilmember Matthews said it was time to schedule budget meeting for the 2007 budget. The council set the following dates; October 16, 17, 23 and 30 all beginning at 5:00 PM

Councilmember Mynatt moved for the Mayor to write a letter to the Highway Department and ask them to include a new stop light at the intersection of St. Louis and Main Streets in the event the council decides to change Main from a one way street to a two way street. Councilmember Terrell seconded and all voted for.

Councilmember Smart mentioned that the Interlocal Committee met for its annual meeting.

COMMENTS FROM CITY ATTORNEY

None

COMMENTS FROM MAYOR

The Mayor reminded the council that the Batesville / Southside hearing is set for Wednesday morning at 9:30.

Mayor Biard asked the council to approve out of state travel for Marty Thompson and Johnny Coles to attend a stop light school in Decatur, AL. Councilmember Matthews moved to approve the travel and Councilmember Pectol seconded. All voted for.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

The council was given a copy of the financial statement for August, 2006.

There being no further business, Councilmember Smart moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Pectol seconded and all voted for.

JOE M. BIARD, MAYOR

DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK