[0:04] All righty. We're going to call the
Thursday, January 15th, 2026
[0:10] regular meeting of the Cherokee Village
City Council to order
[0:14] with care to join in the pledge of
allegiance. real quick.
[0:20] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:25] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:31] justice for all.
>> Recognize a short moment of silence,
[0:35] please.
[0:54] Roll call, please.
[0:59] » Harrison,
>> here.
[1:00] » Rachel Tatum.
Thompson.
[1:05] Martin
>> here.
[1:06] » Jeff Tatum.
Low
[1:09] » here. Ishmail
Roland
[1:14] mayor clerk attorney in attendance
quorum not established
[1:18] without a without a quorum we can't do
official city business tonight so about
[1:22] all we can do just have a little
informal
[1:25] uh I know there's some people that was
wanting to talk uh uh Mr. David Lad and
[1:31] Mr. Dr. Wayne Bennett from Waste
Connections is here to answer questions
[1:34] about the waste contract. And uh I know
I'm going to pronounce this wrong. Is it
[1:42] » Leon Rumber?
>> Remor. Okay. Le. So, uh we'll just have
[1:50] a little informal meeting. Do you have
any updates on stuff you've been working
[1:54] on?
>> Yes. So, um, I am going to be submitting
[1:58] to attorney
>> Jason,
[2:01] » make sure you speak into your mic.
>> That's probably the first time anyone's
[2:07] ever told me I need a microphone. So,
um,
[2:12] » the video,
>> um, so I will be submitting I took a
[2:16] stab at the writing an ordinance for the
ADUs, uh, with some guidance from other
[2:21] towns in Arkansas as a template. So I
will be turning that into you guys take
[2:24] a look at as kind of like our jumping
off point. Uh then at that point get
[2:29] planning and zoning involved and we can
kind of go from there.
[2:32] » Okay.
>> All righty. Uh Mr. David, Mr. Wayne, you
[2:37] want to
anything you they they submitted the
[2:43] contract the new updated contract for
the collection and hauling of the waste
[2:46] disposal in the village which they I
mean they they actually met all of our
[2:50] criteria that we asked for about the uh
so I mean and they uh we actually
[2:58] I'm sure I seen it in there. I hadn't
got a chance to read all the way through
[3:01] it, but we did we did the uh three-year
u it was a three-year contract with the
[3:07] optional 2-year extension at the end.
>> Yeah, I believe that's correct.
[3:11] » Yeah, that's what So, go ahead and get
that. We was we've been talking about
[3:16] this what since October or November.
>> Yeah, I think
[3:19] » it's been it's been a little while, but
anyway,
[3:21] » October,
>> they're here. They're here for any
[3:23] questions. Anybody's got any questions,
you can hit them up hit them up about
[3:26] the waste connections. I I wanted to
give you a heads up. I went to the
[3:31] townhouse association meeting Tuesday
night and I think uh Ed Soja is going to
[3:36] get in touch with you about trying to
see if they can get smaller garbage cans
[3:40] for the townhouse um
residents just cuz they're having tr
[3:46] some of the elderly having trouble.
Yeah, we um so we have acquired we do
[3:52] have some 65gallon we don't you know
something we don't usually don't carry
[3:56] but we have acquired some they're
65gallon tote um that you know we have
[4:02] replaced I've placed some with some of
the elderly here in Cherokee yes
[4:06] » so we do have some yes
>> is it do you have a a direct number I
[4:10] could forward that has he already called
you that just happened Tuesday night so
[4:14] » do you have a number you want me to give
him
[4:16] » uh yes it'd be 870 0.
>> Uh-huh.
[4:19] » 8475158.
That'll be my direct work phone.
[4:23] [clears throat]
>> Is that 51? What?
[4:25] » 5158.
>> And what was your name?
[4:27] » Wayne Bennett. Wayne.
>> Yeah. Wayne Bennett.
[4:29] » Okay. Thank you.
>> You're welcome. Thank you, Mr. Wayne.
[4:33] Mr. David being here. Let's see if we
have any more questions.
[4:39] Jason Peter, any questions? All righty.
Uh,
[4:48] Mr. Mr. Leon, if you want to,
like I said, I know we're just being a
[4:53] little informal and out of out of out of
out of sorts, but we we don't have a
[4:58] quorum to do any any legal voting
business tonight.
[5:10] There's three pictures there.
>> Okay.
[5:19] » I just want to say, Mr. Mayor, just
council council members, my name is uh
[5:24] Leon Remore and I reside at 83 Pauhhatan
Drive. Thank you uh for allowing me to
[5:31] speak. I'd like to address ordinance
99-11
[5:36] dated July 20th, 1999
and ordinance 200414
[5:44] which was a amending uh 9911 on December
2nd, 2004.
[5:50] Uh it concerns rules and regulations
concerning garbage and trash disposal
[5:55] and regulating abandoned property,
rubbish, and abandoned motor vehicles.
[6:01] I provided photos taken today, January
15th, 2026, of three properties, 88 90
[6:10] and 80 Phatan.
88 Pahhatton has been abandoned for some
[6:15] time before I purchased my home at 83
Pawatan on March 11th, 2024.
[6:24] It was totally abandoned until the
summer of 2025 when lumber was dropped
[6:28] off in the driveway and some work was
done on a back deck. Since then, some of
[6:35] the lumber from 90 Phatan was placed on
a trailer and dropped in the driveway of
[6:41] 88 Powhhatton, which you can see in the
photo.
[6:45] The front door must be uh must not be
locked since from time to time it is
[6:51] left open and could be a danger to kids
in the neighborhood and who live across
[6:56] the street. Nothing has been done for
the last few months with that property.
[7:02] Concerning the property at 90 Phatan
Drive, it is my understanding that this
[7:06] property is owned by the same individual
or individuals as 88 Phatan.
[7:12] This home apparently burned down 3 to
four years ago from information that I
[7:17] obtained from neighbors. This property
is very dangerous and unsanitary and the
[7:23] floor now is actually caving into the
basement and again is very dangerous for
[7:28] the neighborhood kids uh as well as
adults besides being unsightly and
[7:34] affecting the value of our property.
the ordinances already referred to as
[7:40] well as 2008-05
that provides for the removal or rzing
[7:46] of buildings within the city limits of
Cherokee Village that are dilapitated,
[7:51] unsightly, unsafe, unsanitary or
detrimental to the public welfare need
[7:57] to be enforced and followed through on.
The last photo submitted is of 80 Phatan
[8:04] Drive, which shows three abandoned
vehicles parked in a row and two tires
[8:10] stacked next to them. An older Chevrolet
pickup, an older Cadillac sedan, and an
[8:15] older Ford pickup from the 1980s have
not been moved or running since I
[8:20] purchased my home in March of 2024.
I doubt that they are registered or
[8:26] licensed either. These vehicles need to
be removed as addressed in ordinance
[8:31] 9911 and 202502.
I know there are other areas of our city
[8:38] that are in even worse condition such as
Skyline Drive and Hayawa Drive. I would
[8:44] hope that your honor, the mayor and the
city council will address these concerns
[8:50] and enforce the ordinances that are
already on the books. I am concerned for
[8:55] the welfare of our neighborhood, the
children and adults and for the loss of
[9:00] property values in our city. It is very
difficult to attract new residents and
[9:06] to be proud of our city when we do
nothing to keep it clean and attractive.
[9:12] Thank you.
>> Mr. Leon, have you uh contacted the code
[9:17] enforcement here?
>> No. No, I have not. So, this is your
[9:20] first um
information to the city. Okay.
[9:26] » We're gonna f we're gonna forward this
on to Charlie Acres, our city inspector
[9:30] in the code enforcement team.
>> All right. I appreciate that.
[9:43] » Anybody else got anything?
Miss Hannah?
[9:47] » Yeah.
[9:50] Do I respond to last month?
>> Huh?
[9:53] » Can I respond to what happened last
month?
[10:00] » Well, you mean
>> there's nobody here to respond?
[10:02] » Yeah. I mean, we don't we don't have a
quorum. We can't really do anything
[10:05] tonight. There's nothing we can vote on.
>> Well, other than being updated, so Okay.
[10:10] » Yeah. Thank you.
>> I'm I'm okay with it.
[10:26] Thank you very much for allowing me to
to speak tonight. I appreciate it.
[10:30] Again, my name is Hannah Eisenberg and
I'm uh responding to the property at 7
[10:35] Kelan Trace in Cherokee Village,
Arkansas here. Um, what I wanted to do
[10:40] was list some corrections from comments
that were made last month with regards
[10:45] to our my property and I wanted to
refute some of the things that was uh
[10:50] said and shared at that meeting. Number
one, since um Cherokee Village Council
[10:55] distrusts me regarding being approved
for a refi, they may call upon the bank
[11:00] for a request. But I do know privately
that Thompson and my banker had had a
[11:05] conversation outside of the realm in a
social thing to verify that that was
[11:09] true. Um so I can't present papers to
you. It has to come directly from the
[11:15] bank. Okay. Uh specific to that refi and
I have not been before the council
[11:22] several times about this project as
alluded to by Councilman Thompson.
[11:26] September 20 of 2022 was the first time
I had been to the Cherokee Village
[11:30] Council Chamber where I wasn't even
invited to the planning and zoning
[11:33] meeting. I introduced myself to the
board after all was heard, answered
[11:37] questions, and then um after the
questions, the gentleman who had the
[11:42] gavvel was the one that actually said I
could go ahead and design him anything
[11:47] that I was a really good designer. And
everyone in unanimously approved of the
[11:52] project and by that time I'd already had
a permit. But I was in response to my
[11:56] next-door neighbor who was Tom Rupart
who at that point has told many many
[12:01] buyers of my property before
construction started that the property
[12:05] had been condemned over and over again.
He did it eight times. And it wasn't
[12:09] until the eighth man that I actually
recorded. So I had proof of it when I
[12:13] went to see then Mayor Stokes to talk
about this that it was now going to be a
[12:17] civil case because he introduced himself
as Councilman Tom Rupert. Um,
[12:24] [clears throat]
and then as alluded by the cong uh the
[12:26] councilman again, Thompson, my neighbor
again, uh, Tom Rupart, he did not move
[12:31] because of my home's construction.
Rupart left the area right after that
[12:36] meeting, leaving furniture and all
behind because he was going to be
[12:39] arrested for terrorist threats of
bringing out a 410.
[12:43] » Yeah.
>> Okay. But, you know, Thompson had said
[12:46] that he had moved because of the
construction, and that was not true. He
[12:50] left everything in his house there and
Perryman and Perryman turned around and
[12:54] sold everything and our chief um Monty
Hall is here to verify. The straw that
[13:00] Councilman Thompson also alluded to
being used in construction was taken
[13:03] perhaps from the carport which I find
trespassing. The construction worthy
[13:08] straw bales are protected on the
enclosed wrapped uh structure. and he
[13:12] did the same thing exactly what
Councilman Rupert did by taking
[13:16] materials from the site and he actually
threw the materials in a Ziploc bag to
[13:21] the planning and zoning committee that
that was what the house was going to be
[13:24] built from. So it it u it
likens the same thing of what Councilman
[13:31] Rupert had done. I had told that there
was an amount of photographs that were
[13:35] presented to the council last month and
again um nobody asked me whether they
[13:41] can go on my property and I should be
allowed to view those photos. Um a
[13:45] neighbor who doesn't live next door said
she saw a black animal with something in
[13:49] her mouth with a longtail presumably a
rat.
[13:52] » The only place the animal could have
come into is the open porch area on the
[13:56] west side upstairs.
And no rats nor other pests do. They do
[14:01] not like to eat straw in any way. Hay,
yes, but not straw. If it had been the
[14:08] black cat that visits and may have um
had a chipmunk in its mouth when
[14:12] dividing bales for structure, we had
noticed very small animal trails within
[14:16] some of those bales. And two of us us
yesterday swept clean the whole entire
[14:21] area to find absolutely no poop. So
there has been no animals that have been
[14:25] in there. I do know of a bird or two
and why the [clears throat] neighbor who
[14:30] lives in Memphis allowed to harass the
city with numerous phone call complaints
[14:34] and have neighbors read letters from
her. She visits every so often and my
[14:38] attorney had commented that perhaps the
city is being pressured due to this
[14:41] harassment. That neighbor has been doing
this ever since she purchased the place
[14:45] from Perryman and Perryman when um
Congressman or Councilman Rupert had
[14:50] vacated his property. My ordinance of
2015-1 has been completely and totally
[14:56] satisfied. We planned on our last burn
tomorrow, but I see we have a burn ban.
[15:02] So now it's been postponed. That will be
the very very last burn of a pile that
[15:05] we had made. I've always notified the
the fire department each and every
[15:10] single time when we've done that before,
so they're very aware of what's
[15:13] happened. Uh, best of all, I advertised
in several places to give exterior straw
[15:18] bales away from under our black cover in
the driveway to be used as mulch for
[15:22] folks to keep their garden warm to no
avail. However, this afternoon, I got
[15:25] two calls from that advert advertisement
that I put in this afternoon. So,
[15:29] anybody that needs straw bales for your
garden, please give me a call. They're
[15:32] all rice bales and they're in fairly
good condition. Uh, since the structure
[15:37] itself is well built, both my attorney
and the Arkansas State Building and
[15:41] Safety do not know why my building
permit was revoked. As my attorney
[15:45] stated, life happens during construction
and was sorry to learn that neighboring
[15:48] folks who purchased their homes knowing
full well it was a construction site.
[15:52] Um, should show some grace around some
traumatic events which I have shared
[15:58] before in another letter. Both my
attorney and the attorney and the
[16:02] Arkansas State Building and Safety had
not heard of changing a building's
[16:05] permit expiration date. It's a legal
document and is typically revoked for
[16:10] substandard construction, which this
construction is not. Communication from
[16:15] the city to me has been sorely lacking.
Cherokee Village building inspector and
[16:20] I hope to remedy that because there had
been no early information at all. It was
[16:25] just ordinance after ordinance and then
the permit was revoked with no warning.
[16:30] Um friends are um oh as of last Monday I
have made 42 applications of employment
[16:37] the last few months. All but one
possible employer directly asked how old
[16:43] I am and what my birth date was. I am
now 72 and I've heard absolutely nothing
[16:49] from any of them. It's very
disheartening. friends now are helping
[16:54] me with two YouTube channels which uh of
which this straw bale project is one of
[16:59] them and another friend has already gone
to start writing up the GoFundMe that
[17:03] will be online tomorrow. So I have a
list as well for if you're interested of
[17:10] the project chronological times because
um Congressman Thomp Thompson had said
[17:15] it was a very long time and indeed it's
been three years. Granted, I I do know
[17:20] it's been 3 years when we started and
I've been down a whole year because of
[17:23] medical and all the other terrible
things that happened with losing even my
[17:27] partner. So, if you'd like to see those,
I would be more than happy to give those
[17:31] to you. So, you actually get to see
every single thing of the dates and all
[17:35] that other good stuff. So, it's up to
you now.
[17:39] I appreciate this. Thank you. Then
>> you said you had dates.
[17:43] » Yes, sir.
>> If you got you got three.
[17:46] » Yes, sir.
[18:03] We really appreciate this.
>> Thank you, ma'am.
[18:11] » Don't send this for me.
>> Thank you, mayor.
[18:14] » Mhm.
Thank you.
[18:23] » Yeah, if I would.
[18:37] » Hey, Penny, do you want her to leave the
copies for them to go in the mailboxes
[18:40] of the others? Would that be easiest if
she's got them?
[18:43] » Copies of these.
[18:47] are all scan.
[18:53] » I have one question for you. This this
whole project you have starts in 2022,
[19:00] but your house burnt down in 2009. What
happened between the time that the house
[19:06] burnt down and this project started?
>> I tried to sell it,
[19:10] » but the house the house was in the
condition that it's in.
[19:15] So, so this is this actually has started
>> after the house burned down, let's say
[19:20] 2009 to now. So, so the residents that
have been near you have been dealing
[19:24] with it since 2009, not since
>> uh
[19:29] 2022.
>> Correct.
[19:32] » Correct.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[19:33] » In fact, I live next door to my neighbor
in 2009.
[19:44] I make a motion we adjourn.
Any other business?
[19:52] » Well, after him.
>> Yeah. My name is Tim Sample. I live in
[19:55] Santa Fe. Last time I was here, we
discussed the uh situation at 16 Gon
[20:01] where the man and woman is living in a
shed.
[20:05] Have you all come to any kind of
decision on this? And also I understand
[20:09] that the code department give these
people permits to extend this shed and
[20:15] make it you know bring it up to the
standards of the Santa Fe which is being
[20:20] raised up and tied down. I'm assuming
all that has to come along with it.
[20:24] » How long do these permits last?
>> Usually half a year.
[20:28] » You usually
>> half a year.
[20:30] » Is it half a year? That was a full year.
>> Well, it depends on the permit but
[20:33] usually it's a half a year.
>> Yeah. Yeah. depend on it does depend on
[20:36] the permit but most of them are year to
year you know it's it it would be in the
[20:41] 26 2026 year you know
>> okay so he has all year to start
[20:46] construction on this or
>> without the permit I don't know like I
[20:49] said some of them are 6 months some of
them are 12 months as long as it's in
[20:52] the same year
>> okay all right
[20:55] » yeah it should be on the permit
>> well has there been anything done about
[20:58] the situation out there with this
gentleman
[21:02] » and and
>> I mean allowing him to live in his shed
[21:05] shed.
>> Well, you're saying it's a shed. Okay.
[21:09] » You're saying it's a shed, but I got to
not a shed. It's a house.
[21:13] » Yeah.
>> So,
[21:15] it's apples and oranges.
>> Yeah.
[21:17] » All right. It's like having a mini home
or or something of that nature. That's a
[21:21] new thing that has
>> come out in the United States that
[21:24] people are wanting to do. The state just
passed legislation that we're going to
[21:29] look into now about actually having
extra small things on a lot that's
[21:34] already owned. So
you you say the word shed, but to that
[21:40] person it's a a house, a home.
>> It's not a shed, it's a
[21:43] » Okay.
>> So So I mean a shed is a little 10 by8
[21:49] little thing in the backyard. Bigger
than 10 by eight.
[21:52] » Okay. If this structure was next to your
house and you talking to a buddy of
[21:57] yours, you would say that's a shed.
[laughter]
[22:00] » It's not a house.
>> You You don't understand what I'm
[22:03] » Yeah, I do. I understand. It's a shed
that has a bedroom, a bathroom, and a
[22:07] kitchenet.
>> It's a person that's trying to be a
[22:10] » It's alternative housing is what they
call
[22:12] » alternative housing. And the zoning, you
know,
[22:18] » okay, this zone is the whole village.
There's so much Cherokee Village that
[22:22] it's that it's hard to know. You're in a
uh over there. You're in a um
[22:27] » Santa Fe edition.
>> Santa Fe Edition. You have mobile homes
[22:30] and everything else there.
>> Yeah. But it doesn't say Santa Fe
[22:34] edition mobile home area and sheds or
tiny buildings. Right.
[22:40] » I'm just saying, you know, if I bought a
piece of property on Thunderbird and
[22:44] parked this thing next to a $200,000
home, this building would be full of
[22:48] people saying that's a shed.
>> But and it's not. It's not. It's out in
[22:54] the middle.
>> It's not just sitting on the ground.
[22:57] What about the stipulation of it being
tied down?
[23:01] » My understanding is supposed to be tied
down next week.
[23:04] » Next week. would have to be jacked up to
be tied down, right?
[23:09] » I'm not a construction guy.
>> I'm I'm not a construction guy, so I
[23:12] couldn't tell you that. I don't I don't
>> So, this guy's going to get to fly with
[23:16] us out there, right?
>> Get a petition up and start getting
[23:19] signals. I mean
>> I mean
[23:22] » if if I go back in time, I'm from up
north Chicago
[23:27] » and back in the 30s and 40s, people
would come in and they build the garage
[23:33] and they'd live out of the garage until
their house was built.
[23:36] » That
>> and that's no bigger than that's no
[23:39] bigger than you're talking about.
>> But that's not allowed here, Peter.
[23:43] » It doesn't say it is.
>> You can't
[23:45] » It doesn't say it is. It's all gray.
Actually, it does say that you can't
[23:50] build a garage first. You have to build
the house first. There is
[23:53] » say that
>> there is an ordinance that says that
[23:56] » have a res.
>> Yes.
[23:58] » Or you can have a home.
>> And well, I also I I know that I know
[24:03] that there are things that we the city
is talking about doing to incorporate
[24:07] alternative housing. And I'm first of
all, I'm very excited about those
[24:11] conversations. But as of now, the letter
of the law, there's no, we don't have
[24:16] any provisions for anything other than a
mobile home or a sightuilt house.
[24:20] Period. No other types of construction
is outlined as acceptable in the
[24:24] village. Now, that can change and it
could change, but I don't think being
[24:28] that we know that that permit was issued
erroneously that that puts us in a very
[24:33] precarious situation and we can't just
because we think it's okay move forward
[24:38] when we know that that issue that permit
was not issued correctly. It should
[24:42] never have been issued.
>> Exactly. I agree 100%.
[24:45] » And that's Jason Jason here's the deal
that uh and I
[24:50] and and I know where the confusion
you're getting with Peter. Some people
[24:54] some people's junk is other people's
treasures. You call it a shed. You think
[24:58] it's a shed. It is a shed,
>> right?
[25:01] » But if it's all they have to live in,
>> well, that is their problem. Hold on a
[25:06] minute. I've let you talk. Let me talk.
I I'll let you talk. Funny. Let me talk.
[25:11] » It's all they have
and that's what they live in. It's their
[25:15] home. They call it their home. They
don't call it their shed. They call it
[25:18] their home because it's all they have.
So, you're asking me and basically, and
[25:23] maybe I'm taking it too literal. Look,
look me in the eye. Are you telling me
[25:26] you want me as the mayor of the city to
go over there and put them out in the
[25:29] cold
>> until it's 40 foot long, jacked up, tied
[25:33] down, and it meets all the codes that a
trailer does? Yes, sir. That's what I'm
[25:39] saying.
>> Well, then I'm telling you, as mayor, I
[25:41] will not put a family out in the cold in
the winter time.
[25:44] » Well, that's their Okay.
Hey, it's election year. This gentleman,
[25:50] this gentleman purchased his property
with the ideal, the people he bought it
[25:54] from.
>> It should have been called an
[25:55] alternative housing is what it should
have been called instead of a
[25:58] » that he could put a trailer on there, a
camper RV.
[26:02] » Yes.
>> Okay. Code guy told me absolutely not.
[26:05] No way.
>> No, we don't.
[26:06] » Okay. He told me, "Call me when he pulls
up." So, I called him. He went out
[26:10] there. They moved that RV off the lot.
Somebody told this gentleman that he
[26:16] could put that shed or alternative
housing there and live in it.
[26:21] » Yes.
>> And it's 20 foot long. I mean, come on.
[26:25] Cut me some slack.
>> It it it there is no there is no
[26:31] property. There is no square foot shed
for Santa Fe edition and rent them out
[26:36] for 500 a bond.
>> But that would be nice if we had people
[26:39] in the village. That way we could tax
them. So we we have to find ways to
[26:42] bring people into Cherokee Village. And
if alternative housing if if alternative
[26:48] housing brings them in and they are
taxpayers, then that's going to increase
[26:51] the money that we as Cherokee Village
have. And as long as they're taking care
[26:55] of the property, I wouldn't be bitching
about it.
[26:59] » That's and and that's where I'm at.
>> Chicken coop to live in. And then he
[27:03] went out and bought a brand new shed
better than the one he's living in and
[27:08] put out there on blocks.
>> Yeah. Both of them are brand new.
[27:12] » Poor man. He can't poor man. Both of
them are improved. That's where I'm at.
[27:16] » Yeah. The one we're living in was used.
What are
[27:18] » you going to do? They're trying.
>> It had a hole cut in the back of it for
[27:21] the chickens running.
>> Taking care of the property. I
[27:24] » had a home out there.
I live in Long
[27:28] » and I mean it way up there. And now when
I walk out my door, I look at that.
[27:34] » But the appraisal means nothing until
the the the house is sold. you were
[27:38] living next to us.
>> Yeah, I probably
[27:40] » Hey, mayor. Mayor, do you know if cuz
this all came up last month, the same
[27:45] story. Do we know or did we ask Charlie
to find out was um
[27:50] » the electrical the electrical was put in
by a licensed contractor has been
[27:53] inspected. The plumbing was put in by a
licensed plumber and was inspected. The
[27:57] water department is supplying them a
water service to a home. They have
[28:03] sewer. They have trash disposal
>> occupancy permit. They have
[28:07] I've never I don't know about occupancy
permits that stuff. You know what
[28:14] » this is? This is this is like what we
was talking about. One of the one of the
[28:18] persons come up and talked about the
houses on Phatton.
[28:22] » Yeah.
>> Literally we had we we wrote some you
[28:25] know the code enforcement guy went out
wrote tickets and I know he's he's done
[28:28] it throughout the year but we wrote
tickets for maintenance of properties
[28:31] last February that we still can't get
adjudicated in court. shouldn't have to
[28:36] go for it.
>> It should what?
[28:39] » No. If people's yards are junked up, you
should be able to go up there and tell
[28:43] » That's not the way the law
>> That's not the way the law works.
[28:46] » You have authority to do that. Everybody
Every every person gets their every
[28:50] person gets their day in court.
>> Going to have to clean it up.
[28:54] » That's That's That to me, you're talking
about government overreach, and I'm not
[28:58] about government overreach. Everybody
deserves the the due process of law.
[29:02] » That years ago, what did they do? How
come it didn't look like it used to
[29:06] look?
>> Because after 42 years,
[29:09] » because because if you want to know the
truth, and I'll just put it out there,
[29:13] irresponsible people don't take care of
their premises or their pets anymore.
[29:18] » Then why don't the judge make them do
it?
[29:21] » Elect better judges. It's an election
year.
[29:23] » Yeah,
>> you have choices.
[29:26] » Why was the issued in the first place?
I
[29:30] » why building
>> I can't answer why it was issued. I just
[29:35] can say that it was issued.
[29:39] » I can't ask you why it was issued. I
know it was issued. It was issued for a
[29:43] shed. It probably should have been It
more than likely should have been issued
[29:47] for alternative housing.
>> Well, I can tell you why it was issued
[29:51] because the code people said that Santa
Fe had been reszoned. They can't reszone
[29:56] that without the residents knowledge.
>> And breaking the law.
[30:01] » I personally drove out there and I've
looked looked at it and I drove around
[30:05] guy and
>> I mean, yeah, it's a you know, it's a
[30:08] small house on a piece of property. He's
he's he had it's a it's a lot cleaner
[30:14] than the three trailers at the end of
the road.
[30:16] » Well, that's Gary Lawrence's problem
>> there. That's a problem all in. But my
[30:21] my deal is this act 313 which brought
this all about
[30:26] » which has states right in there. There
must be an existing residence on that
[30:30] property before you can put a shed out
there on mother-in-law.
[30:35] » That act is not applicable to what this
is.
[30:37] » Okay. There is no existing residence. It
was a drug house. It burnt down.
[30:42] » This act doesn't that act has nothing to
do with that. It's not it it doesn't
[30:46] hold it. Again, that is that is why that
is why the clerk said that she that the
[30:51] permit was issued was because of her
interpretation of house that house bill,
[30:57] which we've determined it's incorrect.
So, we're we're kicking this can down
[31:01] the road kind of like playing a game of
repeat and repeat when at the end of the
[31:06] day it was issued erroneously. It should
have never been issued and the
[31:10] interpretation of the bill was
incorrect. So, now what are we going to
[31:14] do to fix it?
>> Exactly. Well,
[31:16] » I agree with those two 100%.
>> Well, then Jason, you'll have to take
[31:20] over being the person that's going to
evict
[31:24] everything is to gaslight everybody the
minute someone challenges you to swing
[31:28] around like we're villains that we're
doing something wrong.
[31:30] » So, tell me what you want done.
>> You want You want to know?
[31:33] » Tell me.
>> We need
[31:35] » It's an election year. I hope you're
announcing for mayor.
[31:38] » We need We need to revoke the permit. We
need to either We either need We need to
[31:42] revoke the permit. We're creating
liability that we do not need. We are we
[31:46] are setting a precedent. We're setting
for the city. Okay. How?
[31:50] » Because what do you think?
>> What do you think's going to happen?
[31:54] What do you think's going to happen when
they when they challenge their bill of
[31:57] assurance?
>> Go to court
[32:00] and then and then they're going to look
back. They're going to look back and see
[32:05] that we issued a permit outside of our
own ordinance.
[32:08] » Mhm.
>> And which put them in that position. And
[32:11] then what do you think's going to
happen? I hate that I'm having to
[32:14] connect put these dots so close together
like I'm some kind of monster. I'm just
[32:18] trying to look out for the city. This is
not good. And things like this fall into
[32:22] the cracks and just get kicked down the
road and gas lit and we we blow it up
[32:27] into something. It's very simple. It
should have never been issued. It needs
[32:30] to be revoked.
>> Exactly. Well,
[32:33] » and it doesn't make me a monster. I'm
not an animal. I understand what the
[32:37] what the ramifications are, but I mean,
we can't we've set a precedent that
[32:42] until we decide as a city where we want
alternative housing to go, we can't just
[32:48] arbitrarily pick a lot, make an
exception, and then tell everyone to get
[32:51] over it. That is not how it works.
>> Right.
[32:54] » You got my
[33:00] motion.
>> Do you want the job right now?
[33:03] » Don't Don't start that. I made a motion
we adjourn.
[33:07] » Yeah, we're just arguing back and forth.
It's not going to be anything settled
[33:11] tonight.
>> The the needs of the many outweigh the
[33:13] needs of the one or the few. I'm sorry.
>> Well, I just I don't know. I'm sorry.
[33:19] We're we're in an impass that I can't
get by because I I know you're you're
[33:24] saying it in this fancy words that I
can't comprehend in my redneck mind
[33:28] saying that we're going to revoke their
permit and we're going to we're going to
[33:33] revoke their permit. Well, so what are
they supposed to do?
[33:37] » I and and that that this community, the
one thing that we do really well is we
[33:41] do rally around people that need help.
And that's all I'm saying. We can figure
[33:45] something else out, but I just it sets a
precedent that is dangerous. And we're
[33:50] not in a position as a city to take on
any more liability or any more of these
[33:54] types of an issue. And we've got to get
that department educated on what how to
[33:58] do their job and how to do it
effectively because this is not working.
[34:02] » They have ample. Why don't they put it
in the trailer department so they can
[34:06] come and go with it? I'd rather see the
camper, the RV. They can close it in and
[34:11] strap it down and they can live there. I
don't see no junker campers, but I don't
[34:16] live with a camper. That's nice.
>> I know I know a city down the road at
[34:21] Cave City had a uh they had a city
ordinance about I believe it was 10
[34:27] years old. They you couldn't move an art
a mobile home into the city. was more
[34:32] than 10 years old at the time it was put
up and uh that they got taken to court
[34:36] and the city lost because you're the
city was creating a financial hardship
[34:41] on an individual so the city lost
[34:48] » yeah but I'm just saying that the way
the laws are going right now
[34:51] » I know
>> most of the time the cities lose
[34:55] » two or three trailers come into the
Santa Fe that had I mean they look like
[35:00] they got them from a junkyard and
Cherokee Village made them out
[35:05] » cuz we had enough that looked like that
already without bringing them in.
[35:09] » Yeah, I don't know about that. Not since
I've been here.
[35:12] » Yeah, not since I've been here. But
>> three of them.
[35:15] » Well, oh
anyway, that's
[35:21] no more.
>> No, no, I know. No, that's said people
[35:26] will sue for anything now. Most of the
time they win.
[35:30] » Amen. I mean,
[35:35] » well, you can you can vote anybody you
want, but the problem is, first of all,
[35:40] we don't have enough revenue to run the
village. The village is too big, and
[35:44] people have to get together one of these
days and decide what Cherokee Village is
[35:48] because there's too much land mass.
There's too many things going on out in
[35:52] the middle of now place. So, that's the
first thing. Cherokee Village has to
[35:55] decide what it is. Then it has to decide
what kind of rules and what kind of
[35:59] standards it's going to have because the
other thing that could happen that
[36:03] people have been saying is we could
unanic we could we could abolish
[36:08] Cherokee Village just as easy.
>> And a lot of people said let's go back
[36:11] to SID and I hear a lot of that too. So
Cherokee Village cannot all live to the
[36:18] standard of a person that's sitting up
on u like Thunderbird. They can't.
[36:23] They're not that. There's a lot of
people by by me that are young kids,
[36:27] young adults coming in and trying to
have a living, trying to get by, trying
[36:32] to live with with what means they have.
They find a cheap house they can pick up
[36:36] for $30, $40,000
and they move in and it has all sorts of
[36:41] problems cuz they were built back in the
60s. And a lot of those houses back in
[36:45] the 60s don't have drywall in them. All
they have is u
[36:49] » paneling in them and stuff. But they're
they're living in their and they're
[36:53] moving, which this building that you're
calling uh a garage or shed probably has
[36:59] drywall in it. It probably is set up a
lot nicer than some of those are.
[37:02] » I don't care if it's got marble ceilings
in it. Is a 12x 20 shed. I mean,
[37:10] » and I I'm I'm coming from the thing I'm
coming from the thing of affordability.
[37:15] If they're if they're a good citizen in
Cherokee Village, I want to do anything
[37:20] I can to help the citizen out.
>> Well, I've been here 43 years and I'm
[37:23] not a good citizen because I'm bitching
about this.
[37:26] » No, no. It it's what what has to happen
is people have to sit down and discuss
[37:32] what Cherokee Village is going to be.
That hasn't been done since we were
[37:36] created. What that is,
>> Peter? There's there's rules that
[37:40] planning and zoning
>> planning and zoning doesn't know what
[37:44] the heck planning and zoning is doing.
And that has been like that for over 10
[37:47] years.
>> Okay, then quit
[37:48] » for over 10 years.
>> Let Let her let her finish
[37:51] » and quit yelling at me through your
mask. Um
[37:55] » I I go without a mask. I'm just being
polite.
[37:58] » Well, I mean, I'm right here. You don't
have to yell. The point is you have your
[38:04] thoughts about the shed and he has his
thoughts but the bottom line is that the
[38:08] permit should have never gotten given to
the people and that's where the that's
[38:13] the original problem of this whole thing
is. So then what we do is like what do
[38:18] we do now? It's not the kicking out or
the telling whatever it's the problem is
[38:24] is that permit from our department
should have never been given. So, what
[38:30] do we do? Because we gave out a permit
that we shouldn't have. And that's what
[38:34] the solution. That's what we got to come
up with that answer.
[38:37] » We did. You guys put a hold on all
permits on structures under 1,000 square
[38:41] ft. And we can't issue them without they
coming to the city council for approve.
[38:47] » Still, that takes care of future
problems. It doesn't take care of the
[38:50] problem with the guy that got the permit
and that he shouldn't have. I'm saying
[38:53] we still got to we still got to figure
out how
[38:55] » we rectifi we rectified the problem
moving forward.
[38:59] » But then I think the problem you already
have
[39:02] » we got a lot of problems. Have you seen
the latest that's going on with SID?
[39:05] » Well, we lost but the problem right now
is affecting you live there for 40 years
[39:12] and take pride in
and I appreciate that because a lot of
[39:16] people don't anymore.
>> They don't. I want to go I want to say
[39:19] that I also do agree with Peter that the
the village does need to come together
[39:25] and decide exactly what it wants to do
and wants to be long term. Peter's
[39:30] exactly right because in current form
we're too big to be small, too small to
[39:34] be big. We are a town whether or not
anyone likes it or not. We are a town.
[39:39] We are the largest town within Sharp or
Fulton counties. yet we we have the
[39:44] resources of the smallest. And all that
to say, he is exactly right. And um his
[39:50] his um position on the this alternative
housing out there, I think honestly is
[39:56] the perfect position as to why we do
need to look at lots in the village and
[40:00] sections of the village and determine
those sections for this type of house.
[40:05] So, if you pull up to this section and
you want to um get a bald eagle building
[40:11] and you want to convert it to a home,
you and your neighbors and your
[40:15] neighbor's neighbor and your neighbor's
neighbor are all doing the same thing.
[40:18] And when you look out your front door,
you're seeing what is seeing exactly
[40:23] what you've got. And that is that is
what we owe this that's what we owe the
[40:27] citizens is when you walk out your door,
you're you're looking at similar and
[40:32] like because we are incorporated. We're
not unincorporated. We're not rural. We
[40:37] have ordinances. And that's that's the
only thing I'm saying because I agree.
[40:40] We need to look at the village and think
about ways to bring people in and make
[40:45] it bigger.
>> The grant was for and everything that
[40:49] they had to look at the future of
Cherokee Village.
[40:52] » That that was more of a wishful dream
that was done. They didn't do anything
[40:59] to do any uh substructure. nothing's
done about uh sewers and we have to
[41:06] start thinking about that.
>> Uh there's there's no infrastructure or
[41:10] anything that was there. It went to a
planner and they
[41:15] they came up with some pretty stuff that
nobody is going to do because nobody has
[41:20] the money to do that.
>> So it was money wasted.
[41:24] » It was not money wasted.
>> It was a lot of money wasted.
[41:27] » No, it was not. That's your opinion. But
if you don't have rules, where are you
[41:32] going to start?
>> That was a pipe dream.
[41:36] » Yeah.
>> We have no dream. We have nothing. We
[41:39] have shoot it here, shoot it there. Do
what you want because my freedom is
[41:44] important.
>> Or I'm going to do what I want to do
[41:48] because guess what? Cuz I because
Cherokee Village will let me get away
[41:52] with it. Why do we have rules?
>> Cherokee Villagees cuz if you don't want
[41:56] them, take them off the book. And I
agree with you. Let's take them off the
[42:00] books because all that should be all all
the only thing that should be there is
[42:05] safety issues that are on the state
books right now. That's all that should
[42:09] be there right now. Safety
>> issues and health codes enforced when
[42:14] this building went up.
>> But we can't enforce any
[42:17] » were they did we
you have to inspect what you expect and
[42:23] we're not inspecting. They're just
letting people do whatever the hell they
[42:27] want. And that's why you're going to
have a city. Mr. Low is correct. You
[42:33] want to have consistency. I don't want
to live next door to my house and have
[42:38] my neighbor put up a shed that has
people in it.
[42:44] Okay, that shouldn't be allowed.
>> That's already been happening in the
[42:49] village. It already has been happening.
>> And why are you going to allow it in the
[42:53] future? because this person is is
immigrant and and and poor and needs and
[42:59] getting their life together. Well, I am
getting my life together. A lot of
[43:04] people in this room are getting their
life together, too. And we want
[43:08] consistency
out of the city, and we're not getting
[43:12] it. We can't even pave the freaking
roads,
[43:16] let alone consistency. How many people
do we have on the road department right
[43:20] now? Do we have six full-time employees,
or we still down to three?
[43:25] There's too much Cherokee Village and
that's the only thing I can say and I
[43:30] think
>> that there's a lot of good ideas. All
[43:33] right, but Cherokee Village has
[clears throat] got to sit down and
[43:36] decide what it wants to do. One instance
is maybe we take and separate from Sharp
[43:43] County from uh the other county
>> and that would and that would make us
[43:47] smaller which would get us grants and
would would put us in a place where we
[43:53] might be able to do something. So if the
city splits like you know Little Rock
[43:58] split you know that's an idea but if we
don't sit down and have meetings and
[44:04] discuss these ideas not something online
you know we have to sit down as a
[44:09] community and start planning our
community cuz Cooper's going
[44:13] » you want to set a date
>> when when Cooper left
[44:15] » a date because it's just political
rhetoric Peter
[44:18] » it's it's not rhetoric
>> I've been I've been I've been saying
[44:23] this stuff 20 years ago when I came in
here 20 years ago and I got the
[44:29] recordings to prove it. I've been saying
the same thing. We need to plan. We need
[44:33] to plan and planning and zoning has not
planned. It has no long-term plans. And
[44:39] that's the problem with the city. Every
time we have a regime change, things
[44:43] change. But the citizens, depending on
where you live, if you're living on a
[44:48] lake and you got a third $300,000 or a
million dollar house,
[44:53] don't, you know, leave us alone. But if
you're out there with the old community
[44:57] when when Cooper uh left, buildings went
under, you got the young kids coming and
[45:03] picking up. We don't have section 8 in
the in the community yet, but we got the
[45:08] younger people trying to get by, people
uh working for a living and and and
[45:13] really pushing it. And we're the only
community that has this multitude of of
[45:20] rules. Harvey doesn't have it like this.
Highland doesn't have it like this.
[45:24] They're booming. Ash Flat doesn't have
the rules that we have and they're
[45:28] booming. So
>> commercial property
[45:33] » and and that's because that's the way
Cooper made it. Cooper didn't we were
[45:38] just a
>> we what? Right. Right. So we're living
[45:41] on the cotell of what Cooper had and
it's not working for us.
[45:46] » Screw the past. Let's talk about what
we're going to do tomorrow. Okay.
[45:51] » And that's what needs to be done
>> of always going backwards and going well
[45:56] could have would have should have. But
that's what you're right that needs to
[46:00] be done.
>> An action plan, Peter.
[46:03] » Well, there you go.
>> Where are we going as a community?
[46:06] Because you got serious financial
problems
[46:09] » problems. Yes.
>> And you need you need to attract people
[46:13] here right now. And worrying about the
past isn't going to get new people here.
[46:19] » Correct.
>> A new plan might get new people here.
[46:23] » Correct.
>> But we have no plans at all. Correct.
[46:26] when we depend on
>> and we can't enforce the plans we have
[46:30] » and everyone else and guess what I
really don't give a damn about those
[46:34] people. I give a damn about how this
city is going to be performing and
[46:39] progressing in the future.
>> Yeah, I agree with you 100%. We need
[46:46] this. No, we need an action plan which
is going to require the entire council
[46:51] and the mayor to go
>> what do other cities do that are
[46:55] successful?
>> But no, you can't go around other cities
[46:58] cuz we don't have the same thing other
cities have. Other cities have a
[47:02] downtown. Other cities have a a place
where you can do business. What
[47:06] happened? We had a place we could do
business and now a church is sitting
[47:09] there. We lost a retail opportunity to a
church. Not that I have anything against
[47:14] church, but they could have had that
building off the main street and just
[47:18] put a big sign up there and left it for
retail.
[47:21] » But there's there's no plan. No business
is going to move here if there's
[47:26] correct.
You are 100% you are 100% right.
[47:32] » Mhm.
>> And but then
[47:34] » and no one will approve the tax
increase. No.
[47:37] » So there you go. There you go.
>> The school's been trying to do it. The
[47:41] city's tried three times to do it. the
schools tried six times to do it. So,
[47:46] you got to look for alternatives. Uh the
lawyer and I
[47:51] are are working on one. And that one,
I'll announce it now, is everybody with
[47:57] the little vehicles that are on the
street that aren't licensed. Well, they
[48:01] should start being paid uh paying for a
license so we can get some revenue for
[48:04] the uh street department because we have
stuff to to work with which we get a
[48:11] turn back from the state but we don't we
can't spend any money on the employees
[48:16] and the retirement or anything like that
until we get another revenue source in
[48:20] because that got lost. Sorry, I'm going
back to the past when the lawsuit
[48:25] happened with SID because part of SID's
responsibility was to provide funding
[48:31] for the roads and streets and to provide
for a fire department. That was in their
[48:36] original
>> paperwork. That got blown away and
[48:41] that's why we're in a deficit now. So
now we have to have creative thinkers
[48:46] not thinking in the same,
you know, not going down the same route.
[48:51] We're going to go for taxes, we're going
to go for tax. Let's find ways to
[48:56] exploit what we can in Cherokee Village
or or bring revenue in. And until we
[49:02] have a sit down,
>> how do we go about all this? I mean, if
[49:07] if we're all if we get the whole
community in here one night and we have
[49:10] a discussion like this, which actually
is very good if you ask me, it's a good
[49:13] discussion without the
>> Yeah.
[49:17] But do we bring ideas to the city or
does the city and the planning and
[49:22] zoning and all the departments and
everything like that? Do they come to
[49:26] this community with the plan? Well, how
do you move? How do you
[49:30] » The the thing of it I think is first of
all discussion like this. Maybe we
[49:36] should quarterly for for nothing better
than quarterly have a citywide meeting
[49:42] and we all get together and the topic is
how to make Cherokee Village a vibrant
[49:48] town. Let's just give it
>> the village people to come. It's at
[49:52] night. Most of them are seniors.
Well, see
[49:56] » when when do you find a time or find a
place or a way to tell all of them and
[50:02] yet I understand the whole online thing.
There are
[50:05] » lots of them don't have any idea what
online is
[50:10] get to them and tell them look we're
going to have a community meeting and we
[50:13] want everybody to come if possible. It
would be wonderful but how do you do it?
[50:19] » Put out flyers.
>> Put out flyers is one way. putting a
[50:23] bailing is another way. And yet the
buffalo, but the benefits for the
[50:27] benefit are tfold.
>> You have everybody here.
[50:31] » Well, somebody's got to spearhead it is
what it boils down to. And it's no
[50:34] different than us having the economic
exploration committee. And we openly
[50:38] invited people to come. We openly asked
for opinions. We told them it was a
[50:42] broad objective. It was talking about
tax incentives, um, revenues coming in,
[50:50] all kinds of subjects, which to me falls
handinhand with everything we've been
[50:54] talking about for 20 minutes.
>> Mhm.
[50:56] » And at the very most, we might have had
at the most we might have had four
[51:01] guests show up to our committee,
the last six months of the last six
[51:06] months of 2025. So, it's just going to
take somebody spearheading, somebody
[51:13] gathering phone numbers and names who
want to be a part. Then those 10 people
[51:17] try to contact 10 more of their people
that they know are on the same page as
[51:21] them and and come together. But it's
going to take leadership, somebody
[51:25] taking it by the reigns or three people
taking it by the reigns and and making
[51:30] that happen. This is all good, but you
know, and and how do we do it? Is it
[51:35] community involved? Is the council
steering it? It doesn't matter. I mean,
[51:38] you come together and make those
decisions together as a group and and
[51:41] move on. But somebody's got to fall on
the sword and be the guy
[51:47] » and
>> or the girl to be able to get the word
[51:50] out. I did not I was not on top.
>> It's it was on the computer. It got
[51:55] announced at I did not get the paper. I
look online for stuff,
[52:00] » but it's not part of the city.
>> It's the same place that you find out
[52:04] about these meetings. It was in every
city council meeting,
[52:07] » but communication can always get better
around here for for sure.
[52:10] » Any public meeting is posted
outside. It's posted on the Facebook
[52:17] page. It's posted on the website shaking
his head because it's sent to all of the
[52:23] media. So, that's the only thing. We've
hit every way that we can put it out
[52:28] there
>> as fast as we can to get it out there.
[52:32] Now, if somebody wants to do flyers and
you guys drive around and do all this,
[52:37] that's great. But we've hit every and
that is done for every public meeting.
[52:42] » Okay. Why don't we start Why don't we
start today? Penny gets a blank sheet of
[52:46] paper. Anyone that's here, get your name
and number on that so that maybe by word
[52:52] of mouth and talking about this and and
and people listening to this after
[52:56] tonight's over with, somebody might want
to say, "You know what? let me take a
[53:00] hold of that list and let's add to it
and maybe first part of the year someone
[53:07] can decide I mean it's no different than
we were waiting on after budget uh after
[53:13] we finish the budget our economic
exploration committee was going to
[53:16] restart in 2026 so it could be kind of a
spin-off of that instead of having a
[53:22] bunch of committees or not call it a
committee if you don't want it an
[53:26] official committee we don't have to I
mean we can still all meet without it
[53:29] being an official committee. So if y'all
want to get that's could be the starting
[53:33] point is get everyone's name and number
from tonight and then
[53:37] » but what could happen is if something
was decided before September. No,
[53:45] we could possibly put it on a a question
on the ballot so that people can vote on
[53:51] this is what we're going to do with
Cherokee Village instead of just being
[53:54] this word of mouth thing. You don't tell
people that you're going to do it. You
[54:00] say, "What are your suggestions?" You
start.
[54:01] » Well, well, I'm I'm saying
>> this. No, no. I'm saying we we we come
[54:06] up with a plan, but every two years the
ballot comes up and we and it could be
[54:11] put on a ballot. It doesn't matter
>> or a survey or a survey at the at the
[54:15] right, you But I mean, there's all sorts
of questions put on the ballot uh when
[54:20] we vote and and you could say yes or no
to it and that way we'll get a response
[54:26] from the people of Cherokee Village at
election time.
[54:30] » So I mean, but this is something that
that should start. I mean,
[54:35] » I've I've been in politics most of my
life. My family's been in politics. When
[54:42] my family gets together, I say this a
number of times, that's all we talk
[54:46] about is is is things and and how cities
work and how uh municipalities work. And
[54:53] there's several different kinds. And I
have fire chiefs in my family. I have um
[55:00] people that used to work on water
departments in my family. So, we have
[55:05] been a service family. That's what we've
done. My dad did it from 1963 to 1997.
[55:11] and the community he worked for um you
know has garbage pickup for free because
[55:18] uh they thought about it when they were
looking for a transfer station. So they
[55:21] said yeah our little community will take
the transfer station and look now they
[55:25] have free garbage pickup because they
got the transfer station in their
[55:28] community.
if you got to start planning and that's
[55:32] the problem. We go from administration
to administration
[55:36] and there is no consistency
and that's that's that's what I see here
[55:42] in Cherokee Village. That's that's
that's
[55:45] that is a difficult thing. Yes, sir.
Sorry.
[55:48] » One thing that's consistent is we are
organized with our articles of
[55:52] incorporation of the state of Arkansas.
>> Okay.
[55:55] » We are officially a city. We are a small
city and we have a lot of challenges and
[56:00] we know that. But we need to follow our
rules and our ordinances and our laws,
[56:04] the structure that we've got and the
hand that we're dealt. And I'm sure
[56:07] we've made some mistakes in the past,
but we need to stick with following the
[56:12] rules and the laws and the
organizational plan put forth as a city
[56:17] and be very careful to do our eyes,
cross our tees moving forward so that we
[56:22] don't have these little breakdowns of
planning and zoning and permitting and
[56:27] who's got a house and who's got a shed.
I mean, we've got a couple hot button
[56:31] issues we have to deal with, and I'm
hopefully we can move forward and deal
[56:35] with those sooner than later, but we
just have to be as a community and as
[56:40] citizens, as a legislative body here,
we've got to be looking at the future in
[56:45] all aspects.
>> Correct.
[56:46] » I mean, this is the hand we're dealt.
We've got 5,000 happy campers who call
[56:50] Cherokee Village their home. We have to
try some way to reach them all, have our
[56:57] meetings at the right time of day. And
I'm
[56:59] happy with 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. You got
people that work, you got people that
[57:03] retired, you kind of have to go where
the most people.
[57:07] » But what I want to just emphasize is
that we have to follow the rules and do
[57:12] our best. If we make a mistake, that's
up to it. Try to correct it and do it
[57:17] sooner than later so we don't have this
burden of this millstone around our neck
[57:23] that is just dragging us backwards every
time we have a meeting. So after tonight
[57:29] when we get a quorum, we can move
forward. Let's please as a body and this
[57:33] community make some decisions that are
going to be to the benefit of the entire
[57:38] community and help these people that are
a little bit outside of the rules and
[57:42] regulations help them fall into the into
doing things right. In my position as
[57:49] the director of community compliance for
my company, I have the unsavory job of
[57:53] evicting people from where they live. I
do not like making people homeless. But
[57:58] within the structure and the laws and
the organizational things that we have
[58:02] in the communities that I manage, that
is part of life.
[58:07] » That is part of life. We have to be
adults. We have to come to grips with
[58:10] what life is. And we need to deal with
it. And as as good, God-fearing citizens
[58:16] in this part of the country, we can help
people out that are hurting. We can help
[58:20] them find resources and help them as a
community get around some of these
[58:24] challenges. But we don't want to start
bending law or breaking the law. We're
[58:29] going to set a precedent that is going
to be haunting us as we go down the road
[58:33] in the future. We need to stay on task,
follow our rules, our ordinances, and
[58:39] make sure that we treat everybody fairly
and equitably at that point.
[58:44] » Thank you.
[58:50] Mayor, can I say something?
>> Peter, in your words, you said something
[58:56] » when I
>> that I took very offensive, but you're
[58:59] not even listening.
>> So, sorry. I was
[59:03] » Say that again, Penny. Sorry.
>> I said you said something that I took
[59:07] very offensive when you sat there and
said that the people that live on the
[59:13] lake and their $300,000 just don't
bother me. Excuse me, but I do care. And
[59:20] don't put people in classes because I
don't know why you did. But that was
[59:26] » No, I live on.
>> That was totally rude and inappropriate
[59:30] to speak out.
>> I don't why I don't know. You don't live
[59:35] on Lake Thunderbird.
>> You didn't say like Thunderbird.
[59:38] » But this isn't the This isn't about
halves and have nots,
[59:42] » right? You you you can but you could see
it in the city is my
[59:46] » there's no ifs abouts about its whether
it's a little house you said that's fine
[59:52] that's a little house whether I live on
Thunderberg whether I live on Janud or I
[59:56] live up in Timbuktu that doesn't matter
we as people still care
[1:00:02] » everybody no matter
[1:00:07] » and I apologize if I offended but I
didn't mean it in that partic I was
[1:00:11] there's a different mindset from a
person that's got a million dollars than
[1:00:15] a person that has no income.
>> And and there is a different there there
[1:00:19] is a different mindset there. And I've
seen it. I've I've I've known lots of
[1:00:23] millionaires in my life and I've known
lots of really poor people in my life.
[1:00:27] So there there is a mindset where a
person with a lot of money goes, "Well,
[1:00:32] let's just raise taxes." But they can't
think about the poor little guy that
[1:00:35] can't afford the taxes. We have a a lady
here that's trying to get a house up and
[1:00:40] she's gone through a lot of things and
she just can't afford to knock down a
[1:00:45] $200,000 to get a project done. So, I
mean, that's Cherokee Village is too big
[1:00:52] and we have to figure a way to to
make it like you said that we're
[1:00:58] following the law, [clears throat]
[1:01:03] but we have to find a way to bring
people here
[1:01:07] to increase our revenue because our only
revenue is basically the taxpayers.
[1:01:13] » The growth of our community is a
multiaceted problem. Yes,
[1:01:17] » there's short-term solutions, midterm
solutions, and long solutions
[1:01:21] » for attracting people, attracting
business, and fostering community
[1:01:24] growth.
>> You can't flip a switch and make things
[1:01:27] happen overnight. Correct.
>> We have to sit, think, talk, and
[1:01:31] strategize how we're going to get our
community to survive, how we're going to
[1:01:35] get it to thrive. And I think if we're
just all patient, and keep moving
[1:01:39] forward, we're going to get there. But
it's not going to happen in 2026. It's
[1:01:45] not going to happen in 2027.
It's going to be slow growth. The slow
[1:01:49] growth is better than no growth.
>> And we have to be open to ways to where
[1:01:53] we can attract more business to build
our tax base.
[1:01:57] » That means reszoning some of our lots,
reszoning some of our land, taking
[1:02:01] advantage of the things that are right
in front of us. But oh, that's never
[1:02:04] been done before. Let's think outside
the box and try to do some things
[1:02:08] strategically that can improve the
situation. And when Mr. Cooper developed
[1:02:14] our sleepy little bedroom community. He
didn't do us any favors by not having
[1:02:18] any zone business land or enough
business land and being off the highway.
[1:02:24] It's the hand we're dealt and we're
going to have to create it and it's
[1:02:27] going to be
>> we're going to have to focus for quite a
[1:02:30] while to get where we're going.
>> All right. So, all of those topics that
[1:02:33] you just discussed are is what we
discussed in the economic exploration
[1:02:37] committee. So, like I said, if y'all
give y'all want to give at the very
[1:02:41] least if you want to give Penny your
names and numbers, I can let you know
[1:02:45] when that committee meets. And if that
committee turns into a larger community,
[1:02:51] we want to call it something different,
then so be it. But everything that he
[1:02:55] just said and all the other things I
just said are all the things that we
[1:02:58] talk about in that committee. So, it
covers a broad spectrum.
[1:03:01] » Rename it the Trickyville Steering
Committee. And then one other thing too,
[1:03:06] thinking about how to um really make
sure that our all of our seniors who
[1:03:10] don't have computers or um are learned
and I'm I'm not even trying to be funny,
[1:03:14] but carols go to carols. Have a
committee of volunteers that literally
[1:03:19] have flyers and are just parked at
carols for the day or a couple days and
[1:03:24] just
>> Yeah. just and literally just like go up
[1:03:27] to greet them and make sure they know
that we have this economic development
[1:03:31] committee and we're looking at you know
ways to grow and they may not be
[1:03:35] interested but they may be interested
and that may be how they find out. So
[1:03:39] just a suggestion there
>> all of those notices are put outside too
[1:03:42] between here and the senior center
>> everything that way
[1:03:46] » all you have to do is walk out there
because we know some people don't have
[1:03:49] computers they don't
>> so we do put it there
[1:03:53] » Miss Hannah's had her arm up for a
little bit I would venture to say that a
[1:03:57] good percentage of the residents here
don't have a clue that we're in trouble
[1:04:02] truly and and I don't know the survey
sounds good but if we put out an AP that
[1:04:10] you know we
are in trouble we'd like your opinions
[1:04:14] we need some help got any great ideas
you know by soliciting more I love the
[1:04:20] idea about carols by the way that would
be great with them with them writing
[1:04:23] even things in carols
ideas and shove it in a box. But that
[1:04:28] most people here don't know in
these look who's
[1:04:34] » well it's got to be grassroots
advertising. So my 10 people have to
[1:04:39] contact 10 of their people and it's got
a
[1:04:42] » and ask for their help.
>> Yeah. Literally. Hey, believe me,
[1:04:47] » cuz we have I know we have a wealth of
people here with wonderful businesses
[1:04:51] that they've had and certainly they've
got a lot of spot, you know, with
[1:04:55] regards to what they could provide for
us in ideas and and changing things.
[1:05:01] I didn't know that we were in trouble
till I started coming here to my own my
[1:05:05] own case. I didn't know I didn't even
know we've had enough
[1:05:15] » maybe three times
except a lot of people don't want to
[1:05:20] move because of all the rules and that
>> over and over and over and I think
[1:05:25] that's
[1:05:28] different
I'm just sharing
[1:05:33] » well I I'm hoping for more positiveness
negative ative rhetoric uh on Facebook
[1:05:38] or online is not helping this community
out at all. I mean, it's the negativity
[1:05:44] is reaching Memphis. It's reaching
Jonesboro. It's reaching Little Rock.
[1:05:47] And it's reaching people who didn't even
ask to see that on their phone. It just
[1:05:52] randomly pops up. Then they click on it
and then they happen to maybe know
[1:05:58] somebody maybe that lived here. And then
they call that person and says, "What's
[1:06:02] going on?"
And heaven forbid if they were anybody
[1:06:05] who thought about coming here in the
next 5 years to retire or have a
[1:06:10] vacation home or whatever. So this group
and this count council I mean we have
[1:06:16] got to all get together on being
positive and proactive. And I'm not
[1:06:21] saying that that bad things don't happen
or negative things don't happen but I
[1:06:27] mean we need to be a a glass half full
not half empty here. Right. So,
[1:06:33] » we just need to be grateful that we have
>> Yes.
[1:06:36] » Well, I'd like to uh motion for
adjournment and I'd like to thank
[1:06:41] everybody because this is better than
the regular meeting, I think, so far.
[1:06:44] » Yeah.
>> This has been very informative.
[1:06:47] » Yeah, this is the most public attendance
I've seen.
[1:06:49] » Oh, I do want to say this with uh the
Can I have these? I wanted her to pass
[1:06:53] them on to Charlie, but just to remind
you, I've said this before in a council
[1:06:57] meeting, go to the Cherokee Village
website, go under planning and zoning,
[1:07:02] click on that, then you can click on
being able to do a court enforcement
[1:07:08] um complaint
and and Robert gets that every single
[1:07:13] day. I mean, you could wear it out. I
mean, if you want to be going on a
[1:07:16] Sunday drive and find 10 houses that you
don't like, then do it and put it in the
[1:07:21] planning and zoning complaint box.
>> But the other thing to that is start
[1:07:25] coming to courts on Fridays and watch
what the judge does.
[1:07:30] » Yeah, it's it's only two judge.
>> It's split. There's it's we're split
[1:07:33] district. It's two judge. It's the uh
Mark Johnson and is it Alex? Yeah, Alex
[1:07:39] bigger. But but pay attention to how the
judges
[1:07:43] dole out their justice or
>> or support the audience and advocate for
[1:07:48] your village.
>> Yes. Cuz the mayor the mayor did say
[1:07:51] something earlier and I didn't get to to
amen him but the the other issue is is
[1:07:57] that citations are being issued,
warnings are being issued. uh we are
[1:08:02] following a procedure in house but once
it reaches the point to the next step is
[1:08:07] going before a judge um more often times
than not that is where that is where the
[1:08:13] ball gets dropped um so that's very
important to figure out who the judges
[1:08:18] are it is an election year advocate
write letters send emails I know that's
[1:08:24] a lot of work it shouldn't take in one
sense it shouldn't take all of that but
[1:08:28] in another sense the squeaky wheel gets
the grease
[1:08:31] So, I encourage you to to find that out.
But we do have a process in place. We
[1:08:37] just need to work the process. But it
does hit kind of a it hits a wall. And
[1:08:43] the wall, unfortunately, is the
>> Friday morning.
[1:08:46] » It'll be next next
>> is it once a month. Mayor, when is it?
[1:08:50] » It's next Friday. Usually
>> Yeah.
[1:08:52] » Yes. In this room, usually it's the
Friday after a council meeting, but
[1:08:56] because of the month and the holiday
being Monday, it's it'll be next Friday.
[1:09:00] It's not like a particular Friday of the
month. It's just like a scheduled date.
[1:09:04] » It's usually always the third Friday of
the month.
[1:09:07] » Friday.
>> Oh,
[1:09:08] » but but with the holiday Monday holiday,
they moved it back a week.
[1:09:12] » Gotcha.
>> I second I second your motion.
[1:09:17] » Motion to adjurnn. Second.
>> All in favor?
[1:09:21] There we