[0:11] And we are live. I'll go ahead and call

[0:13] to order the regular meeting of the city

[0:15] council for August 17th, 2026.

[0:19] I see we have a quorum. Uh first order

[0:22] of business is invitation and pledge of

[0:24] allegiance and that will be led by

[0:25] council member Shin.

[0:30] Our father we come to you tonight

[0:33] our city and make decisions

[0:36] to us all. Please give us wisdom

[0:39] that you protect our first responders

[0:42] with us now.

[0:46] » Amen.

[0:50] To the flag of the United States of

[0:52] America and to the republic for which it

[0:55] stands, one nation under God,

[0:59] indivisible, with liberty and justice

[1:01] for all.

[1:05] » Thank you, sir.

[1:08] I don't have any um

[1:12] special guests or announcements tonight.

[1:14] Uh so we'll move on to minutes. Uh, you

[1:17] all received a copy of the August 3rd

[1:19] regular meeting minutes in the packet.

[1:21] Open the floor for discussion.

[1:24] If there is none, I'd entertain a motion

[1:26] to adopt.

[1:27] >> So moved.

[1:28] >> Second.

[1:29] >> I've got a motion and a second to adopt

[1:31] the minutes from the August 3rd council

[1:34] meeting. Any discussion on that motion?

[1:37] Seeing none, all those in favor signify

[1:38] by saying yes.

[1:39] >> Yes.

[1:40] >> All oppose. No.

[1:42] >> Motion carries.

[1:44] We will move on to the financial

[1:47] statement review. Brad, come on down.

[1:51] >> Good evening. We'll be going uh looking

[1:53] at the July report.

[1:56] Uh starting with page one, the general

[1:59] fund uh tax collections and franchise

[2:02] fees year to date are all showing

[2:05] increases compared to to this time last

[2:07] year. Uh the state turnback decrease you

[2:09] see is simply a timing difference. has

[2:12] been the difference has been received as

[2:14] of August. It was it was a uh

[2:18] stabilization trust fund distribution

[2:20] that we received a month earlier last

[2:22] year. So uh the legal and judicial

[2:27] decrease was uh due due to the year-to-

[2:30] date fines being down, planning and

[2:32] permits is is down due to the building

[2:34] permits and licenses being down.

[2:37] Investment income is down due to the

[2:38] cash balances uh being less and the

[2:41] interest rate has decreased from last

[2:44] year. The miscellaneous revenue large

[2:47] increase. We had an operational transfer

[2:49] from the FEMA grant fund of 1.6 million

[2:52] and $184,000

[2:54] of dis dispatching reimbursement from

[2:57] North Little Rock. Most all the other

[3:00] revenues are are comparable to 2025.

[3:05] On the expenditure side, year-to- date,

[3:08] 26 expenditures are generally in line

[3:10] with 25 uh with with many of them

[3:13] showing decreases. Uh I'll just touch on

[3:16] a few. The city attorney decrease uh was

[3:19] dealing with the uh settlement of a land

[3:22] valuation suit done last year. So that number is lower this year. Uh the

[3:28] decrease in courts is due to salaries

[3:31] and related items there. uh increase in

[3:34] police is due to personnel cost

[3:36] increase, vehicle maintenance cost

[3:38] increase and increased fuel costs. There

[3:42] were decreases in dispatching cost,

[3:44] vehicle lease expense, and telephone

[3:46] expense. The large decrease in fires

[3:49] primarily due to the operating transfer

[3:52] in 2025 for the new fire engine that's

[3:54] on order. Uh although their personnel

[3:57] costs are up, but it still shows a large

[3:59] decrease there. Animal control increases

[4:02] primarily due to the building

[4:04] maintenance, water and sewer. They had a

[4:05] big water leak earlier in the year and

[4:07] personnel costs. Planning increase uh is

[4:11] due to increased personnel costs,

[4:13] travel, and uh there were some fees that

[4:17] were budgeting different this year than than in 25 that would cause that to

[4:22] show an increase.

[4:24] Uh going to page two,

[4:27] uh the balance sheet as of July 31, the

[4:31] total fund balance is 5.5 million.

[4:35] Have committed funds for 158,000 in

[4:37] purchase orders, leaving a net fund

[4:39] balance of 5.4 million and cash balances

[4:42] of 5.7 million. The ordinance 438

[4:46] requirement, uh the city has

[4:48] approximately one $1.2 2 million of

[4:52] unassigned funds above that requirement,

[4:54] which puts us at about 26% instead of

[4:56] the 20 that's required.

[5:00] Going to page three,

[5:02] overall in the street fund, overall

[5:04] revenues

[5:06] continue to show slight increases over last year. The year-to- date

[5:10] expenditures in the street fund are up,

[5:13] and it's primarily due to wages,

[5:15] overtime, and related costs. uh vehic

[5:18] vehicle maintenance costs are actually

[5:20] down. The senior services increase in in

[5:23] the street fund is is in salaries and

[5:26] related related items to salaries. The

[5:29] street fund balance sheet as of July

[5:33] 31st, the total fund balance is

[5:35] approximately 3.8 million. The city has

[5:38] designated funds of $356,000

[5:41] for purchase orders, leaving a a net

[5:44] fund balance of three approximately 3.4

[5:46] 4 million. Cash balance is approximately

[5:49] 3.8 million.

[5:52] Going on to page four, the sanitation

[5:54] fund. Year-to- date revenues continue to

[5:57] be slightly ahead of 2025 for the

[5:59] sanitation fund as well. Uh year-to-

[6:02] date 26 expenditures are up primarily

[6:04] due to increase in salaries, overtime,

[6:07] and related items, vehicle maintenance,

[6:09] and and fuel.

[6:12] the sanitation fund balance sheet. As of

[6:15] July 31st, the total fund balance is 1.1

[6:18] million, the same as the net fund

[6:20] balance. Most of the fund balance in

[6:22] this fund uh is invested in fixed

[6:26] assets. The cash balance is $283,000.

[6:31] And if you remember, we had a $275,000

[6:34] loan. We've made two of the payments. We

[6:36] got it down to 225. We've got another

[6:38] one scheduled for this month. So, we're

[6:40] starting to to knock that down.

[6:44] Uh,

[6:47] page five is just for information

[6:49] purposes is police and fire fund.

[6:50] There's no fund balance there. Uh, it's

[6:53] just there for you for your uh for you

[6:56] to have. Uh, that's all I have. If you

[7:00] have any questions, I'll be glad to

[7:04] take them.

[7:05] >> Thank you, sir. Are there any questions

[7:07] or comments for Mr. Ashford.

[7:11] If not, I'd entertain a motion to accept

[7:14] the financial report.

[7:15] >> Motion to approve.

[7:17] >> I've got a motion and second. Is there

[7:19] any discussion on that motion? Seeing

[7:21] none, all those in favor signify by

[7:23] saying yes.

[7:24] >> All oppose, no. Motion carries.

[7:28] That brings us to a procedural motion.

[7:30] At this time, I'd entertain a motion to

[7:31] have all ordinances and resolutions read

[7:33] by title only. So move. Second.

[7:36] >> Got a motion to second. Any discussion?

[7:39] Seeing none, all those in favor signify

[7:41] by saying yes.

[7:42] >> All oppose, no. Motion carries. With no

[7:46] unfinished business, we'll move right on

[7:47] to new business. The first item of new

[7:50] business is the first reading of

[7:52] ordinance 1180. Madame city clerk

[7:55] treasure, if you could please read that

[7:56] by title only. being enacted by the city

[7:59] council of the city of Mamel County of

[8:01] Plasky, state of Arkansas, an ordinance

[8:04] to be entitled ordinance number 1180, an

[8:07] ordinance a submitting chapter 82,

[8:09] article one of the Mamel city code to

[8:12] add a new section entitled parking and

[8:15] designated bicycle lanes prohibited,

[8:18] identifying the streets upon which the

[8:20] prohibit the prohib the prohibition

[8:23] applies, providing a procedure for

[8:25] adding future streets, providing

[8:27] enforcement, removal, impoundment, and

[8:31] penalties, and for other purposes.

[8:33] >> Thank you, ma'am. Uh, this is an

[8:36] ordinance uh that council member

[8:38] Williams uh is sponsoring, so I'll pass

[8:41] it to you.

[8:48] » Yes, ma'am.

[8:49] >> Okay. Uh, this was uh brought about this

[8:52] was brought to my attention by one of

[8:54] our constituents that uh There has been

[8:57] a problem, not a major problem, but

[8:59] could be in the future a major problem

[9:01] with people parking in bike lanes that

[9:05] uh we have um this ordinance covers only

[9:08] two streets. One is the Country Club U

[9:10] Parkway and the other is Arnold Palmer.

[9:13] And um we just I just felt like and uh

[9:17] this particular gentleman that I have

[9:19] had these conversations with made me

[9:21] believe that um in the future with the

[9:24] greenway coming through, this is a

[9:26] proactive way to um bring about a public

[9:29] safety issue to the attention of all of

[9:31] us that could possibly be uh taken care

[9:34] of on the front end before the greenway

[9:36] comes through. And um this ordinance

[9:40] gives us a posh

[9:43] future streets as we grow that become

[9:46] more and more as we become more and more

[9:47] bikable and more and more walkable and

[9:49] we add streets with bike lanes and and

[9:53] um pedestrian lanes u we will at that

[9:57] time probably have to ad uh amend this

[10:01] ordinance at that time but this this one

[10:03] just covers those two thorough affairs.

[10:07] >> Thank you ma'am. I'll go ahead and uh uh

[10:10] open the floor for discussion.

[10:13] Council member Gardner.

[10:15] >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, has do we have any

[10:18] record of uh

[10:21] the police? I guess they couldn't site

[10:23] anyone currently, could they?

[10:25] >> There's no there's no law,

[10:27] >> right? Okay. Has it has it been an

[10:29] issue? Like, had the police gone out or

[10:31] has the city gone out? I'm just curious

[10:32] if they I guess they if there's not an

[10:35] ordinance in place now, I just wonder

[10:36] what we do in that situation. Do we not

[10:38] do anything?

[10:39] >> Correct.

[10:40] >> Okay. I mean, so there there's a couple

[10:42] folks that live on both of those roads

[10:45] that regularly park their car there. Um

[10:48] on Country Club Parkway, especially on

[10:50] the portion nearest um on the boulevard,

[10:54] some of those homes don't they don't

[10:56] take access from the front, they take

[10:59] access from a rear alley. And so uh they

[11:03] routinely park up there.

[11:05] >> So um drove down Arnold Palmer is the

[11:09] other one. Um, and I it seems like most

[11:11] of those houses actually spur off of

[11:14] like a a side street or a culde-sac, but

[11:17] there are some not as many, but some do

[11:20] take access from Arnold Palmer, don't

[11:23] they?

[11:23] >> Their driveways,

[11:24] >> but their driveway. Right. Right. But

[11:26] they don't they wouldn't have street

[11:28] parking at that point. Right. Okay.

[11:30] >> It's not a serious problem. It's just

[11:32] one to kind of keep our eye on in the

[11:34] future with uh with our growth.

[11:36] >> Yeah. at least gives you a tool that we

[11:39] don't have. Okay.

[11:40] >> Thank you.

[11:42] >> All right. Is there any additional

[11:43] discussion?

[11:47] » Seeing none, this will be on second

[11:48] reading at the next council meeting,

[11:51] which brings us to the first reading of

[11:52] ordinance 1182 establishing improvement

[11:55] district. Madam city clerk, if you could

[11:56] please read that title. Be it enacted by

[11:59] the city council of the city of Mamel

[12:00] County of Palaski, state of Arkansas, an

[12:03] ordinance to be entitled ordinance

[12:05] number 1182, an ordinance to establish

[12:08] and lay off the city of Mamel municipal

[12:10] property owners multi-purpose

[12:13] improvement district number 2026-01,

[12:17] the Mamel Gateway project, and for other

[12:20] purposes.

[12:21] >> Thank you, ma'am. All right. Uh, I've

[12:23] asked the city attorney to explain

[12:25] what's going on here. Yes, the city

[12:27] received a petition to create to form a

[12:30] new improvement district. You'll see

[12:32] that the petition is also included in

[12:34] the packet. It's signed by Cypress Bay

[12:37] Development LLC, which they have

[12:39] included a title company search letter

[12:41] saying that they're the sole owner of um

[12:44] the property to to create the

[12:46] improvement district. We received an

[12:48] email asking what an improvement

[12:50] district is. So, I'll just explain

[12:52] briefly. Improvement districts are

[12:54] governmental entities that are created

[12:56] by local government

[12:58] primarily to build improvements which

[13:00] are streets and drainage and it could be

[13:03] parks, could be a variety of things and

[13:05] then to um they'll typically issue bonds

[13:09] that are pledged to special tax

[13:11] assessments to cover the costs of those

[13:13] improvements.

[13:16] That's the that's the big power that

[13:18] they have is to is to

[13:20] special assessments for taxes, but

[13:22] they're localized just to the property

[13:24] owners in the district.

[13:29] » Council member Williams,

[13:32] >> um do we have other multi-purpose

[13:35] improvement districts in the city? I'm

[13:37] assuming uh Country Club of Arkansas

[13:39] maybe maybe one or DVO.

[13:43] >> We do have other um improvement

[13:47] districts. Yes. Like municipal

[13:48] improvement districts.

[13:51] I uh

[13:54] >> I can't think of any off the top of my

[13:55] head.

[13:58] >> The last time they were created was in

[14:00] 2023. I know. I think Cypress Bend was

[14:03] one of them and there was another one

[14:06] created that year.

[14:07] >> That's right. That's right. I remember

[14:08] that now.

[14:12] » And we we we did we that passed, right?

[14:16] >> Oh,

[14:18] sorry.

[14:20] Um

[14:21] the city council's role is to determine

[14:25] whether 100% of the owners have signed

[14:28] the petition.

[14:30] And then it's also to hear if a mortgage

[14:32] ee comes and objects at the public

[14:34] hearing to the creation of the district.

[14:36] That's the city council's only role.

[14:39] It's just determining that 100% of the

[14:41] owners filed the petition.

[14:42] >> I remember that

[14:43] >> and to hear a mortgage e who comes to

[14:45] object.

[14:46] >> Okay. Yeah, we kind of tried to overstep

[14:48] a bit

[14:50] >> a couple of us.

[14:53] >> Thank you, ma'am. Council member

[14:54] Tierney.

[14:55] >> Uh well, I think my question just got

[14:57] answered. 100% of the property owners

[14:59] have all signed the petition and

[15:01] confirmed that they support this.

[15:02] Correct.

[15:03] >> That's correct.

[15:03] >> All right. Thank you.

[15:04] >> It's all by one.

[15:09] » Thank you. Is there any additional

[15:11] discussion on ordinance 1182?

[15:15] Seeing none, this will be on second

[15:16] reading at the next council meeting. The

[15:19] next item is uh uh a resolution

[15:23] approving the Chamber of Commerce

[15:24] contract. I'm asking that we table that.

[15:27] I might have jumped the gun a little bit

[15:29] and and got it on the agenda before

[15:32] making sure everyone was in agreement on

[15:34] all the terms. So, I'd entertain a

[15:35] motion to table this to the next council

[15:37] meeting.

[15:37] >> So, move.

[15:39] >> I've got a motion and second on that.

[15:41] Any discussion?

[15:43] Seeing none, all those in favor signify

[15:45] by saying yes.

[15:46] >> I'll oppose. No. Motion carries. We'll

[15:49] hear that at the next council meeting.

[15:51] And that brings us to resolution

[15:52] 2026-27.

[15:54] Madam city clerk, if you could please

[15:55] read that by title.

[15:57] >> A resolution of the city council of the

[15:58] city of Mamel County of Plasks, state of

[16:01] Arkansas. A resolution to be entitled

[16:03] resolution number 2026-27,

[16:07] a resolution to amend the 2026 general

[16:10] fund budget.

[16:11] >> All right. Uh first of all, kudos to

[16:14] Chief Ivy uh for this one. For uh years,

[16:18] the city of ML has provided at no cost

[16:22] to either academics plus charter school

[16:24] or Palaski County Special School

[16:27] District uh school resource officers

[16:30] that just came from the the rank and

[16:32] file of the police department. Chief Ivy

[16:35] um took the initiative and negotiated

[16:38] with both of those entities, both of

[16:40] whom saw the value and have agreed to

[16:42] pay 75% of um the uh salaries of each of

[16:47] those uh school resource officers. And

[16:51] so I told him that what better way to

[16:53] spend that extra revenue than by adding

[16:57] a a new police officer. Um, and so this

[17:00] is the budget resolution that would

[17:02] allow them to be able to do that. I'll

[17:04] go ahead and open the floor for

[17:06] discussion or questions.

[17:08] Council member Gardner,

[17:09] >> is this going to be an additional police

[17:11] officer just out in the field or at the

[17:14] schools?

[17:15] >> Chief Ivy.

[17:23] » Good evening. Uh, that's up for

[17:25] discussion between me and my command

[17:27] staff right now. We talked about it

[17:29] because I do have officer right now in

[17:30] every school. So, a charter school and

[17:33] all three Pine Forest schools in town.

[17:35] So, there's four. So, we're trying to

[17:37] work and see where they where it best

[17:38] fits in. So,

[17:39] >> Okay. But they could be used anywhere.

[17:41] They don't have to be used in a school.

[17:42] >> Correct. We're going to

[17:43] >> Okay. Okay.

[17:44] >> What makes the most sense and and look

[17:46] at staffing and where someone's needed,

[17:48] but it might be in a school. Okay.

[17:50] >> Thank you.

[17:53] sir. Any additional

[17:54] questions, discussion? If not, I'd

[17:57] entertain a motion to adopt resolution

[17:59] 2026-27.

[18:01] >> Motion to adopt resolution number

[18:03] 2026-27.

[18:05] >> Second.

[18:06] >> I've got a motion and second. Any

[18:08] discussion on that motion?

[18:11] >> Seeing none, all those in favor, please

[18:12] signify by saying yes.

[18:14] >> All oppose? No. Motion carries.

[18:24] The final item of new business is

[18:26] resolution 2026-28

[18:30] amending the general fund budget. Madam

[18:31] city clerk,

[18:32] >> a resolution of the city council of the

[18:34] city of Mamel County of Plasky, state of

[18:37] Arkansas, a resolution to be entitled

[18:39] resolution number 2026-28,

[18:42] a resolution to amend the 2026 general

[18:45] fund budget. Really quickly, while I'm

[18:48] generally describing this, uh if Philip

[18:51] or Gordon wants to come down, uh this uh

[18:55] amount of money in the budget addresses

[18:58] the units that are currently out. We

[19:01] know that there are others that are

[19:02] getting older. Those are still lingering

[19:05] and will be a topic for discussion uh

[19:07] this goound in budget. Um, Phillip,

[19:12] which unit, correct me if I'm wrong,

[19:14] this is the uh lobby unit and the um wait room level. Is that correct,

[19:22] Gordon?

[19:27] » Good evening. We just uh flipped a coin

[19:30] and I lost. Um, [laughter] so the unit

[19:33] that is out right now is in the health

[19:35] club and then we have the upper lobby

[19:38] unit and the lower lobby unit um are

[19:40] also

[19:42] almost totally out. So we got three

[19:43] units that need replacing at this time.

[19:49] » All right. Thank you. Um, Council Member

[19:50] Gordon Gardner

[19:52] >> Gordon, you may want to hang on since

[19:53] you lost. Yeah, I know. So, and this may

[19:56] be a mayor question, too. So, when we

[19:58] looked at that this in the budget

[19:59] process, wasn't it like a million bucks?

[20:02] >> I want to say

[20:03] >> it was over $850,000 to replace all the

[20:06] units at one time.

[20:07] >> Okay. So, that was my question because

[20:09] we were looking at such a big number and

[20:11] we all kind of had sticker shock and

[20:13] then I saw this number for only 126 and

[20:17] I wondered what had changed between, you

[20:20] know, December of last year and now,

[20:22] right? But, so this is only a portion

[20:24] >> of the units. We have uh 15 units on the

[20:27] roof. Six of which are split units. Um

[20:30] seven of which are RTUs, which are the

[20:32] larger units. And then we have two

[20:34] package units. The two package units, if

[20:36] those go out, that'll be the majority of

[20:39] that $850,000.

[20:40] >> Gotcha. Okay. So, these are isolated to

[20:42] specific portions of the community

[20:44] center. Yes, sir. That's why it's so

[20:45] much less. Okay, that makes sense. Very

[20:47] good. Thank you.

[20:50] >> Yeah.

[20:53] Any additional discussion on this

[20:55] resolution? Thank you, sir. If not, I'd

[20:58] entertain a motion to adopt resolution

[21:00] 2026-28.

[21:03] » I've got a motion. Do I hear a second?

[21:05] >> Second.

[21:06] >> Got a motion and a second.

[21:09] Is there any discussion on that motion?

[21:12] Seeing none, all those in favor of

[21:14] adopting resolution 2026-28

[21:16] amending the general fund budget, please

[21:19] signify by saying yes.

[21:21] >> All oppose. No.

[21:23] Motion carries.

[21:26] I know there will be some folks that are

[21:28] happy to hear that.

[21:29] >> Yes, ma'am.

[21:31] >> Sorry.

[21:31] >> One question just came to me. Is there

[21:34] um is there an ETA on how long it would

[21:37] take to fix this?

[21:39] >> Um

[21:45] » okay.

[21:47] >> Just in time for winter.

[21:50] >> [laughter]

[21:51] >> Everyone will have their their

[21:52] jacko'lanterns out by that point in

[21:54] time, I'm sure. Uh because it has been

[21:57] pretty hot outside. Um I know even just

[22:00] getting quotes on these at this time of

[22:02] year with this level of heat has there's

[22:06] the um it is a sellers market in the

[22:10] HVAC industry right now. So getting them

[22:12] out is not easy.

[22:14] >> Um

[22:15] >> Yes, sir.

[22:17] Oh, now that it passed. [laughter]

[22:20] >> Now, just on that, there will be those

[22:24] units are so big. It's going to take a

[22:25] crane and it was either a crane or a

[22:28] helicopter and the cost was kind of

[22:31] close to either one.

[22:33] >> That's just how big some of those

[22:35] package units are. I just wanted

[22:38] >> Thank you, sir.

[22:41] All right, that concludes new business.

[22:43] We'll move on to mayor's comments. For

[22:45] those that don't know, there was a trash

[22:48] can fire at Milwood Station that did a

[22:51] number on the the side of the building.

[22:53] Um primarily the exterior and I know

[22:56] Parks is happy to have an air

[22:58] conditioner and to fix uh Milwood

[23:00] Station. Um it fire started by somebody

[23:04] um putting out a cigarette and they they

[23:07] kind of smothered it and then threw it

[23:09] in the trash can and about 30 minutes

[23:11] later it it was full. Um for uh so just

[23:16] to give you all an update on that and

[23:18] also I just wanted to give this is this

[23:20] is a weird one the the the mayor's blood

[23:22] drive I want to give a shout out to the

[23:23] people most of them are not here who who

[23:26] give blood at these we continually they raise the uh our target goal and

[23:34] then we seem to exceed it all the time

[23:36] uh and so that was brought to my

[23:38] attention today when they sent us these

[23:40] certificates to pass out to uh people uh

[23:44] that are in the top 10 of uh donating. I

[23:47] know Mr. City Attorney, you were in

[23:49] there uh and Deb [clears throat] Deb and

[23:52] was there and and I probably should have

[23:54] asked your permission, but I didn't want

[23:55] to name those people unless I talked to

[23:57] them and most of them are just

[23:59] residents. Um but uh just in the last

[24:02] one we recently had we got a letter back

[24:04] saying that that saved 69 lives. Blood

[24:07] is always in demand and because I'm o O

[24:10] negative, if I am two days past my

[24:13] donation time, they call and harass me.

[24:16] So help me out uh and go donate blood so

[24:19] they don't need as much as mine. I kid.

[24:22] Um so uh um first of all, I kind of

[24:26] wanted to to give a shout out. There

[24:28] were three of the elected positions that

[24:31] went unopposed. Uh and I just wanted to

[24:35] introduce those. I guess first of all to

[24:37] Christine Growald went unopposed. I'm

[24:39] not sure how she's managed that but uh

[24:42] only because I never have even with

[24:45] massive victories every time. But the uh so congratulations on that. Um and

[24:50] then Ward 4 city council member will be

[24:52] Travis Matthews who I guess we can call

[24:54] him uh council member elect Travis

[24:56] Matthews. And then city

[24:59] >> oh Henderson too. Okay my bad. I knew

[25:03] that.

[25:05] How embarrassing. Tra, you didn't know

[25:06] you had another Travis opponent. Pardon

[25:08] me.

[25:09] >> What's his name?

[25:10] >> Travis Henderson.

[25:11] >> Henderson.

[25:12] I said that wrong.

[25:13] >> Okay.

[25:14] >> And now I'm turning red and pink. So,

[25:16] let's move on to one that I'm fairly

[25:20] confident about. Uh, our city attorney

[25:22] uh in January will be Oliver Cushing,

[25:24] who's here as well. If you haven't got a

[25:26] chance to say hi to either of them,

[25:28] please do that. The uh wards two and

[25:31] three are contested positions as are the

[25:33] mayor and city clerk treasurer. So

[25:36] election season is upon us and

[25:40] um

[25:43] good luck to all involved. That

[25:45] concludes mayor's comments. Are there

[25:46] any council member comments?

[25:48] >> Yes,

[25:50] >> council member Shin.

[25:51] >> I wanted to see a update on getting the

[25:53] street lights fixed over in work for

[25:56] we've been doing this for a year now.

[25:57] Which ones?

[25:59] >> Uh part of them around ODM.

[26:00] >> The ODM lights are done inhouse. Uh we

[26:03] got a quote recently

[26:06] um for the issue is some of the wiring.

[26:10] The quote we got was $1.1 million to fix

[26:13] that string because they claim they

[26:15] needed to redo all the wiring. Um, we

[26:19] suspect that that is not actually going

[26:22] to be the cost.

[26:23] >> Didn't want to rewire my wife's

[26:24] ex-wife's house.

[26:25] >> Well, pardon me.

[26:27] [laughter]

[26:29] » My ex-wife contacted an electrician who

[26:31] told her that she had to have a whole

[26:33] new box. It's going to have to be moved

[26:35] over because it was too close to the air

[26:36] conditioning units and all this stuff.

[26:38] And I called zoning and permits and

[26:41] said, "So, what's the deal?" And they

[26:42] said, "When was the house built?" I told

[26:44] them, they said, "That's grandfather.

[26:45] None of that has to be done." took a

[26:47] fuse.

[26:48] >> Yeah, ours was the the wiring. So, the

[26:50] ODM Boulevard lights are city-owned

[26:53] [clears throat] and the the rest uh more

[26:56] or less are Energy owned. The ones that

[26:59] we're doing, we're trying to figure out

[27:01] what that wiring issue more specifically

[27:03] is. Uh everybody loves underground

[27:06] utilities until they go wrong. And you

[27:10] know, if there's a a broken line, you

[27:12] can visually inspect those a lot easier

[27:14] than you can underground. So, we're

[27:17] trying to figure out a a a more

[27:19] realistic avenue to get that replaced.

[27:22] Those that are in the neighborhoods

[27:24] themselves, um we I know we just closed

[27:27] out a bunch of street light tickets. Uh

[27:29] for those if there's particular ones,

[27:31] make sure we know about it and it's on

[27:33] CClick Fix or people can report them

[27:35] directly to Energy. That's all we do is

[27:38] report them to Energy and then just

[27:40] follow up with them on that. Uh, and

[27:43] that is always a joy.

[27:46] >> And one more question. Yes, sir.

[27:48] >> The bridge at Willistine, do we know

[27:49] when it's going to be repaired or

[27:51] replaced?

[27:53] >> Mr. Raburn,

[28:01] » I guess you're talking about the

[28:03] spillway bridge.

[28:04] >> Yes, sir.

[28:04] >> Yeah. That's that all that wood for that

[28:07] bridge is mil. So, it's not like 2x4s, 2

[28:10] by sixes.

[28:14] My what I would like to see happen would

[28:16] be it's about a 60 foot span. The

[28:19] concrete's already there and just put in

[28:22] a metal a metal type uh bridge would be

[28:27] my

[28:28] >> guess. So, you'd rather replace

[28:29] >> I'd rather replace it with metal that's

[28:32] going to last

[28:35] while I'm gone. [laughter]

[28:38] But that's that's where we stand on it.

[28:39] It's just it's hard to mix in straight

[28:42] cut lumber into what's been milled. I

[28:46] understand.

[28:47] >> Okay.

[28:48] >> Thank you, sir.

[28:50] >> Council member Gardner,

[28:51] >> following up on Mr. Shin's question

[28:53] about street lights, where does the LED

[28:55] grant uh the conversion fit into all of

[28:58] that for ODM? Well, that is one of the

[29:00] reasons that we've been delaying that a

[29:02] little bit is because until we can get

[29:05] the electricity to those lines, we

[29:10] don't want them installing new lights

[29:11] there,

[29:12] >> but uh we are proceeding with the um um

[29:18] bid process. The dollar amount is there.

[29:21] So, in fact, I was reviewing the bid

[29:22] today and the specs and gave the

[29:24] go-ahhead to publish that bid. Anyways,

[29:27] I don't know what we're going to do if

[29:30] we're ready for the installation of

[29:33] those, but we don't yet have electricity

[29:35] to that stretch there. We may just have

[29:38] to install them and come back later and verify that that is still good to

[29:42] go.

[29:44] Council

[29:46] member Growald,

[29:48] >> I just wanted to share some positive

[29:50] feedback um from an email that I

[29:53] received from a resident who was glowing

[29:56] about um Venue 10. She apparently lives

[30:01] um she apparently lives right across the

[30:03] street and she's just over the moon

[30:05] about how beautiful it is and and what

[30:08] um a great addition it's it's brought to

[30:10] our community. Um she just loves the the

[30:13] beauty of it. She says, "I look at it

[30:15] every day and I've never had a negative

[30:17] impact." So, just wanted to brag about

[30:19] that.

[30:22] >> Awesome.

[30:23] Thank you very much. Any additional

[30:25] council member comments? City attorney

[30:27] comments.

[30:29] >> City clerk treasurer comments. If

[30:31] there's nothing further, I'd entertain a

[30:33] motion to adjurnn.

[30:34] >> Make a motion to adjurnn, Mr. Mayor.

[30:38] >> Second.

[30:38] >> And a second. I've got a motion second

[30:40] to adjurnn. Is there any discussion? I

[30:42] didn't think so. All those in favor,

[30:43] please signify by saying yes.

[30:45] >> All oppose, no. Motion carries. We are

[30:47] ajourned.

Maumelle City Council Meeting 8/17/26

Transcript