[0:02] Who do I hatch?

[0:05] >> Don, you going to lead us in our

[0:07] invocation tonight?

[0:11] » Father, we thank you for this day for

[0:12] this time that we can come and do the

[0:15] city business. Lord, we thank you for

[0:18] each and every person here for the

[0:20] interest in our city. Got to pray as we

[0:24] make decisions that they'll be with

[0:28] good decisions and and things that that

[0:31] you want us to do in Jesus name. Amen.

[0:33] >> Amen.

[0:35] >> Samantha will lead us in the pledgece

[0:38] to the flag of the United States of

[0:41] America and to the republic for which it

[0:44] stands. One nation

[0:47] indivisible with liberty and justice for

[0:49] all.

[0:51] right, we'll go ahead and convene

[0:53] our meeting. We'll start with roll call.

[0:55] Misty Codle

[0:56] >> here.

[0:57] >> Jeff Upton

[0:57] >> here.

[0:58] >> Jan Throgmorton.

[1:00] Marty Lindberry.

[1:02] John Collins

[1:03] >> here. [snorts]

[1:03] >> Dana Mcnite

[1:04] >> here.

[1:05] >> Don Rollins

[1:06] >> here.

[1:07] >> Anthony Foster

[1:08] >> here.

[1:08] >> Our city attorney and city clerk are

[1:10] both present. First item on our agenda

[1:12] is the adoption of the agenda as it was

[1:14] mailed. Are there any changes or motions

[1:17] concerning the adoption of the agenda?

[1:19] I'll make that motion to approve as mil.

[1:21] >> Second.

[1:22] >> We have a motion and second. All those

[1:23] in favor say yes.

[1:25] >> That [snorts] motion carries.

[1:27] >> All those

[1:29] who opposes

[1:31] say no. Okay, that motion car. There we

[1:33] go. All right. I got a little

[1:35] presumptive there.

[1:38] [clears throat] Uh, next is the approval

[1:39] of our meeting minutes from July 14th.

[1:42] Are there any changes [cough]

[1:44] to those or motions concerning them?

[1:47] I make a motion that we approve the July

[1:49] the 14th meeting minutes.

[1:53] >> Second.

[1:53] >> We have a motion and second. All those

[1:55] in favor say yes.

[1:56] >> Those opposed, no.

[1:58] >> That motion carries. Next is our public

[2:00] forum where we uh welcome anyone who

[2:03] would like to come and address uh myself

[2:05] and the council. We do ask that you keep

[2:07] your comments to around two minutes and

[2:11] keep them directed to the the council

[2:13] and not anyone in the audience. Would

[2:15] anyone like to address the council

[2:16] tonight? Yes, ma'am. Come up and tell us

[2:18] who you are.

[2:19] >> My name is Barbara Berg like iceberg and

[2:23] um I live in the proposed area for

[2:25] annexation

[2:27] and I only heard about it on Saturday

[2:28] when I opened the letter from the

[2:30] Washington County clerk informing me of

[2:32] my right to vote on this issue. So

[2:34] that's why I wasn't here the last three

[2:35] months and why I'm here this evening.

[2:38] I'll give my two minutes. I have a

[2:40] little bit more than two minutes to say.

[2:41] I'm happy to come back in September to

[2:43] finish. And I also have a couple other

[2:45] people who are willing to like take my

[2:46] two minutes and finish what. So, however

[2:48] you want to work it, that's legit. Um, I

[2:51] spent the weekend listening to the three

[2:53] West Fork City Council meetings. So,

[2:55] those are very well archived. Thank you.

[2:58] And locating and reading the ordinance.

[3:00] And on Monday, I visited West Fork City

[3:02] Hall. And um, finance director Christy

[3:05] Dryman was very gracious and patient and

[3:07] spent, I would say, a good 20 minutes

[3:08] with me. So, thank you, Christie. Um, I

[3:11] want to be clear that I understand the

[3:12] predicament of West Fork and from that

[3:15] perspective, I do support the

[3:16] annexation, but I'm not sold in the

[3:18] manner in which it's currently being

[3:20] pursued and I'm hoping you can help me.

[3:22] Um, first off, the poster board map has

[3:26] my private drive incorrectly labeled.

[3:28] So, I would really appreciate if in it's

[3:30] in the minutes that I'm requesting that be corrected. It says Hin Road,

[3:35] which is actually north of us, and mine

[3:37] is Evans Lane. So there are two horn

[3:39] roads on the poster board map and the

[3:42] southern one is my Evans Lane. All

[3:46] right. You mentioned in past meetings

[3:47] that those of us currently under

[3:49] Washington water authority will remain

[3:50] so. But something was said that sounded

[3:53] like the water would still like come

[3:55] through West Fork as a third party or we

[3:57] would still be [snorts] directly with

[3:59] Washington water.

[3:59] >> You will still be directly with

[4:00] Washington water.

[4:02] >> Okay. Um, regarding the ongoing property

[4:04] tax conversation, I just wanted to

[4:06] clarify that this now famous 5 mil

[4:09] increase in property tax, which has been

[4:11] described in these meetings as about an

[4:13] average of $100 per residence,

[4:15] >> per 100,000 of value.

[4:18] >> Okay. I remembered you saying something

[4:20] about

[4:21] 80 people and $8,000 of revenue. And so

[4:24] it would be like about $100 per

[4:27] residence on average. And so, um, I

[4:30] probably did say that trying to

[4:32] generalize.

[4:33] >> Yeah.

[4:34] >> Uh, I've I filled in a lot of questions.

[4:36] Um,

[4:37] >> yes. Yes, you did.

[4:39] >> So, [cough] the way that works out for

[4:42] five meals, that will equate to

[4:44] approximately $100 per $100,000 of

[4:48] assessed value. So, if your if your home

[4:51] if the assessed value on your home is

[4:53] $100,000, it would be about a $100

[4:55] increase.

[4:56] >> Yeah. Right. And so since we pay 44 45.4

[4:59] mills right now, it's about a 1 nth or

[5:01] an 11% increase. So it makes it pretty

[5:04] easy for us to calculate if we just take

[5:06] our base and increase it by 11%. And I

[5:08] just thought it might be helpful to say

[5:10] that because as you probably know, I

[5:13] mean, the signage coming in here from

[5:15] >> um where I live made it very clear that

[5:17] there are some people who are pretty

[5:18] upset. Um and I think that clarity might

[5:21] be helpful, too, because people are

[5:23] throwing this $100 number around. Um,

[5:27] okay. During the May city council

[5:29] meeting, I think it was stated that the

[5:31] lot splits, if they happen in the

[5:33] future, annexation happens and someone

[5:35] wants to split their lot, each lot split

[5:38] would have to be a minimum of 5 acres.

[5:43] >> I think what you're seeing there is for

[5:47] agricultural zoning,

[5:48] >> okay, which we would be,

[5:50] >> we require a 5 acre lot.

[5:52] >> Okay? So, we would have to reszone in

[5:55] order because I asked because I had a

[5:57] family member take a one um acre split

[6:01] just like two years ago from us and we

[6:04] have a few adult children who hope to do

[6:06] the same in the near future. But a 5

[6:08] acre split is a you know a different um

[6:10] kettle of fish and so it sounds like if

[6:12] we stay agricultural zoning wise we

[6:15] would have to make each split a minimum

[6:18] five or is there any exception for

[6:20] family lot slits?

[6:23] look at the code. I don't know.

[6:25] >> So, we we just re rewrote our entire

[6:29] zoning code.

[6:30] >> Okay.

[6:30] >> And so, what we what we were trying to

[6:32] do is and I [clears throat] don't know

[6:34] that that's going to be the case. I

[6:36] think if you were reszoning to

[6:38] agriculture, you would have to zone or

[6:42] you would have to split out five acres.

[6:44] If you're already zoned agricultural, I

[6:46] do not think that is a requirement, but

[6:48] that's something. Do you know, Walter?

[6:50] For sure.

[6:50] >> I don't think so. you would just resone

[6:51] as either a residential estate, which

[6:53] that's down to two acres, I think, and

[6:55] pretty well just provides for everything

[6:57] agriculture except commercial

[6:58] agriculture.

[6:59] >> Right. And

[7:00] >> but if if if she's just splitting a lot

[7:03] and not wanting to reszone,

[7:05] >> right? Right.

[7:06] >> Right. You're just splitting a whole

[7:07] lot.

[7:08] >> I don't I don't think that's I don't

[7:09] think that's the case. I believe you can

[7:11] >> Uhhuh. It would just remain original

[7:13] zoning. Yeah. But then of course if

[7:16] anyone in that splitting subdivid then

[7:19] you end up with like resold lot you know

[7:22] if anyone ever like if we split like our

[7:24] current situation I've got 19 the family

[7:25] member has one um if they ever sell then

[7:29] we end up with a lot that's agricultural

[7:31] that's only one yeah

[7:32] >> that gets grandfathered in.

[7:34] >> Yes. Okay.

[7:34] >> And it's only if you're subdividing it

[7:36] and so that would be four or more

[7:38] >> lots that you're creating. If you're

[7:40] just creating one lawn off of it, that

[7:41] that's not a subdivision. And so that

[7:43] doesn't

[7:44] >> I see. And then there's like a

[7:45] three-year minimum except for families

[7:48] at the county level. Yes.

[7:49] >> And does that continue at the city level

[7:51] if we become West?

[7:52] >> We follow the county on that.

[7:54] >> Okay. All right. Thank you.

[7:55] >> And so the reason for that, just to give

[7:57] you a little bit of

[7:59] >> background on it, is what we've had in

[8:01] the past is a family

[8:03] >> decides they're going to split three

[8:05] lots for family members. And then those

[8:08] family members a couple years down the

[8:09] road decide, well, I don't like living

[8:11] here. I'm going to move and I'm going to

[8:14] respplit this four more times. And so

[8:16] then the city ends up with a a dirt path

[8:20] that they are uh expected to maintain

[8:22] that we can't get fire trucks down that

[8:24] now serves eight or 10 people. So that

[8:26] that's where that one came in.

[8:27] >> Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you again

[8:29] for your generosity here. Now, the two

[8:32] main things. So those were kind of the

[8:34] nickels and dimes. The first is that as

[8:37] you know this annexation if it passes

[8:39] will more than double the geographic

[8:41] area of West Fork. And that means that

[8:45] police department, fire department, road

[8:47] maintenance, um solid waste is covering

[8:51] twice the area. Not twice the

[8:53] residences, but but twice the area. And

[8:56] I've not seen anything I've not been

[8:58] able to find anything in writing about

[9:00] how that's going to be financed. You've

[9:02] been clear that this isn't bringing in

[9:04] much money to the city, but surely

[9:07] there's a plan to increase the number of

[9:09] police officers, cruisers, fire

[9:11] department members, and then the road

[9:14] maintenance. I live off off of Campbell.

[9:17] That's that's a huge liability that the

[9:19] city's taking on honestly in its current

[9:21] condition, southeast and northeast. Um,

[9:24] so is there a plan in writing that I can

[9:26] look at?

[9:27] >> There is not at this point.

[9:28] >> Okay. So one, it hasn't passed. Um

[9:32] >> the annexation has not passed. So

[9:35] >> yes, we have looked at the police level

[9:38] and the fire level um as to what does our budget currently cover per

[9:45] citizen or per household? What does that

[9:47] cost us? Right.

[9:49] >> Um for the fire department, we're

[9:51] currently covering that area anyway.

[9:53] True. Right. So we've got a partnership

[9:55] with rule.

[9:56] >> That's not going to change a whole lot.

[9:58] uh the police budget may very well

[10:00] change

[10:01] >> and we know that the the road and street

[10:03] department budget is going to change

[10:04] significantly and so yes we have looked

[10:07] we have driven those roads we have

[10:09] looked to see

[10:10] >> what roads are in need of some help uh

[10:13] what roads need some help just to get a

[10:15] fire truck in and out properly

[10:18] >> u we have looked at what would it cost

[10:20] if we we subbed that work out

[10:24] >> um currently the county does some work

[10:26] like that for city. So, uh we

[10:29] [clears throat] we contract with the

[10:30] county and they actually do the grading

[10:33] work since they already have their

[10:34] graders and stuff. So, do we have it in

[10:36] writing and uh a written proposal of

[10:39] what that expense is going to be? No, we

[10:40] don't. Uh but we are preparing for that.

[10:44] >> Yeah. Okay. So, I mean, I knew that

[10:46] you'd done the driving around and um and

[10:49] looked at it. And I think what you can

[10:51] probably understand from my perspective

[10:54] is first off I do see that it's not a

[10:57] matter of if but when for annexation and

[11:00] it's really a matter of West Fork or

[11:02] Greenland like like we pick um and

[11:06] it would be really helpful if we felt

[11:09] like there was some real um intention

[11:14] not not just intention but planning

[11:15] about how this is going to be paid for

[11:17] because what can happen is that we're

[11:19] kind kind of the annoying stepchildren

[11:22] where there's like Westfork that's

[11:24] already being served that already has

[11:26] its regular maintenance and then there's

[11:28] just not the money to cover this and

[11:32] with this desire not to um increase

[11:35] taxes obviously you can't up the 5 mil

[11:37] and so it would have to be sales or

[11:38] whatever taxes but

[11:41] hopefully you can see from our

[11:42] perspective that there's a concern of if

[11:44] there's not a real plan in place like if I'm running a household I can't

[11:49] just hope that I'm going to be able to

[11:51] maintain I don't know I'm not running a

[11:54] household I'm running a rural household

[11:56] the animals that I decide to acquire.

[11:58] >> Um and I get that you can't just plan

[12:02] for something you can't put anything

[12:05] >> into law or ordinance if the annexation

[12:08] hasn't yet passed but surely there must

[12:11] be some kind of plan going forward like

[12:13] we would take money from this or we're

[12:15] thinking of that. Is that happening? Um

[12:18] I think you will see some some more

[12:20] detail uh some more written um examples

[12:23] of this. So we are just coming into our

[12:25] budget season for 2027.

[12:27] >> Okay.

[12:28] >> Uh so no we don't currently have

[12:30] anything but yes you can you can uh rest

[12:33] assured that as that 27 budget gets

[12:35] worked on which is starting next month

[12:38] um that will you will definitely see

[12:40] some increases in road uh in in the

[12:45] police budget. I don't know about fire

[12:48] yet. Um how that's going to impact.

[12:50] Okay. But

[12:51] >> Right. Because we do already, like you

[12:52] said. Yeah. Okay. And then

[12:54] >> and then then just a correction. So your

[12:56] solid waste,

[12:58] Christy, [clears throat] is their solid

[12:59] waste going to change.

[13:01] >> We privately contract and it says in the

[13:03] ordinance. Sorry.

[13:05] >> Yes. Most likely they I have not talked

[13:07] to LR. They're not LRS now. They've

[13:10] changed names again, but I have not

[13:12] talked to them and let them know that

[13:13] this is coming. Um, but my assumption is

[13:16] that they will want to add that to the

[13:20] contract with them. So, okay. But I

[13:22] don't have

[13:22] >> So, we'll get more information on that

[13:24] once we've talked to them.

[13:25] >> Um, so are you guys currently with

[13:28] Trashaway or

[13:29] >> We privately contract with Trashaway.

[13:31] So,

[13:31] >> and when you say privately, each

[13:33] individual basically. Okay.

[13:35] >> Yep. Exactly. And um so in the ordinance

[13:39] it says that effective immediately once

[13:41] the annexation is like um verified and

[13:44] finalized that fire, police, solid waste

[13:49] and road maintenance are effective

[13:50] immediately under West.

[13:53] >> Yeah, I feel like that's the one that

[13:54] would impact me immediately and I'd

[13:56] rather stay with trash away. Is it is

[13:58] that an option or

[14:00] >> if if LRS says that they want that

[14:04] contract? So we contract that everything

[14:06] in the city limits currently is with

[14:07] them.

[14:09] >> So it would be a change. Yes.

[14:11] >> Yeah. Okay. So then that brings me to

[14:14] the final question. Um which is that

[14:17] >> I know based on the last three meetings

[14:19] that people in my area are very

[14:21] interested in changes to the ordinances

[14:23] that reflect more the lifestyle and

[14:26] needs of our rural community. Um and I

[14:29] know that you have said that well we

[14:31] don't have an annexation yet so we can't

[14:32] really change those.

[14:34] um that makes it very difficult for us

[14:36] to choose annexation because we're

[14:39] choosing something and we don't know

[14:40] what it is. And so even something like

[14:44] being given the choice between trash

[14:47] away and LRS, like not a blanket, yes,

[14:49] you guys get this and you have to take

[14:51] LRS, but that you could choose. These

[14:54] are things that would be very helpful

[14:55] towards us supporting this annexation.

[14:58] some of us. Um, and I respectfully ask

[15:02] that there could be a committee of some

[15:06] sort even now composed of members of

[15:09] your council and members of our area who

[15:12] could talk about the things that we're

[15:14] concerned about and the ordinances that

[15:16] we think are going to be problematic and

[15:18] ways that we think would solve it. I

[15:21] know you've encouraged people to come

[15:22] here and be part of this conversation,

[15:23] but it's very different to come here and

[15:26] just do what I'm saying for a few

[15:28] minutes and it's another thing to invest

[15:30] hours together trying to explain what

[15:32] our life is like, what we need, why this

[15:34] particular ordinance would be

[15:36] problematic, why trash away might be

[15:38] better, because if I have to walk my

[15:40] garbage out half a mile every week,

[15:43] which is what people who were

[15:45] contracting with trash away had to do

[15:48] until we contracted for a communal

[15:51] dumpster and they'll come and get the

[15:52] dumpster so we don't have to walk our

[15:54] trash half a mile. They'll come the half

[15:55] a mile. So things like that. Um so I

[15:58] just leave you with that. I know this is

[16:00] not an actionable time, but it would it

[16:02] would go a long way if right now there

[16:04] already was a committee working towards

[16:07] um alleviating those concerns so we can

[16:09] choose something known.

[16:10] >> I think that's a fantastic idea. So I

[16:13] 100% support that.

[16:17] I want you to look at at the audience.

[16:21] [laughter]

[16:22] So, four months ago, this was standing

[16:25] room only.

[16:27] >> And as soon as we finished up discussion

[16:30] on that annexation, this room cleared

[16:33] out.

[16:33] >> Sure.

[16:34] >> Three months ago, as soon as we finished

[16:36] up discussion, the room cleared out.

[16:39] >> Here we are four months later, and

[16:41] there's very there's very few of you

[16:43] guys here,

[16:44] >> right?

[16:45] I ask multiple times. You've heard me

[16:47] say that, hey, we want input and and we

[16:50] do have a list of of what little input

[16:52] we have,

[16:53] >> but I would 100% support a a committee

[16:57] of some council [clears throat] members

[16:59] and some residents in that area to to

[17:02] discuss that.

[17:04] I was very clear that we don't have all

[17:06] the answers that right

[17:08] >> that you guys want answered, right? As

[17:10] far as how do we how do we draft that

[17:12] ordinance? Um, Chief Gogggins sent me a potential rewrite of the maintenance

[17:18] of real property ordinance

[17:20] >> that

[17:21] >> uh very much concerns you guys and

[17:24] >> my response back to him was I think we

[17:26] need some more input before we finish

[17:28] that up. Right. So, we

[17:30] >> which we desire, right? I mean, we want

[17:31] to be in on that.

[17:33] >> Yeah, I would hope so.

[17:34] >> Um,

[17:35] >> I desire. [laughter]

[17:37] >> So, yes, it's very much something that

[17:40] we don't want to be dismissive of that.

[17:42] Um, we do have to factor in that

[17:46] anything we change for you guys does

[17:48] change everybody else in the

[17:50] agricultural zone, right? And we have a lot of land that's zoned

[17:54] agriculture that's currently in the city

[17:55] limits. Y

[17:56] >> um, and

[17:59] >> I think if you talk to them, you would

[18:01] find that they're treated very fairly,

[18:03] right? I mean, as far as agriculture

[18:04] within the city limits goes.

[18:06] >> So, yeah, I definitely support that. And

[18:09] if you can get a couple members from out

[18:13] there, um,

[18:16] >> let's let's do something. Yes.

[18:17] >> Okay.

[18:18] >> We will we will definitely put something

[18:19] together to discuss that.

[18:21] >> You're the president of that committee.

[18:23] [laughter]

[18:25] >> So, I have a question.

[18:27] Is your trash concern

[18:30] the company or is it how it's picked up?

[18:33] I mean, if LRS is willing to come and do

[18:36] a dumpster half a mile down a they do a a grapple road and

[18:42] >> I don't know what their pricing is.

[18:43] >> I don't need to.

[18:44] >> So, here's what I can tell you. There's

[18:45] a reason we switched.

[18:47] >> Mhm.

[18:48] >> Um, and it was pricing, it was options,

[18:52] and it was

[18:55] equipment.

[18:56] >> I'll put it that way.

[18:57] >> Okay. I mean, I appreciate you asking

[18:59] that question because I had assumed

[19:01] having lived in a non-rural area that

[19:05] this would be like bins on wheels, which

[19:08] when you drag them down a half a mile

[19:09] gravel road, they

[19:10] >> were a driveway, but in your [laughter]

[19:12] case, I don't see your position.

[19:14] >> Yeah.

[19:15] >> And that's

[19:17] the method which it's collectible.

[19:19] >> Yeah. I had not thought about that. They

[19:21] might give me that.

[19:21] >> So, they do do those.

[19:23] >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you for that. And so,

[19:26] um, you haven't been here, so I want to

[19:29] make sure that you get the full,

[19:34] um, the full idea where I'm coming from,

[19:38] I guess.

[19:39] So, and I don't know exactly where you

[19:41] live, but I know that just north of you, drive past it occasionally on

[19:47] Interstate 49, you see an industrial

[19:49] Yes.

[19:50] >> park developing.

[19:51] >> Yes.

[19:52] Do you think that an industrial park

[19:54] along the along the side of a of a major

[19:57] interstate should be developed without

[19:59] sewer?

[20:01] [laughter]

[20:04] » So I don't

[20:05] >> No. And like I said, I really appreciate

[20:08] what you're doing. And I do feel like,

[20:10] and I'm on record here,

[20:13] >> that you are doing a good job for your

[20:17] city of trying to annex us. And I won't

[20:22] go on record about my preference, but I would rather that this council was

[20:29] overseeing the development of that

[20:32] corridor than the county. And for so

[20:34] many reasons. I mean, I do believe in

[20:36] subsidiarity and the fact that you know

[20:38] what is needed here, right here. And so

[20:41] I think we just need that extra step to

[20:44] also know what's happening, what's

[20:45] needed where I live, which isn't that

[20:48] far from you.

[20:48] >> I think more importantly, we know what

[20:50] is not needed here. [laughter]

[20:53] >> Yes. Well, and I I've lived in large

[20:56] cities, so I there's a reason why I live

[20:58] where I live.

[20:59] >> Yeah.

[21:00] And um I also when you said that

[21:04] everything will come in agriculture, I

[21:06] thought that large plot of land that was

[21:09] bought by Hogbox that's across the

[21:11] street from me would then be zoned

[21:14] agriculture. I mean, I think it is still

[21:16] right now, but then they would have to

[21:18] come to you for permission. Again, I

[21:21] realize I'm on record here, but I

[21:22] thought, no, this this could be a good

[21:25] thing.

[21:25] >> Yeah.

[21:26] >> Okay. You have been very generous and

[21:28] I'm grateful to you. Thank you. Thank

[21:30] you for coming.

[21:31] >> Thank you.

[21:31] >> I'm sorry that you just now found out

[21:32] about it.

[21:33] >> Me, too. But it's all right. We're

[21:35] starting from here.

[21:35] >> Okay. So,

[21:38] >> you can get my contact information from

[21:40] Christie.

[21:41] >> Um, if you could get a couple people

[21:43] together, um, say three or so.

[21:46] >> Uh, and let us know. We will definitely

[21:48] put something together and start

[21:49] coordinating on some meetings and

[21:51] working through that.

[21:52] >> Okay. Thank you.

[21:53] >> You're welcome. Thank you. Would anyone

[21:56] else like to address the council

[21:57] tonight?

[21:59] Yes, sir. Come on. Tell us who you are.

[22:03] >> My name is uh Andrew Rendall. Uh and

[22:07] apologies in advance for the lack of eye

[22:09] contact. I just want to make sure I

[22:10] squeeze this in under the two-minute

[22:12] buzzer.

[22:13] >> Yeah, go ahead. Um, so I wanted to just

[22:16] uh acknowledge what Cabbat and Mayflower

[22:19] and Peridge have all done in I think

[22:22] just the past month,

[22:24] >> which was roll back or cancel entirely

[22:27] their business with the ALPR companies,

[22:31] uh, Flock in this case, which is the

[22:32] main

[22:33] >> Oh, okay.

[22:33] >> the big one. Um, but I know there's

[22:35] other ALPR companies like Axon or

[22:37] Leonardo who would be more than happy to

[22:39] take Flock's place. Um, and so my my

[22:42] only comment, and this was more of a

[22:43] just I I know this is not an actionable thing to my knowledge. It was

[22:46] more just getting it off my chest and

[22:48] making my opinion known that my hope is

[22:50] that Westfor uh would follow suit. Um

[22:54] because I I I believe just looking

[22:55] online at Facebook, others have already

[22:57] pointed out that ALPR itself is kind

[23:00] [snorts] of a misleading misnomer. Um

[23:03] because it stands for automatic license

[23:04] plate reader. Um, but what they have the

[23:08] capability of also reading is people's

[23:10] faces. Uh, how they walk. Uh, the fact

[23:13] they might unknowingly have a tail light

[23:15] out or where they go and when. Uh, and

[23:18] that information is all uh potentially

[23:20] available to anyone who has access to

[23:22] those databases. I think they say it's

[23:24] only stored on there for 30 days, but

[23:26] you know, we know less and less. Um but

[23:28] with something like that kind of uh

[23:30] surveillance in my opinion if you give

[23:32] an inch um a mile is always going to be

[23:36] taken. Um and it would be much easier to

[23:38] do what P Ridge or others have done and

[23:40] take back that inch now than to wait and

[23:43] allow our status as private citizens to

[23:45] be encroached upon and [snorts] find

[23:47] that it's turned into miles and miles

[23:49] that we don't know where to start taking

[23:51] back or if we even can at that point.

[23:54] So, um, my hope is that Westport takes

[23:57] back that inch. Um, and I think that

[23:59] kind of dubtales a little bit with, uh,

[24:01] the annexation because I feel like trust

[24:04] from private citizens to public service

[24:06] to public servants is a two-way street

[24:09] and having, uh, and of course, these are

[24:11] separate from traffic cameras and things

[24:13] like that or CCTVs, but it kind of

[24:16] demonstrates uh to some a lack of trust

[24:19] in the community. Um, you know, kind of

[24:22] a watchdog thing. And you know, you'll

[24:23] see Flock cameras all around where

[24:25] they're pointed at public parks or at

[24:27] gymnasiums or and not not on roads. And

[24:30] you know, even the CEO of Flock

[24:32] continuously changes his license plate.

[24:35] So, it's rules for the but not for me

[24:37] kind of situation. And so, just the

[24:39] whole thing gives me the ick. And so, I

[24:40] just wanted to make that opinion known.

[24:42] But,

[24:43] >> okay,

[24:43] >> that's all.

[24:44] >> Thank you.

[24:46] >> Would anyone else like to address the

[24:47] council tonight?

[24:48] >> Yes, sir. Tell us who you are,

[24:51] >> sir. tell us who you are.

[24:53] >> My name is Alan Thomas. Um, so I really

[24:56] I'm here to discuss the annexation.

[24:59] >> Yes, sir.

[25:00] >> And I will echo everything that Barbara

[25:03] Bird just said and really appreciate

[25:05] that. And I really appreciate y'all's

[25:08] approach to it and I do appreciate why

[25:11] it needs to be done and it's probably,

[25:13] you know, it's a it's a when I live. Um,

[25:17] I will say that like Barbara, I came

[25:19] from a big city and I've moved here. I'm

[25:22] a disabled veteran. I don't get out much

[25:24] and the only thing I really do have

[25:27] right now for recreation is being able

[25:29] to go out and shoot on my range on my

[25:31] land. And so I I have concerns about

[25:35] that.

[25:36] And it's really a more general concern.

[25:39] It's not so much like all Alen does is

[25:42] think about whether he gets to go shoot

[25:44] today or not. It is more the the larger

[25:48] concern of people that are out in that

[25:51] rural area are there for a reason and

[25:54] they really don't you know like the

[25:57] gentleman said it's not really so much

[25:59] what I want what I don't want right and

[26:02] so a lot of extra constraints a lot of

[26:05] extra cost that may come with extra

[26:08] infrastructure cost

[26:10] um and then you know are we going to get

[26:13] the same level of of service that we

[26:16] have now, right? Um it it's already

[26:20] sounding like really for no additional

[26:24] service u escalation or increase we're

[26:28] going to spend an extra for me 13%

[26:32] uh in tax money. So in property taxes.

[26:36] So I'm a little concerned about all

[26:37] that. And it's it's also not clear to me

[26:39] that that even that that extra 13%

[26:42] actually will cover the entire scope of

[26:46] all of the costs, right? Because if you

[26:49] double the area, it takes more people to service that area. So

[26:57] like Barbara, it would be really helpful

[27:00] for me because I apologize, I just found

[27:02] out about this same time Barbara did

[27:04] when she got her. Um

[27:07] if we knew a plan and we had really sure

[27:10] [clears throat] thought through what the

[27:12] impact to the police department was to

[27:15] the ambulance service uh road

[27:19] maintenance what that actually looks

[27:20] like. Um and so I'll close with this and

[27:25] it's just really a question of how one

[27:27] goes about all this. Um, right now

[27:31] there's a a bill that's going to be

[27:32] voted on or how I don't know what you

[27:34] call it, but whatever the annexation is

[27:37] called um in November,

[27:38] >> the ordinance. Yeah.

[27:40] >> Um would it be possible to add um

[27:45] anything to that at this point or is it

[27:47] it's locked down? It's on the ballot and

[27:49] it is what it is at this moment. Yeah,

[27:52] it would have, you know, I guess in

[27:54] hindsight maybe I would have offered,

[27:55] but if we could have included a rider on

[27:59] that annexation and said, "Hey, with the

[28:01] annexation in the annex area, we'll have

[28:06] um

[28:07] code changes that will keep the same

[28:11] kind of lifestyle."

[28:14] And you have to use better words than I

[28:16] do. I'm not a lawyer. So, uh, but

[28:18] anyway, that kind of thing, you know,

[28:19] we're we're guarantees in writing those

[28:22] things will happen. I appreciate you all

[28:25] are, you know, you're good people and have the best interest of the

[28:29] community at heart

[28:31] >> and and I just

[28:34] unfortunately have been um burned by the

[28:39] verbal and the intent without it being

[28:41] written and then all of a sudden, you

[28:43] know, we get there and well, it's not

[28:45] written down. So,

[28:47] >> [clears throat]

[28:47] >> I I get that. So, I want I do want to

[28:50] ask um

[28:53] so are you are you currently aware of

[28:56] the zoning changes that the county made

[28:58] about a year and a half ago?

[28:59] >> Uh no, I'm not.

[29:01] >> Okay. So, no one that has came from your

[29:04] area has been aware of that.

[29:07] In that in that zoning change, the

[29:09] county labeled all major highways uh

[29:12] within the county. So if someone if if if you sell No, let's go

[29:18] with Barbara sells her property and

[29:20] whoever she sells it to me and I decide

[29:23] I want to turn that into whatever

[29:26] commercial business I decide to turn it

[29:28] into, the county is going to

[29:30] automatically guarant or they're going

[29:31] to allow that. So along those major

[29:35] corridors, the county has already

[29:37] signified that those are commercial

[29:39] corridors.

[29:41] If if the city of West Fork annexes

[29:43] that, if Barbara sells to me and I want

[29:46] to change to uh commercial, I have to

[29:50] come before the the the West Fork City

[29:52] Council and and petition that I have to

[29:55] send out certified letters. It's not an

[29:58] automatic is what I'm getting at.

[30:01] And and I don't think I've I've done a a

[30:04] great job of of explaining the fact that

[30:06] we are actually this is going to provide

[30:09] more control over uh your property

[30:14] than not annexing.

[30:17] Uh it's going to give you more of a

[30:19] voice about what happens to that

[30:22] property than you currently have.

[30:25] >> And I appreciate that. Thank you.

[30:27] >> Yeah. Again, a lot of people weren't

[30:29] aware and I had several several phone

[30:32] calls uh emails concerning that uh that

[30:36] county change, but

[30:38] it as with everything, right, we follow

[30:40] the rules of this is how we have to

[30:42] advertise it, but there's still people

[30:43] that that don't realize it until, you

[30:45] know, it's it's too late, if you will.

[30:47] Uh but but yeah, the county made a huge

[30:50] change. And not only that, so some of

[30:52] what really pressed this um in the past,

[30:56] the city was granted a onem uh uh buffer

[31:02] outside of our city limits. So if if

[31:04] something were to develop in some of

[31:05] that area, that would have had to come

[31:07] before the city the city council of

[31:09] Westport to approve it. People would

[31:11] have been notified. They could have came

[31:13] in challenged different things. the

[31:15] state, that was about a year and a half

[31:17] ago as well, the state removed that

[31:20] planning boundary. Okay? And so what has

[31:23] essentially happened is the county came

[31:25] in and said that's an automatic

[31:26] commercial zone and the state said the

[31:29] city of Westfork no longer has a

[31:31] planning boundary. So

[31:35] you you have lost the management of your

[31:39] rural area out there. Uh, and that's a lot of where this is coming

[31:44] from. Part of it is coming from

[31:46] Greenland was getting very aggressive at

[31:48] annexing South.

[31:52] I've I've been texted some Facebook

[31:54] posts that, you know, now the the city

[31:56] of Greenland's completely against

[31:57] annexing that area. Okay. Um, maybe

[32:00] there's an election coming up. I don't

[32:02] know.

[32:03] >> [laughter]

[32:03] >> Uh

[32:05] the truth is the city of West Fork

[32:08] thinks that we are better suited to

[32:09] manage that area than the city of

[32:12] Greenland and and better suited to

[32:14] manage that area than Washington County.

[32:16] And

[32:18] again, my prime example is if you're

[32:20] going to develop an industrial park, you

[32:22] should probably get the players who are

[32:25] developing it to pay for the sewer

[32:27] instead of the city having to come in in

[32:29] 15 years and and pay to put sewer in.

[32:33] I I think we've we've put a little bit

[32:35] more thought and effort into it than some of the other uh players in

[32:40] that region. We don't have some of this

[32:42] stuff in writing yet, but as I said, as

[32:44] we go into budget season, you're going

[32:46] to start to see some of that uh be

[32:48] discussed in in detail.

[32:51] >> Thank you very much.

[32:52] >> Now, to give you a little bit of

[32:56] u rest, we only have uh what do we have

[33:00] tonight? We've got six council members

[33:04] and will all the council members agree

[33:06] that we are going to change the

[33:08] ordinance uh in agricultural

[33:12] to one allow shooting and make some

[33:14] changes as far as property maintenance

[33:16] and different things. Is everybody on

[33:18] the council?

[33:18] >> We'll accommodate y'all however we need

[33:20] to to make your life stay like it is.

[33:22] >> Now, one other thing

[33:24] >> on your side for that 100%.

[33:26] >> So, I got scared to death when I said

[33:28] I'm annexing this. I said, "I'm not

[33:30] running because somebody's going to come

[33:32] after me." But our future mayor is

[33:34] sitting right here. [laughter]

[33:36] Get him to commit. Will you commit that

[33:38] we are going to make some changes to the

[33:39] agricultural zoning?

[33:41] >> Okay.

[33:42] >> Well,

[33:43] >> we don't have it in writing.

[33:44] >> I've got a cattleman's hat on and a

[33:46] hunting shirt on, so I think I'll let

[33:47] you know where I'm at.

[33:48] >> As far as that goes,

[33:53] » would anyone else like to address the

[33:54] council tonight?

[33:56] >> Yes, sir. Tell us who you are, Woody.

[34:00] What do you manager? Um, yeah, one there

[34:04] was some some math that wasn't really

[34:06] checking out on the the annexing

[34:09] numbers. So, like how many houses, how

[34:14] much taxes are going to be projected?

[34:16] Has has there been any number crunching

[34:19] on the annexed area?

[34:21] >> No, there has not.

[34:22] >> So, like you had mentioned like there

[34:24] might be 80 houses.

[34:25] >> That was Yeah, just an estimate.

[34:27] >> But there's like 150. Oh wow.

[34:28] >> Awesome.

[34:29] >> So if [laughter]

[34:31] >> really,

[34:32] >> you know, we need population is what we

[34:34] need.

[34:34] >> So there's, you know, three square

[34:37] miles, which is 640 acres per mile. So

[34:43] if you average out $10,000 per acre of

[34:46] assessed value, there's 20,000.

[34:49] >> Now, you tell me, Woody, how many of

[34:50] those

[34:51] >> Oh, I don't know. I'm just guessing.

[34:52] >> Okay. So now I was I was making some

[34:55] guesses, too. Right. Right. But if you

[34:57] take

[34:58] >> But let's be serious about it. How much

[34:59] of that land is assessed at $10,000 an

[35:01] acre? Assessed.

[35:03] >> I'm not sure.

[35:03] >> Not fair market value, but assessed.

[35:05] >> So if it was assessed at$10,000 an acre,

[35:09] there's about $20,000.

[35:10] >> Okay.

[35:11] >> If all the houses were roughly $200,000

[35:14] houses on average, there's $30,000. This

[35:18] is tax revenue. So roughly $50,000

[35:22] just in property taxes [snorts]

[35:25] because you had you had mentioned, you

[35:27] know, closer to 8,000.

[35:29] >> So I'm going to challenge your math.

[35:31] >> Okay.

[35:32] >> Because the entire city of West Fork

[35:34] that we currently have, all four square

[35:36] miles produces

[35:38] >> three. Is that three?

[35:40] >> It's depends on where you look. There's

[35:41] some places if you go to uh Gemini, I

[35:45] think it think it says three. If you

[35:47] look at some other areas, it's going to

[35:48] say four. Okay.

[35:49] >> Uh I think there's I think our website

[35:51] maybe even says four. But Christie,

[35:54] correct me if I'm wrong here because

[35:56] Woody's challenging my math. [laughter]

[35:58] In property tax in the entire city of

[36:01] Westport, real property tax, do we not

[36:03] get about $200,000 a year?

[36:06] >> Hold on, I'll tell you. [laughter]

[36:12] So the city budget this year we have

[36:14] budgeted 214,000

[36:17] for the general fund. Hold on.

[36:55] » 21,000

[36:57] for the streets. So, let's say let's say

[37:00] let's round up and say we get 250,000

[37:02] currently for the roughly 800 homes that

[37:05] we currently have. And you were saying

[37:06] we're going to get how much out of that?

[37:08] >> I'm I'm guessing around $50,000 is it's

[37:11] kind of my just rough math based on

[37:13] these averages.

[37:15] So, if that's the case, that might be

[37:17] high, that might be low. I'm not sure.

[37:20] But what I was coming to say is, you

[37:22] know, with the with a planning committee

[37:25] like you're talking about, like if

[37:27] there's like a budgeted amount that

[37:30] could be shunted to fixing roads of the

[37:34] annexed area, like put the money

[37:36] specifically from the annexed area if it

[37:39] annexes back into the annexed area for

[37:44] roads,

[37:46] water if that's ever going to happen,

[37:48] stuff like that. So water is never going

[37:50] to happen.

[37:52] [clears throat]

[37:53] [laughter]

[37:54] >> So that Washington Water Authority, just

[37:57] so everybody knows, Washington Water

[37:58] Authority has territories and those

[38:00] territories, my understanding is as long

[38:03] as Washington Water Authority has

[38:04] federal loans that they're paying off,

[38:07] those territories will never be

[38:08] challenged and never be changed. Now,

[38:10] that's not to say never, ever, ever,

[38:12] right? But for the most part,

[38:15] West Fork is not taking over any

[38:17] territory of Washington water. That

[38:19] that's unheard of, right?

[38:20] >> So, I don't think water is ever going to

[38:22] change.

[38:23] >> But, um, will we dedicate

[38:27] that that tax to that area? No, we

[38:31] won't. Uh, it's going to go into the

[38:33] street budget. And the street budget is

[38:36] going to be comprised of of an annual

[38:39] plan of this is what we're allocating to

[38:41] this spot to this spot to this spot. And

[38:44] Isaac's got a matrix that he uses. Where

[38:46] are we going to pay? What roads are we

[38:48] going to work on? Right. Um so no, it we

[38:51] won't be allocating just those tax

[38:54] dollar. Number one, I don't even know if

[38:56] we can if we can determine what property

[38:58] tax dollars comes from that area.

[39:01] >> Gotcha.

[39:02] >> Yeah.

[39:02] >> Okay. I just wanted to maybe clarify

[39:05] that maybe some hard crunching needs to

[39:08] happen at some point or just to be able

[39:11] to anticipate what's going to be coming

[39:12] in on top of what's normally happening

[39:16] >> just

[39:18] for budgeting of next year if it passes.

[39:22] >> Even if it passes, we won't get anything

[39:23] next year.

[39:24] >> Yeah.

[39:24] >> Property taxes are paid behind.

[39:26] >> Oh, right.

[39:28] >> Yeah. But yeah, there there's a huge

[39:31] difference in what the fair market value

[39:33] of property is and what the assessed

[39:35] value is.

[39:35] >> It's a good point.

[39:36] >> It's 80%.

[39:38] >> Less point, right?

[39:39] >> So, yeah, it's probably maybe $8,000.

[39:42] [laughter]

[39:45] » I bet it's closer to eight than it is

[39:47] 50.

[39:47] >> Gotcha.

[39:49] >> I do want to bring up something. We were

[39:52] Everybody askked about fire and

[39:54] everything with with Greenland,

[39:55] everything. Ask our our fire real quick.

[39:58] If there's a fire in Greenland, who who

[39:59] responds to it?

[40:01] >> We do.

[40:02] >> Who has who has the fire? Who does the

[40:04] fire protection for Greenland?

[40:07] >> West.

[40:08] >> Westport.

[40:09] >> So,

[40:10] if you go with Greenland, you're still

[40:12] getting Westport and fire.

[40:14] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[40:15] >> All right. Thank you.

[40:15] >> Thanks, Woody.

[40:18] >> All right. Would anybody else like to

[40:19] address the council tonight?

[40:24] All right. All right, we'll close the

[40:26] public forum and we'll move into our

[40:28] business reports.

[40:30] >> Up first, planning commission Walter

[40:31] Harish.

[40:32] >> Good evening. Sorry I missed last month.

[40:33] It completely slipped me by. Uh so this

[40:37] past month though, we had a speaker, Mr.

[40:39] Andy Kitinger from u well I think he's

[40:41] worked with the American Institute of

[40:42] Architects and the American Institute of

[40:44] Certified Planners. And we had a really

[40:47] informative discussion with them uh on a

[40:49] lot of topics. I don't know if you've

[40:50] seen our minutes or not, but uh

[40:52] basically what we came away with is if

[40:55] we can get the more on voluntarily maybe

[40:58] create a conservation district of some

[41:00] kind to protect green space and

[41:02] overdevelopment that that would be the

[41:04] more route to take and maybe overlay

[41:07] districts. But as far as that, it's just

[41:09] more how much community involvement can

[41:11] we get before we can finally settle on

[41:14] what tact we want to go after. And other

[41:17] than that, right now we don't have any

[41:18] business items. So, it's just more

[41:20] discussion on how we're going to do

[41:21] that, what kind of community outreach

[41:22] we're going to do, and how we're going

[41:24] to go from there. Any questions?

[41:28] >> Any questions for Walter?

[41:30] >> Thank you, sir.

[41:33] Next, our library report. Marie,

[41:37] >> hello.

[41:39] So, um, we had a great summer reading

[41:42] finale. I had a great turnout. Um, and I

[41:44] want to say a special thanks. We had a

[41:46] volunteer named Lorie and she put

[41:48] sparkly things in the girls hair that

[41:50] came up and hung out and it was great.

[41:54] Um, also very sadly Christina has left

[41:56] us but for very good reasons and we wish

[41:59] her the best. And we have a new person

[42:01] on staff, Meredith Gabard. Um, and she's

[42:04] doing great. So, we're very lucky. Um,

[42:08] and as many of you may know, the library

[42:11] is currently looking for a new director.

[42:13] Um, so this was a very difficult

[42:16] decision for me. Um, but it's what's

[42:19] best for my family and um, anyway, it

[42:23] looks like we've got some great

[42:24] applications. I really want to thank

[42:25] everyone for the seven years [snorts]

[42:29] that have been West Fork.

[42:32] It's been really great.

[42:35] [laughter]

[42:36] >> We love having you.

[42:39] We're going to miss you. Y

[42:40] >> Well, don't help me.

[42:43] >> [laughter]

[42:44] >> Um,

[42:46] [clears throat] that being said, we're

[42:47] going to have another Ask the Mayor um

[42:50] at the end of August. So, well, I don't

[42:52] know. But if anyone knows any questions

[42:54] that may be hard to answer like on the

[42:56] spot at a city council meeting, send

[42:58] them to the mayor. Throw him some hard

[43:00] balls. It's the last one that I'm

[43:02] running. So, [laughter]

[43:05] >> no. I wish.

[43:08] [snorts]

[43:10] >> What else do you have for us, Marie?

[43:12] Well, those were the big announcements.

[43:13] What else do you want? [laughter]

[43:16] >> Tell us about our last Ask the Mayor.

[43:18] >> The last Ask the Mayor. Um, it was

[43:20] great. We had over 3,000 views. I think

[43:23] about 3,500 on Facebook. Um,

[43:25] >> did you hear that, Chad?

[43:26] >> I was not winning [laughter] anyway.

[43:29] >> But Mark was so if you could relay that

[43:32] message.

[43:32] >> I sent him home for the day. [laughter]

[43:37] » So, um, yeah. [snorts] So, go check it

[43:40] out. It's also on YouTube. So, if you

[43:42] have any friends or family who are not

[43:44] on Facebook or just don't enjoy getting

[43:46] on Facebook, share the YouTube link with

[43:48] them um and get your questions answered

[43:50] about the school cuz Mr. Uner actually

[43:52] got most of the questions during that

[43:54] round. So,

[43:57] >> any questions for Marie?

[44:01] >> No. So,

[44:04] um Marie is leaving us. Her last day is

[44:08] September 4th.

[44:09] >> Yeah. Uh she may hang around for a

[44:11] little bit. Uh maybe, maybe not. We'll

[44:14] see.

[44:15] >> Yeah,

[44:16] >> she's she's anxious to get out of here

[44:18] as you can tell. [laughter]

[44:19] Um we are definitely going to miss

[44:22] Marie. Uh we're going to miss her a lot.

[44:24] Um I told I met with the library board

[44:26] [snorts] last week uh discussing

[44:30] um setting up interviews and trying to

[44:33] find candidates. And I told the library

[44:36] board that uh in my tenure, in my 10

[44:38] years, uh this is one of the absolute

[44:42] best librarians West Fork has ever had.

[44:45] And [snorts]

[44:47] I said she was in running for the best

[44:50] uh with the Shannon who brought her in.

[44:53] Right. So Marie's been with us a long

[44:55] time. Her name is actually Shannon. So

[44:57] we we discussed maybe hiring somebody

[44:59] whose name is Shannon. [laughter]

[45:02] But, uh, Marie's going to have some big

[45:05] shoes to fill by whoever whoever, um,

[45:08] gets that role. And we're going to miss

[45:09] you dearly. Uh, you've done great things

[45:11] with our library. And so, we thank you

[45:14] very much. Uh, I don't want to say that

[45:17] we're she's still going to be here for a

[45:20] while, so I don't want to make this as a

[45:21] finality, but uh, we do have interviews

[45:24] scheduled for next week. We had several

[45:26] candidates who applied for the job, but

[45:29] it's going to be hard to replace Marie.

[45:32] So Marie, thank you [applause] for YOUR

[45:38] » We wish you the best.

[45:40] >> Thank you,

[45:41] >> Miss Marie. We may fill your position,

[45:43] but we won't replace you. That's

[45:45] >> right.

[45:46] >> Well, thank you. I appreciate it.

[45:50] >> Thank you, Marie.

[45:51] >> Thank you.

[45:54] >> Next, the police report. Chiefs,

[45:57] >> good evening.

[45:59] All right. So, we had 445 calls, 31

[46:02] reports taken, 91 citations, 180

[46:04] warnings, eight ordinance violations,

[46:05] five warrants, and seven misdemeanor

[46:08] arrest, two felony arrests. As far as

[46:10] the last month, we have Officer Fuller.

[46:12] Finally graduated the academy. Got him

[46:14] out to his field training. Get that

[46:15] started. He did um get top honors for

[46:19] driving. Did get the top driver award.

[46:21] Uh we renewed and updated updated, just

[46:24] kind of fix some stuff, our SRO contract

[46:26] with the school. So we're continuing

[46:28] that relationship pretty much uh

[46:29] unchanged. Uh also on the side of the

[46:32] school, we have been working with the

[46:34] school to um help them with their backup

[46:37] communications as far as primarily the

[46:39] buses but also each one of the offices

[46:42] have a radio and we basically work with

[46:44] them so that moving forward as the we as

[46:46] a as a area and a city go forward with

[46:50] backup communications that we will have

[46:51] interoperability. So we are we are

[46:53] playing a role in that to make sure that

[46:54] it's part of the big picture that we

[46:56] have an emergency. The school, city,

[46:58] police, fire, we're making moves slowly

[47:02] uh but surely to have interoperability

[47:03] there so we're not separating ourselves

[47:06] as far as emergency communications. Uh

[47:08] we did a speed saturation on with the

[47:10] state police on the 31st last of the

[47:12] month. Um pretty successful. a lot of

[47:15] people driving fast out there and about

[47:17] two hours plus uh stopped about 74

[47:21] people. Um just to be fair, there's not

[47:24] a single person going less than 88 that

[47:26] was stopped. Uh top honors goes to

[47:28] someone in the red Camaro at 101

[47:31] >> with no driver's license as well. Uh but

[47:34] anyways, um short period of time worked

[47:37] with our our counterparts there with

[47:38] state police and highway patrol and and

[47:40] got out there and tried to slow some

[47:42] people down. So, it was a successful uh

[47:44] effort there. Um, another thing I want

[47:46] to bring out to uh the group and

[47:48] [snorts] also for the public, we've had,

[47:50] and this doesn't really change. We have

[47:52] this all the time, but we've had a

[47:53] couple different frauds come through the

[47:55] last month that um it happens all the

[47:58] time, but just encourage people to uh

[48:00] monitor your bank accounts, please. Uh

[48:02] we're still we we had a little rash of

[48:04] this a couple months ago, but again

[48:06] we've had checks somehow stolen from

[48:08] what they said is they drop them off at

[48:09] the post office and somehow they're

[48:10] still inter intercepted. I don't know

[48:12] how that happens. Uh of course we're

[48:14] going to be reaching out to the postal

[48:15] service and letting them know um what's

[48:17] going on there, but uh please I'd

[48:19] recommend if you don't have

[48:20] notifications set up on your bank

[48:21] account for transactions either a low

[48:24] amount or just to get an email so you

[48:25] can kind of spot check that. I highly

[48:27] recommend it because a lot of times I

[48:28] find out after the fact. Um, also we had

[48:32] some a couple identity things going on

[48:34] there. So, please, um, an ounce of

[48:37] prevention is is worth a pound of cure

[48:38] with that stuff on the front end as far

[48:40] as monitoring your credit report. Um,

[48:42] lock your credit if you want. That's the

[48:43] easiest way to do it. Just lock it and

[48:45] then don't have to worry about it. Uh,

[48:46] cuz they're really hard to catch these

[48:47] people because they're good at what

[48:48] they're doing. Typically, don't uh

[48:50] they're not from West Fork or for that

[48:52] matter even the state of Arkansas, maybe

[48:53] not the country. Um, and we're also

[48:56] trying to find our our little guy in the

[48:58] white car that came out of almost

[49:01] nowhere and defrauded one of our

[49:02] citizens kind of randomly. And

[49:04] thankfully Harks had some cameras to get

[49:07] us going. But we're still we're still

[49:09] trying to find that guy. So if you do

[49:10] have information, uh, we posted on our

[49:12] Facebook. If you recognize him, please

[49:14] let us know. We've got a couple people

[49:15] giving us information [cough] that I

[49:17] think who it is. So far, we haven't

[49:19] really nailed that down, but we like to

[49:20] catch that guy for for uh for what he

[49:23] did. Um upcoming uh tomorrow the big

[49:26] news and probably Thursday is school

[49:29] traffic. Um it's going to be a mess. Uh

[49:31] I apologize right now. We'll do the best

[49:33] we can. We put up a little Facebook

[49:35] video there to tell you what we're

[49:36] trying to do. But the long and the short

[49:38] of it, if you do not have to go through

[49:39] that intersection, please don't go

[49:41] through that intersection tomorrow

[49:42] morning or tomorrow afternoon or the

[49:44] next morning. Basically about two days.

[49:47] It's a mess. Um we have hundreds of cars

[49:49] all trying to go to the same place at

[49:51] the same time. So, we will work hard to

[49:54] get the traffic in as fast as we can and

[49:57] then shortly after that then work hard

[49:58] to try to get the traffic out. Uh, but

[50:00] inevitably it does lock up. We we try to

[50:03] keep it flowing as best we can, but we

[50:04] just run out of space. So, um, leave

[50:07] early if you have to go through there.

[50:09] Use White Street, avoid the area,

[50:10] especially the four-way intersection if

[50:12] you can. Uh, but we'll do the best we

[50:13] can to keep everything rolling. it

[50:15] normally it's about 15 10 15 minutes of

[50:18] just gridlock barely moving and then

[50:20] it'll start to speed up and then

[50:22] hopefully by Thursday things will

[50:24] resolve themselves and kind of go back

[50:25] to normal but first day is always bad it

[50:27] no matter what we do so um that's all I

[50:31] got for you any questions or anything

[50:34] >> so have you had people say that there's

[50:36] a lot of people that are coming by

[50:38] knocking on the door trying to sell

[50:39] stuff

[50:41] >> I haven't heard a lot of that no Um,

[50:44] >> okay.

[50:45] >> I mean, it there there is I haven't had

[50:47] any I'm not feeling any complaints about

[50:48] it.

[50:48] >> Okay.

[50:49] >> Um, I know that was one thing with our our suspect there. We did kind of

[50:54] throw something out there vaguely like

[50:55] anybody came by and done this because

[50:57] that's what he did the first time two

[50:59] weeks ago and we thought surely this

[51:00] guy's probably went around, hey, I

[51:02] accidentally treated your your lawn. Can

[51:04] you go ahead and give me $80 so my boss

[51:05] doesn't get me in trouble? So, we

[51:06] figured, hey, this guy's done this

[51:08] somewhere else. We're going to catch

[51:09] him. And we got not a peep. And we're

[51:12] like, okay. And then then once we were

[51:15] just totally at dead ends is when we

[51:17] went ahead and released a few hours

[51:18] later, hey, this is this is what

[51:20] happened. This is the guy. And we moved

[51:22] forward with it. But

[51:23] >> I guess you need to look at that because

[51:24] I've caught a lot on my camera and one

[51:27] even come up. He didn't even knock on

[51:29] the door. He raised up my doormat,

[51:32] looked under it, and then let it back

[51:34] down and then he walked off.

[51:36] >> Yeah, that's weird.

[51:36] >> It was very weird cuz I was like, "Okay,

[51:38] >> I would say if you didn't have a key

[51:40] there."

[51:40] >> No, I didn't have Yeah, I guess you

[51:42] didn't give them either.

[51:43] >> Um, if you do have people come at your

[51:45] door and you have some some camera

[51:47] footage of people come up to your door,

[51:49] especially going to back now we're

[51:51] talking about uh, forgive me on the I

[51:53] believe this was the I think it was two

[51:56] weeks ago. It's on our Facebook. I'm

[51:58] sorry, but if you'll look at our

[51:59] Facebook post, basically that post was

[52:01] the same day that happened and then he

[52:04] was reported to have came by two weeks

[52:06] prior. So, if you do have video footage

[52:08] and you want to swipe through the

[52:09] timeline and see if there's anybody only

[52:11] way to watch it besides Facebook. I'm

[52:12] not on social media.

[52:14] >> Get with me. I'll I'll give you I can

[52:15] give you a copy of it. Yeah, for sure.

[52:17] But, uh I just cannot believe that he

[52:19] went to that one house with that guy two

[52:21] times and didn't try that on anybody

[52:22] else in town. Just kind of blows my

[52:24] mind. Um but we can't explain any other

[52:28] way. So, we're at a dead end. We have a

[52:30] car and a picture of a guy and no

[52:32] license plate. And we're we think we

[52:35] might have the vehicle, but we're we're

[52:37] not sure yet, but we're trying. Uh but

[52:40] yeah, good question. If you'll check it

[52:41] because it surely went to somebody

[52:43] else's door, too.

[52:44] >> Yeah, there's been several different

[52:46] hasn't there. Several. And I'm amazed. I

[52:49] don't know why these people are knocking

[52:51] on my door and, you know, standing there

[52:53] having conversations, then they'll

[52:55] leave.

[52:56] >> They have conversations themselves.

[52:57] >> Well, like these two [laughter] guys

[52:59] like they came up. I swear they I don't

[53:02] know kind of look like detectives. They

[53:04] had looked like he kind of had a gun or

[53:06] I don't know. There was a bulge in the

[53:08] back. I could definitely look up

[53:09] somebody.

[53:10] >> Are you behind ON YOUR TAXES?

[53:12] >> NO. [laughter]

[53:13] WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE DOING? And then

[53:15] lots of people that are around the age

[53:17] of 20,

[53:18] >> you know, one was even on like a what's

[53:20] it called?

[53:21] >> No, I haven't seen that. We we have seen

[53:22] a guy in town and no complaints on it,

[53:23] but I crossed paths with him that was I

[53:26] think he was doing some kind of lawn

[53:28] treatment or maybe pest services and he

[53:29] was zipping around on a on a two wheel

[53:31] thing. I've seen door to door salesman

[53:33] in town, but I haven't got any

[53:35] complaints on any of them in quite quite

[53:37] a quite some time. Yeah. So,

[53:39] >> I didn't like the one that lifted up the

[53:40] door. I was like,

[53:41] >> "Yeah, it's a little strange."

[53:42] >> Yeah. That Yeah, that's what I thought.

[53:44] You

[53:44] >> sure?

[53:45] >> No. No. I've watched it several times

[53:48] and thought, "Oh my gosh, what's going

[53:50] on with this person?"

[53:51] >> Any other questions for Chief Go?

[53:55] >> Thank you. Thank you.

[53:58] Public works, Mr. Harterson.

[54:06] Yeah, it's it's the season. Uh

[54:11] Sirville goes down, water bill goes up.

[54:14] Uh we are chasing leaks. We have fixed I don't know how many shelves have been

[54:20] fixed last week. All just small little

[54:23] service lines. Uh we're still continuing

[54:26] to run pretty high. about 260,000

[54:29] gallons a day on average. Our average is

[54:32] usually around 190.

[54:35] So, our water loss is like 50% last

[54:37] month.

[54:38] >> Yep.

[54:38] >> So,

[54:40] uh the altitude valve was fixed at the

[54:43] pump station. Uh that's all running back

[54:47] up and running. SC

[54:48] >> when will that when will that hit the

[54:50] water loss report?

[54:51] >> It should be it should be this reading.

[54:53] We should know this. Yeah. Uh the

[54:56] altitude valve is fixed. Uh SCADA is

[55:00] fixed at the pump station from the

[55:02] lightning strike. Uh the air

[55:04] conditioners fixed at lift station from

[55:06] the lightning strike.

[55:08] >> Is there a way to prevent any of that?

[55:10] Which

[55:10] >> I asked that too. There's a giant street

[55:12] light right there. That should be a

[55:14] lightning rod that catches all that and

[55:15] it hits the pipe. So something something

[55:19] to do with the friction of the water

[55:20] inside the pipe draws the lightning to the pipe. So that's what I was told.

[55:25] >> Is there not any kind of

[55:27] >> outside of building a a canopy over top

[55:30] of the pit where the pipe is exposed?

[55:35] >> Sure.

[55:35] >> And blow it up and the

[55:37] >> Yeah.

[55:40] Uh

[55:42] but yes, and and I'm down two pumps

[55:45] right now, too. So, uh we lost a pump

[55:50] about three weeks ago and then lost

[55:52] another one right after that. So, and

[55:55] lost all three check valves in the pump

[55:56] station. So, I don't know if maybe

[56:00] they'll send us a slug of gravel down

[56:02] through here from some of their tie-ins

[56:04] they've done or something, but we're

[56:06] fixing to tear into pump two and and see

[56:09] what we can find. So, yes, that's I'm

[56:13] meeting that guy tomorrow to go through

[56:15] that. So, we're definitely going to

[56:17] replace one pump. Hopefully, we can

[56:18] rebuild the other and salvage it. But, yeah, spend some money in the pump

[56:24] station again. Uh

[56:27] the only other thing is uh Riverwood is

[56:30] paved. They paved Church Street. It's

[56:34] almost

[56:36] complete. They still have some offsite

[56:37] stuff that we we really want to hold

[56:40] their feet to the fire to get that done

[56:42] before we final plat that that we don't

[56:46] really have any recourse for houses

[56:49] being built in there for offsite

[56:51] improvement. So before we final that, we

[56:53] want to make sure that JD is taken care

[56:56] of, Crystal is taken care of, and all

[56:58] their needs have been met where I'm not

[57:01] privy to some of them commitments that

[57:04] were made, but but we want to make sure

[57:06] they're satisfied before we final fight

[57:08] that. So that'll be coming in the next

[57:09] couple weeks, I'm assuming. Uh sweeps

[57:12] over there moving poles so they can

[57:14] finish up their curb. And but I drove it

[57:17] looks really nice. Uh

[57:20] he's ready to start building houses in

[57:21] there. So

[57:23] the other one I'm not they're moving

[57:26] equipment back in there and tore house

[57:28] down. That's really all I know. We are

[57:31] still waiting on comments from the

[57:32] health department. And as far as our

[57:34] project for the 170, we are waiting on

[57:38] comments from the health department as

[57:39] well. So

[57:41] everything's I think we're all ready to

[57:43] go finance-wise, but we just got to make

[57:47] sure the health department is on board

[57:50] with all

[57:52] other than that.

[57:53] >> That's all the good news you have.

[57:55] >> That's it. Hey, if you got some green

[57:57] grass growing in your yard, call me

[57:58] because it's probably not supposed to be

[58:00] there unless you're [laughter]

[58:03] let me come check it. Any questions for

[58:05] Isaac

[58:07] >> or come pound the pavement with me. I've

[58:09] been walking up down the road. I found

[58:11] two this afternoon after work. So, just

[58:13] walking down the road.

[58:16] Okay. Thank you, sir.

[58:20] Parks Director Harris.

[58:22] [snorts]

[58:25] Don't have a lot to report. Uh we're

[58:26] just mostly

[58:29] maintaining and upkeeping of the parks

[58:30] the last month. Catching up on uh

[58:34] little projects that we've put off till

[58:36] we got through ball season and and um

[58:39] Fourth of July events like replacing a

[58:42] broken grill at Riverside.

[58:44] Clean up a tree along Riverwood disc

[58:47] golf area. Placing lost bridge that we

[58:51] lost in the flood [snorts] in the disc

[58:52] golf area. put a lot of work into the

[58:54] disc golf course this month. Uh we had

[58:56] two major tournaments scheduled down

[58:58] there. One already happened August 1st.

[59:01] Uh we had 171 players participating on

[59:05] that which is

[59:07] a course record for sure and one of the

[59:09] largest, if not the largest tournaments

[59:11] that they've had in Northwest Arkansas

[59:13] in a long time as far as participants

[59:15] go. The next one is this coming weekend.

[59:18] It's a tournament we're co-hosting with

[59:20] Farmington. There will be rounds played

[59:22] at Creekide Farmington as well as Carter

[59:25] Park. Um they're expecting about 150

[59:28] players in it as as well. Um the Heat

[59:32] might have something to say about that.

[59:34] The first turned out to be a beautiful

[59:36] Saturday that we don't normally get in

[59:38] August and that helped with the 171. So

[59:40] we'll see how many actually turned out

[59:42] um this coming weekend because I think

[59:44] it's supposed to be 101. So we'll see.

[59:47] Um,

[59:49] >> the good news with all that is after

[59:52] those 171 players were down there Monday

[59:55] morning when we went through there, we

[59:56] picked up zero trash.

[59:59] >> Awesome.

[59:59] >> The people that are coming to those

[1:00:00] things are the kind of people we want

[1:00:03] coming to our town for sure. Uh, they

[1:00:06] usually leave the park in a better

[1:00:08] condition than it was when they got

[1:00:10] there a lot of time. So,

[1:00:13] uh, anyway, and then just an update on

[1:00:16] the the playground approved equipment at

[1:00:18] Riverside. It got pushed into about

[1:00:21] midepptember, which actually works

[1:00:22] better for me. I want to be on vacation

[1:00:25] the later part of this month and a

[1:00:27] little bit of beginning of September and

[1:00:29] then getting through Westfest and

[1:00:30] helping with them. So, it's actually a

[1:00:32] better thing for us. But, I don't have

[1:00:34] an exact date yet, but midepptember is

[1:00:37] what we're looking at for it to get

[1:00:38] installed.

[1:00:40] So,

[1:00:42] and I think that's about it.

[1:00:45] >> You don't have any green grass where

[1:00:47] you're not supposed to.

[1:00:47] >> I do have some green grass, but probably

[1:00:50] not where I'm supposed to.

[1:00:53] >> I got some [laughter] I got

[1:00:57] I'll try to point it out to Isaac as I

[1:01:00] see it anyway. But yeah,

[1:01:02] >> we do need to have

[1:01:02] >> we need more green grass where I'm

[1:01:04] watering because I feel like I'm just

[1:01:06] maybe wasting some Isaac's water. Um,

[1:01:09] >> we probably need the fire department to

[1:01:10] come and water those two trees.

[1:01:12] >> They have.

[1:01:12] Okay.

[1:01:13] >> Yes. Maybe not as often as we need them

[1:01:16] to, but they have come down there and

[1:01:17] watered them a couple of times recently.

[1:01:19] >> One of those literally went from green

[1:01:21] to brown in like two days. It was so

[1:01:23] hot.

[1:01:24] >> They had about five green leaves hanging

[1:01:26] on.

[1:01:27] >> Yeah, they have gone down there and

[1:01:28] watered it a couple of times for us in last week. Uh, and we'll get them to

[1:01:33] do that some more. There's a couple of

[1:01:35] places now that it's getting that they

[1:01:36] may have to the the welcome sign's

[1:01:39] holding up pretty strong. Um some of the

[1:01:42] other trees that we've had to water in

[1:01:44] the past are seem to be holding those

[1:01:45] are two two of our newest trees that we

[1:01:48] put in. Uh but yeah, they're they are

[1:01:50] struggling, but they have watered them

[1:01:51] recently.

[1:01:53] >> Good.

[1:01:55] >> Any questions for Chad?

[1:01:57] >> I just don't think you can put enough

[1:01:58] water on anything right now. No. So,

[1:02:01] >> okay.

[1:02:02] >> Thank you, sir.

[1:02:06] Next, the fire department.

[1:02:10] >> I'm not chief. Oh, sorry.

[1:02:14] Uh, it has been super hot, super dry. I

[1:02:17] know that's not a shock to anybody. The

[1:02:19] county issued a burn man today at 11:00.

[1:02:24] Yay. [laughter]

[1:02:26] I don't want to waste any water. So, um,

[1:02:30] other than that, it was it's been a

[1:02:31] really busy month. Last month, had 120

[1:02:34] calls. The most we've ever had is 123.

[1:02:38] Uh, it's been super busy. July was great

[1:02:41] for prevention stuff. Uh, of course, the

[1:02:44] Fourth of July, we really like that.

[1:02:45] But, lots of school things, lots of

[1:02:47] block parties, lots of giving away

[1:02:50] stuffed animals, lots of inspections. I

[1:02:53] love inspections. Um, I think we're on

[1:02:56] slate to break 80% of all our commercial

[1:02:58] occupancies this year. My goal is, of

[1:03:02] course, 100, but the big ISO number is

[1:03:05] break 80% and I I'm certain we're going

[1:03:07] to blow that out of the water. And so,

[1:03:10] I'm pretty proud of that. We've got lots

[1:03:13] of training going on. We've got We're

[1:03:16] really blessed right now. We've got

[1:03:17] firefighters coming in during the day,

[1:03:19] during the week, and on the weekends,

[1:03:21] and they're training together. They're

[1:03:22] training on their own. They're taking

[1:03:24] online classes. There's about 20 of them

[1:03:26] up there right now.

[1:03:28] It It's great. Um the atmosphere at the

[1:03:31] fire department is phenomenal right now.

[1:03:34] Um I do have, you know, that big ask

[1:03:37] here in a few minutes, but it's it's

[1:03:40] doing really well. Um staying really

[1:03:42] busy. Um we've just really it's a happy

[1:03:45] place right now.

[1:03:48] » Any questions for Travis?

[1:03:51] >> Okay, we might have some for you in a

[1:03:52] minute. I anticipate so

[1:03:57] >> uh our finance report. Christie,

[1:04:00] >> you noticed Chief Gogggins didn't say

[1:04:02] the police department was a happy place.

[1:04:04] [laughter]

[1:04:06] >> He said our budget's going up next year.

[1:04:13] » Pending an annexation. [laughter]

[1:04:18] » Okay. So, our bank balances have

[1:04:20] increased by about 130,000 so far this

[1:04:23] year, and our budgets are about 69,000

[1:04:28] under budget. The fire department is

[1:04:31] showing um over budget right now. We

[1:04:35] were expecting two checks in July, large

[1:04:39] checks, one for Greenland uh the

[1:04:42] Greenland fire agreement and one from

[1:04:44] rural fire to reimburse us for the

[1:04:46] second quarter um expenses that we did

[1:04:48] not get in July, but we have gotten them

[1:04:50] already in August. So, uh next month

[1:04:52] you'll see that correct itself. Um sales

[1:04:56] tax is staying very on par for what we

[1:04:59] did last year. So, at this point, I

[1:05:01] don't see an increase or decrease

[1:05:03] happening for next year. Um, but we're

[1:05:05] obviously going to be keeping a very

[1:05:07] close eye on that as we get into budget

[1:05:09] time.

[1:05:11] Um, the water department um have

[1:05:14] increased their bank balances by about

[1:05:16] 21,000 so far this year. Um, we did um

[1:05:21] come in good this month on the sewer

[1:05:25] income and expense.

[1:05:27] Next month we're going to be in the

[1:05:29] whole uh our sewer bill that we paid the

[1:05:32] 1 of August was the highest so far this

[1:05:35] year. So it was it was over $80,000. So

[1:05:39] um I definitely expect a loss next month

[1:05:42] on that. Um but overall for the year,

[1:05:45] we're still doing a lot better um than

[1:05:47] we did last year.

[1:05:50] The um courts I [snorts] brought their

[1:05:54] report to you guys late today, so you

[1:05:55] have it there loose.

[1:05:57] um they have they're [clears throat]

[1:06:00] about $6,000 it looks like less this

[1:06:04] year in collections than what they did

[1:06:05] this time last year. Um so that number

[1:06:08] is increasing a little bit. Uh earlier

[1:06:10] in the year we were looking at more like

[1:06:12] 10,000. So hopefully we're making a

[1:06:13] little bit of ground on that. Um we have

[1:06:17] hired Danielle's replacement for there.

[1:06:20] Jessica Pouncy came back. She was

[1:06:22] working here um for us before and she uh

[1:06:25] came back. So that was great. She was

[1:06:27] able to walk in and just get started and

[1:06:30] not a lot of training, just a little bit

[1:06:31] of refreshment um on her part.

[1:06:35] Um other than that, we have um started

[1:06:37] working on budgets. Uh it's a little

[1:06:40] early this year, but um with Marie

[1:06:43] leaving, we wanted to be able to get

[1:06:44] started a little bit on the uh library

[1:06:47] budget so that her replacement wouldn't

[1:06:48] have to walk in and that be the very

[1:06:51] first thing that they had to work on.

[1:06:53] Um, plus it just gives everybody time to

[1:06:56] really think about what they need and start planning for some future

[1:07:00] possibilities. So, you'll start hearing

[1:07:02] more and more about that as time goes.

[1:07:05] But other than that, I don't think I

[1:07:08] have anything else.

[1:07:11] Any questions for Christie?

[1:07:14] Okay. Thank you, Christie.

[1:07:18] All right, that concludes our business

[1:07:19] reports. [snorts]

[1:07:21] Item B, procedural motions. We don't

[1:07:23] have any ordinances on the agenda

[1:07:25] tonight. Old business, we don't have any

[1:07:27] old business.

[1:07:30] New business,

[1:07:32] we have

[1:07:34] uh one item with a couple sub items on

[1:07:37] here. So,

[1:07:39] uh the item is to approve the purchase

[1:07:42] through cooperative bidding of a rescue

[1:07:44] truck for the fire department to replace

[1:07:46] the current 36y old truck that's

[1:07:48] currently in use.

[1:07:51] What we are voting if we vote to approve

[1:07:55] purchasing this truck, we're also

[1:07:57] looking at approving the city to remit a

[1:07:59] check for the total purchase amount and

[1:08:02] to allow the rural fire to reimburse us

[1:08:05] for half of that cost.

[1:08:08] We're looking at the city's one half not

[1:08:10] to exceed $75,000.

[1:08:13] and we would be approving

[1:08:17] uh the fire department to cash out four

[1:08:20] of their CDs in order to make that

[1:08:23] purchase. Those four CDs currently have

[1:08:25] a balance of roughly $73,800.

[1:08:33] What questions, concerns do you guys

[1:08:36] have?

[1:08:37] >> What are we doing with the 36 year old

[1:08:39] truck? Uh the idea is to the current

[1:08:42] idea is to look at selling it.

[1:08:44] >> Okay.

[1:08:46] >> So the current truck runs I think it has

[1:08:48] a top speed of 59 miles per hour

[1:08:51] >> downhill in a wind. You can get about

[1:08:53] 63.

[1:08:54] >> When we get on the interstate we turn

[1:08:56] off the emergency systems

[1:08:59] >> because we're a bigger hazard than we

[1:09:01] are holding up traffic.

[1:09:04] So, we we have a truck that they're

[1:09:06] looking at that was in route from

[1:09:08] Wisconsin to Alabama and it's at the

[1:09:11] fire station right now so that they can

[1:09:13] evaluate it. U it is a truck that they

[1:09:15] would like to to purchase.

[1:09:18] >> And how old is it?

[1:09:20] >> It's three years old, I believe.

[1:09:21] >> Oh, that's good.

[1:09:24] >> I'll make a motion to approve.

[1:09:26] >> Second.

[1:09:28] >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. All

[1:09:30] those in favor of approving the purchase

[1:09:33] of this new pickup or not pickup, but

[1:09:35] truck. Uh approving the city to write

[1:09:39] the check for the entire balance and

[1:09:41] approving to allow rule to reimburse us

[1:09:44] for half of that and approving to use

[1:09:48] fire department CDs.

[1:09:50] >> Is that the motion?

[1:09:51] >> Yes.

[1:09:52] >> Okay. All those in favor say yes.

[1:09:54] >> Yes.

[1:09:54] >> Those opposed? No.

[1:09:56] >> That motion carries. Didn't even need

[1:09:59] you, Travis. [clears throat]

[1:10:00] [laughter]

[1:10:02] >> Would you tell the chief we didn't

[1:10:03] appear because he wasn't here?

[1:10:04] >> Yes. [laughter]

[1:10:06] >> No, sir.

[1:10:09] >> Okay.

[1:10:11] So, that concludes new business.

[1:10:15] Item E is other business.

[1:10:17] And we have

[1:10:20] uh the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank is

[1:10:22] going to host a market on the move at

[1:10:24] the community pavilion beginning August

[1:10:27] 19th. They will return monthly on the

[1:10:30] third Wednesday of each month. The times

[1:10:33] are 10:00 a.m. to noon and appointments

[1:10:35] are required on on online or through

[1:10:38] email in order to participate in that.

[1:10:42] So, that's a really good thing that NWA

[1:10:44] Food Bank is is providing to West Fork

[1:10:47] citizens. Uh, if you know someone that

[1:10:50] can take advantage of that, please let

[1:10:51] them know.

[1:10:54] >> We also have in other business, the

[1:10:57] dates for Westfest have been announced.

[1:11:00] >> Yes. September 12th and 13th.

[1:11:04] >> Okay.

[1:11:06] >> I'll be getting information on the

[1:11:08] marquee.

[1:11:08] >> We'll have that on the marquee coming

[1:11:10] soon. was going to be today, but it

[1:11:12] didn't happen.

[1:11:13] >> Okay.

[1:11:13] >> He told me it was going to be today.

[1:11:15] >> I did.

[1:11:15] >> And it didn't happen. [laughter]

[1:11:17] >> And then I just wonder, does anyone on

[1:11:20] the council have any other other

[1:11:22] business?

[1:11:24] >> Yes,

[1:11:26] this [snorts] will be my last council

[1:11:29] meeting. Uh my house sold. I'm building

[1:11:33] a new house. Uh

[1:11:36] so this will be my last meeting. And I

[1:11:38] just want to thank y'all.

[1:11:40] like her. No, I'm not

[1:11:43] cry.

[1:11:45] [laughter]

[1:11:46] >> Made her cry.

[1:11:47] >> Thank you for the opportunity to serve

[1:11:48] Westport.

[1:11:50] It's really been a joy. It really has.

[1:11:56] I don't know what else to say, but it's

[1:11:59] been awesome.

[1:11:59] >> So, Don,

[1:12:01] take me down memory lane. You've worked

[1:12:03] for the city of West Fork in what, the

[1:12:05] 60s? [laughter]

[1:12:10] late 70s, [laughter] early 80s.

[1:12:14] >> It wasn't his first job.

[1:12:16] >> 19.

[1:12:17] >> He was two.

[1:12:18] >> What did What did you do when you worked

[1:12:20] for the city?

[1:12:21] >> Uh, well, I I went to school to treat

[1:12:24] water and sewer. So, I was licensed to

[1:12:26] treat water and sewer, which we did back

[1:12:28] then. Treated both. Made our own water

[1:12:31] out of mud when the river got dry.

[1:12:35] uh did everything for the city because

[1:12:38] it was water street everything you know.

[1:12:41] Um

[1:12:43] >> so you came on right after the city went

[1:12:46] to a a public water system

[1:12:49] or

[1:12:49] >> I'm sorry we had a public water system.

[1:12:51] You came on shortly after we had a sewer

[1:12:53] system.

[1:12:54] >> Well the sewer system was installed in the late 60s

[1:12:58] >> early 70s.

[1:13:00] >> Yeah.

[1:13:01] >> I got a quick question. How long did it

[1:13:02] take you to light all the lenders in the streets at night? A

[1:13:05] >> lot. [laughter]

[1:13:08] You want to, but I put up every street

[1:13:10] sign.

[1:13:12] >> Many of those are still up today.

[1:13:14] >> Yeah. [laughter]

[1:13:16] >> So, how many years did you work for the

[1:13:19] city?

[1:13:19] >> I worked for the city for three years.

[1:13:22] >> Okay. How many years have you served as

[1:13:24] a council member?

[1:13:26] >> 10, I believe.

[1:13:27] >> Okay. And you did a short stint as

[1:13:30] interim mayor. five months I believe as

[1:13:32] interim mayor.

[1:13:33] >> What else have you done for the city?

[1:13:35] >> Nothing.

[1:13:38] [laughter] I've lived here. I've

[1:13:40] supported the city. Um

[1:13:43] I don't know. I just

[1:13:46] I love West Fork. I hate to leave, but

[1:13:50] my wife has family

[1:13:54] north.

[1:13:55] >> Okay.

[1:13:56] So

[1:13:59] I think it's rare that someone has lived

[1:14:01] here as long as you and and

[1:14:04] put in as many years of service in

[1:14:06] various areas as you have. So

[1:14:10] >> can leave at this age.

[1:14:11] >> Yeah. No kidding. [laughter]

[1:14:14] >> Time to retire.

[1:14:15] >> I'M 49.

[1:14:18] >> [laughter]

[1:14:19] >> YOU truly are a testament to to giving

[1:14:21] back to to your community. And

[1:14:24] >> well, like I said, I you know, I love

[1:14:25] Westport. It's a good place. I hate that

[1:14:28] I'm leaving when y'all are coming in. Uh

[1:14:32] but I promise you, these people here are

[1:14:34] great people and they will take care of

[1:14:36] you and they're looking out for your

[1:14:38] best interest. They really are. And and

[1:14:41] that's been one of the things that I've

[1:14:43] seen uh in the in the 10 years that I've

[1:14:46] been involved with the city in in this

[1:14:49] capacity is that I really feel like

[1:14:53] everybody on the council has a heart for

[1:14:56] West [snorts] and and that there's no

[1:14:59] nobody has their own agenda. You know,

[1:15:01] uh if we have an agenda, it's for the

[1:15:05] people.

[1:15:07] I that's that's really all I can say

[1:15:09] about that. I really believe that that's

[1:15:11] true. Uh and I think that our next mayor

[1:15:16] will be a good mayor. Uh Heath, it's

[1:15:18] been great working with you. Uh and I

[1:15:21] know I'm like Brian. I would have never

[1:15:22] ran against you. My plan was to to live

[1:15:25] here the rest of my life and run for

[1:15:27] mayor again. Uh but my wife doesn't want

[1:15:32] to do that. So happy wife, happy life.

[1:15:38] So, I'm going to say thank you, Don, for

[1:15:42] all the service YOU [applause]

[1:15:49] [laughter]

[1:15:51] just sell out.

[1:15:52] >> Yeah.

[1:15:53] >> So, I'll miss you and the city will miss

[1:15:55] you as well. Without a doubt.

[1:15:57] >> I will. I'll miss.

[1:15:59] So, thank you. Truly, thank you.

[1:16:03] Is there any other other business?

[1:16:05] Anybody want to try to top that?

[1:16:07] >> Anyone filed for that position?

[1:16:10] >> Uh, no one has filed for that position.

[1:16:12] Yes. Uh, we we do have an applicant for

[1:16:16] that position and I will be making uh a

[1:16:18] recommendation to the council at the

[1:16:20] next city council meeting.

[1:16:22] >> Yeah. No one filed to run for

[1:16:24] >> No. No one filed to run for

[1:16:25] [snorts and clears throat] that for the

[1:16:27] >> Yes.

[1:16:27] >> basically for the entire term.

[1:16:30] >> Yeah.

[1:16:31] >> Okay. No other business. Mayor's

[1:16:33] comments.

[1:16:36] Uh my comments this month are that the

[1:16:40] city of West Fork will have two

[1:16:42] initiatives on the ballot, two

[1:16:43] ordinances on the ballot this November.

[1:16:46] And I want to point that out to the

[1:16:48] council, to everyone that's here

[1:16:50] tonight. So we will have the annexation

[1:16:53] ordinance will be on the ballot for

[1:16:54] November vote and we will have uh an

[1:16:58] ordinance to allow liquor sales in the

[1:17:00] city of West Fork. uh that will be on

[1:17:02] the ballot in November

[1:17:04] on the annexation. Uh well on both um I

[1:17:08] really feel both of those are imperative

[1:17:10] to the city uh to the future of the city

[1:17:13] of Westport and I just encourage the

[1:17:16] council. U

[1:17:18] I encourage uh those from the Campbell

[1:17:21] community uh to vote for this. I I

[1:17:24] really do believe that um it's it's in

[1:17:29] the best interest of the city. I'm not

[1:17:31] going to I'm not going to sit here and

[1:17:32] lie to anybody out there and say it's in

[1:17:34] your best interest. Uh we're we're not

[1:17:36] offering you a lot of good things to

[1:17:38] come into the city. Uh that's just the

[1:17:40] truth of it. But I do think that as far

[1:17:43] as pro protecting uh and managing uh the

[1:17:47] south part of Washington County, uh in

[1:17:49] particular the area around West Fork, I

[1:17:51] think this is the right thing to do. And

[1:17:54] for the future of West Fork, the future

[1:17:56] of that planned area out there, I think

[1:17:59] it's the right thing. Uh,

[1:18:01] I I I really think we need that to pass.

[1:18:04] I think that's important for us. I think

[1:18:06] if if this doesn't pass, I think it's

[1:18:09] going to be the city of Greenland that

[1:18:10] will be uh managing the growth of that

[1:18:14] area. And I I I don't think that's going

[1:18:17] to be in the best interest of the city

[1:18:18] of Westport. Uh, and I I I really think

[1:18:21] that with the the last almost three

[1:18:24] years of work that uh the Westport

[1:18:27] planning commission has put into

[1:18:30] redesigning our uh zoning ordinance. I

[1:18:34] think we've put more time and effort

[1:18:36] into what does community mean, what does

[1:18:39] small town community mean, and I think

[1:18:42] that that we have a plan to make sure

[1:18:44] that that's maintained as that area

[1:18:47] develops. And is it going to develop

[1:18:49] tomorrow? No, it's not. Is it going to

[1:18:50] develop in the next 10 to 20 years?

[1:18:53] Yeah, I 100% think that it will. Uh, and

[1:18:55] I really want I really want the city of

[1:18:58] West Fork involved in that growth and

[1:19:00] development. Uh, so that's my take on

[1:19:04] those two initiatives and I hope that we

[1:19:06] get support and get passage of that uh

[1:19:10] in November.

[1:19:12] >> And with that, John,

[1:19:13] >> hey, I'll make a motion we second.

[1:19:16] >> We have a motion and a second. All those

[1:19:18] in favor say yes.

[1:19:19] >> Those opposed, no. We are adjourned.

West Fork City Council August 11th 2026

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