Board of Directors - Regular Meeting

We will begin. I welcome each and every one of you to the meeting of this afternoon, or the beginning of the evening, the 16th meeting of the year 2026 of the City Council of Administration. We will begin by the invocation of Father Mark Neyborz of the Episcopal Church of Saint Luke. Ah, I will direct the assembly of allegiance. Please rise.

Let us pray. Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, send upon those who occupy functions in this community the spirit of wisdom, charity and justice, so that, with an unwavering determination, they serve faithfully in their duties, to promote the well-being of all, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Please join me for the sermon of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it represents. A nation under God.

Indivisible. With freedom and justice for all.

We now declare this session open. Please make the call.

Director Aaron. Director Phyllis Beard.

Present.

Director Marcia Dobsmith. Present. Director Dudley Webb.

Present.

Director Karen Garcia. Present. Director Steve Trustee. Mayor Pat McCabe.

Present. Present. We will examine the approval of the order of the day. Are there any additions or omissions to the order of the day or points of consent to be moved to new affairs? Director Webb.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would like to ask you a question before making any proposition. Point 4, R26, 139. It's two. The resolution aiming to set the date and time of a public hearing on the polyvalent development district If residents of my district have questions on this subject, and I know that the goal of this point in the order of the day this evening is to set an hour for an audience, but is there anyone here, including yourself, available to answer some questions that I have before the audience so that I can be better prepared to provide details to those who are wondering? Okay, if that's the case, then a transfer to the Affaires Nouvelles. Would that be appropriate for tonight? You are free to transfer it to the Affaires Nouvelles if you wish, but there is no measure to be taken tonight, except to set the date and time, which is required by the statute. I wish to make this proposal to transfer it to the Affaires Nouvelles.

Well, we could simply, we don't need a motion, we can just move it.

As you wish, Mr. Mayor.

We will simply place it as the first point of the Affaires Nouvelles.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Supported by the director of OSMIS. All those who are for, you will say for, okay? I'm in. M.C. The order of the day is adopted. We will now examine the approval of the verbal trial of the ordinary meeting of August 4, 2026. Are there any additions, suppressions or corrections to the verbal trial as presented? In the absence of observation, I am waiting for a motion for approval. I am presented by the web director. Supported by the director of OSMIS. All those who are for, you will say for us. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Directors. Glad to see you. Quickly, I would like to make a special presentation.

As you know, the Métropartnership accounts for investors within our organization. From time to time, we like to give a little something back to show our gratitude. This summer, we went around to offer a small object that people can display on their workplace. The city of Hot Springs is our largest investor and has reached our highest level of investment. Last week, I came to present this to the mayor and the municipal director and they thought it would be good for everyone to see it. We are therefore deeply grateful for your investment in the economic development of our region. Thank you very much. Thank you. I will leave this at the disposal of Lance. Cela fait seulement trois semaines depuis mon dernier rapport, mais j'ai quelques mises à jour pour vous. Comme vous le savez, nous vous avons tenu informés des nouvelles pistes commerciales émanant de l'Agence de développement économique de l'État. Je suis fier de dire que nous avons maintenant cinq nouvelles pistes dans le secteur manufacturier, totalisant environ 925 nouveaux emplois potentiels et 450 millions de dollars d'investissements économiques. Of course, these are very competitive projects that interest most of the communities of Arkansas and probably others in the region. But we are in the race and we are competing to get them by showing ourselves on our best day as much as possible. Since our last meeting, we have launched a new expansion project with a local manufacturer that must create more than 50 well-paid jobs in our community. They just need help to solve some logistics and real estate issues that we are currently doing. This leads to 15, the total number of employment creation projects on which we are currently working. Next week, we will welcome the visit of a prospect in economic development from another state. It will be their third visit to Hot Springs. Things are getting pretty serious. The municipal director was involved in some of these discussions. July 31 was the deadline to offer new areas of opportunity Le gouvernement fédéral a réautorisé le programme des zones d'opportunité, ce qu'ils appellent la case zone d'opportunité 2.0 Calgary, pour les 10 prochaines années. Et les États ont la possibilité de désigner de nouvelles zones d'opportunité sur leur territoire. Lorsque cette nouvelle est tombée, la ville, le comté, le partenariat métropolitain, le district de planification et de développement et Visited Springs se sont réunis pour discuter de notre stratégie. I am proud to say that we have put everything in place to obtain as many opportunity zones as possible in Hot Springs. The governor takes the final decision on the designated opportunity zones. And we are currently doing an excellent job of pleading. The deadline to officially submit the nominations to the governor was July 31. We have filed very solid files and we should have news from the governor's office in the coming months. We have organized the inauguration of the new Windows USA offices. This has been the subject of many discussions within this group. It is wonderful that we can welcome this event. A great success for Hot Springs. In terms of retention and expansion of companies, I am proud to say that this has been a major priority for our organization this summer, especially with Gary Jackson, since the development of the workforce is slower during the school holidays and slower during the school holidays. We are now at 74 visits of retention and expansion of companies since the beginning of the year. Voilà qui conclut mon rapport. Je suis prêt à répondre à vos questions.

Des questions pour Col. Directeur Garcia.

Merci Monsieur le Maire. Concernant les cinq prospects industriels, quelle est l'importance de l'approvisionnement en eau dans ce qu'ils recherchent ?

Je dirais que pour 3 des 5, une capacité en eau très élevée était primordiale. Et bien sûr, pour tous, l'accès à l'eau est extrêmement important.

Merci.

I beg you.

Director trustee. Thank you, Mayor Cole. Are the French zones we currently have expiring at the end of the year? Exactly. So there is no guarantee that they will be renewed?

Exactly. How many have we designated or submitted? We submitted one.

We had three during the last ten years and we submitted four this time. Yes sir.

Director Webb.

Thank you, Mr. Cole. Of the four submitted, are there three that are currently in place or new ones? These are slightly different areas. Other questions for Cole?

There are none. Thank you.

Thank you. Now, we will hear from our municipal director, M. Bill Burroughs.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. I would like to start by welcoming several new employees to the city of Hot Springs. Daniel Malchut, in our urbanism and development service, as a permit agent. Marcus Reed, 911 operator, in our police service. Lucas Woods, file agent in our police service. Stephen Barber, who joins the waste management services as a commercial driver. Several employees of the public services, Howard Carter, in the distribution of water. Mark Richard, Zachary Wood, technician of pumping stations, and Egan Taylor, our AMI technician of public services invoicing. We have also had several promotions since our last meeting. Alexander Lee, first class agent promoted to the Hot Springs police service. Aaron Combes-Mess, promoted corporal. Matthew Cham, promoted sergeant, promoted sergeant. Eddie Fleming, at the animal service, promoted supervisor of the animal service. Eric Weiss, our driver of the main semi-trailer for waste management. Some others, Lance Greve, who accesses a supervision post in our welding workshop. There is a lot of steel in this particular department. It is a very important task, but I congratulate Lance for his accession to this post. Joshua House, promoted team leader at La Voirie, and Tyler Gwynne, promoted truck driver at La Voirie. I would also like to salute Sergeant Chris Atkins of the Hot Springs Police Service.

August 31 will be his last day among us after 28 years in the service of citizens, residents and visitors of the city of Hot Springs.

You are really a great guy, an excellent officer. We will miss him a lot. 28 years of unwavering dedication.

So we wish Sergeant Atkins the best for his future projects.

Water is a major subject with the heat we have been suffering for two weeks. I don't know if you saw it in the information, but several cities in Arkansas have put in place strict, voluntary conservation measures or related to watering. If your address is an odd number, you water one odd day. If it is odd, you water one odd day. And others have a full moratorium on the watering of puddles, the washing of vehicles or any other similar activity. I can tell you that on July 31, without this new plant, we would have returned to the situation of 2012, where our tanks emptied faster than we could fill them. We have no voluntary or mandatory conservation measures. We are in a very good position with these two plants to supply water. But if we hadn't had it, and we have repeated it several times, the only difference between today and 2012 is that we have much more users on the network and a more pleasant weather. We cannot depend on the weather to be able to supply water to our customers and residents during consumption peaks. So I wanted to highlight this point. This comes back to this council and to those who previously had the clairvoyance to build this new plant and it bears fruit. We see it today and we will see it again for the years to come. We have opened a air-conditioned shelter at the community resource center. Last weekend, several people took advantage of it. Of course, it is open from 8 a.m. to 17 a.m. from Monday to Friday, but during these summer weekends, if the temperature exceeds 38 degrees, we will also open it. I know that last Saturday, 47 people were recorded in shelter, air-conditioned. 16 others joined us around lunchtime. So we welcomed 63 people on Saturday. They can take a shower, wash their clothes and have lunch, lunch. To come back to August 16th, they were 48 to be present and to be able to enjoy the hygiene facilities at the community resource center as well. It will be open next weekend, August 22nd and 23rd from 10pm to 4pm. It usually goes to the Army of Salud during the weekends to dine there at 4pm. I am therefore very satisfied with the work done by Chris and the entire team of the Community Resource Center. It does not take a week for me to receive a comment on this establishment. They continue to do an excellent job. Baseball field or basketball field. The department of parks and recreation of Hot Springs is associated with Memphis Grizzlies and National Park College to organize a free junior basketball internship for children from 6 to 14 years old. This will take place on Sunday 16 September from 10 to 11 o'clock and it will be at the National Park in, what do they call it there? The Kettle.

The Kettle.

So if you are interested, you can contact the school and register your son, your daughter or your little child to this free basketball field. Kicking the Stigmanga is an initiative of the Police Department. Come support the Hot Springs Police and the different teams that will face each other during the 6th annual Kickball Tournament Kicking the Stigma Hacking. These are the police forces and the first responders against the recovery teams on Saturday, August 29. Matches start at 9am at Majestic Park at 105 West Building. Chief, I hope you will win a victory.

We bring a lot of money.

We have a ban on burning in force. This ban is based on the risk of fires due to the low humidity rate of fuels, to dry conditions and to little or no precipitation. It prohibits any controlled burning in the limits of the city. All burning permits delivered before the ban have been cancelled. They can be reissued and extended when the ban is lifted. The ban on burning will remain in force as long as these conditions persist. We will share information if the chief decides to raise the ban, but it will take a lot of rain to get there. Speaking of the fire service, we have added two new engines to the fleet. I am very happy to announce that we have received our new large scale. It was delivered and is currently housed at the central barracks on Broadway. I don't know if it will stay there or if it will go to barracks 6. but it is a equipment at 2.3 million dollars and we do not see every day.

As you know, we had several of them on our list of non-financed projects and I am delighted to see a few of them arrive.

In addition, we have a new pumping truck for our park avenue barracks. The pumping truck costs about $ 800,000. So I am delighted that we have received these two equipment. Our fleet director Grace Bees is present in the audience tonight. I know you had to check them and put them in service. So I also appreciate your work. The Hot Springs Parks and Recreation Service is starting to create a 300 square meters outside of Kimri Park. It has been several years that we have heard that they would like to have a shooting range in this place. It will be a complete multi-way installation for automatic launchers. Access will be based on the principle of the first arrival, first served and will offer a secure and wired space to allow individuals and teams of all ages to train. I am delighted with this project, we hope that it will be built and operational before the end of the year. On this, Mr. Mayor, I will be happy to answer your questions.

Very well, are there any questions for our municipal director?

The announcement of the events to come by the Board of Directors. Director Garcia.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would like to announce that the monthly distribution of food and resources of Food for Thought will take place this Saturday, 22, from 10.00 to 12.00 at 324 Malvin Avenue. Ceci est organisé par l'équipe Giving Team Air pour aider les personnes et les familles dans le besoin dans toute la communauté de Hot Springs. Ils organisent cela chaque quatrième vendredi au 324 Malvin. L'événement propose gratuitement de la nourriture, des vêtements, des articles d'hygiène, des services sociaux et des liens vers d'autres ressources. It is essential for our community. Many members of our community know of great needs. Yesterday I did volunteer work at the community resource centre. Et j'ai été témoin de dons. Le Elks Lodge est venu avec des dons de papier toilette, d'eau, de Gatorade et d'enca, et de fruits individuels. Nous avons préparé et servi 155 repas hier. Et beaucoup d'entre eux sont des anciens combattants. Il y avait des familles avec des enfants. C'est un besoin important dans notre communauté. Je suis tellement reconnaissant que nous ayons le Centre de Ressources Communautaires car il répond à un besoin majeur et la distribution de nourriture de Food for Thought. Ce samedi fait également partie d'un effort global de reconnaissance communautaire pour aider tous les membres de notre communauté. Thank you.

Very good. Director Webb.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. On the same day, this Saturday, for those who attend Food for Sautecue, or even if you can't, later in the afternoon from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., you should go to the 12th annual edition of the fair to the community resources of Hot Springs. This will be held at the historical farmer market located at 121 Orange Street. And the 12th annual edition of the fair to the community resources of Hot Springs will be held this year in conjunction with the school year-end party Birbra Coleman and the distribution of shoes of the Samaritan's Feet Ministry offering an afternoon filled with free community resources, school supplies, shoes, refreshments and family activities. So there are two big events this weekend. One in the morning, Food for Totania, from 10am to 12am, and another one in the afternoon, from 4pm to 7pm, both taking place this Saturday here in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a little reminder about the bingo party at the Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce. It will be next Thursday, at 6pm, in the center of the Congress, just across from here. Thursday, August 27th, at the center of the congress, Halls D&E, for a party of price in species, of pleasure and of friendly competition. Door opening at 5 p.m. The games start at 6 p.m. Tickets are at $25 in pre-sale. This includes the 20 games, or if you are waiting to buy a ticket at the entrance, if there are any left, it will be at $30 at the door.

Each game allows you to win a price in species. The final game is worth $1,000.

You will also have the chance to win even more by participating in the Tombola 50-50. It is specified that you will bring liquid money for Bingo cards and Tombola tickets. Credit cards will be accepted only for concessions and refreshments. You can contact the Chamber to book your tickets at 321 700. And it's in a week, Thursday evening at 6 p.m. Very good. Other... Director Bob Smith?

Well, this one, Ali Plaisir, is a good cause. Join the friends of the National Park for the celebration of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and art, by raising your glass to help restore the Maurice. If you know the last thermal establishment that was not restored, the Maurice. They had beautiful stained glass on the roof and they were lost, broken, damaged. And this is to help restore them. The evening includes selected wines and high-end capsules. There will be food from Secret and Shake, J&S Hospitality, 501 Prime and Volt. So it's refined cuisine and you can vote for the celebrity who wears the most beautiful toge. And there will be a contest of the most beautiful leg with local celebrities who will remain anonymous. I don't know if I know anyone. This will take place on Thursday the 20th at 315 Park Avenue. Tickets cost $75 and you can contact Roxanne Butterfield on give.com to get them. It looks nice and it's only two days away.

I would like to come back to what Director Garcia said about the community resource center and the meals they produce. The Rotary Club of Hot Springs National Park held a meeting there about a month ago and we ate with all those who were there for the meal. And I had the opportunity to talk to Chris the other day, who is here today in the audience, and I asked him how much he spent on food. He doesn't say that everyone makes food donations. He says, we spend very little for food and he makes calls and you will see Sally Carter or others make calls on Facebook to express their needs. And the reason why I say this is that there is no small contribution to our establishment, that of my wife and me, the Haïl Hotel. We have changed our steps to hamburgers. So we had a few hamburgers in excess, a little less than four dozen. So I brought them last Thursday, last Wednesday before going to Rotary. And the staff on site is really very grateful for this kind of donation.

This allowed us to cover 40 hamburgers, you know, this week or the next week.

So if you have a few pieces in excess and you go to Sam's, Walmart or Kroger, if you see a basket of good stuff, take something and bring it. It's easy to access, it's probably the easiest place to access that you can hope for. So continue to support the community resource center. And thank you. There are no other points... Oh wait, we have events to come here.

We have... In a few months. Election day is Tuesday, November 3rd. We meet on the first Tuesday of each month. So we probably don't necessarily want to meet that day. to shift it to Monday 2, possibly.

Or, as Bill and I discussed, if we don't have much on the agenda, we could cancel it. But we just want to predict it for Monday, the first, or excuse me, Monday 2, or really try to cancel it. Ideas? Pardon? Well, if we have to organize an extraordinary meeting or something like that, we can do it. If we can find a specific date, we could do it next week, if necessary, during the meeting of the day.

We inform the staff that if they have something, we will try to include it in the previous or next meeting and to avoid any overload that day.

Yes, we are a little nervous because we only have four meetings left for the year and we are abandoning one. So we could end up having to organize a special meeting

Let's move on to the order of the day of consent. This is a matter of routine that does not deserve individual discussion. I therefore ask for a proposal and a second to approve the order of the day. The order of the day of consent as presented by Director Garcia, supported by Director Trustee.

All those who are in favor, please sign by saying for. For. Against. Same sign. The order of the day of consent is adopted. We had a point on the order of the day of consent. Let's move on to the first point of the new affairs, point 4, R26, 139.

Je demande une proposition et un second pour...

I think I have to read this.

Do you want to read it? This is Resolution R26139, a resolution that sets the time and date of a public hearing on the petition aimed at establishing a polyvalent improvement district for the municipal landowners of Hot Springs, No. 2675 of the County of Garland, Arkansas, Lottismont-Calley Ridge Estate, Lottismont-Calley Ridge Estate. We need a proposal and a second to adopt, then we can start the discussion.

Proposal of adoption. The Director-Trustee, seconded by the Director-Web.

Yes, and I suppose you can present the personnel report. Yes, sir. I will set the setting for this. You could have other questions for MP Ryung, who is also present. The code to be written in Arkansas, section 14, 94, 101 and following establishes the procedure by which an improvement district can be formed. This particular improvement district is submitted to you on behalf of a petition that has been submitted and signed by all. You must have a unanimous participation of landowners. This particular plot belongs to an individual owner, a SARL. This is therefore this signature which appears on the petition. This petition was received by the municipal attorney on July 28, 2026. According to section 1994-106 of the Arc-en-Ciel Code, As soon as this petition is submitted, a date and an hour, including between 30 and 60 days, will have to be set for an audience in front of the director's office in order to hear all the parties willing to express themselves and examine the so-called petition. If this resolution is adopted, a public hearing will then be scheduled on September 1 during your ordinary meeting of the Board of Directors at 6 p.m. This will concern the petition filed for the improvement district. The petition includes the description of the property. It represents about 25 acres. A delimited description is attached to the property intended for the construction of hydraulic works, sewage and other public services on the land described, as well as levelling, drainage, paving, laying of borders, streets and sidewalks, as well as all the facilities related to what precedes. Voilà. Donc le contexte de ce dossier, il s'agit d'un cadre légal qui impose au Conseil un devoir ministériel de fixer une audience.

Et vous avez dit que cette audience serait fixée au 1er septembre ?

18 à 0.

Oui, monsieur.

Y avait-il un point à l'ordre du jour après l'audience ce soir-là ? Ce serait le cas.

Vous auriez donc une audience publique à suivi du point à l'ordre du jour concernant sa création, après avoir entendu les parties concernées.

Mais nous sommes tenus d'établir une date et une heure pour une audience. C'est exact, monsieur. Directeur Webb.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I appreciate all these clarifications. It is essentially a matter of procedure tonight on which we must act legally to fix the audience. But before that, I had asked previously, If a representative of this group was present today and I was told that someone is actually there, so if we have no more questions between us, for you, would it be the right time to invite this person to speak? Mr. Mayor.

Once again, there is no point in voting. Consequently, everything we will hear tonight, we will probably hear it in two weeks.

Very well.

Monsieur Young, si vous voulez bien vous avancer, voici Perry Young, avocat représentant le pétitionnaire.

Bonsoir.

Bienvenue.

Merci de m'accueillir.

Mr. Young, thank you for being here. My name is Dudley Webb III, municipal director for district 4. And you know, there are residents in my district, where Kelly Ridge is located, in district 4, who have questions about the potential creation of this district in particular. Et je suis heureux que vous soyez ici ce soir pour que je puisse vous soumettre certaines de ces questions afin qu'entre maintenant et la date prévue de l'audience, je puisse fournir des détails à ceux qui pourraient en avoir. Je suppose que je vais commencer par, vous savez, comme cela nous a été présenté lors de la réunion sur l'ordre du jour la semaine dernière, cela a été quelque peu comparé à une association de propriétaires. if I remember correctly, and the associations of owners are generally composed of owners who live in this lot. But it seems, according to what was presented to us in this file, that the commission for this specific district will be composed of three people who do not currently have a house in this lot. So can you tell me, and I can give you the names that were provided to us, it was Todd Evans, Paula Alderman, and Daniel, or Daniel Barlow, I think, these three, Can you tell me how these three people were appointed to be part of this commission and if one of them lives here in Hot Springs or has the intention of living in this lot in particular?

Thank you very much. The lot is in the first stages of its construction. This allows to spread some of the construction costs over several years. It's different from an association of owners in this sense, which is not a district of recreational improvement that would continue to collect and spend money for maintenance and improvement of projects in progress. It is an aid to construction costs to maintain low prices for affordable housing, that's what it will be in the long term. And the answer to your second question is no. There are three people named by the promoter. The promoter has no intention of moving away from where he lives. I just counted Saline as the promoter. It's our problem, our misfortune, but it's not the intention.

Thank you. Can the commission be modified if houses are built in the near future in this lot and that the three current members of this commission do not live there but that three people who live there want to sit in this commission? Can they do it? And how does it work?

Not only they can, but according to the new law voted by the legislature. And Brian, I present to you my apologies. I do not have the exact text in mind, but I think you will confirm that the commissioners must turn to the maximum. According to what I understood, and if I am wrong, it is two mandates of three years. And then you leave. It was to prevent it from looking like a friend's club or an old confrérie or an old confrérie who runs all this. I would expect there to be three people in this new neighborhood who would like to volunteer. It's not very complicated, it's really an administrative task. You file a report once a year, you make sure that the union is paid, and if someone does not pay the taxes collected by the county evaluator, in the context of your special improvement district taxes, they decide whether or not to engage in prosecutions against these properties that do not pay. It's really their only responsibility.

Would there be a law or a statute in these codes that would prevent someone who lives there from sitting in this commission? I found none.

We would encourage it, and I think it would be the most involved people, if you will.

It was also mentioned, Mr. Young, that there are examples of this particular type of district, the multi-use district in Benton. However, I see no details on this subject in our file. How? Can we learn more about these districts located in Benton? Is there information on this subject? This is the question. And the second, these districts, have they also been created by this same development company?

Two of the three have been, and I participated in it as a council. I am the commissioner of the district of improvement number 131 of Benton. We participate in the development of Hurricane Lake, of which I am a member. My secondary activity, in addition to my job as a lawyer, I suppose. I knew the process, I believed in it, I named myself commissioner and I really hope to retire soon. But I can give you two sources outside of Mr. Albright who could bring you One of them is Ray Owen. It was not done only in Benton or in another county. I know that Mr. Owen has trained several improvement districts in the past, or played a decisive role in their creation. And the other is the advisory council that we engage in to ensure that, in the rules of art, regarding the debt that is collected by the assessor of the county, for their 3% fee transferred to the fiduciaries, to be reimbursed to the holders of obligations. And this is Hartzell Regan, RH at the Gill office in Little Rock. We have already worked with them twice. I also worked on my side with the Friday office to set them up, and I know that the Lindsay Jennings office also takes care of it. This is not very esoteric, but I know that there are at least 141 districts of this type, most of which are municipal improvement districts and not recreational districts in the county of Salines. And this number is 75 here in the county of Garland. Yes, sir.

The details we have indicate that there are about 250 districts of active improvement in 20 counties of Arkansas. Do you know if some of them are defined as polyvalent improvement districts or if they would have an appellation such as, you know, improvement district of sanitation infrastructure or others?

I'm not going to tell you that I know the ratio, but I know that most promoters, when they make a check to an entrepreneur, look at the total amount of improvements. Not just one element. And it seems to be, I don't know if there is a trend, but I can tell you on the basis of anecdotes, that it constitutes the majority of those who are newly trained. And I would spend an hour at the office of the accountant of the county of Salines, Excuse me, to the county of Salines and to the office of the municipal county magistrates of Benton and Bryant. And I will do the same here in Garland and I will probably be able to provide you with dozens of them, which I will do with pleasure.

That's where his name comes from, as polyvalent and that because there are many uses for this type of district created. And if that's the case, well, what are the uses planned for this district in the course of creation? Towards what type of infrastructure? Sorry.

towards the extension of existing public services and the deployment of public services within the lot. And again, he is fully held by the promoter at this stage. And our goal, with the buyer under contract, Lénard, who you may know as being the successor of Rouge Coleman, is already part of their agreement. And Rouge Coleman, now Lénard, and Mr. Albright, I have letters confirming that they have received it. They do not need to copy by recommended letter.

Now, the other detail here is that this type of district can be used to borrow money in order to build this infrastructure. If this is the case, how is this money refunded? Who does it fall on? Would it be something to incorporate into the interests that would be in charge of potential future owners within the lot? Could this increase the value of property because there are debts on the infrastructure? How can they be repaid?

This lowers the entry barrier for moderate-price housing, as part of your development costs are not perceived. You know, any reasonable profit But part of your development costs are different, refunded on an amortization of 20 years, where they are invoiced, no more than, according to the agreement with Raj Coleman, 600 dollars per year and by water.

So the three people who are currently sitting, the Commission would have their say on the amount to be borrowed and how it will be refunded or where it comes from.

It is the resolution that comes next, once we have the assessor, excuse me, I meant the assessor. Once the assessor has sworn, once the commissioners have sworn, we have a pre-imposed limit by contract with, as I said, Raj Coleman,

Will it be included in our file before the hearing or can it not be established as long as you don't have a formal polyvalent district? It will be established after the creation of the district. The other point I noticed is that you know if and when such a creation should be approved as this multi-use Once approved, the city has no legal authority over the district. So what does that mean exactly? you don't have any legal authority.

Would it be necessary to have any authority and what could it be?

You don't really have legal authority on it at the moment. It must be established in such a way that it can carry out an evaluation, just as you would do for a water or sewage improvement district. And this goes on the role of taxation. Thus, the owners in the future, on each of these lots, pay their taxes and the evaluation to the borrower. This money is then used to repay the debt. Thank you. I'll pass the microphone.

Director Garcia.

Thank you. Some residents had questions because they didn't understand everything. They didn't know if they had to attend the hearing once the date was set. And to whom was the cashier giving the money back once the cashier from the county had collected it? To whom was he transmitting it?

In general, a fiduciary is involved, or at least a payer agent. It can be the Centennial Bank, they do it. The Pilecki Bank and Trust, whatever its current name, takes care of it. Alan King from Improvement District Inc., with whom I am sure that MON has worked dozens of times, will act as a non-responsible fiduciary, which means that he does not have to pursue people if he does not pay. It's optional. And that's the only real difference between a payer and a fiduciary. It's up to them that your account collector makes the payments.

And who pays this assessment or this tax?

The residents by lot for a given period.

So it's only the owners who buy lots or houses in Cali Ridge? Yes, that's right.

This has a defined geographical perimeter.

And I am used to the fact that the promoter manages the association of POA owners until there are more than 50 or 55% of owners and then they have the possibility to resume the POA. But this would remain in the TAC until Whatever the amount to be refunded. Does it work like that?

From what I understand, our buyer under contract does not want any POA in these payments. What he authorizes is this to help the initial development costs.

So it's only for the initial development infrastructure and once refunded, there is no more evaluation.

Correct.

Okay. And all this is managed by the accountant and this improvement district once established. That's right.

In reality, it is the accountant and the fiduciary.

Or the fiduciary of the improvement district.

The commissioners meet once a year to approve the transparency report submitted to the state. There is generally not much more than that.

And once that's done, what is the role of the city? The city has no role. ni aucune dépense?

Elle n'a aucune dépense.

Merci.

Eh bien, je vais clarifier cela. Une fois que les équipements sont construits et dédiés à la ville, alors la ville assure, vous savez, la maintenance courante de ceux-ci.

Mais il paie pour toute l'infrastructure jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit dédiée à la ville, ce qui signifie que l'ingénieur vient périodiquement nous voir et dit, ces équipements sont prêts, accepterez-vous de les reprendre ? And then they are under our maintenance responsibility. Until then, this is the maintenance of the special improvement district. Is that right?

Well, for the assets to be transferred to the city at the time of closure, so when our municipal engineer will present you a list, keep in mind that our water has been circulating in these conducts for more than 20 years, sometimes 30 years, sometimes 30 years. And yes, we maintain them. This is what we do, because we bill our customers, not only the operation and maintenance, but also the amortization fund. And this money is for this maintenance, for water and sewage.

But there is no conduit if they do not have infrastructure on site currently? There is no conduit used there?

They must install them. and the money they want to raise, thanks to this evaluation, will be used to pay a part of it. If I understand correctly, with your ceiling of $ 600 per year and by water, it will only bring you a little less than $ 1 million.

That's exactly right. And when I said nothing, I meant that there is no difference. The dedication to the city, the process of accepting the city and the deadlines, all of this is absolutely not affected by the existence or not of an improvement district.

But the promoter would pay all the fees adopted by the municipal council for water and...

Absolutely. They are water customers like anyone else. Just like Royal, just like everyone else. Almost all our water supply system has been developed thanks to improvements over the years, outside the city, from 1972 to today. And this is how all this was put in place.

But we will not have to do any work in the municipal service, in the zoos, in the city. Regarding the invoicing, it will not be necessary here.

Royal is the only case where we collect via invoicing. In their case, it is not a counter. It is an evaluation, as for most improvements. Royal is the only one I know to base it on accounting. All the others are evaluations on the roles of imposition.

Thank you.

Other questions? Director Webb.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Has the idea of creating a polyvalent district always been part of the plan or has it just appeared? Is it because there are unexpected expenses and you are now looking for a way to compensate the tax responsibility or how is it? It is part of the contracts that engage you to sell in the air.

When a certain threshold is reached, the leveling is at 3% of their specifications. The streets are marked. as well as water, sewage, electricity, and I even believe in optical fiber. Once again, each of these things cost money. They don't want a property association. It was always the best way to reduce the... to reduce the barrier at the entrance for low-price housing from the start.

So, by hearing that, wouldn't there be others? Hasn't it been revealed to us that there is no other polyvalent district in Hot Springs? I know that there is, you know, specific districts in place. I don't remember that there was one. That doesn't mean that there has never been one. I don't remember. Most of them, you know, may have been realized through an association of owners rather than an improvement district. So you said that this was part of the plan from the beginning? You had the intention to establish a polyvalent district? Yes sir. That's all I have. Thank you very much for your time. Yes sir. Thank you sir.

Since it is open to people coming to the podium, is there anyone in the audience, since it was not a subject for which you could register? If someone else wants to come to the podium to speak for three minutes, you are free to do so. Someone, once, twice, three times.

Okay. Well, next Tuesday, we'll have an audition. Okay.

We'll move on. We have to... Call him. Is there a discussion between the directors?

We can't hear anything. Call him.

Director Bill... Director Smith. Webb. Garcia. Trustee. Mayor McCabe.

The resolution is adopted. Without the review of resolution R26145. I ask the City of Leir for the title.

Resolution R26001. A resolution authorizing the disposal and acceptance of the financing of the program of micro-subsidies for the development of community police for the exercise 2026 in order to support the drone program as the first members of the Hot Springs Police Department. This concludes your reading. Mr. Mayor, if you could propose a motion and a second for adoption.

Motion proposed. We have the Director Trustee, seconded by the Director Webb. And our personnel report will be presented by none other than Chief Chris Chapman.

Welcome. Thank you, sir. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about it tonight. I am quite enthusiastic about this opportunity. It is a grant without anyone's contribution. A total amount of $ 200,000. If we obtain this grant, it will be fully funded without any contribution from the city. In 2022, the Hot Springs Police Department has deployed its first drone programs. Our current drone program is very reactive. These drones are assigned either to the SWAT team or to our patrol units. They are therefore deployed once an event has already started. For example, if a child is carried missing, the patrols intervene and deploy the drone to look for him. If a suspect flees, the agents arrive on zone and we take off the drone. This is our current drone program. This program is unique because its main objective is the rapid launch of the drone. Imagine a helicopter waiting for the police station, ready to take off, which immediately intervenes as soon as an emergency call is received. That's exactly what this drone program is about. It is directly based on the police station. It is linked to our call management system. As soon as a 911 call arrives, the drone immediately intervenes. That's the whole point of this program. The main objective is to launch the first Dronka program, the first high-level center of Arkansas. This is what we call a DFR program, by switching from our current reactive program to a DFR framework, integrated into AIACOM. The Hot Springs Police Department will fundamentally change the management of critical incidents. The financing of 200 ZERIL dollars of the FQA26 micro-subvention program will be used to acquire a technological infrastructure and a software that allows the launch to be automated and remotely during the reception of a call. The DFR infrastructure will perfectly integrate into our distribution center and our new center of fight against crime in real time. The integration of DFR technology is a step forward in the operational capabilities of the distribution center and the center of fight against the criminality of Hot Springs. Rather than acting only as a tactical asset, the DFR platform serves as a network of airborne sensors for our crime center, our distributors and our agents, offering unprecedented situational awareness. It is therefore a real multiplier of strength. It acts as an advanced tool of de-escalation capable of providing us with information even before our arrival on the site. Thanks to a precise distribution and an optimized allocation of resources, the drone arrives on site several minutes before the agents. It allows us to determine the real situation, perhaps avoiding sending 3, 4 or 5 units when one is enough. And so this information is immediately monitored. Here is very quickly how the system works. We receive a call to 911 in our distribution center. The technology allows this call to 911 to be automatically transmitted to the drone. While our distributors pick up the information, the drone is sent automatically. Sometimes even before we transmit the instructions to the agents by radio. The drone has a speed capacity of 72 to 75 kmh. The objective is that it arrives several minutes before the agent, with an action radius of 11 km. It can therefore intervene anywhere in the city since the police station. Once on site, these cameras are automatically directed towards the scene and the images are transmitted in real time to the distribution centers and to the crime centers, allowing the agents on site to view them. Imagine again the tactical advantage that this gives us. High-definition video transmitted in a secure way to a certified telepilot. The other great advantage is that our pilots can be on the road. The distribution center keeps control of the drone before passing it to the pilot, present on the ground, able to use it. There are many areas of use, the management of crowds and events. Think of our St Patrick's parade and the number of people in the city center. This allows you to monitor search and rescue operations, such as for a lost child or a lost elderly person, which often happens. It also has a thermal imaging system useful for fires. Our firefighters could use it. We could use it ourselves. During natural disasters. Imagine a massive hail storm or a tornado blocking our highways. We need time to cut trees and access the areas. We could deploy the drone in advance to our work teams to assess the situation. Traffic management deployed. The drone to see where the resources are needed or send scammers or ambulances. Of course, the security of the agents and the follow-up of suspects. For me, this is the most important aspect. We provide information during a critical incident so that the agents are better aware of the situation. If an individual hides behind a car with a rifle, we can see him with the drone before our agents get out of their vehicle. Regarding the speed of intervention, I showed you how reactive it is. We provide precise and updated information to the agents when they intervene. It may be a mental health crisis and not a real disorder, and we will be able to see it and transmit this information. Obviously, for the missing people, there are many ways to use it. Now I'm going to tell you what it may not be. This will help answer some questions. So it's only related to incidents. So it's not a patrol for us. It's not up there to randomly turn in the sky to watch what's going on. We send it somewhere according to a need. Oh, okay. No facial recognition. Very good. I know it's a major topic right now. The software does not integrate for automatic biometric tracking. A strict purge of evidence. The non-criminal images are therefore obviously purged. Politicians will be set up to delete this information as well as a public responsibility. There will be a section on our website where we will show the number of deployments and the type of incident treated. This is how it will be used. I would be happy to answer your questions.

Questions, chief? Director Garcia?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Chief, we know that you have distributors who work 24 hours 24 hours and agents present all the time. What about the analysis of the Crime Center? Do they work 24 hours 24 hours or do you need more resources at this level?

No, madam. We have a criminal analysis in full time and one in partial time. They work according to their needs, but mainly during the day. Every day, the information about the incidents of the night is transmitted to them so that they can catalog them, write reports and start assembling the puzzle, so to speak, so to speak. But currently, they mainly work during the day, madam, or according to their needs.

So if a call came in while they were not in service, the drone could still be deployed?

Absolutely. Once again, there are many ways to deploy it, mainly from the distribution center. The distributors will actually be responsible for the drone. From the initial call to 911, the GPS coordinates are loaded into the KAD KAD system. The technology is fantastic. Work more intelligently, not harder. The information of the call from the mobile phone, the 911 call, are automatically integrated into our CAD system, which is our computer assisted distribution system, and sent to the drone. And sent to the dr... So it's sent automatically. The technology is absolutely incredible. Once again, imagine this helicopter at the top of the police station, right? And then they can launch the drone operation. And they can either maintain operational capabilities within the distribution center, or entrust them to one of our drone operators, the starting pilots of a FAA license that we have for each team.

Thank you.

Yes, Madam. Director Webb. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Chief, I'm not trying to steal the star from you by presenting this as a potential project to launch the first drone from the center of Arkansas. I remember that you talked about it during our day-to-day meeting, but I have a question that could bring us serious data that you are, I think, ready to provide us. With the other drones similar to those that we plan to approve tonight, used by other forces of the order, how much real data or in real time are available to show us tonight how these drones can strengthen the security of our agents. Which in essence allows, I imagine, a better preparation before intervening on the places to apprehend suspects. This is the first part. Second part, what amount of data is available to demonstrate that increased security is offered to potential victims, allowing not only to improve response times, but also to know how to intervene? Can you tell us more about this? Yes, of course, we have not yet generated data. For Hot Springs, because you know, it's a tool, isn't it? and we always have people who make decisions on the ground. So this data doesn't exist here yet. B, for the existing programs in Chula Vista and in several other cities, having used these programs, one of the statistics that amazes me is the average reduction of 20% of calls to which the agents must actually respond, because the drone provides information in real time to the distribution centers and we can avoid the useless deployment of multiple agents on the premises. For me, it's huge. But once again, let's take the example of an intervention on an active shooter. And you know, during an event with an active shooter, everyone rushes to the scene, not only the police of the Hot Springs, but also the police of the state of Arkansas, the sheriff's office, the county of Garland, the National Park Service, the National Park Service, anyone can be sure. And if we have this drone above us, Instead of a total chaos where everyone arrives without knowing what to do, we are able to see in advance, even before the agents arrive, to direct them to the suspect or the critical problem and deploy the resources there. So we know it works. We have seen it with our current drone program. On average, drones intervene in 1 minute, 1 minute and a half. Our average response time for a call is about 3 minutes. Even faster for a critical incident, but again, You double your reaction capacity by being there to provide information that gives us a considerable tactical advantage. Whether it is for a person suffering from mental disorders, a subject in the middle of a crisis where we know that there is no weapon involved. It's just a mental health crisis. We can slow down the intervention, bring in the medical services rather than a number of agents who would aggravate the situation. We have not yet created our own data, but there is a lot of data from other cities that have deployed them since, I think, 2017 for the first time. 2017 or 2019. There is therefore a lot of data that we can provide to citizens and we will make a monthly report. In our monthly report, we will add these data. You know, thank you boss. One thing that I often hear, my children and I, we watch a lot of pedestrian police cameras on YouTube, And then, in the maintenance of order in general, I think that a phrase that we often hear is that there are good people who just make a bad choice. So, as important as it is, and very important, to ensure the safety of the agents and victims, I think it is fair to say that most, if not the totality, of the police officers also want, when they can, to apprehend the suspect in a safe way, voire absolu. Would you say that this drone makes the process of apprehension of suspects a little safer when it is used? I think it improves these three aspects, to be honest with you. Obviously, we talked about the tactical security aspect for the agents intervening, but also for the suspects and for the victims. You know, and a lot of people are not suspects, they are victims, they are lost. This drone would help us find them much faster than sending, you know, six crew agents in the woods to look for someone. We fly the drone with thermal capabilities that show us that there is a subject 90 meters away from the wood, lying on the ground, lying on the ground. We can send people directly to this specific place. So we are obviously able to help the victims much faster. But also yes, we actually have the obligation to protect the suspects as well. And so if we have this drone above us, we can see where the suspect is and manoeuvre our resources safely, which allows for a safe de-escalation where we also protect them.

Chief, you indicated that the range was 7 miles. I don't know. Is it because of the radio connection, the fuel or... Yes sir.

The cellular data connection is about 7 miles. If the program succeeds, if we do what we hope and that we demonstrate feasibility, we would ask in the end for a second drone to be placed in the south or southwest of the city, thus improving our capabilities. Once again, a versatile tool for our fire service, our storm teams. When they intervene in natural disasters, such a tool is a versatile tool for the whole city. And our other partners, the National Park Service, the county, our lakes, obviously border the limits of our city. And imagine if there is a drowning victim or a boat accident or something like that. It is therefore an excellent resource to have.

Very well, if there are no more questions, thank you.

I will make these last statements. Senator Boozman, Cotton and the member of the Westermann Congress have all written letters of support to this program. We therefore hope that the Ministry of Justice will take note of it.

Okay, we have another question, Director, Administrator. Thank you, Chief Mayor. We briefly discussed it during the meeting of the day, but when the information arrives at the distribution center and is captured in the system, does it automatically send the drone or does someone have to press the button to say yes, it is an intervention by drone?

It can be deployed in two ways. The technology allows automatic deployment based on certain criteria, but it is more likely that we are pressing this button. Of course, all the information collected as the distributor collects this additional information. Of course, this goes directly to our officers. They can hand over to the other pilot who can add information. Once again, the technology exceeds my skills, but it's really impressive.

Very well, thank you. Thank you sir. Did anyone sign up?

No, sir.

Discussions between the directors? None have been reported. Please make the call.

Director Dobsmith. Garcia. Trustee. Peel. Mayor McCabe.

Resolution adopted. Let's move on to the examination of the ordinance O2631. I am ready to receive a motion and a second to suspend the regulation and read the title.

A motion to suspend the regulation. It is proposed by the Director of the Trusty, seconded by the Director Garcia.

I have a motion and a second to suspend the regulation.

All those who are for, you can say only for.

For. Against. Signed. Advice, please read the title.

Ordinance 02631, an ordinance modifying the zoning plan for lots 2 and a part of lot 3 of the lot on Rock Spring, passing from RN2, residential district 2 to regional commercial zone CR. Modification of the land occupation plan, future of residential to low density to linear commercial corridor to correct an error of cartography and other ends. This concludes your reading. Mr. Mayor, if you could accept a motion and a second for adoption.

Director Dobsmith, seconded by the Director-Trustee and the personnel report, will be presented by Cathy Salman, Director of Urbanism and Development. Welcome.

Thank you. Excuse me.

We have two zoning card errors that apply to this site. And the Code of Hot Springs establishes standards to modify the zoning card. One of them consists of correcting an error during a previous map modification. I don't think we've ever had a case with two errors on two different years on the same field, but this is the case here. A 2002 request to rezone this field into a commercial zone understood. One map, one map, using a very erased overrider to delimit the field concerned. The Board of Directors has approved an ordinance that does not contain any map and contains what looks like a partial legal description of the area, which was highlighted on the original request. There is no documentation to explain why the legal description of the ordinance differs from the demander's map. The zone represented on the request exceeds the zone described by the ordinance. But there is nothing in the verbal proceedings of the Commission of Urbanism or the Board of Directors of this meeting of 2002 that reflects a modification of the zone in the course of zoning. In 2004, the Urbanism Commission approved a conditional use for the use of free storage and structures on the entire plot, consisting of several lots, although one of the lots was and still is a residential zone. A self-stocking installation remains a forbidden use in residential zones. Les procès verbaux de la réunion de la commission démontrent que celle-ci a été mal informée. Avançons, vote approuvant l'utilisation conditionnelle. Et ce qu'on leur a dit, c'est que parce qu'un terrain adjacent appartenant au même propriétaire que ces trois-là était déjà zone commerciale, residential zoning could be interpreted as commercial zoning. Um, that's not true. And the zoning map has not been modified either to reflect this interpretation. The current use of 1 to 3 lots seems to be for storing vehicles and boats, This storage is in accordance with the conditional use, approved in 2004, which specifically approved additional storage buildings, although the residential area mapped out prohibits this use. So, as it is currently mapped out, the use that was developed after the approval of the conditional use is not legal. So, Norms of approval for card modifications cover this situation. The card modification errors affecting the 1st, 2nd and 3rd lots, part of the 3rd lot of the Rock Spring lot, occurred in 2002 and 2004 and... Corriger la carte pour zoner le terrain concerné en CR commerciale régionale supprimera une non-conformité et permettra à la fois l'utilisation et le développement futur conformément au permis d'utilisation conditionnelle approuvé en 2004. A linear commercial corridor designation on the map of the future use plan of the soils is consistent with the environmental lands in the CR commercial regional zone and the future use map of the soils should be adjusted to reflect this new designation.

Questions for Mrs Selman?

Director trustee. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Cathy, this concerns only the storage units behind the commercial property.

It's on 2 and a half floors that is immediately east of this storage building. It leads to, I would say, South Rock Springs Road.

Any other questions for Melmé Selman? Thank you. Thank you. Do we have anyone registered?

No, sir.

Discussion between the directors? Hearing none, please proceed.

Director Webb. Garcia. Trustee. Beale. Bob Smith. Mayor McCabe.

The ordinance has been adopted. Our last action on this point for tonight is to examine the ordinance 0-26-332 I request a motion, followed by a support, to suspend the rules and read the title. Director Smith, supported by Director Garcia. I have a motion and a support to suspend the rules and read the title. All those who are for, will demonstrate by saying... Same sign. Advice, please read the title.

Ordinance O2632 and ordinance calling for an election on November 3, 2026 during the next general election on the issue of authorizing the sale of alcoholic beverages to be imported to Hot Springs in Arkansas. This concludes your reading. Mr. Le Maire, if you would like to accept a motion and a second for adoption.

Press.

Motion by the Director, seconded by the Director, Bob Smith. And we have the report of our municipal lawyer, M. Brian Albright. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

The underlying question here is the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday for consumption outside the establishment. Hot Springs allows consumption on site, but does not allow the sale to be carried out on Sunday. but it is a product that comes to you through our Constitution. Article 5, Section 1 of our Constitution of 1875, treats initiatives and referendums. It is the right that citizens of this State have reserved themselves during the adoption of the Constitution, and we therefore follow this process in the form of petitions. The sale of alcohol to be taken on Sunday in Arkansas is governed by the code written in Arkansas section 3.3.210 alinea B. This paragraph allows cities to allow the sale in detail on Sunday, that is to say in the grocery stores, vending machines, alcohol stores and similar businesses. This does not mean the ability to sell beyond the license of consumption on site. In other words, an establishment must have a license to sell on-site. Well, sorry, that's not exactly what I meant. What I meant is that they have a sales license outside of Sundays. If they have a sales license outside of Sundays, then it would apply to them. It has nothing to do with on-site consumption cases. By examining the law concerning the number of signatures required, it is 15% of the voters who voted during the governor's election, during the last general vote. Here, in Garland County, these numbers for Hot Springs were 13.020. The number to reach is therefore 1.953. On August 5, 2026, the Office of the Municipal Accountant received a petition and began the verification of signatures with the Office of the Accountant of the County. Once the required number of signatures verified and certified, our procedure here at Hot Springs, Code 1.2.1.5 of Hot Springs, deals with referendums and initiatives. He stipulates that once these signatures have been received, an election must be convened. The election is convened in accordance with the Arkansas Code 332 in 10B, which stipulates that the election planned in this subsection on the question of sale on Sunday must be held in accordance with the procedures established for consumption on site. Our legislature therefore gave us a status for consumption off-site and told us to follow the procedure for the election established under consumption on site, either 39211 and following. When we look at 39206, it is indicated that the election must be convened by ordinance of the Court of Corum according to section 7.11.201 and following, which is a statutory coding scheme. Amendment 7 to Article 5, section 1 of the Constitution. In any case, the law says that when you get the signatures, you convene the election, but it also says that the procedure includes asking the Court of Corum to also convene the election. I wonder if this is absolutely and formally required. However, by precaution and wanting to preserve the right reserved to the people by the Constitution to have its referendum on this law, part of the ordinance that is submitted to you includes a request for the county to also convene this election. So by examining the ordinance itself, 1,957 signatures have been certified. These will be transmitted to the county magistrate as well as the electoral commission. And we ask that the Corum court also convene such an election. This does not expand, as I said, if you already have a license to sell the other days of the week that you could sell on Sunday.

Questions for Brian? Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I'm just sitting here thinking about how to ask these questions. I think you have tried to answer some of the questions I have, because my first thought, seeing this in our order of the day last week, was, you know, the group of people who undertook this action for this particular initiative in order to obtain signatures and to submit all the necessary files had nothing to do with the city administration council. The question for me is therefore why do we see ourselves this article here in front of us? And at first glance, it seemed to me to be a measure to show us our favor towards this particular electoral initiative, while in my opinion we should remain neutral and allow people to vote according to their conscience, without any intervention from the city. Hmm, would that be good or bad? That's the question. And I suppose that the complementary question to that is if the... The signatures needed, having been obtained by the group in question for this initiative, could not be registered in the scrutiny without anything being adopted by the board of directors or the quorum court. Yes, I think there are three fundamental questions here, and if I forget some, don't hesitate to ask me again. Okay. The reason why this is presented to you like this is that this is what the Constitution requires. Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution stipulates that if a petition is filed with the number of signatures required, you must register it in the scrutiny. It is not the people who register it in the scrutiny. It is the executive bodies that register it. You must call for an election. Very well, they have therefore asked for the election. They have reached the number of signatures required and our first legislative text examined is 33-10-B, which stipulates that an election on the issue of sales on Sunday must be held in accordance with the procedures established for the elections on site. Very well, this is what we have to send to the county because on 30-2010, it stipulates that they must also convene the election. Our section on the initiative and the referendum of our ordinances, our code adopted, or Article 5, Section 1 of the Constitution stipulates that when we receive this number of signatures required, we convene the election. We do not approve the election. There is absolutely nothing here that indicates how we want people to vote or that you are in favor of it. Not the least of the world. It is simply to convene the election so that the citizens, the voters registered in the city of Hot Springs can vote on the measure. After hearing all this, should it also be adopted by the court quorum to be registered in the scrutin? Is there no way for this particular measure to arrive on the ballot without passing by our council, the court quorum or one or the other? It's mandatory. It must be done by this council. But once again, it's an administrative act, a bit like what we were talking about for the other petition. When you receive petitions, referendums according to the constitution, you act. As a consequence, otherwise you are subject to an amusement pursuit. So it's an administrative duty for you to convene the election. I am not 100% convinced that the quorum court must also do it, but the other cities that followed this legislative scheme in 2024 also send it to their quorum court. So once again, by means of prudence, I think he should also be invited to adopt a measure to register it in the ballot. So it is your conviction that the petition has obtained all that is necessary and that it was confirmed by the county magistrate of the city and the county, isn't it? I mean, all the signatures for the scrutin were present. So is it your position that if the council does not take measures on this subject, by calling for a vote, there could be prosecutions against the city?

This is what we call a mandamus.

Well, what could happen if the council, although the question is submitted to us, said no, we do not want it to be on the ballot. Would there be a violation of the constitution by doing this? it would be a mandamus, like your tenants. If you do not sign the ballot, the petitioners will have reasons to continue in mandamus in order to force you to fulfill your ministerial duty. The file showed a number of cities that succeeded, including Fagateville, Rogers and, it seems, Bentonville and Springdale. Are there any who have completed this process, who put it to vote and who did not succeed? To your knowledge? Not to my knowledge. Has a measure of this type been presented to the voters of Hot Springs before? No. We had the local option just for the Sunday sales on site. But the sales carried out came with the law was ... Let's see, the law 294 of 2009. This has opened the door to the possibility of having sales for out-of-site consumption. So is your conviction, and I imagine your testimony, we use legal terms to say that it is not an order to our order of the day to avoid this group from doing more work to register it in the vote by eliminating the paper in itself. Are we dispensing this group of any additional work to get it registered in the ballot box? You know how to provide an accelerated process for this group. Are we doing favors to this group or are we simply following the Constitution?

We are simply following, yes. First of all, I never testify in front of you.

We do our best to follow the Constitution, which requires that when we receive the required number of signatures for a referendum or an initiative, we convene an election. So we do not favor this group? Absolutely. That's what you say? It's not out of the norm in itself? No. According to you?

No sir.

During the last 27 years, petitions have reached the office of the municipal clerk and I think that in each case, whether it is Lens-Hudnoul or others, they tried to do their best to help in the procedure, but there is no favoritism here.

Okay, thank you. Director Garcia.

Merci Monsieur le Maire. J'ai interprété cela comme le fait que nous faisions simplement ce qui est constitutionnellement correct. Nous ne sommes ni pour ni contre. Nous faisons simplement ce que nous devons faire pour que cela soit inscrit sur le bulletin de vote. Mais le greffier du comté a déjà vérifié que les signatures répondent à toutes les exigences. In the same logic as the Attorney General of the State who submits projects to the vote at the state level, he approves nothing, he simply does his work of verification to register them on the bulletins. I don't see what we're doing differently. Each member of the Council will vote according to his conscience. Et nous ne faisons rien d'inhabituel, car il s'agit d'une pétition à l'échelle de la Ville qui s'applique uniquement aux limites de la Ville pour être soumise au vote des résidences, au vote des résidents. Cependant, je ne suis pas opposée à ce que cela aille devant la Cour, mais le comté ne votera pas là-dessus seulement la Ville. Est-ce exact ?

It will be an election at the city level, not the county. I think that the reason why the 30th of May, the 10th of May, sent us back to 30,206 and that the electoral commission is an organ of the county.

And it is they who register everything on the ballot and they need our vote to do it. Our vote? That's right.

And so your vote to register it on the bulletin is certainly not a vote in favour of the measure.

It is neither for nor against. It's just to respect the Constitution.

And you know, if you are against the measure, you vote no in the ballot boxes. Very good.

Or if you are for, you vote for. If you are not, you vote against.

But it is the residents of the city who will vote.

That's right.

Director Webb.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. According to the result, let's say that it is, you know, at the vote, if the measure fails, there is no action to be taken and this is done by the vote of the people in the ballot boxes. If the measure fails, the city has no action to undertake. If the measure is adopted, will it come back to the council to amend the codes? Yes, thank you, thank you for raising this point. I think I mentioned it at the end of the meeting. If the voters approve the measure, the council will have to amend the sections of the municipal code relating to the sale of alcohol on Sunday for consumption outside the establishment. And of course, the reason is that it is currently forbidden. You will therefore have to amend your codes to manage this. In order to allow what people have promulgated, So to clarify, it is a vote just to register it in the ballot box in order to offer a choice to the citizens and not so much to vote for or against. It's purely administrative.

We have a person who has registered to speak on this subject, M. Tyler Draper. Please proceed. Please give your name, address and district again, please.

Hello everyone, my name is Tyler Draper, President of District 5 for Gardons Nos Dollars in Hot Springs, Uyghur. So to clarify, we are a committee on a referendum question. We are registered with the Ethics Commission. We have declared all our donations. We have received about 35,000 dollars from Walmart and we have had, you know, the support of many places. Through Hot Springs, we already have the sale of alcohol on Sunday in the city. You just have to take the car, drink on the spot, and then try to go home. This inscribes it in the scrutiny and will allow people to vote for or against freedom to buy in a store and take it home. It's nothing else. No one has done me any favours. I have carried out checks in advance. I have signed declarations under oath, followed all the new laws of the Secretary of State, all submitted, no favour. We have had stores that support this, stores that oppose it, and this suits us very well. Let's submit this to the popular vote and they will decide if we can get there. So to be in the general elections, we had the choice. We could have done that during the primary when the question of your remuneration was asked. But we decided to put it in the general elections to guarantee an adequate participation rate and that everyone can express themselves. So we have, in my opinion, respected all the laws, we have acted in a perfectly ethical way and I do not ask for any favors, I would just like the city and the county to register it in the scrutiny. We could have done it at the county level. But given the number of signatures and the time required, we said to ourselves, let's try it. First in the city. And if we succeed, maybe we can try it at the county level next time. If we fail, well, too bad. We just want people to decide. We are a tourist city. People come here from Texas and Tennessee all the time and are taken to the shops on Sunday because it is already authorized in their states. So our plan is to be competitive with the other neighboring states and to offer people more freedom and less trouble. Thank you all.

Any questions for Mdrapper? Thank you. Discussion between the directors, the director, the advisor, the advisor.

Thank you, Mayor Bryan. As a former banker, I am very careful, belt and briefcase. I understand the principle. But on page 97 of our file, it is a question of the end of paragraph A, it writes K, or Ackley, or Ack. And so it is simply to do what the others have done and to ask the quorum court to also call the election. Yes.

So, I apologize in some cases, our documents go through a system called I-Compass. Okay. And so, sometimes the gags, the page jumps and all that do not always match. Okay. So the AKU that is under the paragraph, it should be a D-GAG and then there was a D-GAG of Sky. Director Webb. Thank you, ma'am. Brian, does it cost something to the city to register it in the ballot box? Aren't there any costs associated with the registration of a measure on the ballot box? Yes, there are. And if there is a cost, where does it come from? From the General Fund. Okay. Wouldn't it be the party's responsibility to submit the referendum to pay the fees to register it on the ballot box?

That's not the case.

Is it ever the case, the case, What is the approximate cost?

We had an estimate during the last election.

About 1,800 dollars. Is that what you said last time?

It depends on what others think about the bulletin. The electoral commission of the county of Garland takes everything that is on the bulletin and distributes it between the school district, the city and everything that is there.

And so during a general election, it should be less high than during a special election. Special. Could it be $160,000?

Generally, three or four.

No other questions. Please call.

Director Garcia. Trustee. Smith. Webb. Mayor McKay.

The ordinance is adopted and the point will be given to the voters. This concludes the points in the order of the day on which we must speak today. We now move on to the point of discussion of the Council. Members of the Council, do they have points they would like to discuss? There is none. We have a public comment session after a few reports, but Director Garcia.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I propose the lifting of the session.

Pressure. The web director has pressed. All those who are poor will protest in disrepair. Against, same sign.