City Council - Regular Meeting

Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's the thing. How are you, sir? We'll have a 30 second moment of silence after you pray. I don't think I did. I was trying to gradu Yeah. Oh yeah.

I love what I did. It was a lot. I don't miss Yeah. Yeah. No kidding.

Hey man, That's the big He's turned out all right.

He's one of my former students. Kind of fun being

Oh yeah. Well, unfortunately I saw my students Yeah. Oh yeah. I appreciate it. All right, welcome ladies and gentlemen to uh the last city council meeting of

2025. That's kind of hard to believe that it's gone that fast. Like to welcome everybody. Uh at this time uh I will uh ask Reverend Steven Davis to uh come to the podium and uh open us in prayer at if you would remain standing after he prays with a 30 second uh moment of silence and then we will do the pledge of allegiance if you would. Thank you. Well, Mary, it's a special privilege to be here and I see a lot of people that I have not seen in a while and all of them a lot of them have gotten older and uh so so glad to be here. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to you as we celebrate this Christmas season with thanksgiving in our hearts because of you, Lord Jesus, coming into this world. You are Emmanuel, God with us. And we thank you that you are the greatest gift of all that we have is to have a relationship with you. And father, I pray for the city council. I pray for each person to have a very special awareness of your presence and whatever they need in their life. I pray that you would customize and personalize meeting that need for them. And Father, I pray for wisdom and discernment as they carry out make decisions related to our community. We are so grateful for each one of them and thank you for the people that are here and just pray that you would minister in their lives and bless them in a very personal way. We thank you that we have a relationship with you, our God. And it's all started on this Christmas night. We thank you in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Thank you. God bless you. allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. May be seated. Thank you, Pastor Davis. Uh, Miss Skelton, would you give us a roll call if you would? Mr. George here. Miss Wetszel here. Miss Young here. Mr. Olsen here. Mr. Bradley here. Mr. Pearson present. Mr. Gray here. Mr. Keller here. Mayor Teague

here. Mr. Smith and myself. You have a quum. Got a pull of house is what we got. All right. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, if you had an opportunity to look over the minutes uh for November 20th of 2025. Motion to approve. Second. I have a motion and a second to approve the minutes November 2025. All in favor? Any opposed? All right. The minutes will be approved this time. uh ask Miss Britney Baker to uh uh give us a finance report. The last one of 2025.

Yes. All right. General fund revenues for the month of November totaled 1,533,521. Of that 1,179603 with sales tax and state turnback. 96,905 were franchise fees and permits. 257,13 in all other revenue. This is a tax revenue comparison year to date. Um the city received 5,86,861. The city's portion of the county tax was 6,247,271 and that is just right at the figures that we were at last year and just a touch below budget projections. General fund expenditures, November expenditures totaled 1,457,938. Of that 1,182423 were personnel expenditures. 275,515 were utilities and other street fund revenue for the month of November total 1,357,433. Of that 683543 was the 2021 street sales tax 465,320 was state turnback and adalorum tax. 91,49 were was interest and 500 was street cutting permits. Street Fund expenditures. Operational expenses for November were 214,221. Of that 144184 were personnel related expenses. 70,37 were utilities and other. There were no capital expenditures. 2021 street sales tax spending totaled 1,368,365. That was towards drainage maintenance, payment pavement preservation, drainage projects, downtown improvements, and the raised grant project. State turnback street project spending total 13,490. That was towards Russville trails, general sidewalk, traffic signal improvements, and US64 pedestrian improvements. In November, the economic development funds revenue was 120,744.

Of that, 102,149 was new sales tax and rent. 18,595 was interest. November expenditures totaled 66,302. That was towards parking lot improvements for the downtown parking lot, soccer complex, and fire station 2. and the final installment for engineering for the pickle ball court construction. Below are the various balances of the economic development funds. In totality, those three funds equal 5,571,85082. Capital assets revenue was $731 in November. That was all interest. There were no expenditures. Below is a breakdown of the 2021 cent sales tax and what's been received, what was spent, and the balance remaining in each. In totality, the cash balances of those accounts are 22,690 332 and 20 cents. And if there are no questions, that concludes the finance report.

Any questions? All right. Thank you as always, Miss Baker. All right. Uh, moving on to the mayor's report. We have a consideration of appointment of Francis Lewis and S Sean Wchek. Yeah, I can't get that ever. I apologize if you're listening or if you're in the audience. Uh to air to the airport commission submitted by Patrick Karp. Do I have a motion? Motion to approve. Second. Have a motion to second. Any discussion on this? We've got a motion and a second. All in favor? I.

Any opposed? All right. They will uh sit on the airport commission. And item two is consideration of an appointment of Jerry Bradford to the city court board which is submitted by Mr. Steve Mallet. Motion to approve. I got a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I got a motion to second. Any discussion on that? All right. I have a motion and second for Mr. Bradford to sit on the city court board. All in favor? I. Any opposed?

All right. Well, Mr. Bradford gets him a nice little spot on the uh city court board. All right. Moving on to the item three. Um this is a special time of year for us and we uh we do appreciate this opportunity. Uh this is when we uh award uh the employee of the year for the city of Russellville and this is these are people that are um nominated by their peers uh and for what they do. So I want to get into this. Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, our employee of the year has been a vital part of City Corps Russville Animal Control Department for over 25 years. Her dedication, compassion, and work ethic set a standard for everyone around her. Her commitment to her job goes far beyond the normal eight-hour workday. She is on call 24 hours a day, ready to respond in any weather or any holiday. Whether it's Christmas Day, during a snowstorm, or a quiet Sunday morning, she ensures every animal in our care is fed, safe, and comfortable. Every day is a work day when it comes to their welfare. At times her workplaces are her places her in difficult situations. Whether she's responding to a late night call about aggressive animals, removing injured animals from the roadway in the middle of the night, or assisting police officers when a pet's owner is taken into custody. She also serves as the right hand to director Mike Bernin, helping keep shelter operations running smoothly and stepping in whenever she need she's needed. Her experience, reliability, and leadership make her an indispensable part of the team. Beyond her daily responsibility, she also manages the department's Facebook page, actively promoting adoptions and sharing updates about lost pets and animals in need. She doesn't just do her job, she lives it. As a devoted owner of four dogs, she takes pride in matching pets with the right families. She embodies the very best of what it means to serve the city of Russville. for her

unwavering commitment, compassion, and 25 plus years of service to the city and its animals. I'm proud to announce that Tammy Casease is our employee of the year for 2025. Tammy, if you would, Tammy, come up here. We'll get a picture. We have What do you want? We do have 250 amazing staff that operate the city of Russville on a day-to-day basis and they're all amazing. One thing that a lot of people don't realize is um no matter what the day is, no matter what the weather is, uh holidays 24 uh 247 365, our animals are cared for. Uh and so Tammy is a huge part of that. Our our babies get fed, they get cleaned, get their cages clean, everything. So it's it's pretty amazing. So we're grateful for her. Uh moving on to uh departmental reports. Uh personnel, do we have anything, Mr.

Gray? No report. All right, Mr. uh Keller, do you happen to have anything? Yes, sir. Just a few items. Item one uh from our meeting last Tuesday is a consideration of a resolution to authorize the Baron the city clerk treasurer and GL grant administrator to execute with the Arkansas Department of Energy and environment an agreement for the energy efficiency and conservation block grant to construct and connect two existing segments of the Russellville connected trail system. We present item one is a motion to adopt. Got a motion to adopt. All in favor? I. Any opposed? All right. Moving on, sir.

Item two is consideration of a resol reimbursement request for fourth quarter expenses for the Alliance for Economic Development contract in the amount of $53,76.17. We present item two is a motion to adopt. Got a motion to adopt on item two. All in favor? Any opposed? Moving on, sir. Item three is consideration of a resolution providing for the amendment to the general fund revenues and expenditures budget for the city of Russellville for the 12 months beginning January 1st, 2026 and ending December 31st, 2026. We can present item three is a motion to adopt.

Having a motion to adopt on item three. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Moving on, sir. Item four is consideration of a resolution to provide for the adoption of the special fund revenue and expenditures budget for the city of Russellville, Arkansas for the 12 months beginning January 1st, 2026 and ending December 31st, 2026. Appropriating money for each item of expenditure therein provided for. We present item four as a motion to adopt. I've got a motion to adopt on item four. All in favor? I.

Any opposed? All right. Moving on, sir. And the last item this evening is consideration of a resolution uh for the mayor and the city clerk treasur to execute an agreement with the Russellville advertisement and promotion commission regarding the benefits retirement and payroll of AMP personnel. We present item five is a motion to adopt a presentation. Would somebody walk out there and ask them to maybe move if they don't mind of item five uh with a motion to adopt? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Abstain. Abstain. Okay, Mr. Olsson abstained. Yes. And that's the last item. Yield the floor back to you, sir.

Okay. Thank you. All right. Moving on to some new business here because we don't have any unfinished old business. Uh item one is a consideration of an ordinance amending the current zoning code for the city of Russellville, Arkansas, adopted by ordinance 2443 and for other purposes is sponsored by the planning commission. Move we suspend the rules dispense with the reading requirement read by title short explanation only uh for the first of three readings. Got a motion and a second on the readings. Uh all in favor? Any opposed? All right, sir.

Submitting the current zoning code for the city of Russell, Arkansas, adopted by orders number 2443 and for the purposes or passed would make the following amendments uh in article 1 section 12 regarding the land use authority or uh the removal of it. New auto repair, tree preservation credits, uh reduction of trees required, temporary signage, and digital signs. All right. Thanks, sir. Moving on to item two is consideration ordinance accepting the dedication of rideaways and easements to the city of Russville, Arkansas in the plat of the Hunt estates minor subdivision incidental subdivision plat for Amy Lind Place and for other purposes.

Move we suspend the rules. Dispense with the reading requirement. will read by title with short explanation only for the first of three readings. All right. Got a motion on the reading. Second. Second. Second. Got a motion to second on the reading. Uh all in favor? Any opposed? All right, sir. Was there Can we have a discussion before we Oh, yes. Well, yeah. Yeah. Well, do do we want doing discuss before the reading or There's no discussion in the suspension the rules motion. Okay. It's not debatable. Okay. So,

if it came up to vote, was there an emergency clause on this? I put them on all of them just in case. Yeah. I I don't I don't think there isn't. I don't I don't

I don't remember there being an emergency clause on this one. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Okay. He you he said he just put those on just in case. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. So I have a motion and a second and all in favor on the reading and any opposed? No. Then thank you sir. In order six of the rideways and easements C Russell, Arkansas and the plant of the Hunt state minor subdivision incidental subdivision plant for amul place and for other purposes passed would accept all uh designated and depicted uh rightways and easement in the plat uh known as the Hunt states minor subdivision in subtoplat uh that are depicted in the attachment with this ordinance. and accept accept the dedications there into the city of Russville.

All right. Thank you. All right. Uh just before we journ um have we have a meeting organizational meeting uh will be at 5:30 on June 13th, 2026 in order for us to set all uh January. What did I say? June. June. Whoa. We're going to do that in June. Yeah, we're gonna do that. We're going to push that down. No, January. Sorry, I don't know where I'm at, guys. uh we will have th that on uh January 13th and then we will uh follow that up with finance and agenda prep. So that'll be January 13, 2026. All right, we'll entertain a motion if you is there anything else for the good of

Okay. So Mr. Is it first? Well, if there's a committee meeting prior to that organizational meeting, can the existing committee members fill that spot until Yes, that would be okay. So, if you do have a committee meeting prior to uh January 13th for your existing committees, please fill fill that spot until in case there is a change if you could. Uh 5:30. Yes, it would be 5:30. Yes. Uh, anyone else have anything else? Merry Christmas to all our citizens out there and thank you for a great year. Uh, it's been absolutely amazing. Motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. All right, we will adjourn.