City Council - Regular Meeting

We are live.

Thank you.

It is 6.30 in the evening. On June 16th, I'd like to call this meeting to order. Mr. Hall, would you give us a prayer, please?

Well, living Heavenly Father, we are appreciative of your spirit that moves us and guides us and brings us our salvation. And we just pray, Lord, that you would move through this room as we endeavor to do the work of our city. We pray that you would guide our decisions and give us wisdom and discernment. We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, will you call the roll, please?

Councilmember Hall?

Here.

Councilmember Chapman?

Here.

Councilmember McMinn? Here. Councilmember Heffner? Here. And Councilmember Rubel?

Here. We do have a quorum tonight. Council is somewhat out of order. I'm going to call for election of city council member for position three, or ward three, position one. We have one individual who submitted his name. Mr. Jack, sir, if you'd like to come to the podium. Is there anything you'd like to tell this group about you?

No, just simply I appreciate your consideration. And if you select me to fill the seat, then all I can do is promise to work as hard as I can, do my best job. I'm open for any questions you may have.

Any questions, council?

What is your main concern about the city of Ward? What do you think is our biggest problem?

perception. I think that the City Award has a lot of really good things going for it and there's a lot of positive efforts to improve the quality of life the people award and it's the best kept secret in Central Arkansas and I think that should be a two-fold One, we should continue to improve the city services with the aim at improving the quality of life for the people who live in Ward. And secondly, just let people know that this is a great place to live and raise your family. And I think if we do that, it just kind of builds upon itself and ends up in a really good place.

Okay. Any further? I have one other question. Go for it. What would you like to accomplish as counsel? I'm just asking questions because...

i would like to see the you know what i think would be uh something i would really love to see i would love to see our water and our water system be considered some of the best quality water in state arkansas

Well, we have a commission working on that, right?

He has been on that commission. He's one of the volunteers. He has done a great job.

I'm a little biased on that one.

Thank you for always volunteering and coming on your DevOps.

Thank you.

That's all my questions.

Any further questions? Any comments, questions from the audience? Don, step up. State your name.

Don Waymack, Citizen of Ward. Jack, what do you do for the 4-H and your educational background? I'd like for people to hear that, including myself.

Okay. I work for the Cooperative Extension Service. I retired with 28 years of service. And part of that was the 4-H youth development program. Many of you may be familiar with the 4-H program. And we basically taught leadership through a variety of activities. A lot of times, people will see 4-H at the county fair, kids showing cattle. But the whole point of 4-H was to take a kid's interest and to build leadership skills around that interest. So if they're interested in showing cattle, let's say, We teach them how to show cattle, and then we get them to give presentations on what it means to show cattle. We get them to go to civic events and to talk about their experiences. We have contests where they can show their skills. So through their interest, they build leadership skills. What I've always said is we don't expect every child who is involved in 4-H to go into the cattle business or go into some type of farming, but they're going to be decision makers. That's what our goal is. They're going to be voters. They're going to be responsible decision makers. They're going to be the doctors and the lawyers and the legislators and the voters of the future. And we'd like them to know as much about how the world operates as possible. And so that's kind of the whole point. So I did that. I'm sorry, Don, but I'm kind of giving you the expanded version. So I spent a career doing that. I also was able to do some international programs through Windrock International in that same capacity. And when I retired, I was lucky enough to go from that end of it to I served for three years as the executive director of the Arkansas 4-H Foundation. We managed a multimillion-dollar facility out at Ferndale, if any of you have been able to go out there. We did a lot of fund development, a lot of... donor interaction, donor relations, things like that. And so, that in a nutshell is my experience with 4-H. Thank you. Thank you for the question. After I retired, and I'll give you your check here after we're done. Actually, after... When I submitted my retirement with the extension service, I also, the same day I submitted my letter of retirement, I received acceptance into a PhD program at the University of Central Arkansas. Because I was ready to retire, but I wasn't ready to stop. And so I went and received a doctorate in interdisciplinary leadership at from the University of Central Arkansas. And so, yeah, so I'm just continuing on and keep putting one step in front of the other.

Jack has been our Planning Commission chairperson for a while, and he's also been a member of the Water Advisory Commission. Yes.

Ward is my home. I can remember when Peyton Street was an unpaved dirt road 319. And so I want to give back to this town that gave so much to me. So ultimately, that's why I want to be a council member.

Very good. Any other comments, questions?

I have a firm down.

It's a neat place.

It's a neat place.

I know the program. Yep.

Yep.

You know, for the questions, I'd entertain a motion to accept Mr. Jack Bowles as your city council member filling the void.

I will make that motion.

We have a motion. We have a second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion carries. Jack, if you'll hang on just one second. I'll come down and swear you into it.

All right. Thank you. Thank you very much, everyone.

Raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, state your name. I, Jack Rose. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support the Constitution of the United States. I will support the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the state of Arkansas. And the Constitution of the state of Arkansas. And I will faithfully discharge. And I will faithfully discharge. The duties of the office of council member. The duties of the office of council member. Of which I'm about to enter. Of which I'm about to enter. So help me God. So help me God. Very good. All right. Thank you very much.

And council somewhat out of order, if you'll allow me. Clerk, if you read resolution 2026-26, title please.

A resolution acknowledging the election of council member for the city of Ward by the majority vote of the governing body.

Any discussion? If none, I'd hear a motion to approve. Motion. We have a second? Before I call for a vote. Mr. Jack, you'll have to abstain. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Welcome aboard officially, sir. Thank you. Very good, very good. Now we'll get back on track. Now, just to tell you this, with him stepping up and he's not on the City Council, he's no longer on the Planning Commission. So I've asked Don Waymack to fill in as chairperson of the Planning Commission, effective immediately. And there'll be an opening for the... Water Advisory Committee also, but we'll make those announcements on the appropriate social media and websites. So, moving along, our next on the agenda is reviewing approval of the city of the council minutes for May 19th.

Motion.

If you've had a chance to review them, I'd entertain a motion. And we had a motion. We have a second. All right. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries. Very good. Thank you. Next on the agenda is department reports and financial reports. If you had a chance to review those, entertain a motion to approve as presented. Motion. And a second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda is planning commission with the new chairperson, Don Wamek.

Good evening, all. We met on May 26th, and the business we had to discuss was the Davis edition final plat. Lemons Engineering did the presentation to the commission, and it was approved by a 6-0 voice vote. The Windsor Park edition phase two final plat.

Let's start with this one first.

Are there contingencies on this? Pardon me? Was there any contingencies for this one?

There's no contingency whatever, and they've got everything done. There's no contingencies.

Any drainage issues that will come up?

No. We've addressed drainage issues. There's a detention area. City approved. City staff approved. Planning commission approved.

Who will be responsible for the detention area once the city will have to take it over and mow it? Yes.

Any other comments?

Can we put a picnic table and call it a park?

We'll talk about it. Without further ado, I'd entertain a motion to approve the final plan as presented. Motion. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda now is the Windsor Park addition.

Apologize for that. Everything is moving fast in the city here lately, including myself. The Windsor Park addition phase two final plat was brought before the commission on May 26th. Everything was put in place. Everything is all finished. And the commission passed it. So we approved everything for that.

And there's no contentions on this either.

Any place to put a picnic table?

Not that I'm aware of.

Things that we can talk about later. Any other further questions? I'd entertain a motion to approve the final plan for Windsor Park.

Make a motion.

All right, we have a motion. We have a second? Second. All right. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any pros? Motion carries. I'd entertain a motion to approve the Planning Commission report as presented.

Motion.

We have a motion with a second?

Second.

And a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. The right-hand side of the table, did you all hear that?

Sorry. I'm still looking at the map.

That's already been approved, sir.

Yeah, I know.

And we're asking for the approval of a motion that has been made and seconded to approve the Planning Commission meeting presentation as presented. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Okay. Just the right-hand side wasn't paying attention. All right. Thank you, sir. Very good job for the first time. Thank you. Next up on the agenda is Old Business. No, I'm sorry. Let me back up a second here. We are to the Water and Wastewater Advisory Committee. My apology.

We did not have a quorum tonight, but we have already decided previously and all we were going to do tonight was determine like shifts to work the 4th of July. We're going to have a table at the 4th of July. and hand out water bottles from the water department and have a QR code so that people can sign up for the text messaging and sort of get that information out because there's a lot of older people such as myself that didn't know anything about the text messaging so we want to get that information out and just have some question answers. That was one thing. The other thing is now that Jack is on the council, I have done my time for the water committee for two years. I would like to step down and see if Jack would like to take it over.

So you're resigning from the water? I'm resigning from the Water Committee. All right. And Mr. Jack, would you be willing to take over as chairperson of the Water Advisory Committee?

I'd be willing.

All right. So let's do this twofold. We're going to have one motion, accept resignation, and the appointment of Jack as the chairperson. Any discussion? A motion. I need a motion.

Motion.

Second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries. Welcome. Just to tell you about that water advisory committee with Jax, you know, on city council, there'll be an in-city position open and there's also three county positions are still open. Nobody's ever applied for them. We're going to push those out again on social media and other places to try to get some interest on those, but We need some more folks on the Water Advisory Commission, and the application for that can be found on the website under the Water Advisory Members. All right. Economic Development Committee. Mr. Chapman, sir.

I tried to have a meeting this month, but due to illness and scheduling conflicts, it couldn't happen. I did talk to Courtney this morning, and I'm going to see about scheduling a meeting for next month.

I will tell you, on the lines of economic development, we worked together with Metro Plan on a park survey that's going out. It will be posted out on the 26th, I think, of June. Metro Plan is going to have a booth at the 4th of July, and they'll be taking a QR code, and they can do a survey about the park system and what people want and what parks they frequent and several different answers, different questions.

Wish lists.

Pardon me?

Wish list for potential.

Right, exactly. And so we'll have all that and from that we can parlay that in possibly into a master park plan based on that. Okay. So there we go. So we are working on that. So expect that to come out on social media about 26th and then we'll push that up. It'll be from 26th of June to the 31st of July. We'll gather data and then Metro Plan will compile all this and probably bring them back in on the July City Council meeting to present their findings.

So that's all I have.

Pardon me? August. August. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. August meeting, not July. You're right. All right. Anything else on that, Mr. Chapman?

No, sir. That's it. All right.

Thank you, sir. All right. Moving forward to old business still. Update on Highway 367 property, the water house building. I'm going to hold that for right now. That's a resolution in the new business. We'll talk about that if you don't mind. Update on possible sale of the water line to Grand Prairie. I've spoken with the engineer for Grand Prairie. They're working closely with us. They're in the process of getting this started. So we don't have any figures or anything like that to contend with right now. We'll see how that works. When it's all said and done, it comes down to this council's prerogative of will they sell or not and what price. The right-of-way, or row, right-of-way between Austin and Ward, landowner, we have not had a chance to talk again about this. That's an open discussion. And then moving forward, old business, Ordinance 202605. If you'll read the title, please.

An ordinance amending the City of Ward Unified Development Ordinance.

This is the second reading. Council, if you remember, we did this first time last time. This changes some permitting in the Ag Zone. I'd entertain a motion. There you go. I'd entertain a motion to approve on its second reading.

Motion.

Second. Second. Any comments? Any public comment? Hearing none, roll call, please.

Councilmember Hall?

Yes.

Councilmember Chapman?

Yes.

Councilmember McMinn? Yes. Councilmember Heffner?

Yes.

Councilmember Bowles?

Yes.

And Councilmember Rubel?

Yes.

Orders 2026.05 has been approved on second reading. We'll carry this forward to next month's reading for third reading and adoption. We move forward on our agenda, new business. Resolution 2026-25. You can read the title, please.

A resolution authorizing the rental of city-owned property located at 404 East 2nd Street in Ward, Arkansas.

Council, you remember we've been working with this, and you had given me permission to speak to the potential leasee about it. He's here tonight. And we have a lease that we've worked through the city attorney on this. We're projecting to lease this for $1,250 a month. for a year and in the lease and in the contract he will have right of first refusal to purchase the property and he's looking at possibly purchasing it within a year or by next year. Any discussion?

The document that I saw didn't, I don't believe it said per month. It just said for the first year. And I was a little concerned that we was going to do that.

No, the contract says it's an annual fee, but then it's broken down to above total payment, equal installment of $250 a month. Yeah, yeah.

I was going to say what we received is said the year.

Oh, okay. Interesting.

Mm-hmm. I don't exactly recall what his plans were for the property.

Yeah, I'd like a refresher.

Mr. Ted?

Thank you, Council. So I run a small residential construction business and immediate needs are somewhere basically a shop um but in the medium term next six to 12 months we're probably going to be doing a lot more fine carpentry so this would be like window fabrication doors furniture as well as we've been starting to get some work in timber framing and so being able to do timber framing kits indoors so we need uh air conditioned workspace somewhere safe for our tools um outdoor storage as well for for lumber and the like immediate those are our immediate plans i mean i know that we've also talked with council about um setting a portion of a side possibly as a food court which is for food trucks which is really interesting to us there's also the possibility of doing some maybe some retail kind of related to our business down the road so And if I can just elaborate on our desire to rent it for this first year, you know, we're not an enormous business. So having a year of rental before we purchase is just really helpful for capital management. We really intend to purchase this building if we can. And I know that the current lease agreement that we've got on there doesn't specify on the purchase side. It would be very helpful for us if we could go ahead and get a determined price that works for the city council Just because if we end up there as your tenants, and even before we own it, we really intend to put a lot of work into that place. And I'd like to not have to pay for that on both ends, if that's possible. Because yeah, it'll definitely appraise for more after a year of us leasing it. So that's really the intent. If you all are able to lease it for the first year, that'll be a real boon for the business.

I think we can discuss. at that point a price of some certain, taking in consideration what improvements you might have made on the property will be fair. I just don't want to tie us into an amount at this point.

The only thing is, like, we might want to at least get an appraisal so he has an idea because it's going to be a totally different council and everything when you come back in a year.

That's true, too.

Will you be doing any classes on woodworking?

It's possible, yeah. For me? I don't, not any, if we do anything like that, it's probably going to be in the heavy timber. So, like, if you really want to learn how to do, like, mortise and tenon with large timbers, yes. But, like, you know, probably not for schoolchildren. This would be for, you know, serious builders who are interested in, you know, incorporating timber framing elements into their buildings, things like that.

Do you need any cedar? I got lots of cedar.

We'll have to get the sawmill first, so.

To your point and to your point, I think we can visit it. We can go ahead and, if council approves, go ahead and sign the lease in its current situation. We can come back and do an amendment to the lease if we need to, talking to specifics like that, with no problems.

Okay. Wonderful.

If that's agreeable with you. Chris, is that good, too? Okay, good.

Wonderful.

I make a motion.

We have a motion to approve Resolution 2026-25, which allows me to sign and he to sign the contract for commercial use. We have a second. Any further discussion? Any comments? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. We'll get together soon and sign the contract.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council.

All right. Short agenda tonight. Marriage report starts five project down Brewer Street to Moon Road extension to Markham. Well, it's open. We're still waiting on right of ways. Letters have been sent. I made a few phone calls. That easement signing meeting is not for that particular one. I'm sorry, but down to ours. The water race, the water wastewater rehab vacuum construction has begun on that and anticipate getting it done by the end of the year. The HVAC lighting update. The all lighting has been completed. There's about five more units need to be complete on the HVAC. The SART 6 down Wilson Loop to Brewer has been submitted. We'll see how that comes out. The ADA improvements to City Hall, including the walkway, entranceway here in the front and the bathrooms. We had a bid visit today by everybody who wanted to bid. Bids are due by next on June 24th at 3 p.m. Everybody invited to come to that will be in in this room for bid opening. Moon road improvements that for engineering fee that project has been submitted. So we'll see how that comes out. We're still waiting on one camera to be installed in sports or the second camera at Busby Lake to be installed and the one at sports complex actually needs to be moved to a different location. The purchase of 40 acres kind of falls into line with the survey that we're doing and basically that's my report for this month. The election cycle is well underway and those of you running for office know the rules.

I do have a question for Mr. what is it, New Woodlands?

That's our LLC legal name. We go by, the construction is Arconite.

Do you build picnic tables?

On a commission basis.

Okay. All right. Y'all have no idea what I'm talking about about picnic tables.

No, we don't.

And yardage you can't live up close. I know what you're talking about. Anyway. I want picnic tables in parks everywhere and more.

As we move forward, do we have any public comments signed up?

No.

Nobody signed up. All right. Council, any further comment?

I make a motion.

Let's go through announcements real quick, okay? All right. Juneteenth will be closed this Friday. Planning Commission meets on June 22nd. Fourth of July, city office will be closed July 3rd. City Council's next meeting is July 21st. And quarterly pickup is July 27th through 30th. But Fourth of July celebration down at the park. I encourage you to come out. It's going to be a lot of fun. Michelle, who's not here tonight, does a fantastic job getting this all arranged.

I think I'll be in town this year.

Well, we expect to see you. Then I expect to see you there.

I think.

All right. With that, I would entertain a motion to adjourn. We have a motion. Jack made a motion on his first meeting to adjourn. Do we have a second?

And all in favor say aye.

Aye. All right, we're gone.