LIVE UPDATES: City Council recap: Aug. 20, 2013

Agenda highlights

  • Purchasing LED holiday lights to extend Lights of the Ozarks from the square along Block Avenue and Dickson Street.
  • Rezoning 4.66 acres at 2468 N. Crossover Road from Residential Single-Family to Residential Office.
  • Approval of a new health insurance provider contract for city employees.

» Download the agenda (PDF)

A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council began at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 inside room 219 of the City Administration Building, located at 113 W. Mountain St. in Fayetteville.

Listed below are the items up for approval, action taken and links to downloadable PDFs for more information on each item of business.


Roll Call

Present: Sarah Marsh, Mark Kinion, Matthew Petty, Mayor Lioneld Jordan, Justin Tennant, Martin Schoppmeyer, Rhonda Adams, Alan Long
Absent: Adella Gray

Presentations

1. 2nd Quarter Financial Report – Paul Becker

Agenda Additions

1. NEA Grant Acceptance – Acceptance of a $100,000 “Our Town” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the design phase of a streetscape project that includes ecologically-themed public art and low-impact development stormwater facilities on School Avenue.
Pass 6-0*
* Matthew Petty abstained due to his relationship with the UA Community Design Center, which will design the project. Petty works about 10 hours per week at the center where he conceived, wrote and vetted the grant application. He said he will not work on or be paid for any of the design of the project. If he did, he said the city would not be eligible for the grant. He’s not required to recuse himself from the vote, but did so because he said he wants the project to “stand on its own.”

Consent

1. Approval of the Aug. 6, 2013 City Council meeting minutes.
Pass 7-0

2. Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, PLLC Amendment No. 1 (PDF): A resolution approving Amendment No. 1 to the contract with Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, PLLC in the amount of $15,000 for additional legal services related to the White River Water quality standards petition to the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission.
Pass 7-0

3. Bid #13-41 Jack Tyler Engineering of Arkansas (PDF): A resolution awarding Bid #13-41 and authorizing a contract with Jack Tyler Engineering of Arkansas in the total amount of $58,760.15 for the purchase of four (4) return activated sludge pumps for the Noland Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Pass 7-0

4. Bid #13-44 Fiser Kubota (PDF): A resolution awarding Bid #13-44 and authorizing a contract with Fiser Kubota in the total amount of $165,173.75 for the purchase of four (4) irrigation reels for the City biosolids management site.
Pass 7-0

5. Bill and Doris Kisor Settlement Agreement (PDF): A resolution approving a settlement agreement with Bill and Doris Kisor concerning condemnation litigation filed as part of the N. Crossover Road Utilities Improvement Project in a total amount of $13,950.
Pass 7-0

Unfinished Business

1. RZN 13-4410 (2468 N. Crossover Rd./Lynnwood Estates) (PDF): An ordinance rezoning that property described in rezoning petition RZN 13-4410, for approximately 4.66 acres located at 2468 North Crossover Road from RSF-2, Residential Single-Family, 2 units per acre, to R-O, Residential Office, subject to a Bill of Assurance. This ordinance was left on the First Reading at the Aug. 6, 2013 City Council meeting.
Tabled*
* Instead of rezoning the property to Residential Office, Alderman Petty suggested an amendment to rezone the property to the smaller-scale, form-based Neighborhood Services code. He said residents were concerned that a large commercial center might end up on the property instead of a small office, so he suggested the new code as “a good middle ground.” Because the applicant has included a bill of assurance that no large-scale developments would be built, Petty said Neighborhood Services would require large projects to first go through the Planning Commission and receive a conditional use permit. Residential Office, he said, does not have scale limitations. A neighborhood spokeswoman said neighbors would still be opposed to either rezoning because of potential traffic congestion. The amendment passed, but the item was tabled until the next meeting.

New Business

1. John Bess Claim Settlement (PDF): A resolution pursuant to Fayetteville Code of Ordinances subsection 39.10 (C)(4) authorizing the Mayor to pay $11,000 to John Bess in settlement of a damage claim arising at 830 E. Trust Street, and approving a budget adjustment.
Pass 7-0

2. VAC 13-4428 (4291 Black Canyon St./Hamptons Lot 18) (PDF): An ordinance approving VAC 13-4428 submitted by Engineering Services, Inc. for property located at 4291 Black Canyon Street, to vacate a portion of a pedestrian access easement, a total of 0.03 acres.
Pass 7-0

3. MarshallGIS (PDF): An ordinance waiving the requirements of formal competitive bidding and approving a contract with MarshallGIS in the total amount of $26,975.00 to purchase five (5) software seats of GeoKNX mobile implementation software for usage by the Water and Sewer Division, and approving a project contingency of $4,000.
Pass 7-0

4. 2014 Employee Benefits Package (PDF): A resolution approving a 2014 Employee Benefits package.
Pass 7-0

5. Get Lit LLC – Lights of the Ozarks (PDF): An ordinance waiving the requirements of formal competitive bidding and approving an agreement with Get Lit LLC in the amount of $51,462 for the purchase of lights for the expansion of Lights of the Ozarks to Block Street and Dickson Street, and approving a budget adjustment in the amount of $46,500.
Pass 7-0
* The proposal was to purchase lights and garland for Block Avenue and light fixtures with poinsettias, snowflakes and Razorbacks on Dickson Street. The idea, staff said, was to choose fixtures that were holiday themed, but that could also be in place for a few weeks after the holidays. Sarah Marsh suggested not purchasing Razorback fixtures because some residents would not like it. The other council members disagreed and said Razorbacks were relevant because Dickson Street is the gateway to the University of Arkansas which is a unique part of the heritage of Fayetteville.