CITY OF POCAHONTAS
CITY COUNCIL
MINUTES
POCAHONTAS CITY COUNCIL MEETING
FEBRUARY 11, 2003
The Pocahontas City Council met in regular session on
February 11, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in the meeting room at City Hall.
Mayor Gary Crocker called the meeting to order.
Clerk/Treasurer Sheila Rose took roll call.
Aldermen present: Sherman
Ballard, Wayne Broadway, Rainer DeClerk, Jerald Manning, Tim Scott and Russel
Winebaugh. City Attorney Joe Grider
was also in attendance. A roster of
all others present for the meeting is filed with these minutes.
Approval of January minutes:
Mayor Crocker asked if there were any questions or corrections regarding
the minutes. There were none. Alderman
DeClerk motioned to accept the minutes as written. Sherman Ballard seconded.
All voted in favor.
Financial Report:
Mayor Crocker briefly discussed the expenditures for each
department. He stated that things
such as the annual Worker’s Comp insurance payment being made in January, the
payment of accrued sick time to the former Fire Chief, the annual uniform
allowances, as well as other items which were purchased late in 2002 and billed
this year, were the reasons for some of the line items appearing to be inflated
after only one month. These items
will not have to be paid again during this year.
He also commented that some of the line items were just under-budgeted or
misfigured for the 2003 budget. The
Mayor stated that these items will “even out” in the next couple months, and
stated that some of the line items will be reduced for reasons he will discuss
later in the meeting. He asked for
approval of the financial report if there were no questions.
Tim Scott motioned to accept the report, with Russel Winebaugh seconding.
All other Alder-men voted for approval.
Committee Appointments:
Mayor Crocker stated he would entertain any comments regarding the
revision to the committee appointments as made in the January meeting.
The revisions had been stated in the Mayor’s Update.
Sherman Ballard motioned to approve the committee appointments.
Russel Winebaugh seconded. All
other Aldermen voted for the appointments.
The primary City committee appointments are as follows, with a complete
list filed with these minutes.
Finance Committee – Sherman Ballard, Tim Scott,
Jerald Manning
Parks & Recreation Committee – Sherman Ballard,
Russel Winebaugh, Wayne Broadway
Police Committee – Tim Scott, Jerald Manning, Wayne
Broadway
Fire Committee – Wayne
Broadway, Rainer DeClerk, Sherman Ballard
Insurance:
Mayor Crocker reported that our building & vehicle
insurance was taken through the AR Municipal League due to the time factor
involved and not having to take a bid from the League.
He stated that while he is comfortable with this coverage, there are some
items, such as hail damage, that are not covered with this plan.
He suggested possibly setting aside a certain amount each month in a
contingency fund in order to offset any large claims should they occur.
This was discussed in length with Alderman DeClerk giving examples and
statistics regarding disasters or catastrophic events.
Discussion was then made regarding where the funding would be budgeted.
Mayor Crocker asked if Alderman DeClerk wished to make a motion for this
allocation. Alderman DeClerk then
motioned to authorize the Mayor to allocate funds from each department, all from
the General Fund, or from wherever he decided, with this allocation to continue
at least the first year or until we have reached a comfort zone. Alderman
Manning seconded the motion. All
Aldermen approved the motion.
Airport Meeting – Repealing Ordinance Nos.
2002-13 & 2002-14, passed in November.
Mayor Crocker stated that the Airport Commission had met
today and the Commissioners voted to ask the Council to repeal the ordinances
passed in November 2002. The
general consensus is that these ordinances may have too stringent guidelines for
our particular airport, and these issues may need to be revisited.
Mayor Crocker stated that his opinion is that as long as we have an
Airport Commission, they should take this responsibility themselves, not to ask
the Council to pass ordinances because they have a specific duty to pass their
own rules and regulations. The
advice they were given was to take the parts of these regulations or ordinances
that apply specifically to our airport, and not take a blanket approach that
makes it too difficult to do business with.
City Attorney Joe Grider stated he had an ordinance
prepared for this purpose. He asked
if the Council wished to suspend the three readings and read the ordinance once
in it’s entirety, then by title only. Alderman
Scott stated he wished to hear the entire ordinance once.
Joe read the ordinance. Motion to waive the second and third readings was
made by Tim Scott and seconded by Sherman Ballard.
All were in favor. Discussion
followed with Rainer DeClerk making the motion to adopt the ordinance, stating
the repealed ordinances should be revised as soon as possible.
Wayne Broadway seconded the motion.
Verbal roll call was taken and those voting “Yes” were:
Sherman Ballard, Wayne Broadway, Rainer DeClerk, Jerald Manning, Tim
Scott, and Russel Winebaugh. Those
voting against: None.
Mayor Crocker then introduced Mr. Ray Maple who was
on the agenda to discuss the Airport. Mr.
Maple began by stating, “There was some confusion about whether I rep-resent
the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association.
I am a volunteer for them, but I don’t represent them officially in any
thing. Everything I brought in here and said, was strictly my opinion…even
though I had documentation for everything I said…it was strictly my
opinion.” Mr. Maple then asked if
anyone had any questions for him and welcomed phone calls at home anytime.
Mr. Maple then addressed the Council, “Is it my under-standing that
you’re going to go ahead with the land sales at the Airport?”
Mayor Crocker replied, “I am on record (and I think the Council will
agree) as stating that I feel we should go ahead with those contracts as the
City agreed to do back in 1999. I
think that those two gentlemen, regardless of other issues, have spent
considerable amounts of money putting those buildings up, and I think the
precedent had been most recently been set right before that, that we had sold
property…those properties are not really critical to the actual expansion of
the Airport property there…I’m not saying that we need to continue to sell
property, but being that those contracts were made by former folks, the city has
an obligation to go ahead and do it’s part to see that those contracts are
upheld.”
Mr. Maple replied, “That’s fair enough.
Just so there won’t be any surprises, I will continue with my efforts
with the FAA to stall or stop those land sales.”
Mayor Crocker stated, “So noted.”
The Mayor then recognized Greg Swink, the next person
listed on the agenda. Mr. Swink
stated some of the problems/concerns have now been taken care of, but stated
that some items are still unresolved. Those concerns were:
- Concerned
with prisoners on the airport having close access to all aircraft
- Fuel
system…100 Octane & Jet Fuel to be sold…8 aircraft which use regular
unleaded gasoline, none to be available for sale by Airport
- Pilots
who use jet fuel will not pump their own fuel due to fumes getting on them
and saturating clothing
Mayor Crocker stated that Mr. Swink’s concerns have
been noted and the Council Members are aware of his concerns, and will insure
this information is passed along. The
Mayor stated that provisions are being made to see that someone is available to
pump fuel, with proper notification when planes will be coming in.
General discussion followed with Alderman Manning
responding to Mr. Swink’s concern regarding having access to the general
aviation ramp by changing the existing fence and gate.
Mayor Crocker then stated, “We have shown a bonified interest in trying
to hear issues concerning the Airport. I
feel after the Airport meeting today, that we have some reasonable hope that the
Airport Commission is prepared to maybe more appropriately address some of those
concerns. I further feel that we
might be best served to take another thirty day look to see what transpires over
the next thirty days before we take any further actions….what I am saying is
to let the Airport Commission do what they need to do and let’s see if we
don’t get things on track the way that they ought to be performing, with the
Airport Commission serving as an agency to the City.
I don’t think at this point we’re going to solve all the issues
quickly, but I do think that we might be on track with some of the actions and
suggestions that were taken today. I feel comfortable that it would be in the Airport’s best
interest, and the City’s best interest and in some reasonable fairness, to let
the Airport Commission operate the way it’s supposed to operate.
So, I’m going to say you have some valid concerns, but think there’s
a good chance that it may start working in such a way that we don’t have so
many complaints.”
Greg Swink asked if the street sweeper could clean up
the pea gravel from where the fuel tanks were installed. He explained that one piece of gravel could do severe damage
to a plane. Mayor Crocker advised
Mr. Swink that our Street Foreman would help with that.
The Mayor then asked if the Council had any questions
or concerns. Alderman Manning
stated he feels that the City should honor the contracts as they were set up.
Alderman DeClerk stated that whether in writing or by handshake, a
contract should be binding, and should not be broken unless both parties wish it
so. City Attorney Grider stated,
“I think in the contract there are some questions about some
language…that’s what the lawsuit was going to be about…it wasn’t about
to break it or anything…it was to clarify some language…and I want the
Council to understand that if the Court had ruled against the Airport
Commission, if they proceed or whatever…it’s just to clarify the language,
it’s called a ‘declaratory judgment’ not anything but to clarify some of
the language that was not written properly.”
Mayor Crocker stated that for information, the
contract in question was the contract with Mr. Swink.
He stated that he had contacted the former Airport Commissioner who had
signed that contract. This
Commissioner told Mayor Crocker that Mr. Swink was doing substantially all the
operations in the ‘Razorback’ building that he is currently doing in the
existing building. The former
Commissioner stated it was certainly understood that the only activity that Mr.
Swink should not be doing was to rent hangar space in competition with the
Airport itself…but all the other activities…conducting school or any testing
or anything else he was doing in the other building, it was certainly understood
that the man would be conducting these activities in the existing building...and
stated that he felt Mr. Swink “got the best of them in that deal…but when
you agree to something, you stand behind it.” The former Commissioner stated he would be glad to come and
address the Airport Commission or the Council and tell them these things
himself.
Mayor Crocker asked if there were any other matters
for discussion on this topic. Mr.
Maple stated he had one other comment. He
continued by stating, “My personal opinion is that you won’t get rid of the
problems that you’ve got at the Airport with the Commission that sitting over
there now…I don’t think you’ll get your problems worked out and think
you’d be ‘way ahead to remove them, at the very least, the Chairman.
That’s my opinion.”
Mayor Crocker stated he would not reiterate what he
had already said, but would entertain any other discussion from the Council.
Alderman Manning stated he would like to ask a question or
two from the pilots in attendance. He
stated he would like to have comments regarding how “user friendly” the
Airport is at present date. The
following comments were made:
Harold Crosby – (Pilot) “Don’t have access like
used to have, fenced off now…”
George Late –
(Pilot) – “Unfriendly Airport – don’t feel welcome there…but
what has taken place has relieved
some pressure.”
Charles Russell – (Student, BRTC Aviation) “Would
like to have Piper Club in now, to be
allowed to go out and admire the airplanes and craftsmanship”
David Carey – (Flight Instructor) “Not a place
you want to send your students”
James Glisson – (Pilot) – “Haven’t used in
over a year…restrictions here aren’t worth it.
Built my own strip & hangar. Have to fly to Jonesboro or Poplar Bluff to
get fuel…very inconvenient…Always appreciated Mr. Swink…he was
always willing to help, he was able to accommodate our needs.
Not as friendly now as it used to be”
Alderman Manning asked each person who had commented
if they would be willing to use our Airport in the next thirty days and come
back to the meeting to report if any changes had been made. Each stated they would make an effort to use the airport and
return for a future meeting. Charles
Russell stated he helps Mr. Swink and would fuel the planes as needed.
Mr. Glisson stated it would be very helpful to have an experienced person
fuel the planes in order not to get fuel dripped on the airplane paint.
911 Line Item:
Mayor Crocker stated that the Council is aware of an agreement
being reached on paying 911 fees. He
asked for a motion to add a line item for this in the budget.
Joe Grider stated we needed to have this agreement in writing.
Mayor Crocker then asked for a motion to put the agreement in writing.
Alderman Manning motioned to have a written agreement and add a line item
to the budget. Rainer DeClerk
seconded. All voted in favor of the
motion.
Ordinance to Re-zone Property:
Mayor Crocker identified the property as the building which was formerly
Dr. Holt’s dentist office on Highway 67.
Mr. Richard Tyler has taken the proper steps through the Planning &
Zoning Commission to have this property rezoned from C-2 to R-2.
The Planning & Zoning Commission recommended this change be made.
This property was zoned as R-2 at one time. There were no questions or
comments. Sherman Ballard motioned
to waive the three readings of the ordinance except by title only.
Wayne Broadway seconded, with all others in agreement.
Joe read the ordinance by title only.
Tim Scott motioned to adopt the ordinance with Russel Winebaugh seconding
the motion. Verbal roll call was
taken and those voting “Yes” were: Sherman
Ballard, Wayne Broadway, Rainer DeClerk, Jerald Manning, Tim Scott, and Russel
Winebaugh. None opposed. The ordinance was numbered 2002-04.
FEMA Reimbursement – Ice Storm:
Mayor Crocker reported that the City has received
a check from FEMA for $31,790, with an additional amount of $5,300 to be
received from the State for funds expended due to the December ice storm.
This will put our total funds received at approximately $37,000.
Some of the money will be returned to the Street Department for
operations. The Mayor complimented
J. B. Williams and Sheila Rose for their effort and endurance in getting this
done. We also received $1,000 for
administrative fees for our time.
Baltz Lake Pier Project: Mayor Crocker advised the Council that we are moving
ahead as quickly as possible with this project. The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission are moving ahead with
their process in order to get the pier built this spring.
A drawing was available of the proposed pier, complete with pavilion.
The Game & Fish Commission will maintain the pier once it is
completed.
The Police Department Report was
presented by Chad Mulligan. He
reported that Mark McQueen with AmVets
has donated $3,500 towards the purchase of new bullet-proof vests, and
will most likely donate additional funds for purchasing radar units. Chad reported that Steve Callahan of Modern Woodmen
contacted him about having a fund raiser in order to secure a matching grant for
new equipment.
Chad reported that we are now three officers short,
with Officer Johnson having broken an ankle and Sarah Watson still in the
Academy. He stated he has been
utilizing the City Reserve Officers and complimented the job they are doing.
Mayor Crocker commented that we got off to a bad
start, budget-wise, with delinquent bills for items that had been pre-purchased,
etc. as well as being substantially under-equipped in this department.
It doesn’t make sense with the amount of money spent here in the past,
that we are so hampered without the proper equipment to do the job.
We will have to purchase some, and we have to progressively pursue
purchasing this equipment, and still come in under-budget.
Fire Department – Chief Scott Baltz
reported on department activities. He
stated the repairs to the fire station is nearly completed and invited everyone
to visit and see the improvements. Alderman
Manning complimented the results.
Animal Control – Randy Carter
reported on the animal control budget. He
stated that he is now certified and is waiting on the City certification.
(Copies of the departmental reports filed with
these minutes)
Billy Brown – Softball Association - Mr.
Brown asked if he would be allowed to tear down the unsafe bleachers at the
ballfield #’s 1 & 2. After
discussion between Mr. Brown and the Council, it was determined that no action
should be taken by the Softball Association.
Alderman Broadway stated he would like Mr. Brown to attend the Parks
& Recreating meeting to further discuss these issues.
Mayor Crocker stated that he feels we have a responsibility and
obligation to help get this out of an embarrassing state…that we for sure need
to deal with the most critical issues, such as the bathroom facilities.
The Mayor stated that it will be studied and recommendations accepted, as
well as grants will be applied for, but all this must be done with a proper
plan. Further discussion was made
and Mr. Brown was again asked to attend the next Parks & Recreation meeting
on the first Thursday in March.
Mayor Crocker stated if there was no further business
for discussion, he would ask for a motion to adjourn. Tim Scott motioned for adjournment with Jerald Manning
seconding. All voted to adjourn.
Meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m.
City Council
Meeting
January 14, 2003
The Pocahontas City Council met in regular session on
January 14, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in the meeting room at City Hall.
Mayor Gary Crocker called the meeting to order.
Clerk/Treasurer Sheila Rose took roll call.
All Aldermen were present: Sherman
Ballard, Wayne Broadway, Rainer DeClerk, Jerald Manning, Tim Scott, and Russel
Winebaugh. City Attorney Joe Grider
was also in attendance. A roster of
all others present at the meeting is filed with these minutes.
Mayor Crocker’s first order of business was welcome
the three new Councilmen, Jerald Manning, Wayne Broadway, and the return to
Council of Rainer DeClerk.
Approval of December 2002 minutes:
Mayor Crocker asked for a motion to approve the minutes if there
were no changes or questions. Russel
Winebaugh motioned to accept the minutes as written.
Sherman Ballard seconded the motion.
The motion carried unanimously.
Acceptance of Financial Report:
Mayor Crocker briefly discussed the year-end budget, commenting
that the General Fund cash balance was approximately $100,000 less than last
month and citing the decrease was primarily due to the annual bonus pay, holiday
pay for uniformed employees, and the new fire truck payment of $45,000.
It was noted that the Police budget was over-budget substantially, due to
the decision to pay all comp time due to officers, as well as the unbudgeted
payments made for 911 dispatching. Mayor Crocker stated that with the Sanitation
and Street Departments being so inter-twined, it was obvious that the overage in
Sanitation salary line item could be offset by the under-budget amount of the
salary line item in the Street Department. After discussion of each departmental
budget, he asked if there were any questions.
Russel Winebaugh noted the year-end totals of the City Sales Tax were not
equal in the Economic Development and Street Departments.
Sheila noted the discrepancy, commenting that it was a line item entry
error and would be corrected. Mayor Crocker asked for a motion to accept the
financial report, with the correction of line item on City Sales Tax. Sherman Ballard made the motion, with Russel Winebaugh
seconding. All voted in favor of
the motion.
OLD BUSINESS:
Ordinance to Amend the 2002 Budget:
The Mayor stated that City Attorney Grider had prepared an ordinance to
amend some of the departmental line items. Mayor Crocker noted that while we
were under budget on our total budget, some departmental line items needed to be
amended in order to put us in compliance with state law.
Joe had prepared the ordinance with information provided by the former
Mayor. Joe asked the Council if
they wished to read the ordinance by title only and dispense with the three
readings. The Council voted
unanimously to read the ordinance by title only.
Tim Scott motioned to make the first reading with Rainer DeClerk
seconding. All were in favor. Joe made the reading. Wayne
Broadway motioned to make the second reading by title only, with Tim Scott
seconding. All were in favor.
Joe made the reading. Russel
Winebaugh motioned to read the ordinance by title only for the third time.
Wayne Broadway seconded the motion, with all others in agreement.
Rainer DeClerk motioned to adopt the ordinance.
Jerald Manning seconded the motion. The
vote to adopt the ordinance was unanimous.
The ordinance was numbered 2003-01.
NEW BUSINESS:
Roberta Cobb – Placing modular home inside
city limits. Ms. Cobb was
not present at the meeting, so no action or discussion was made regarding this
issue.
Ray Maple – Airport Ordinance. Mayor
Crocker asked Mr. Maple to state his business and address the Council.
Mr. Maple referred to the packet he had prepared for each of the Council
members concerning issues at the Airport. He
then proceeded to discuss each of the items of paperwork, (noting that the
critical issues were highlighted on each of the copies) in the following order:
A copy of the document whereby the airport property was deeded to the
City of Pocahontas by the U.S. Government; outline of the duties of the Airport
Commission; construction concerns - the problem with the new building being
constructed on the McNabb property by the grave yard, being in the flight path
of the Airport and will be a hazard. Mr.
Maple referred to the second page (where highlighted), and stated while it
probably will never happen…the government could take the property back; he
also referred to City Ordinance #328 citing the same regulations.
Mr. Maple continued by referring to the next item of
paperwork in the packet, explaining that “Greg Swink had the original contract
on the Razorback Aviation building, and the City needed it for eighteen (18)
months and they made him a deal to extend the hangar.
They were going to give him the building back, but when the eighteen (18)
months were up…they refused to give it back. Then they worked out a deal to pay $30,000 for his lease to
keep him out of the building…Aeronautics Department was brought into this
because there was $60,000 of Aeronautics Department money spent to build this
building…you have a copy of a letter here from Mr. John Patrick to the
Aeronautics Department stating there wasn’t an aviation related business in
that building and they couldn’t get one.
I believe that’s Mr. Swink’s only business. As far as I’m concerned, and I don’t know who all is
involved in this…but as far as I’m concerned…that’s fraud”.
Mr. Maple continued, “I researched all the
commission meetings for the last three years and couldn’t find where anyone
else was involved in that particular thing…where the Airport Commission voted
to have this letter sent out. So
that’s where that’s at. I
really think that if this goes any farther, the Aeronautics Department won’t
have any choice but to have the City
pay this money back. Now they have
an aviation business back in this hangar on a thirty-day basis.
It’s my understanding that it is up for lease and if any factory wants
to come and take it over, they can lease the building away from The Lord’s
Ranch which will be in conflict with Aeronautics Department as to what that
building was built for. Some of
these other papers are just a little reference… I didn’t copy all the
minutes because it was too much paperwork, the ones I didn’t copy all of have
the dates on the bottom if you want to look up the whole thing and read all the
minutes. The one dated
6-9-99…I’ve got it highlighted…says the Airport Commission won’t do
anything to jeopardize the airport facilities…the problem I see with that is
that they’re selling property as quick as they can get it deeded off and once
it’s all gone, there won’t be any income coming in anymore.”
Mr. Maple continued, “January 11, 2000…there again it’s
highlighted…shows an Airport Commissioner purchasing land from the Airport
Com-
mission…and I spoke to the Attorney General’s Office on
several different occasions on this…and what they tell me is that this is a
conflict of interest…an Airport Commissioner can’t do business and sit on
the Commission at the same time. Larry
Don Rose is trying to buy property, since this is the second time…he’s
already bought one piece of property and if he gets this piece bought that will
be two different pieces of property that he’s bought…the other one he’s
already sold. It appears to be,
since he’s not allowed to be on the Commission…I’m thinking that probably
that might be racketeering. I’m
not an attorney and I can’t tell you…all I can tell you is what the Attorney
General’s Office has told me.”
Mr. Maple continued, “February 8, 2000 Larry questioned
why when he had an option to purchase land there was a question as to why he
needed to contact the FAA in regards to a Commissioner purchasing land.
I called the FAA and asked the same thing and they don’t get involved
in that…that’s up to the local people in the State of Arkansas.”
“May 9, 2000, the problem with Mr. Swink has been going
on about three (3) years now. Everybody
says it’s not a personal vendetta they just need to get control of the
airport. If you’ll read what
Dwain stated, ‘If there’s any possible way…they need to get rid of Greg
Swink’. “December 12, 2000 they
discussed not selling anymore property, FAA property, then turned right around
and requested release of the property. Now
from the best I can figure out in reading all these minutes and the ones I’ve
been to, if you want to lease property and build a hangar you can get from a
three to a five-year lease. No
matter how much money you spend, you’re lease will be renewed every
three-to-five years. But if
you’re an Airport Commissioner, you can get a lease for that will run you to
the 31st of December 2047…Larry Don Rose’s lease…the very last
page.”
“The meeting of May 8, 2001…nobody seemed to be
aware that there was any laws regulating an airport by itself, you can see where
I gave them a copy of them and made them aware of it.” On 6/26/2001 getting back to the problem of Mr. Swink, the
high-lighted area says ‘Jerry stated he’d like to see us get fuel and keep
Greg Swink from City making a profit.’”
March 12, 2002 Blanche Lincoln sent a letter about getting commuter air
service to Walnut Ridge…or getting commuter air service here…but the feeling
was that she’d go to Walnut Ridge…doesn’t make sense to me…this isn’t
Walnut Ridge, why should they try to get it down there instead of here?”
Mr. Maple continued, “April 9, 2002, this is to do with the runway
protection zone…at the bottom of the page it has references to the original
agreement, state laws to cover it with chapter and paragraph, and the City
Ordinance. On May 14, 2002, the
second paragraph, ‘in regard to airport protection zone, McNabbs have been
notified of it and the City is not liable.’
I don’t know about that since there’s a City Ordinance and State Law
covering that runway protection zone, the Airport Commission by State Law has
the right of eminent domain. Why
didn’t somebody condemn that property and take it and make a trade on property
somewhere else and keep the runway protection zone open like it should be?”
Mr. Maple directed to the Council, “If you’ll go back
and read these minutes, you’ll find where I’ve “x’d” these minutes in
a lot of places….gets back to Mr. Swink selling fuel…everybody says this is
not a personal vendetta against him, but it seems to me that it is…the last
two years almost every commission meeting has been taken up with dis-cussion on
how to get Mr. Swink off the airport. I
personally could care less if they get him off the airport, with the
exception, when he’s gone, there’s no business there anymore,
everybody’s gone. He has
twenty-four (24) student pilots come in there now who buy fuel, eat lunch, spend
money in town… when he’s gone…that money is gone too.
There’s a lot of money being wasted at the airport.
The airport used to have it’s own tractor to mow the grounds, it was
given to the Parks & Recreation Department.
Now they spend $5250 per year to pay someone to mow the grass.
That money would be a lot better spent to purchase another tractor and
paying someone to run it. There’s
a city ordinance in here…I see the Commissioners are being paid now whether
they are at the meetings or not…Section 4 of Ordinance #440 (states) ‘the
salaries are to be paid on the second Tuesday of each month provided that all
members of the Airport Commission shall be paid that per month provided the
members attend the monthly meeting.’ This
may be a little trivial, but with the financial condition that the airport is
in, it like a lot wasted money to me to pay somebody that’s not there.”
Mr. Maple added, “We have this new city ordinance,
Vehicle Ordinance and Minimum Standard Ordinance…in effect this new ordinance
shuts the airport down without the Commissioners express permission to do
anything on it. There was some
discussion on it today at the Airport Commission Meeting…one part of it says
that if you’re going to furnish your own fuel, you have to have 10,000gallon
tanks. They are putting in
4,000-gallon tanks…this is against their own ordinance, but according to the
Chairman of the Airport Commission, this city ordinance doesn’t apply to them.
There are some people here who can talk about this better than I can,
especially the crop dusters, flight instruct-ors, who are trying to work off
this airport. If I can understand
it right, when you come in here to do business, you have to open up all your
financial records for inspection, have a letter from a bank or financial
institution to say you’re financially stable to do what you want to do.
We’ve got a bad situation here at this airport.
There is no way I would come here and do business the way its set up like
it is at this time. There are a lot
of interested people here who may have questions.”
Mayor Crocker advised Mr. Maple that at this point,
he felt himself and the Council probably had a grasp of his concerns.
He stated that some of the Councilmen had had an opportunity to study the
concerns, but some may not have ample time. The Mayor recommended that we
continue this issue to give everyone proper time to review and have some
questions answered. Mayor Crocker
stated, “ I wish to go on record that no action be taken on these ordinances
or any legal actions against anyone at the airport until the Council has proper
time to review. In other words, we would not fight anybody for ordinances or
take any legal action unless the Council or Mayor explicitly approve that
before we have a chance reconvene at a later date, and
everyone have proper time to review. Does
that sound fair?” Mr. Maple
replied, “I’m sure I didn’t lay it out like it needed to be and someone
else may have something else to say that I didn’t.”
Mayor Crocker then asked if anyone else had anything
material to add, something that you don’t think has been made clear enough?”
Mr. Harold Crosby from the audience stood and identified himself, then
stated, “I have been a member of this area all my life and learned to fly at
this airport when there was nothing out there but an open field.
It seems to me that they are trying to take this airport away from the
community and make an industrial park, which we need an industrial park, but
they are taking the airport away. The
airport is a valuable asset to any community...a large corporation will look at
an airport before they’ll move their facility here to work…if they look at
this airport here, it gets smaller and smaller…they just keep ‘nailing nails
in the coffin’ with the airport…that’s what concerns me.
We need people who are aviation-minded on this commission, not industrial
park people. We need this airport
to expand, but it seems to me now that it’s a little too late.”
Mayor Crocker thanked Mr. Crosby for his comments.
The Mayor asked if there was anyone else who wanted to
speak. Mr. Greg Swink introduced
himself and stated he owns Swink Aviation.
Mr. Swink added, “Currently I do testing…I give the written tests for
all the pilots and mechanics. Right
now I’m testing for Ray
theon out of Little Rock
that own Beachcraft. I also do all the testing for Aeroflight,
a flight school out of Poplar Bluff, and do all the testing for Black River
Technical College for aviation maintenance.”
Mr. Swink continued, “There are only two testing centers in this
section of Arkansas and S. E. Missouri. We
give probably seventy (70) or eighty (80) tests per year. These pilots are
required to a two-year flight check and I do probably 100 flight checks per
year. Also, at least 90% of all the
flying off the airport is through my flight school.
Normally, we do at least 100 flights per month, sometimes in a good
season, up to 125 flights per month. Under
the present circum-stances, I’ll not be able to continue flight training at
this airport. I’ve already had to
rent an office at the Walnut Ridge terminal so I could do flight training…I
started there last week, doing flight training…because this Airport Commission
is not being cooperative. They
have…when I was doing the mowing, because I would not just give up the Paslode
building…they told me I had to continue to do all the mowing for $200 per
month. Then they took the tractor
& bush hog and gave it to Parks & Recreation.
So I had to furnish the tractor, equipment, labor, and fuel…for $200
per month and they wanted it mowed three (3) times a month…plus 8,000 feet of
fence weed-eated, all the runway lights weed-eated and around the hangars…all
for $200 per month for all that work. The
Chairman of the Committee now, he came to my office and told me that if I did
not give up the build-ing up that Paslode was in…” Mayor Crocker
asked, “Mr. Swink, was that after Paslode was out of there?”
Mr. Swink replied, “When it came time, I was going to go back, I was
prepared to go back into the building…if I did not give the building up, I’d
be ‘black-balled’ from doing business in the town of Pocahontas.
He also told me…my wife works at what was Pocahontas Federal…he also
told me that Joe and Skip Martin would not stand for it and insinuated that she
would lose her job if I did not give this building up. He told me that building
was not to be used for aviation or to fix airplanes…it was going back
‘industrial’, even though it had been built with a grant from Arkansas
Department of Aeronautics...a large part of it.
That’s went on…that’s when the vendetta Ray was talking
about…that’s how it all started.”
Mr. Swink continued, “I was actually kicked out of
the main building because I could not keep up with the mowing. The mower I had was not capable of keeping up with all the
work…kept having breakdowns…then I had to pull the fuel from all the tanks
because we had to remove the tanks…the Commission Chairman told me to take all
the fuel out of the tanks and I had one day to do it…I told him No, it would
take a week…the deadline had been 1998…I had been informing them…gave them
a 10-year notice and they wait until one week before the deadline to try and
find out what to do.”
Mr. Swink added, “If I do have to quit my flight
instruction in Pocahontas, I’ll be taking… right now I have at least 25
pilots in training, plus another 12-15 pilots coming in for rental, plus all the
flight checks and all the testing. I’ve already discussed a facility lease
with Walnut Ridge if it becomes necessary.”
Mayor Crocker stated, “Let us be clear, what is it
that you would ask the Council to do?”
Mr. Swink replied, “I want parking…there’s not
adequate parking. I’d pretty much
like relief from the harassment. Also,
I would like to be allowed to lease some ground for parking with security.”
Mayor Crocker asked Mr. Swink to put his request in writing for further
review. The Mayor then asked Mr.
Maple what exactly he is asking the Council to do.
Mr. Maple replied, “What
I’d like to see done is the Minimum Standards ord-inance that was passed,
I’d like it rescinded…the way it’s written…if the City Council feel like
they need something like that, it needs to be rewritten with some input from
some pilots and some mechanics, so it would be fair to everybody, not just close
the airport down. And last, I
really believe that this whole Airport Commission needs to be removed and
somebody put in there that has some knowledge of aviation or is willing to gain
some knowledge of aviation. The
gentlemen you have in there now, as far as I’m concerned, don’t have any
knowledge and don’t want to get any knowledge…all they want to do is sell
property.”
Greg Swink stated, “They told me that one of the minimum
requirements is that I have to have someone in the office 40 hours per week,
it’s not practical for a small business like this to have somebody 40 hours
per week.” Mayor Crocker stated,
“That gets back to what Mr. Maple says about reviewing the whole
ordinances.” Mr. Swink replied,
“The minimum requirements…will shut down any operation of the airport.”
Mayor Crocker stated, “We certainly thank you gentlemen for your
concern for the airport and for your presentations.”
City Attorney Joe Grider stated all he had to add
was, “Under Arkansas law the com-missioners appointed have the full and
complete authority to manage and operate the business pertaining to the airport
and its related properties and facilities, so any questions, from the sound of
it…other than having the ordinance overturned…I mean a lot of this that Mr.
Swink raised…”Mayor Crocker responded, “We do have an Airport Commis-sion
that did ask this Council to pass an ordinance that we did pass, Mr. Maple has
presented…and I would ask the Council…’does anyone have any particular
questions at this time’?”
Alderman Manning asked Mr. Swink, “Where are you doing
most of your business now?” Mr.
Swink replied, “I’ve done it for the last ten (10) years in Pocahontas.
I’ve rented an office in Walnut Ridge because right now my students are not
even allowed to drive down to my office, to my building to access my equipment
and facilities in Poc-ahontas. Right
now there’s a note up on the fence that there’s up to a $200 fine for anyone
who drives through the gate to my building that’s inside the fence.” Joe Grider replied, “I think that ordinance says you can
get a permit…there are exceptions…the problem they were having was people
driving out there…they are trying to control the traffic out there with planes
taxiing in and out. The ordinance refers to permits being obtained by the people
who wanted to drive out there.” Mr.
Swink replied, “The letter I received said I could have one (1) permit for my
business.” Mr. Grider stated,
“I’ll also add to this…there is a dispute between the Commission and Mr.
Swink about the inter-pretation of some leases that’s involved with his
operation of a business there on the airport.
They’ve asked me to prepare a lawsuit to file for declaratory judgment
to ask the court to interpret what the leases allow.” Mr. Swink then replied, "The lease is in plain
English, and it’s not that they don’t understand it…just that they
are trying to push it… bluff their way through…I’ve hired an attorney and
we’ve looked through all this, and it’s not …they do understand the
lease, but they’re trying to find some way around the lease.
My experience so far with the Airport Commission is that they will write
a con-tract, then they try to find some way to get out of it…to not honor it. That’s been my experience, even with the other building,
even though I had a lease…Larry Don Rose told me, he said, ‘it doesn’t
matter that you have a signed contract, a signed lease, we want the building
back, and you’re going to give it to us’. He told me that four years ago,
the night before the June meeting.”
Mayor Crocker then asked if there were any further
questions. Alderman Winebaugh asked Mr. Swink how many vehicles he is allowed to
have out there. Mr. Swink stated he
has one. Mr. Winebaugh then asked
how many vehicles other businesses were allow-ed to have. Mr. Swink stated, “I’m the only business on the airport.
In the last ground school we had eleven (11) people and one (1) other
instructor, so that’s twelve (12) coming in, and there was inadequate parking.
The closest place to park is several hundred feet away.
There is no-one, none of my students, allowed to drive down to my
facility.” Mayor Crocker again
asked if there were any other questions.
Charles Wilson stood to address the Council.
Mr. Wilson stated, “I go to college for aviation maintenance and work
on Greg’s airplanes to pay for flying time, as I’m also a student pilot.
The way things are set up now, I’m not even allowed to do that. What I
do is what I’m legal to do with the FAA…Federal Aviation.”
Mayor Crocker thanked Mr. Wilson for his comments.
Mr. Maple then stated he would leave his copy of the rules and
regulations for flight school and mechanics for Mayor Crocker to use, and asked
to have it returned when the Mayor finished using it.
Mr. Swink then added, “In the Commission meeting, they referred to some
requirements for running a flight school. The
Airport Commission Chairman did not understand the difference…I operate under
a FAR part 61, and they’re citing the FAR part 141 which is a flight school
program which is used by the colleges, also for college credit.
Some of the requirements they had in there for me, said that I did not
qualify under the FAR, Federal Aviation Regulations, I do qualify under part
61…he was citing part 141 which I do not operate under.”
Mayor Crocker said, “I want to restate what I did
earlier. I would like to continue
this review of what the gentlemen have requested, I would like a motion to refer
the Airport Commission not take any action regarding the enforcement of
ordinances or lawsuits until such time as we have opportunity to review the
matters that have been presented to us, including documentation. I think it’s in the best interest of the City, we have a
duty aside from the Airport Commission to see that property is protected…I’m
not saying it’s not, but also I think there’s enough information here that
it deserves our review and con-sideration, and we certainly have the authority
to direct the Airport Commission to not take any action. And I would like a
motion to that effect.” Alderman
Manning made the motion asked for by the Mayor.
City Attorney Joe Grider then stated, “ Mayor, I think
that once the commissioners are appointed, they are authority.”
Mayor Crocker replied, “I talked to the Municipal League today and they
told me very clearly that the Airport Commission should take no legal action
until it comes before the Council and Mayor. I talked to them this afternoon
after the Airport meeting. I wanted
to be sure that we don’t proceed until the Council has a proper time to review
something that is so important to this City.
I think we have that responsibility.”
The Mayor then stated he had a motion made by Mr. Manning and asked for a
second to the motion. Russel
Winebaugh seconded. The motion
carried with a unanimous vote.
Yearly State of Affairs of the City:
Mayor Crocker stated the law says because we give a financial update each
month, this takes the place of a yearly report. “I’ve already covered that
information earlier, so I present to you that I have given the yearly state
of affairs. In the next meeting I will detail some financial information out
that I think needs contin-uance for this year, but as far as for the state of
affairs for the year 2002, I consider that presented to you.
Do I have a motion to accept this report?”
Sherman Ballard motioned with Tim Scott seconding the motion to accept
the report given by Mayor Crocker. All
voted in favor of the motion.
Vehicle, Buildings, & Property Insurance:
Mayor Crocker stated this item was not on the agenda, but wanted
to make the Council aware that we have a serious problem with our insurance.
The Mayor stated he had received a faxed bill on January 6,
2003, for $45,000. There is no
evidence either with the Mayor or the City Clerk that any bids were taken.
State law requires bids be taken unless insured by the Municipal League.
Mayor Crocker stated he wanted to make the Council aware that he found
out about this via fax on January 6, the quote and the invoice at the same time,
and finds this a little extra-ordinary.
He stated that as of January 27, 2003 the City will have no vehicle or
property insurance. He added that
he does not believe we can afford $45,000 ($5,000 more than was budgeted), and
believes the bid was handled in such a way that we would have no choice, due to
time. Alderman Scott asked who the insurance carrier is now.
He was advised it is APERMA, through agent Tina DeMaine.
The Mayor asked for Council discussion and direction regarding this
issue, stating that he had talked with the Municipal League and we can get
insured by the due date, and is legal in doing so.
He further stated he was seeking local bids, but advised the Council that
we are in a dilemma, as Ms. DeMaine wants $20,000 as a down payment, and he
doesn’t feel we can do that. Mayor
Crocker gave a short scenario regarding the fact that we aren’t, in fact,
covered by an insurance company, per se, but part of a pool whereby if there was
a disaster within the state, we could be asked to “kick in” to the kitty to
help pay for others. General
discussion followed, with the Mayor stating he was working expeditiously and may
call a special meeting later this week.
Worker’s Comp – Safety Plan:
Mayor Crocker explained that due to excessive claims last year, the City
has been put on report. We were in
jeopardy because the previous plan was not followed through on.
This could cause our rates to go up and we could get a fine. Fire Chief
Baltz has taken this project on as the City Safety Coordinator. We have to go
with a plan to prove that we are developing a Safety Plan, and show proof that
we are following up on the plan and will get in compliance. Mayor Crocker and Chief Baltz have met with the State
officials and they are satisfied that we are correcting the problem.
Meeting for Emergency Management Refunds –
Ice Storm: The Mayor
reported that he had attended a meeting and was hopeful that we could get some
money back on the expenses incurred as a result of the December ice storm. Another meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, and we will get
our information together as quickly as possible.
Appointment of Committees: Joe Grider stated that the Handbook states the Mayor
shall appoint city committees at the first meeting in January.
Mayor Crocker stated he has been working on this item, but had not yet
completed his study of this issue. The
City Attorney then read the rule from the Handbook.
After discussion, a motion was made by Tim Scott to temporarily appoint
the new council members to the same positions as was held by the former members
in the respective wards, with possible changes being made later.
Russel Winebaugh seconded the motion.
Motion carried unanimously. Joe
also asked about seating arrangements, and it was agreed to keep the seating as
is.
Monthly Police Department and Fire Department
Reports (copies on file):
Fire Chief Scott Baltz reported on fire department
responses for the month of December. He
informed the Council that he would be moving his office back into the fire
station at City Hall. Mayor Crocker
stated that Scott has worked hard to make sure everything is “back up to
speed”. Chief Baltz reported that
he is using 309 prisoners to help get the work done.
Randy Carter was not present for the meeting to
present the Animal Control report. Mayor Crocker stated we are still working on
getting Randy Carter certified in order to cut down on some of the associated
expense.
Mayor Crocker stated that we needed to make some
additional changes/rearrangements to some of the offices at City Hall.
Alderman Ballard asked if the City Clerk could possibly use the office
being vacated by the Fire Chief, and Alderman DeClerk stated he had some ideas
for better utilization of space in the Police Department.
Mayor Crocker stated that he is aware that some areas need to be looked
at, and would like to delay this until we get a little more time to look the
situation over.
Mayor Crocker stated if there were no other business
for discussion, he would like a motion to adjourn.
The motion was made by Rainer DeClerk and seconded by Jerald Manning.
All voted in favor of adjournment. The
meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m.
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