Sealing the deal -- Mayor Dani Joy, alongside attorney Michael Moyers of Friday, Eldredge and Clark, signs off at Monday night's City Council meeting on Ordinance 2088, authorizing the refinancing of 2002 water and sewer revenue bonds to the city. The city will save an estimated $27,740 in interest by refinancing these bonds. Photo by Don Lee

EUREKA SPRINGS -- Faced with stifling heat, City Council struggled through a long agenda on Monday night without great success.

Council did pass Ordinance 2088, authorizing the refinancing of 2002 water and sewer revenue bonds to the city.

According to Dennis Hunt of Stephens, Inc., the city will save an estimated $27,740 in interest by lowering the interest rate on the bonds from 4.88 to 4.2 percent.

Council rejects Planning applicant

Council declined to approve the nomination of Greg Hughes to serve on the City Planning Commission, despite a vigorous defense by Alderman Joyce Zeller, because Hughes had listed contracting and building experience on his application. Planning already has members with that background.

Hughes, a resident for five years, defended his application, saying while he had experience in contracting and building, it was not in a professional capacity, but rather that he had developed family ranch land in Colorado, and that experience should not be held against him.

Alderman Patrick Brammer said he had interviewed Hughes as well and felt Council shouldn't reject Hughes' application to the struggling commission.

Council declined to approve the nomination.

Staggered terms postponed until 2009

Council also decided to postpone approving an ordinance brought forward by Aldermen Eric Scheunemann and Kathy Harrison to create staggered four-year terms on City Council until "sometime in 2009."

Zeller and Brammer both said they'd received "enormous feedback" by citizenry against such an ordinance.

Brammer said his feeling was the community lacked confidence, due to the performance of the current council, in electing people for four years at a time, rather than the current two.

Zeller said people didn't want to vote in such an ordinance unless it had a clearly spelled out procedure for recall of aldermen, again a response to the performance of the current council.

Scheunemann said state code already had in place procedures for removing officials, but Brammer responded he felt people wanted an "easier" way of removing aldermen they felt weren't doing their jobs.

Chamber demands full council vote

Jeff Feldman, president and CEO of the Greater Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce, came to the microphone to say the Chamber's board of directors had met Monday morning and resolved it will "support the deliberation of the question of staggered terms, but only by a vote of the full and complete City Council," meaning six votes.

Polling Commissioner Mickey Schneider followed by saying, "The black and white of it is there isn't going to be near enough a vote to pass this without an easy removal option. Ask a judge how hard it is to get rid of someone under state code. It isn't going to happen, not with this city council. Go ahead and knock on doors and talk to the people and find out. Don't waste our taxpayer money."

In the end, council voted to postpone the decision until after the next election.

Clarification sought in park rules

Vicki Rose, program director and art teacher for Lane House and Main Stage, came to the microphone in an effort to clarify vague wording in the city codes pertaining to Eureka's musicians and artists who perform in Basin Spring Park and elsewhere.

Rose is working as a liaison between the Parks and Recreation department and local artists to clarify the rules for performing in the park.

Issues of concern were rules listed with no reference to which ordinances supported them, as well as an item saying artists who received more than three violations of the park rules could be banned from performing for one to 10 years.

City Attorney Tim Weaver pointed out the lack of reference in the individual rules was not uncommon, the assumption being the rules wouldn't be in place if the ordinances didn't exist somewhere, but said City Clerk Mary Jean Sell, absent from the meeting due to illness, would be the person to best deal with the question.

Weaver suggested the one to 10 year ban was probably a typo.

Council voted to postpone further discussion until Sell could be consulted with Rose's questions.

Trolley banner a public safety issue

Hahn said she had received an e-mail from Transit Director Lamont Richie asking why she was against the banner hanging on Spring Street advocating riding the trolleys.

Hahn said she was in favor of such signage but wanted clarification of the signage regulations to be fair to others.

She said she understood signage required a "limited license" and wanted to know how a permanent banner could be put in place without violating city code.

Mayor Dani Joy said she and other department heads had discussed the issue and decided the banner fell under the category of public safety, since riding the trolleys would reduce traffic and therefore the carbon footprint produced by automobile emissions.

She said as a result, the rules pertaining to normal signage did not apply.

She said the banner would be removed when other, temporary banners -- for example Blues Fest -- needed the space, and be put back up afterward.

Weaver suggested if the signage ordinance was vague, council should change it, but that in the meantime, the question of the trolley banner could be looked on as a public safety issue, and therefore broke no rules.

Impact fees putting"cart before horse"

Debate among council and Planning Commissioner Ken Pownall over charging impact fees for new development met little success.

Impact fees are fees usually charged to compensate the city for added strain to the water and sewer system or other public utilities affected by additional use.

Harrison advocated such fees, and Scheunemann agreed it would be impossible for the city to keep up with current regional growth without them, saying otherwise the burden for growth would be unfairly passed on to taxpayers.

Pownall said doing so was "putting the cart before the horse" until a Planning Commission was in place that could update the nine-year old City Vision Plan. He said he had been unable to locate a Land Use Plan for the city, and that it had a "terribly outdated" zoning map.

Pownall said, given lack of membership in the Planning commission, "none of what has to happen, can happen."

At Brammer's suggestion, council decided to hold a special impact committee meeting on July 16.

FEMA money on its way

Public Works Director Dwayne Allen said he had given a tour of the city's storm- and flood-damaged areas to representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the outlook was "very favorable" that the city could get a $30,000 to $40,000 reimbursement from the government. He said he hoped to have a more specific dollar amount within a month.

Hahn said a report on potential hazards at Black Bass Dam suggested a number of improvements are needed to maintain its safety.

Hahn and Harrison are bringing a resolution to the next council meeting for the city to authorize an engineering study and financial analysis for repairing the dam and maintaining it in future.

Bland, JFK urge council work together

During public comment period, former alderman David Bland quoted President John F. Kennedy in urging council to work together despite differences among its members.

"'There are risks and costs to a program of action,'" he quoted, "'but they are far less than the long range cost and risk of comfortable inaction.'"

He urged the aldermen to show each other, and the mayor, the respect they deserve.

He finished by quoting Kennedy again, saying, "'Do not be blind to your differences, but focus your direction on your common interest, so that by this means your differences can be resolved.'"