The Greenwood City Council met in regular session on Monday evening, May 3, 2021. The meeting, which was held at Greenwood City Hall, was called to order at 7:07 p.m.
Council members present at roll call were AC Brown, Ralph Meeker, and Daniel McDaniel. A quorum was declared with the addition of the mayor. Tim Terry and Lance Terry were absent. Rod Powell arrived after roll call at 7:50 p.m. Also present, Mayor Doug Kinslow, City Clerk/Treasurer Sharla Derry, and City Attorney Mike Hamby.
Following the invocation from Brother Trent Hampton of Calvary Temple, and the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Fire Chief Stewart Bryan, the motion was made by McDaniel and seconded by Meeker to approve the April 5, 2021 regular council meeting minutes as presented. The motion carried unanimously.
Recognitions and Acknowledgements:
Mayor Kinslow read a proclamation declaring May 3, 2021 Emily Beineman and Blue Day. Mayor Kinslow presented Beineman with a city pin and key to the City.
The story shared by Beineman on April 29, caught national attention:
Today while on our daily run a little girl was outside the funeral home and yelled ‘may I pet your puppy?’ I smiled and said, ‘Of course! As long as your parents don’t mind!’ The little girl did a shy little smile and said ‘Oh my parents aren’t out here, my mom’s inside and my daddy died… we are at his funeral.’ Before I could say a word, Blue walked up to this little girl and ever so gently sat down in front of her. The girl wrapped her arms around Blue’s neck and wouldn’t let go. This little girl’s friends and family were all surrounding us and as I looked around there wasn’t a dry eye to be found (except this little girl). I quickly dried my eyes (I was very thankful for tinted sunglasses), sat, and talked to this little girl for a few minutes. She then jumps up and says ‘I want you to meet my Daddy! Can you please come meet him?’ I said ‘If you want me to meet your daddy, I’d absolutely love to as long as it’s ok that I look like this!’ (Keep in mind I had just got done running 3 miles. I walked into the funeral home with this sweet girl, met her daddy, her mom, and her grandparents. She showed me the beautiful bouquet of flowers that surrounded his casket and told me how pretty she thought everything looked. She then asked if me and Blue would stay for a few more minutes. She wanted to pet Blue a little more, so we did. This little girl’s aunt and uncle looked at me with tears running down their face, and her aunt whispered ‘I think God led you and Blue over here today for a reason… Blue’s love and gentleness that she has shown has touched our hearts.’ I’ve always referred to Blue as my ‘gentle giant’ because I’ve always felt that she could sense when someone is sad/upset/etc., and has this overwhelming calmness about her that is indescribable. Today, I am thankful for many things. But I’m especially thankful for God allowing us to meet this special little girl on one of the hardest days of her life. This little girl will probably never realize how special today was for me, but it was exactly what I needed. I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. I truly believe we were meant to meet this little girl. She is the perfect reminder of God’s goodness and faithfulness through every storm.
Bid Opening: Whitetail Lane Improvements
Jeremy Shores with Hawkins-Weir Engineering opened and read the bids for this project as follows:
(All bids were accompanied by a 5% bid bond) (apparent low bid appears in bold)
Steve Beam Construction, Inc. – $323,815.50
Mobley Contractors, Inc. – $354,584.32
Raggio Excavating, Inc. – $240,610.00
Goodwin & Goodwin, Inc. – $227,650.00
Shores explained that these improvements are for street and drainage with culvert replacement and cul-de-sac resurface in the area of Whitetail Lane. After bids were read, Shores stated that all of the bids will be qualified and a letter sent to the City as to their recommendation on the lowest qualified bidder.
A motion was made by Councilman Brown and seconded McDaniel to accept the lowest qualified bidder per the engineering firm. The motion passed unanimously.
Committee Reports:
Boys & Girls Club – Report Submitted
SRCA – Report Submitted; Councilman Brown questioned the cost of meals listed on the report.
Parks Commission – Report Submitted; Parks Commission Chair, Joel Goldstein, read his report and was present to
answer any questions; there were none noted. Mayor Kinslow offered condolences to Mrs. Goldstein’s father who passed away.
Water/Wastewater Commission – Report Submitted; Commission Chair, John Bailey, read his report and was present to answer any questions; there were none noted.
Citizen Forum:
None; Mayor Kinslow recognized Senator Matt Pitsch’s presence and stated that he is a candidate for the office of State Treasurer.
Financial Report
Report submitted; Director of Finance Tom Marsh offered the following talking points:
Economic review report
Tax receipts trends
Growth of 31% in A&P tax for the past 4 years
Agenda Additions
Resolution to Amend Sworn Personnel Handbook
Approval of Contract (Settlement) for Bell Park Promenade Phase II Payment
There were no noted objections to these added items.
OLD BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Water/Wastewater Commission – Appointment of Replacement Member to Water/Wastewater Commission: a motion was made by Council McDaniel, seconded by Meeker to approve the appointment of Tate Cole to
fill the vacancy on the Water/Wastewater Commission, The motion passed unanimously.
Police – Resolution to Amend Sworn Personnel Handbook for Duty to Intervene and Excessive Force: Police Chief Will Dawson explained the need for the resolution and the motion was made by Councilman McDaniel, and seconded by Meeker to adopt the resolution. The motion passed unanimously.
Parks – Approval of Contract (Settlement) for Promenade II Project Payment – Mayor Kinslow stated that this document is a replacement for one that was offered previously and Parks Director, Tammy Briley, gave the council a review of the oversight issue that led to this. City Attorney, Mike Hamby, referenced the last sentence in the second paragraph of the settlement and advised that authorization be given to sign this pending its removal. Hamby said that he would contact Mr. Stodola. The motion was made by Councilman McDaniel, and seconded by Brown to accept this document, pending the removal of the section pointed out by Hamby. The motion passed unanimously.
City Clerk/Treasurer Sharla Derry stated for the record that Councilman Rod Powell had arrived, therefore the mayor was no longer needed for a quorum.
Department Reports and Questions from Council:
Mayor Kinslow stated that street department employee Chad Grouse has been asked, and has accepted, the position of Street Director with the council’s approval. After a discussion, it was determined that council approval was not needed for the appointment.
Councilman Brown voiced his appreciation to the Street and Parks departments for the recent city-wide cleanup. There was a discussion about making available a dumpster accessible to the public. Councilman Meeker asked that the area of the Yellow Carwash be monitored for cleanliness.
Police – Councilman Brown voiced appreciation for the job the Police Department does. Chief Dawson reported that officer Josh Fisher is leaving the Police Department to take a civilian job. Mayor Kinslow advised the council that he has re-directed Animal Control/Code Enforcement from the Police Department over to the Planning Department and this position will now be under the supervision of Sonny Bell. He said the new animal control/code enforcement employee will start on May 17, and Hunter Mikles is taking over the code enforcement duties until that time.
Council Forum:
Councilman McDaniel asked Councilman Brown and Chief Bryan about Brown’s volunteer fireman status due to not being appointed to Assistant Fire Chief the previous month. Chief Bryan replied that he withdrew the request to amend the ordinance and that Brown is a Captain of the department. The department now has four captains.
McDaniel asked Chief Bryan if a number of positions are listed in the bylaws. Chief Bryan responded that there are no limitations, but they will be making some changes on lower officers. McDaniel asked if everything is okay regarding the city’s ordinance, adding that the appointment of Bob Dodd was for a replacement. Chief Bryan responded stating it’s an issue they are looking at.
Chamber Director Bob Purvis introduced the new Director of Fort Smith’s Visitor’s Bureau. Purvis stated that a subcommittee has been formed for annexation and plans to present an action item and its goals by
the end of the year.
Councilman Brown mentioned the drainage situation in the turnaround area behind the Fire Department in the parking lot near the privacy fence and Mayor Kinslow stated that it would be looked at by the Street Department. Chief Bryan requested that another 10 feet of pavement be added to this area, also.
Mayor Kinslow reported that two wayfinding signs had been erected recently, one each on the east and west end of town. He added that more are budgeted.
Mayor Kinslow said he had recently received a call from a concerned citizen about the prevalence of cancer in this area and he said he does not have an answer, but has contacted State Representative Lee Johnson about it.
Councilman McDaniel asked about the tree situation at the lake. City Attorney Mike Hamby stated it is still in process.
Councilman Powell asked about an update for the sidewalk project and Mayor Kinslow stated that 36 easements are to be obtained for this. He added that Mrs. Smith and Mr. Bell have worked tirelessly on that and there are four remaining that have been hard to obtain. He said he has visited with Mr. Shores about this, who then visited with ARdot, and said that as a last resort, a five foot sidewalk can be turned into a four foot sidewalk so that these properties are not disturbed by the work. He said that as
an ARdot requirement, all of this must be worked out in order to proceed. He said that the city is already approved for phase II of this project and has encouraged Mr. Shores to get started on it because of the length of time that
this phase is taking. There was further discussion about sidewalks issues.
Adjournment
A Motion to adjourn was made by McDaniel, seconded by Brown. The meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m.
