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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-30-97we Board of Directors Room City Hall - 500 W. Markham Little Rock, Arkansas December 30, 1997 - 4:20 P.M. The Board of Directors of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas, reconvened from the regular meeting held December 16, 1997, with Mayor Jim Dailey presiding. City Clerk Robbie Hancock called the roll with the following Directors present: Directors Hinton, Cazort, Keck, Joyce, Wyrick, Kelly, and Adcock - total 7; Absent - Directors Wilson, Hodges, and Kumpuris - total 3. With a quorum present, Mayor Dailey declared the Board of Directors in session, and announced the purpose of the reconvened meeting was to consider the Ordinance establishing permit fees and a Resolution adopting the Non - Uniform Employees Pension Plan. The first presentation was Ordinance No. 17,648, entitled: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 17,066; ESTABLISHING PERMIT FEE SCHEDULES FOR BUILDING, ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING AND RELATED WORK PERFORMED IN THE CITY OF LITTLE ROCK; REPEALING ALL TECHNICAL CODE ORDINANCE AND CODE OF ORDINANCES PROVISIONS IN CONFLICT THEREWITH; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Mayor Dailey stated that he and Acting City Manager Cy Carney had met on three different occasions with representatives of the Home Builders Association and the General Contractors in an attempt to work through the issues relative to the fee increase. Mr. Carney then explained the recommendations set forth in his memorandum dated December 22, 1997, and stated the fee adjustments are fair. There will be a fee for mechanical inspections which is a new service and will require an additional employee. The City has agreed to provide an additional level of data processing and pledged that there will be no fee increase for three years. Mr. Jim Lawson, Director of Planning and Development, explained that the building permit fee has been low for years and made a slide presentation comparing Little Rock's building permit fees with other cities, and the fees recommended by the Southern Building Code. The reason for the increase is to cover cost of the building permit department and other city services (fire, police, etc.) (Director Kumpuris enrolled at 4:26 o'clock P.M.) Representatives of the building industry were present and voiced their concerns. Mr. Barry Hyde and Mr. Bob Shell represented the Arkansas Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. Mrs. Susan Smith, David Carl, Roy Rainey and Fred Stancil represented the Home Builders Association. Mr. Barry Hyde, representing the Arkansas Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), was not opposed to the fee increase, but said the level of automation in Little Rock is far, far behind cities such as Fayetteville and Ft. Smith and wanted a portion of the fee to go to operation in order to provide the ability to track projects with more accuracy and speed. Mayor Dailey asked Mr. Carney to come back to the Board in 60 days with a plan for updating the automation system to provide the tracking ability, etc. Mr. Bob Shell, Baldwin & Shell Construction Company, stated that AGC represents the bulk of construction in Arkansas and the United States. Ms. Susan C. Smith, President of the Greater Little Rock Home Builders Association and also a residential contractor, was opposed to the proposal in its present form as it deals with building permits from the $100,000 to $300,000 range, but agreed there needs to be a mechanical permit. Mr. David Carl, a builder and developer mainly of apartments, said the increase is unfair to smaller builders, but was not opposed to the mechanical permit fee. Mr. Roy Rainey, a member of the National Board of Home 1 Minutes 97 December 30, 1997 Builders Association, was opposed to the increase because only two years ago there was a 400% increase. (Mr. Jim Lawson, Director of Planning and Development, later explained the 400% increase Mr. Rainey referred to was a change from per square foot fees to fees based on total construction cost.) Mayor Dailey proposed a thought to the Board that the fee increase not apply to permits for $200,000 and below. Mr. Fred Stancil, a commercial contractor, said one of the things he was concerned about is the "It's just a hundred dollars" attitude, because it is an accumulation of costs. Mrs. Smith responded to a question by Director Kumpuris, stating the permit process could be a little bit smoother, but as far as the inspection process, the City of Little Rock has been great in working with the contractors. Mr. Chuck Givens, Building Codes Manager, was present and responded to questions by the Board. Responding to a question about the $4.00 add on fee, Mr. Lawson stated that was a data processing fee and there is approximately $20,000 in that fund to apply to the purchase of the data processing equipment. The software package will cost approximately $150,000. Mayor Dailey asked Mr. Carney to incorporate into his report how the City can monitor those projects that do not have permits. Following the lengthy discussion, Director Wyrick moved to not do the increase on houses of $300,000 or below, and Director Hinton seconded the motion. The motion failed by the following roll call vote: Ayes - Directors Hinton and Wyrick - total 2; Noes - Directors Cazort, Keck, Joyce, Kumpuris, Kelly, Adcock and Mayor Dailey - total 7; Absent - Directors Wilson and Hodges - total 2. Director Wyrick then moved that the fee increase not apply to permits for $200,000 and below. The motion died for lack of a second. There was a subsequent motion and second by Directors Adcock and Wyrick, respectively, that there be no fee increase for $150,000 and less. The motion failed by the following roll call vote: Ayes - Directors Hinton, Wyrick, Adcock and Mayor Dailey - total 4; Noes - Directors Cazort, Keck, Joyce, Kumpuris, and Kelly - total 5; Absent - Directors Wilson and Hodges - total 2. The Ordinance was then read the second time, having been read the first time on December 16, 1997. Director Keck moved to suspend the rules and place the Ordinance on third and final reading. The motion was seconded by Director Cazort and unanimously adopted by the Board Members present, being nine in number and two- thirds or more of the members of the Board of Directors, and the third and last reading of the Ordinance ensued. A roll call vote was taken on the question, Shall the Ordinance Pass, as follows: Ayes - Directors Hinton, Cazort, Keck, Joyce, Kumpuris and Kelly - total 6; Noes - Directors Wyrick, Adcock, and Mayor Dailey - total 3; Absent - Directors Wilson and Hodges - total 2. The Emergency Clause contained in Section 4 of the foregoing Ordinance was read and adopted by the following roll call vote: Ayes - Directors Hinton, Cazort, Keck, Joyce, Kumpuris Kelly, Adcock, and Mayor Dailey - total 8; Noes - Director Wyrick, - total 1; Absent - Directors Wilson and Hodges - total 2. Whereupon, the Ordinance, together with the Emergency Clause, was declared PASSED. Introduced next was Resolution No. 10,167, entitled: A RESOLUTION ADOPTING AN AMENDED AND RESTATED NON- UNIFORM EMPLOYEES PENSION PLAN AND TRUST. Following the reading of the Resolution, Director Joyce moved for its adoption. The motion was seconded by Director Adcock and unanimously adopted by the Board Members present. Acting City Manager Cy Carney made a brief report on the burning of the -- Neighborhood Alert Center at 33rd and Ringo about 2:45 A.M. Tuesday, December 30, 1997. He said the Little Rock School District Superintendent has agreed that the Alert Center can be temporarily located at Ish School at 29th and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. The move will be made on Monday, January 5, 1998. A sign will be installed December 31, 1997, announcing plans to rebuild at the previous site and reconstruction should be completed by April, 1998. Mr. Carney also explained the Catastrophic Leave Bank Program for City employees effective January, 1998. 4 Minutes December 30, 1997 Director Keck moved to have a five minute recess and reconvene for the report from the Oldani Group regarding the City Manager Selection Process because he wanted the Board of Directors to go into executive session following the report to discuss the candidates. (Note: The Oldani report was scheduled to be presented immediately following the Agenda Meeting.) The motion was seconded by Director Cazort and unanimously adopted. Therefore, the Board recessed at 6:08 o'clock P.M. and reconvened at 6:15 o'clock P.M. Mr. Jerry 01dani distributed a packet of the 14 resumes of candidates for City Manager that the Oldani Group had selected from the 44 applicants. He briefly review the resumes with identifying information blacked out, stating that most applicants requested that their names not be made public at this point in the process. Following the presentation by Mr. Oldani, Director Keck moved to recess to executive session for the purpose of discussing the candidates for City Manager. The motion was seconded by Director Cazort and unanimously adopted. Therefore, the Board recessed to executive session at 7:19 o'clock P.M. The Board of Directors reconvened at 7:55 o'clock P.M. with Mayor Dailey presiding and eight Directors present (Directors Wilson and Hodges were absent). Mayor Dailey stated that the Board had discussed the information presented and decided not to take any action until Tuesday, January 6, 1998, due to the need for more time to study the information presented and because two Board Members were absent. Mayor Dailey announced that Metropolitan National Bank is now a corporate partner of Friends of the Zoo and will contribute $50,000 to the cost of constructing a lion exhibit at the Little Rock Zoo. Mayor Dailey also announced that his State of The City Address will be Monday, January 5, 1998, at 5:30 o'clock P.M. in the City Hall rotunda. There being no further business to be presented, the Board of Directors adjourned at 8:00 o'clock P.M. to meet again in regular session on Tuesday, January 6, 1998, at 6:00 o'clock P.M. ATTEST: APPROVED: City Clerk Robbie Hancock Mayor Jim Dailey 3