GRAVETTE -- Gravette City Council met Thursday evening with all members present.
Stacey Palmer was recommended by Mayor Byron Warren and unanimously approved by the council members as a new member of the Planning Commission. She will be filling a position within the city.
Councilwoman Amy Rambadt made a motion proposing one more working session for considering the 2014 city budget but it failed for lack of a second.
An ordinance approving the revised 2014 budget was voted on and approved. Councilwoman Rambadt cast the only dissenting vote. The proposed raises under the recent wage-scale study were eliminated, but all employees will receive a 3 percent raise. The budget includes pay for one new police officer but not for the proposed new employee in the Parks Department. Hiring of a Parks Department employee will be reconsidered in April.
Business manager Tracy Sewell explained that crews from the Water Department and Street Department will work together when the work load is especially high -- during summer mowing time, for example -- and feel they can do the job for now. A crew is currently helping with clearing ditches.
Mayor Warren noted that about $100,000 in sales tax revenue had come in from October sales. This was more than expected and, with the prospects of some new stores coming into the Hiwasse shopping center, he said he is optimistic about the future.
An ordinance was approved naming a new road which cuts North Mount Pleasant Road in half at the new highway interchange west of Hiwasse. The road was officially named the North Mount Pleasant Access Road.
A vote on the proposed contract with Morrison-Shipley engineering firm for sewer-system upgrades was tabled until the January meeting.
Ordinance No. 13-16 was approved approving a lot split for land just south of the hospital at the intersection of Limekiln Road and Saunders Lane.
Proposed changes to the Police Department section of the employee handbook regarding vacation and comp time were approved.
At the conclusion of the meeting councilman Terry King commended all employees at City Hall who had worked so hard revising and compiling figures and making them available through the budget sessions. City attorney David Bailey said he had served as city attorney for a year now. He thanked the city for the good working relationship and said he looked forward to working with the two new council members.
Community on 01/01/2014