Fayetteville City Council recap: Sept. 19, 2023

Council action

Approved

• Changes to water and sewer rates.
• Rezoning 20.23 acres on Truckers Drive.
• Raising the compensation cap on some types of damage claims from broken water lines.
• A property vacation request on Shiloh Drive.
• Formal establishment of the Fire Department.
• Rezoning 1.34 acres on Huntsville Road.

Denied

• Applying for a PRO Housing grant from HUD.
• Paying for an additional on-demand service route through Ozark Regional Transit as a pilot program.

» Download the agenda (PDF)

Background:
This ordinance would make the recommended changes to the city’s water and sewer rates as discussed in the public hearing on tonight’s agenda.

The changes would apply to water and sewer customers who live outside the city limits. Rates would stay the same for those whose addresses are inside the city limits.

July 19 Discussion:
Paul Becker, the city’s chief financial officer, asked that the ordinance be tabled to allow time to meet with Farmington city leaders to negotiate a new contract. He requested the item be held until Dec. 6.

Mayor Jordan said he would also like to table the item to allow time to make some changes to the recommendations. The council agreed and voted unanimously to table it.

Dec. 6 Discussion:
Paul Becker, the city’s chief financial officer, asked that the ordinance be tabled to allow more time to negotiate with Farmington city leaders on a new contract. He requested the item be held until March 7, 2023. The council agreed and voted unanimously to table it.

March 7 Discussion:
Paul Becker, the city’s chief financial officer, asked that the ordinance be tabled until April 18, 2023. Becker said staff needs more time, partly because they’re still negotiating with Farmington city leaders. The council agreed and voted unanimously to table it.

April 18 Discussion:
Paul Becker, the city’s chief financial officer, asked that the ordinance be tabled until May 16, 2023. Becker said staff needs more time with the proposal. The council agreed and voted unanimously to table it.

May 16 Discussion:
Paul Becker, the city’s chief financial officer, asked that the ordinance be tabled until July 18, 2023. Becker said staff needs more time with the proposal. The council agreed and voted unanimously to table it.

July 18 Discussion:
Paul Becker, the city’s chief financial officer, asked that the ordinance be tabled until Aug. 15, 2023. Becker said staff needs more time with the proposal. The council agreed and voted unanimously to table it.

Aug. 15 Discussion:
Heith Caudle, mayor of West Fork, said he’s against the proposal since the sewer rate changes will have a major affect on West Fork residents.

Elkins Mayor Troy Reed agreed with Caudle and said it feels like their cities are being punished for being wholesale customers of Fayetteville’s water services.

Several residents from West Fork spoke and said they don’t want to see a significant increase in their monthly bills.

Anna White with Black & Veatch said her team today reevaluated the sewer rate estimations for West Fork and it’s possible the actual increases would be lower for some – possibly in the 10-12% range.

Because some new information was presented tonight during the public hearing portion of the agenda, city staff recommend this item be tabled until some new increase estimations can be provided for consideration.

The council voted 7-0 to table the item until Sept. 19.

Sept. 19 Discussion:
The council amended the ordinance to include rates that are lower for some in West Fork, as presented at the Aug. 15 meeting.

Heith Caudle, mayor of West Fork, said he appreciates the council considering his concerns and approving rates that were slightly lower than what was originally approved, but he’s still not completely happy with the change.

Residents in West Fork and Elkins would have the highest monthly increase under the proposed new rates since those cities purchase water wholesale from Fayetteville and send their sewage to be treated in Fayetteville. The industrial rates, which affect eight customers in Fayetteville, would have the next highest increase. Monthly bills for all other residential and business customers – both inside and outside of Fayetteville’s city limits – would not see any significant increase.

Decision:
The council voted 7-0 to approve the ordinance.

Background:
This property is in north Fayetteville between Highway 112 and Deane Solomon Road, and contains one parcel originally part of the Park West residential planned zoning district. That district was a mixed-use development approved by the council in 2006, but it expired in 2011 after no development had occurred on the property, which is now effectively without a zoning designation. The Park West development was originally planned on about 140 acres, but much of the original RPZD has been rezoned since the original approval expired. This request includes areas currently developed with a church to the north and a retirement home to the south. This item would rezone 20.2 acres of the remaining 59.6 acres of the remaining RPZD.

Staff said the request is compatible with the surrounding area, because it’s adjacent to residential properties of mixed densities to the west and south, with a commercial property to the north and another parcel with the existing RPZD zoning to the east. In fact, staff have previously recommended the property be rezoned to Community Services, which has no density cap, whereas the requested district has a cap of 18 units per acre.

Both city staff and the Planning Commission recommend in favor of the request.

Location:

Aug. 15 Discussion:
One person spoke in favor of the request and one spoke against. A third said the Environmental Action Committee should be given time to review the application before a decision is made.

The council left the item on the first reading. The discussion will continue on Sept. 5.

Sept. 5 Discussion:
The Environmental Action Committee submitted a report about the property. See it here.

Bunch said the proposed zoning is appropriate for the area. Berna agreed.

Turk said she’d prefer a less dense zoning like one of the city’s agricultural districts.

The council left the item on the second reading. The discussion will continue on Sept. 19.

Sept. 19 Discussion:
Several people spoke against the proposal, and at least one person spoke in favor.

Turk said she believes, if approved, development of the area would be detrimental to Wilson Springs, so she won’t support the request.

“This would be upzoning in a very sensitive area of our city,” said Turk.

Decision:
The council voted 6-1 to approve the ordinance. Turk voted against.

Background:
City staff said the exact creation of the Fire Department is not well documented, and appears to have been done in a somewhat informal process sometime around 1869. The City Clerk’s office has not found any document formally establishing the department, so city staff have proposed the City Council do so tonight. The formal document, staff said, will aid in achieving the necessary performance indicators required for accreditation by the Center for Public Safety Exchange.

Discussion:
There was no public comment.

Decision:
The council advanced the ordinance to the third reading, and voted 7-0 to approve it.

Background:
This item comes after a recent issue when a resident’s property was damaged by a water line break, and the cost to repair the damage was higher than the city’s payment cap of $50,000.

Councilmember Berna is sponsoring the proposal, which would raise the cap to $100,000 for ruptures in water lines that are 36 inches or larger since those can cause significantly greater property damage than small breaks.

The proposal recommends the use of a contracted insurance adjuster for damages that could exceed $50,000. The change would relieve the homeowner from having to obtain three quotes from contractors before compensation could be given. It would also save staff time, according to a memo from City Attorney Kit Williams. The City Council would still retain its discretion whether to grant any compensation, and to decide how much compensation is proper.

Discussion:
There was no public comment.

Decision:
The council advanced the ordinance to the third reading, and voted 7-0 to approve it.

Background:
Councilmember Moore attempted to walk this item onto the agenda at the previous City Council meeting, but it failed to be added by a 4-2 vote. The item needed six affirmative votes to be added to the agenda. Hertzberg and Berna voted against. Jones was absent for the meeting.

If approved, the mayor would be authorized to apply for a PRO Housing grant from HUD for up to $4 million.

The grant program is designed to help communities remove barriers to affordable housing such as those caused by outdated zoning districts, land use policies or regulations. Other barriers include inefficient procedures, gaps in resources for development, inadequate infrastructure, lack of neighborhood amenities and increasing threats from natural hazards, redevelopment pressures or expiration of affordability requirements.

Grant winners can use the money to further develop, evaluate and implement housing policy plans, improve housing strategies and facilitate affordable housing production and preservation.

Fayetteville’s proposed use of the funds includes hiring seven staff members who would be paid between $75,000-$100,000 per year for periods between 2-5 years each (see chart below).

The City Council has received a handout describing the eligible activities that Fayetteville could use the new staffers for (see below).

Discussion:
Moore said the city would have less than a month to get a proposal finalized to meet the required public comment period of 15 days before the application is due on Oct. 30.

She presented several slides outlining the proposal. We’re including those here:

Jonathan Curth, the city’s development services director, said it’s a very large program with a lot of opportunity, but it also comes with many requirements and hurdles. Curth said city staff have a lot of concerns – mostly that the proposal has no clear project definition, but also that the city might not qualify or could be at a disadvantage for a variety of reasons. With the tight timeline, Curth said he’s not sure it’s possible to get a plan in place before the Oct. 10 date to have the proposal completed for public comment.

Several people spoke in favor of the resolution and said while it may be difficult to put together a plan, the city should at least try. Many said they’d help with the proposal or know people who would like to help.

Jones said he’s in favor and will help work on the grant if he can.

Wiederkehr said he likes the program. As for residents helping with the proposal, he said as much as everyone wants to volunteer, city staff are the ones who will have to put in the work.

Hertzberg said she’ll side with city staff and vote against the resolution.

Bunch said it’s a big concern that a clear definition doesn’t exist for the project, but she’s on the fence about the idea because she wants to believe that the city should at least give it a shot.

Berna said on the surface the resolution looks like a no-brainer because the city clearly has a housing crisis. He said the grant program itself is a great idea, but after listening to the concerns of staff, he thinks there’s too much working against the city to shift people to this project without a clearly defined plan.

Turk said she also knows there’s a housing crisis, but she’s not sure it’s wise to pull city staff away from their other duties to quickly put together a plan that would need to be very carefully vetted before it’s submitted, especially knowing there’s a chance the city could be at a disadvantage.

“I just can’t support this in good conscience,” said Turk.

Mayor Jordan said he thinks it’s a good program, but he doesn’t have the staff to take on the proposal. He said the housing crisis is a longterm problem that should be addressed by clearly defined objectives, and not by diverting staff to a last-minute proposal.

Decision:
The council voted 4-3 in favor of the proposal, but it needed five affirmative votes to pass. Mayor Jordan declined to cast a vote in favor, so the resolution failed. Bunch, Jones, Moore and Wiederkehr voted in favor. Berna, Hertzberg and Turk voted against.

Background:
The property is located south of Mount Comfort Road here Shiloh Drive dead ends. A large-scale development for a multi-family housing project was approved for the property by the Planning Commission earlier this year. The applicant said the easement is required to be vacated so that the development project can continue.

City staff recommend approval of the vacation request, with a condition that a dedication of additional right of way sufficient for the Shiloh Trail be made on the approved associated development plans.

Location:

Discussion:
There was no public comment.

Decision:
The council advanced the ordinance to the third reading, and voted 7-0 to approve it.

Background:
The property is in south Fayetteville along Huntsville Road. The southern portion of the property is currently developed with a single-family home, and on the north side of the property is an accessory structure containing an apartment and carport/workshop.

Both city staff and the Planning Commission recommend approval of the request.

Location:

Discussion:
Bob Stafford and Evelyn Rios Stafford, who live near the property, spoke in favor of the request.

Decision:
The council advanced the ordinance to the third reading, and voted 7-0 to approve it.

Background:
This item was brought forward by Councilmember Moore. It would requests that the mayor modify the city’s current contract with Ozark Regional Transit to establish an additional on-demand transit service for South Fayetteville beginning Oct. 1 as a pilot program. The proposal would require an additional $76,380 to pay for the service.

Discussion:
Several people spoke in favor of the proposal.

Berna suggested tabling the resolution until after the ORT board can meet and discuss the proposal. He said some ORT board members have said they’re hesitant to expand the service without having a solution on how to manage it. Moore asked how soon the service could be implemented if the item is tabled until the next board meeting. Ozark Regional Transit’s executive director Joel Gardner said it would be Q1 2024 if the decision is held until the next meeting.

Berna said if the vote happens tonight, he’ll vote against, but he’d be happy to consider ways in which the plan could be implemented after the board has discussed it. Turk agreed.

Moore said she wants to vote tonight.

Decision:
The resolution failed 1-5. Berna, Bunch, Turk, Hertzberg and Wiederkehr voted against. Moore voted in favor. Jones was absent during the vote.