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The Eureka Springs City Council officially has a vacancy.
At its Oct. 24 meeting, the council unanimously approved a motion to declare a vacancy for the Ward 1, Position 2 seat previously held by Nick Roberts.
Roberts, whose name wasn’t mentioned during the meeting, last attended a council meeting on Aug. 22.
“The council needs to declare a vacancy, and then at our next meeting, we can select a new applicant or a new person to fulfill that seat,” Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry said.
According to Arkansas Code 14-43-411:“Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of council member in a city of the first class having a population of less than 20,000 according to the most recent federal decennial census, at the first regular meeting after the occurrence of the vacancy, the city council shall proceed to elect by a majority vote of the remaining members elected to the council a council member to serve for the unexpired term.
“However, at least a quorum of the whole number of the city council shall remain in order to fill a vacancy.
“The election by the remaining members of the city council is not subject to veto by the mayor.
“The person elected by the council shall be a resident of the ward where the vacancy occurs at the time of the vacancy.”
Roberts was selected on Nov. 8, 2021 to fill the seat vacated by Laura Jo Smole.
David Avanzino is running unopposed for the Position 2 seat in the Nov. 8 election but won’t officially take the seat until January.
Smole is running against council member Autumn Slane for the Ward 1, Position 1 seat.
CAPC CHANGE
Roberts’ spot as a council representative on the City Advertising and Promotion Commission was also resolved with a vote to have longtime council member and former CAPC commissioner Terry McClung takeover the position.
Council member Melissa Greene nominated Mc-Clung to fill the role.
“I’d like to go ahead and discuss adding someone tonight from our pool here and get them on there,” Greene said. “There’s a meeting on Wednesday and we have three good candidates, Bill, Terry and Harry and I would be happy with any of them.”
Greene then nominated Mc-Clung, noting he is running unopposed for re-election for his city council seat.
“If he accepts and we vote him on, I would like the continuity of having him on next year,” Greene said.
Slane seconded Greene’s motion, and after discussion of McClung’s availability, the council approved it 4-0.
In other CAPC-related business, Berry announced that Kyle Christopher, who was nominated by the CAPC to fill the seat recently vacated by James DeVito, has withdrawn his application for the commission.
APPROVALS
In other council business, a resolution was unanimously approved to waive competitive bidding and approve the purchase of a new snowplow truck for a total cost of $88,279.
“It’s brand-new and the money is coming out of street funds and street funds has it, so I would say it’s time to pull the trigger,” McClung said.
The Ford F550 will be purchased from Olathe Ford in Olathe, Kan., for $56,250. In addition, the council approved the city spending $32,029 for the the truck to be outfitted with an 11-foot dump bed, two-yard spreader and a nine-foot plow.
Berry said the city’s current equipment is in dire need of replacement.
“Actually, the one they have is dangerous,” the mayor said. “It’s not only falling apart … I mean, it’s hazardous to the employees and to the public. So, it’s time we do get a new truck.”
The council also approved on first and second readings an ordinance that swaps pieces of land along Main Street between the city and the Dortch family.
“The Dortches want to sell the old ice house and discovered that it sits in the middle of city property,” Berry said. “And so what they are proposing to do is to swap out land on the basically the west side of the property for the land on the east side.
“As we all know, city streets don’t always follow the property lines in Eureka Springs and the city street was put in and I guess just kind of ignored the property lines or whatever. So this would clear up that up.”
McClung agreed. “I think this cleans this up good for them and it has no negative impact on the city as well,” he said. “So I see no reason why we can’t facilitate this this swap.”
Berry also told the council that Kyle Palmer has been selected to replace Kylee Hevrdejs as the city’s planning director and historic preservation officer.
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