Eureka Springs council makes more changes to proposed tree ordinance

The Eureka Springs City Council has added more specifics to a proposed revision of the city’s tree ordinance.

At its regular meeting held Monday, Sept. 11, the council voted unanimously to approve the second reading of an ordinance that sets out guidelines when it comes to the removal of trees.

Amended from the first reading were specific amounts of fines for those who violate the ordinance.

The original proposed ordinance included a fee of $50 for illegally removing a “small” tree, $150 for removing a “large” tree and $200 for removing a “heritage” tree.

“It really speaks to, if I have money, I can cut down a big tree, pay $200 and that’s all there’s done to it,” council member Steve Holifield said.

Holifield made a motion to take the original amounts and “multiply by 10,” while also including that a tree replacement also be required.

In the end, however, the council amended Holifield’s motion to increase the original amounts by five times to $250 for a small tree, $750 for a large tree and $1,000 for a heritage tree.

The third and final vote on the proposed ordinance likely will happen at the council’s next meeting on Monday, Sept. 25.

OTHER BUSINESS

The council got an update on the ongoing progress by the outside company brought in to help detect water leaks around the city.

Council member Terry McClung read an update provided by Simon Wiley, the city’s public works director, going over a number of leaks that were detected and repaired.

The detection company is “still working to identify more possible leaks but stated they should be done by the end of the week,” Mc-Clung reported. “I’ve seen their trucks and it’s great because I see a lot of repairs being done. Progress is being made.”

The council also got a year-to-date report from Jacob Coburn, the city’s building inspector and code enforcement officer.

Coburn reported that as of Sept. 11, he has issued 262 building permits that have created a revenue for his department of $41,858.62.

“It’s been a busy year,” Coburn said

BUDGET WORKSHOP

The council heard a report from city finance director Michael Akins on the city’s mid-year budget review.

“We had originally said that our total revenue of all of our funds is going to be $14,445,000 and our expenditures were going to be $14,042,000 so we were going to be operating at a clear of $403,000,” Akins told council members. “With the adjustments that we have made we have increased our revenue streams and we have increased our expenditures, but we’re still showing a $412,000 increase. So overall, the adjustments we made to the budget … there wasn’t a significant impact on the budget.”

When looking over the budget, council members questioned many expenses by the Eureka Springs Police Department, most notably a $13,000 expenditure for a “sniper rife,” “three flashlights for $580” and “two pairs of shoes for $342.”

“$13,000 for an assault rife in this town, especially after what we’ve dealt with at this table over the last month, is honestly an outrage,” Slane said.

In reference to the expenditure for shoes, council member Harry Meyer said: “These are just sneakers, these … aren’t boots or whatever. I looked them up … it’s just no different than my New Balance, except they might be a certain color or something.”

Approving the midyear budget review was tabled and the council wants to have a workshop before its next meeting to discuss issues with ESPD chief Brian Young.

“I think we need to talk to the police chief,” Meyer said. “I want to find out why he can justify this.”