Two of the most exciting parts of the Board of Directors meeting this Tuesday all happened before the meeting got into any of its regularly scheduled events.
To open the meeting, Mayor John Mark Turner read a proclamation honoring Bobby Norwood for his achievements in the Boy Scouts of America, his church, the community and his academic and athletic achievements that led to him being accepted into West Point Military Academy.
Police Chief Jim Wilmeth followed the proclamation with the issuance of a Meritorious Service Award to Capt. Monty Balk, who is retiring at the end of the month. Wilmeth gave Balk a pin and a flag, both of which he said were the first of their type awarded in Siloam Springs.
Of the agenda items presented Tuesday night, the one that stirred some controversy was the single ordinance on the docket. The ordinance concerns the parks in Siloam Springs and drew criticism from most of the assembled directors.
Much of the criticism was due to the fact that the ordinance, if passed, will require parks to close between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. Karl Mounger, who serves as the chair for the Planning and Zoning commission, spoke during the public comments portion of the debate and said he would hate to see parks like the Kayak Park and City Lake close to early or late fishers.
Director Scott Jones said he didn't like some of the definitions. As it stood on its first reading, Jones said the trail system in Siloam Springs would be included under the umbrella of "parks" and would therefore close as well. Jones also said he didn't want to see the waterways close.
"I would hate to see it close for people who are that ambitious," he said.
Director Steve Beers said he would like to see some signs that discouraged smoking around children. Director Amy Smith said she felt like since this was outside, the rights of the smokers had to be upheld.
The board also:
• held a workshop on a survey of needed improvements to the water treatment plant. Altogether, the improvements that were identified by the consultants added up to around $24 million. City staff is working on a strategy to spread the cost out.
• approved the purchase of three different police vehicles. The vehicles were a Dodge Charger Pursuit, a Ford Interceptor and a Ford Explorer Interceptor. The variety of vehicles is to give the Siloam Springs Police Department an idea of what will be their new standard vehicle now that Ford no longer makes their police Crown Victoria.
• approved a bid to provide insurance for the city from Moss Insurance. The bid was not the lowest bid, but Finance Director Christina Petriches said it offered better coverage. The alternative insurance would replace items at a depreciated value and would not cover documents. Moss' bid included document protection and full value replacement.
• condemned a house that was rendered irreparable by a fire over a year ago.
• held an executive session that led to the approval of a new fire chief. The hiring is covered in more detail in another story in this paper.
General News on 06/26/2016