Directors to review amendments, budgets Tuesday

n An amendment allowing Sunday sales of beer is on the agenda.

The city's board of directors will place on its second reading an amendment to the municipal code that would allow for the Sunday sale of beer during its meeting Tuesday.

The amendment would allow small breweries, nano breweries and microbrewery restaurants operating in accordance with state law to sell "beer, malt beverages, and hard cider for off-premise consumption on any day of the week during all legal operating hours."

Directors will also place on its first reading an ordinance that will adopt safety standards and minimum regulations manuals at the Siloam Springs Municipal Airport. According to a city staff report, the safety standards manual was created "to provide airport users with documents representing a compilation of rules, regulations, standards, and general information governing their activities at the airport." The same report read the minimum regulations manual was created "to ensure that entities that have been approved to provide commercial aeronautical services are not exposed to unfair or irresponsible competition."

City staff, City Administrator Phillip Patterson, City Attorney Jay Williams and Siloam Springs' aviation consulting engineer, Garver Engineering, have been working in conjunction since October 2018 to host public input meetings and craft what will become the final draft of the manuals.

In other business, the board will also:

• Review a contract between Johnson Construction and the city's electric department to fully enclose the department's truck shed for $71, 065.50. Larger bucket trucks are currently stored in the building, but because it's not fully enclosed, birds are able to nest in equipment and cause the trucks to fail dielectric insulation tests. The project was originally estimated to cost $80,000. The remaining $8,934.50 will be spent on dirt work and other interior improvements.

• Review a capital budget amendment for the city's public works department. The amendment will clarify that the department seeks to purchase a positive displacement blower, "used in the digestion process where the excess bacteria used from treatment are prepared for dewatering and ultimate landfilling," not a centrifugal blower, "used for the biological portion of the process where the treatment of wastewater occurs," according to a staff report.

• Review the purchase of a John Deere compact track loader from Stribling Equipment for $84,720.19 for the city's public works department, street division. The anticipated purchase is expected to replace a 1995 Bobcat 853H skid steer. According to a staff report, there's currently $90,000 budgeted for the purchase.

General News on 06/16/2019