Discussion became heated during the Tuesday night meeting of Gosnell's City Council, regarding Mayor Don Marshall's decision to cut the $225 per month paid by the city to code enforcement officer Royce Carpenter for inspection of sewers.
The money, which Marshall called an entitlement gratuity check, came from the city's sewer budget.
Marshall said he was simply trying to "meet the budget," and that Carpenter's official job description with the city did not include the work with the sewer system for which he had been receiving payment.
Council member Tammie Fulks questioned the mayor's judgment, saying, "You appear to be all about saving money, and you take a city vehicle away from code enforcement, but you let a city mechanic take a city vehicle home."
Fulks went on to say she had seen the city vehicle carrying a four-wheeler, and questioned whether it was being used for personal reasons in addition to official ones.
"It just appears to me," she continued, "like you pick and choose where to make cuts, and call it saving money for the city."
Councilman Eric Blunt told Fulks the city mechanic in question kept the vehicle because he was on call in case repairs were needed with city sewer pumps.
Several members of the council requested an executive session for discussion of the matter, but Marshall denied the request, reading for the group the applicable section of law from the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act which describes specific permissable reasons for an executive session, under which the city's attorney agreed the discussion did not fall.
Also discussed was the city's sewer contract with the city of Dell. The council passed a motion to start a new 10-year contract with Dell, in which Dell will pay the city of Gosnell $600 per month for sewer services.
Blunt brought up that for the past 15 years, the city's contract with Dell had called for a monthly payment of $550, and the city never received more than $500 per month. It was his feeling that, for this reason, the new charge should be more than $600. Blunt also said he would like the minutes to show that during the meeting of the street and sewer committee, in which he argued this point "passionately," Reams told him that he smelled like beer and acted as though he had been drinking, after which he volunteered for a blood alcohol test that showed no alcohol in his system.
Reams stood by her statements, that Blunt did act the way that she described, and said that she did not apologize for them.
In other business, the council tabled an ordinance governing yard sales in the community, until further clarification could be added to the wording regarding vendor sales. Also discussed was the need for an ordinance to cover the maintenance of grounds in commercial zones within the city, after concerns were raised by a citizen about an overgrown area near Gate 3 on Airbase Highway, which is being used to farm hay.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com