During a special meeting on Monday, the Blytheville City Council adopted two ordinances and passed a resolution to amend the 2017 city budget, all with emergency clauses for immediate effect. The ordinances waived the bidding process and authorized the payments for a roof installation of the Regal Beloit/Magnetek Building and the purchase of a 2012 Caterpillar backhoe loader for the Public Works Department. The budget amendment reflected expenditure and revenue increases for the installation and equipment purchase.
The first ordinance the council addressed was the authorization to pay for a roof installation of the Regal Beloit/Magnetek Building. According to the ordinance, the roof suffered extensive damages from strong winds on April 30. The cost of repair is set at $551,138 and will be performed by Quality Roofing Contractors of Senath, Missouri. The motion to adopt the ordinance was set by Councilman R.L. Jones and was seconded by Councilman John Musgraves. The council unanimously passed the ordinance.
The second ordinance authorized the payment and purchase of a new backhoe loader due to a recent fire loss of the public work’s 2009 Caterpillar Backhoe Loader. The ordinance states that J.A. Riggs Tractor Company of Little Rock can supply a 2012 420F 4AE model for $61,275. Musgraves made a motion for adoption and Jones seconded. Again, the council unanimously adopted the ordinance.
Mayor James Sanders then directed the council’s attention to the resolution to amend the city’s 2017 budget to reflect revenue from insurance for damage to the regal building and the loader equipment as well as expenses to repair and replaces these items. Jones moved for adoption and the committee passed the resolution.
The special meeting was then adjourned. Before the special meeting however, the Public Works Committee met to discuss the backhoe loader replacement, which was followed by a meeting by the Finance and Purchasing Committee to discuss the roof replacement.
The Public Works Committee heard from Director Mark Key. According to Key, he shopped around for the replacement of the loader and chose to pursue J.A. Riggs Tractor Co. because of lower pricing and a two-year warranty option for the purchase of the used equipment. He said that the main issue was that the air conditioning box was no longer functioning inside of the cab.
“It’s the same [equipment] we had,” Key said. “Everything is identical, except the air conditioner works on this one.”
Key said that the tractor is in Jonesboro and can be delivered to the city on Thursday.
Councilman L.C. Hartsfield also reminded the committee that the lease to the street sweeper runs out at the end of June and that action would need to be taken by the next committee meeting. Key reminded the council that due the recent storms, public works employees have worked overtime and that the budget for tipping fees will be “out of whack.” Councilman Stan Parks asked questions regarding reduced tipping fees due to the use of the burn box.
“They (could) be reduced, but there’s so much damage. So much wood [fencing] and people haven’t jumped on board yet about separating [their trash]… they’re still taking the trees, and the fences, and the boxes, and mattresses, and mixing it all together and I don’t have the time to sit there and pick through it to get the brush out of it,” Keys explained.
Keys stressed that citizens of the city should remember to separate things like damaged couches and mattresses from branches and brush to make things run smoother and quicker for the city.
In other business Chief Financial Officer John Callens addressed the Finance and Purchasing Committee meeting and got right to discussing payments for the public works request for the backhoe loader. He said that the city received an insurance check of $47,666.67.
“The amount was $48,666, but we had a $1,000 deductible so $47,666.67 is the amount of the check that we received. [The equipment purchase cost] is $61,275, so what will need to be done is approximately $13,700 will be needed to be utilized out of the surplus which the Street [Department] had almost a $300,000 surplus going into the beginning of the year. So they have adequate funding to purchase this” Callens explained.
He concluded that the Street Department would need to increase their budget for the insurance revenue by $47,666.67, the use of street fund surplus by $13,700 and equipment replacement by $61,275.
Callens addressed another budget adjustment for general administration.
He said, “Remember, last month we made an adjustment to the budget based on the damage to the Magnetek building… we do have a final bill in. All these [expenses] have been approved by the insurance adjusters. We’re waiting on a check from them also. The total amount was about $511,112.45.”
He emphasized that though the bill for the repair is steep, the city will not suffer a large financial loss.
“It still will not cost the city anymore than the $10,000 deductible. This is just additional money that is going to be paid by the insurance company, because here again, they deemed it as an emergency,” Callens said.
Callens said that the budget for general administration would have to reflect an increase for building repair expenses by $150,941 as well as an increase in insurance revenue for the same amount.