Blytheville CFO John Callens read a letter from Blytheville city attorney Chris Brown concerning what the Finance Committee needed to look at regarding the ANC water well issue.
The letter reads, "In regards to our conversation earlier today, I would recommend that if the Finance Committee chooses to move forward with the ANC water deal that they decide the parameters of what type of deal they want i.e. amount proposed to buy the well for, amount of time that the city wants to pay it over and allow myself and the Municipal League attorneys to draft a proposed agreement that I can send back to the finance committee for its review at next month’s finance meeting before anything is sent to full council," Callens said while reading the letter.
Councilwoman Barbara Brothers asked that if the college decides to expand further and the fire suppression well is not adequate for the next expansion, is the city obligated to pay for the next system. Callens responded that if the city purchases then they could possibly add more pipe to the system.
"These are some of the things that (Chris Brown) is going to hash out with the Municipal League and like I said then it will be brought back to this committee next month and y’all can decide whether you agree with it, disagree with it or whatever. Tonight you need to decide, one, if you are going to do it and if you are going to do it, how much you are going to do it and if you agree on it, if it is anything, the number of years that you are going to do it," Callens said.
Brothers stated that the city was setting itself up for an expense that was going to spiral out of control. Councilman Matt Perrin also stated that because KIPP was brought up several times during the Utilities meeting that he spoke with KIPP's finance department about the planning of the new gym and KIPP's engineers stated that the school would need to construct a $150,000 well system and there was never any notion that the city would pay for that expense.
"KIPP and Primary are public schools, the college is private, you pay to go to school at the college, it is not something that is given. Where Dr. Shemwell brought up if we do for the Primary and we do for KIPP, they are going to sue, but the college is an entity or a program that you have to pay to attend. It is not a public school system, it is a private college that you pay to go to…we really need to think about this, we really do," Brothers said.
Councilwoman Vera James asked if the city had any negotiations between the college and the city before the well was constructed where the college asked the city to reimburse them for the well. Brothers stated that the first meeting that she went to was in March 2017 where the city and the college reviewed three options for fire suppression that included cost sharing between ANC and the city of Blytheville, with the city being in the low end of the cost; however, the college eventually decided to go with the well system without the input of the city.
"So, Councilwoman James, I think to your question, it never came to Utilities Committee, it never came to Finance Committee, and it never came to the full council," Perrin said.
Finance committee chairman John Musgraves responded, "Now it is here and now we need to make a decision. There was three things on the table that ANC can convey the well over to us, or the $217,000 in a payment of over five years…I think what I would like to do is make a motion to pay this payment in two payments. Instead of prolonging it over a five-year period, we write them a check of $217,000 in two payments."
"Where do you justify that?" Brothers asked.
"I justify that, well it is the right thing to do for our city and I'm making that motion," Musgraves replied.
Brothers asked if the city was going to pay for the next well that needed to come in and Musgraves responded that the city would cross that bridge when they get there.
After much discussion between the committee, which consists of Musgraves, James, and Perrin, Perrin eventually stated that Musgraves would not receive a second from him, so it was essentially up to James. She eventually decided not to vote, feeling that she needed more information on the issue before making a decision.
Callens also mentioned to the committee that a slight error had come up concerning a recent purchase that the city had made. Last month, the city approved a lease/purchase of a roll-off truck.
"He told us he could get the Freightliner to us, like, in May, well come to find out he can't. He said that it would be third quarter, like, probably sometime in October before he could get it to us…He said, ‘Well, I can get you a Western Star and it can be here in May.' I used to own a trucking company, so I did know the difference…The Western Star and the Freightliner are both made by Chrysler and it is almost like on a Lincoln and a Ford, they are both made by Ford, but the Lincoln is a higher-end car. The Western Star is the same way, really it is a more expensive vehicle, but they told us because it is their mistake, they will give us the Western Star for the exact same price," Callens said.
He continued that the only reason he had to come before the committee is that the resolution for the purchase says "Freightliner", so the committee has to approve the change to the new truck. The committee approved the change.
The committee also approved to restructure the budget for the Ritz to a budget of $45,700. The budget includes money for a salary for a city employee to be director of the Ritz, utilities, maintenance and repair, etc. The board also approved a request to match Nucor-Yamato Steel’s $10,000 matching grant for an exhibit at the Delta Gateway Museum.