Baxter County Friends of the Taxpayers

MEETING NOTES

BAXTER COUNTY FRIENDS OF THE TAXPAYERS

SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2005

BCFT Director Frank Kaye called the meeting to order at 1:05 pm in the Fellowship Hall of Redeemer Lutheran Church. Eighteen members were present. Treasurer Ken Blade gave the monthly report: balance as of the last meeting was $353.43; plus two deposits made since then ($10 donation + $25 "pass the bucket" collection at the end of last meeting); minus one check written ($7.50 for hall rental for June meeting); minus $10 monthly checking account maintenance fee. Balance as of July 30, 2005, is $370.93.

Old Business -- City committee meetings: Our presence at committee meetings continues to make a difference. We have volunteers signed up to monitor the following meetings: Parks & Rec -- 1st Thursday, 5:00 pm; Streets -- 2nd Tuesday, 11 am; Public Safety -- 3rd Tuesday, 4:00 pm; Water & Sewer -- 3rd Thursday, 4:00 pm. There's always room for more! If one of these subjects is of interest to you, please take the time to sit in on the meetings. Generally speaking, they are held in Council chambers at City Hall, but occasionally are held elsewhere; it's a good idea to call City Hall (425-5116) a day or two in advance and confirm the time and place. All committee meetings are open to the public, and if you have something to say, you can speak up.

Old Business -- BCFT banner: Banner is on order at Lewis Sign & Neon. It should be ready within the next couple of weeks; cost will be $105 plus tax. Treasurer Ken Blade volunteered to be contact person and will pick up the banner when it is ready. A proof of the design was passed around.

Old Business -- Restrooms for the Soccer Complex: Rob Welch and Jerry Caster were both absent today, so this subject will carry over to the next meeting. Question was raised again about the paving job at the Complex (access road and parking lots were paved in a cooperative effort between the city, county, and Game & Fish Commission). Frank said that it would be at the top of our list of things to investigate this fall .

Old Business -- Water rate hike update: Frank said that several people who were unhappy with the outcome of the water rate hike negotiations have approached him. He explained that BCFT got as much out the City Council as possible. The council simply would not budge on several issues (primarily monthly minimums and charging out-of-city customers double), but we did come away with these concessions: the rate increase was reduced from 3 years to 1 year with annual reviews thereafter; the $15 million bond was taken out of the picture (the city is still planning to refinance $9 million in bonds to get lower interest rates); and the 25-cent monthly SWA fee was taken out of the calculations (it can only be changed by the State).

Frank brought up the legal notice that appeared in Thursday's Baxter Bulletin, which shows the revenue, expenditures and balance for January through June of this year for the Water & Sewer Dept., Street Dept., City Sales Tax, County Sales Tax, General Fund, Breathalyzer Fund, and Criminal Justice Fund. The numbers shown for the Water & Sewer Department don't come close to resembling the numbers that Garver Engineers used to base their suggested rate increases on; another issue to look into.

Fred Lakes asked whether we had been able to find out about the Water Dept.'s capital improvement fund. Frank told him that fund is the "depreciation" fund, which had a balance a couple of months ago of $508,000. The city deposits about $13,000 per month into that account, though to fund it completely they should be depositing around $40,000 per month. The water rate hike, which goes into effect in October, should make up much of that shortfall.

Old Business -- Booth at the fair: Suzan reported that Paula Bailey, the contact person for the County Fair, said there is a long waiting list for booths this year, and that our odds of being able to get one are pretty slim. She recommended calling back after the first of the year and getting on the list early for next year. Frank pointed out that next year would probably be the better time to be at the fair, anyway, since it is an election year.

Old Business -- Participation in the fair parade (Wednesday, September 14): Consensus is still that being in the parade would be a good thing for the organization. Chuck Barnes and Jay Schapiro know the owner of the Baxter Inn, who has a '56 T-Bird; they think she might allow us to "borrow" it for the parade. Another suggestion was to get a trailer to pull behind a pick-up, and build a frame to display our new banner; set up hay bales or chairs and have BCFT members ride the trailer and dispense candy to the kids along the way. Chuck said he has a truck and access to a trailer, so he'll take on the task of getting the frame ready for the banner. He also volunteered to oversee the details of getting organized for the parade, including finding out whether we need a permit. Jim Bond will get price quotes for magnetic signs to put on the doors of the vehicle used in the parade.

Old Business -- BCFT shirts: Suzan presented the final results of the search for BCFT shirts. The decision was made to go with Oxford Cloth button-down shirts from the Mar-Bax Shirt Factory Warehouse in Gassville --lots of sizes and colors to pick from, priced at $5 for ladies and $6.50 for men. Logos will be imprinted by The Shirt Shop on Highway 5 North, for an extra $4 per shirt. (Details on separate sheet.) These can be ready in time for the parade.

T-shirts will also be available (also through The Shirt Shop); orders will be collected separately for the next 5-6 weeks, and turned in about September 15. These shirts will also be offered for sale to the public as a fundraising project in late September. Prices for BCFT members and immediate family: sizes S-XL, $8; XXL, $9.50; and XXXL, $10.50. Prices for non-members will be: sizes S-XL, $10; XXL, $11.50; and XXXL, $12.50. (Order form on separate sheet.)

New Business -- Nominations for new Assistant Director: Frank called for nominations for a new Assistant Director; Rob Welch resigned last month for personal reasons. Carl Graves nominated Jim Bond and was seconded. Ed Schild nominated Chuck Barnes and was seconded. Both nominees went out into the hall while the votes were tallied. New Assistant Director will be Jim Bond.

New Business -- Ad in "Ozark Mountain News": Frank reported that he and Suzan had paid for an ad in the new local newspaper, started by BCFT member Catherine Abel, which is scheduled to come out the first week of August. The question was asked whether the group feels the exposure should be continued on a regular basis, and their response was yes. Ed Schild volunteered to pay for 3 months' worth of ads; Chuck Barnes sponsored one ad. Several members asked for Catherine's phone number to see if they could help her with distribution of the paper.

Items not on the agenda: Al Bradley asked how the mayor can get away with refusing to allow public input at City Council meetings. Frank explained that the AR Municipal League has defined 5 different type of meetings for city government officials:

• Regular council meetings -- to handle general and routine business;
• Special meetings -- for business that cannot be postponed, or issues that affect a limited number of citizens;
• Public hearings -- a forum for residents to express opinions and council members to explain their positions;
• Executive session -- only for the purpose of considering personnel issues; and
• Work session -- an informal meeting, generally called for the purpose of conducting an in-depth study on a limited number of topics.

All except the Executive Session must be open to the public. There is no constitutional guarantee that citizens must be allowed to speak at council meetings, so -- while we don't like it -- the mayor is acting within his rights to conduct the type of meeting he does. One of the other ARML documents we have, though, says that it "might be politically treacherous to forbid public comments" at council meetings, and suggests simply establishing "fair and impartial rules and applying them consistently, [to] enhance the value of public comments while minimizing potential disruption and unreasonably lengthy meetings."

The subject of the Baxter Bulletin was brought up -- they never printed any of the letters to the editor that were submitted on the water rate hike issue. Jim Bond recently sent a letter to the Gannett corporate office calling for the resignation of the BB publisher and city editor, and suggested that others do the same. The address is

Mr. Gary L. Watson, President
Gannett Newspaper Division
7950 Jones Branch Drive
McLean, VA 22107

One final item: Question -- should we cancel the August meeting? Consensus was yes, most everyone would either be out of town or occupied with company. It was decided that a special meeting would be called a few days before the Fair Parade to finalize preparations.

The next regular meeting will be held at 1 pm Saturday, September 24, at Redeemer Lutheran Church.