No more smoking, or using any tobacco products, inside or outside city buildings, or on or in city property. That's the basic gist behind an ordinance passed by the city council in a seven to one vote. The ordinance was sponsored by Council Member Joy Gray.
Gray says it's already illegal to smoke indoors under Arkansas's Clean Indoor Air Act passed in 2006. This ordinance expands upon that by including any city property and the use of tobacco based products.
"So not your house, not other businesses that are not owned by the city," Gray said. "So if the city owns it, you can't smoke, vape, or dip on it.
Expanding on the definition of city property Gray said, "So that means no more smoking in the doorway here (courtroom), right? Because we don't want people walking through secondhand smoke or vape, it's not safe. And it also would cut down on a lot of the litter and things that go on, especially in the parks."
"There's no reason for kids to be out playing on the playground and somebody standing out there smoking, right? Because if city owns that property, ultimately we're responsible for cleaning it up," Gray added. "So this is something that would hopefully cut down on waste."
The ordinance defines a tobacco product as, "[A] cigarette, cigar, snuff, chewing tobacco, dip, electronic cigarettes, vapes, vape liquids, or other preparations of pulverized tobacco, smoking tobacco, or tobacco/nicotine of any kind suitable for chewing, vaping or smoking or any article made of tobacco or tobacco substitute."
Smoking is described as, "[I]nhaling, exhaling, or carrying any lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, plant, or other combustible substance in any manner or in any form."
City property is defined as, "[A]ny property that is owned by the City of Alexander. This includes buildings, structures, equipment and all land."
That includes inside and outside city hall, the City Park, the two community centers, all of the former Human Development Center property including the housing units, and any and all city vehicles.
The ordinance also provides penalties, which include;
"A fine of twenty-five dollars ($25) plus court costs for the first offense."
"A fine of fifty dollars ($50) plus court costs for the second offense."
"A fine of one hundred dollars ($100) plus court costs for the third and subsequent offense."
Council Member Harold Timmerman objected to the city being able to tell him he can't smoke outside. Gray, who works for the State of Arkansas, said she has helped other municipalities write similar ordinances and said it is legal and not unconstitutional. She also added it's not discrimination because one, "Chooses to smoke."
To pass the ordinance required four separate votes. The first was to read the ordinance by title only rather than reading the entire ordinance. That required a two-thirds vote, The second was to suspend the required three readings of an ordinance, which again required a two-thirds vote. Then there was the vote to pass the ordinance, which only required a majority. And finally, a vote to approve the Emergency Clause to make the ordinance effective immediately, required a two-thirds vote.
During all four roll call votes the count was seven "Yes" and one "No" vote. Voting "Yes" were Joy Gray, Angela Griffin, Joe Pollard, Mitchell W. Smith, Tony Staton, Gina R Thomas, and Juanita Wilson. Harold Timmerman voted "No."
Signs to be placed in the various areas the ordinance will be enforced will be ordered and posted after they arrive. The sign will include the ordinance number.
Encouraging Arkansans to quit tobacco use is another one of Gray's duties with the state. She has provided city hall with information cards anyone can use to contact the Arkansas Health Department for more information on several programs designed to help people end their dependence on tobacco products.
In other news from the October 16 meeting:
Council appoints city attorney
" I was the Bryant City Attorney for seven years," he said. "I have been the Bauxite city attorney for the last four years."
Madison, "passed the bar in 2005. I was 11th in my class."
His other legal experience includes, "wrongful death, medical malpractice and complex litigation" including employment law.
Madison told council members he doesn't represent them or the mayor.
"I represent the city," he said. "My client is the city. I don't represent anyone of you and I am more than happy to tell each of you, all of you, all of you when I think something you're doing is improper. Now where this bus is going is ultimately a council, mayor decision."
"Because every elected position has a role to fill under state law and it lays out who's supposed to be in what lanes and doing what," he continued. "And I will let you know those are the lines. My job when I'm along this bus with you is to say there's a stop sign, there's a yellow line, there's a speed limit, there's a white line. And I'll tell you that."
Planning Commission Chairman under investigation
The letter, dated October 11, 2023, begins with a statement made by Huck after the October 10 planning meeting and then works backwards alleging other actions by Huck at previous meetings. Huck has been on the planning commission since this current commission was established in 2017. Prowse was appointed in 2018.
Council Member Joy Gray read the letter before discussion began. The complaint was added to the agenda under New Business earlier in the meeting.
The first complaint listed claims, "He has used disrespectful and sexist comments such as 'Maybe I'll try to learn female' at fellow female committee members."
This is in reference to the end of the October 10 meeting, when everyone was leaving. According to the Sign-in sheet Christopher Prowse was not present.
Other accusations include, "[W]hen he is passing out papers to women he will say 'here take this what's your name' while waving the papers in front of their faces of committee members that have been in that position for years."
"He will raise his voice, raise his arms, slam his hands, notebooks and papers while yelling insults if he doesn't get his way or his motives are questioned," Prowse claims.
In a six to two vote council members agreed to have Madison investigate the allegations. Voting "Yes" were Joy Gray, Angela Griffin, Tony Staton, Gina R Thomas, Harold Timmerman, and Juanita Wilson. Voting "No" were Joe Pollard and Mitchell W. Smith. Wilson is a member of the planning commission.
Reports:
Police Department:
Monthly report, New vehicles replacing old vehicles
Explaining how the department is moving out old vehicles and replacing them with new vehicles under warranty Burnett said, "So I still have two trucks left and we'll get ready as I can. I can move them out and two cars to sell, to try to finish out buying fleet where everything's back under warranty again, so we don't have the high overhead of maintenance bog us down for the next year or so."
Fire Department:
New truck gets a push, Old fire hydrants a hazard
On Sunday, October 8 fire department staff celebrated the purchase of the new fire truck by hand-pushing it into the fire house. The new truck replaces two other trucks that kept breaking down.
"We had cake and punch and a bunch of other things," McCormick explained. "It was an exciting time. We've had multiple calls since last council meeting."
Fire fighters have been testing fire hydrants by opening the valve to flush out water and rust. While Meadow's Edge has the newest hydrants, South Alexander has the oldest.
"We have some issues," McCormick said. "I can
just briefly tell you about the hydrant issues. They have not been up
kept."
"They haven't been maintained. They
haven't had maintenance on them," McCormick continued. "That's
something that's a concern of ours from the standpoint of a safety
issue from the fire side of it, also from your side as well as those
that live here."
The worst time to discover a non-functioning fire hydrant is during a fire.
"We had a structure fire this past weekend (October 14-15)," McCormick began. "We had a house 100% involved. The hydro didn't work. It was not functional. The house beside the fire that had people living in it began to catch on fire."
The fire was at 15301 Birch Drive, across from Elmo's. With help from Pafford Ambulance Service and a police officer McCormick found another source of water.
"Obviously, we come with water on our engine, 1000 gallons of water, and we began to protect the house that was on fire," McCormick began. "We actually hand jacked our supply line, a 5-inch supply line, 300, 400 feet down another direction to the nearest hydrant that we found out to be working."
"My concern is with not having tested fire hydrants, which we're doing, upkeep it, maybe getting involved with the water department and trying to find a plan for them," McCormick said.
South Alexander receives its water and sewer services from Saline County Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Public Facilities Board (SCWWSS). According to McCormick SCWWSS is claiming fire hydrant maintenance is not their responsibility.
"I spoke to an attorney," McCormick said. "There are some things that have been said on the water side that said it's not their responsibility. It's a privately owned water department. It is their responsibility."
The Pulaski County area of Alexander receives its water from Central Arkansas Water (CAW). McCormich had only nice things to say about CAW.
"They take care of our system," he said. "They take care of our water lines, they update our water lines."
On the department's Facebook page are pictures of the fire and a thank you to all the other departments who provided mutual aid and other services. Listed are Little Rock Engine 18 and Battalion 11; Bryant Engine 2 and Battalion 1; Shannon Hills Engine 46; Northeast Tanker; Crystal Truck 24, Tanker 24, Chief 24 and 24-2; Collegeville Rescue 9; Arch Street Squad 1; Pafford Ambulance; Alexander Police; Shannon Hills Police; and Saline County Dispatch.
Streets and Parks Department:
Fountain lights, Do Not Throw Rocks sign ordered
Durham said a new sensor had to be ordered and it arrived the day of the council meeting. The newly installed lights would be on during the day and off at night.
Concerning the signs, Durham said they have been ordered and they will be in English and Spanish.
Financial:
Mayor's Report:
Fall Fest successful, Newly paved streets
need widening
"Wow, the Fall Fest," Mayor Crystal Herrmann began. "I want to thank everyone that was a part of it. All of our employees, the Parks employees, I'd like to thank the citizens for their attendance."
"I mean it was a lot of fun," Herrmann continued. "We did the raffleing table and we actually raised $282 on the raffle. So thank you for all the donations."
"That 100 dollar bill was the most popular item," she added.
"So we almost covered the cost of the pumpkins, what that is," Herrmann said. "Thank you very much."
"It was a wonderful thing," Herrmann continued. "I was glad to see it. We fell $700 and something under the budget. So I think we did great. I think it was a wonderful thing."
Herrmann said she has heard from residents asking why streets that were part of the recently completed street overlay project are not, "as wide as they were originally."
Herrmann said she and Street Department Superintendent David Durham, "[C]ross-referenced what was approved and what was actually laid. And what they laid was what was actually approved in May of 2022."
A portion of a special state fuel tax approved by voters is being used to help cities and counties upgrade streets and roads by funding the overlay of new asphalt. Generally a city or county can request the grant every three years.
Herrmann said they will have to develop a plan to widen the narrower streets by fixing the shoulders.
"So we will be coming behind it and cleaning up the shoulders as best we can as we can afford it," she said.
