During his monthly report to the city council, Fire Chief Ryan McCormick detailed how many fire hydrants aren't working.
"They have a hundred seven (107) fire hydrants that are on their systems," McCormick said. "Ten do not work. They don't work whatsoever. Out of those, one hundred seven is ten, thirty four have zero pressure that can't be used to help on battling the fire. So that's almost half of their fire hydrants that do not work."
According to McCormick he and Mayor Crystal Herrmann have been discussing the issue with SCWSS officials without much success.
"I have tried to visit with them," McCormick said. "It's falling on deaf ears."
McCormick estimates replacing one fire hydrant can cost between $8,000 to $10,000. He said Alexander's ISO rating has dropped to three (ISO-3) due to the lack of fire hydrants. The ISO rating is one factor that affects home insurance rates.
Another issue has developed which will end construction of new housing units on empty lots in south Alexander. SCWSS has placed a moratorium on all new water and sewer connections due to a lack of capacity at the sewer plant. As it's been explained, anyone replacing a residence with another residence won't have a problem as long as they don't shut-off services. New services will not be allowed until capacity at the sewer plant is increased.
Near the end of the meeting, Council Member Juanita Wilson presented council members with a resolution giving her the authority to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to SCWSS on behalf of the city. She explained that as a lone citizen she could either be hit with a large bill for making copies, or be ignored. Coming from the city means the FOIA request is coming from an entity more equal to the water district.
Wilson explained that years ago SCWSS allegedly issued a bond to upgrade the sewer plant. Wilson wants to know, among other things, if the bond was ever paid off and how it was used. Also, how is revenue being spent that keeps fire hydrants from being replaced and the sewer plant not keeping up with growth.
City Attorney Chris Madison suggested it would be legally safer if either the mayor or the city attorney submit the FOIA request for the city council. Council members assigned the task to Madison. Since the May 20 meeting Madison responded in an E-mail that he sent the FOIA request to SCWSS by E-mail and postal mail on Thursday, May 23.
News Brief Reports
Rental rates increased with amendment
Part of the increase also included changing the rates for Community Center #1 from hourly to all day and renting the Pavilion and Gazebo for half-a-day has been changed to all day. Council Member Harold Timmerman suggested that "8 hours" be added to each rental rate to verify the amount of time a renter is allowed. That change was approved by a vote of the council before voting on the resolution.
The new rates for the Pavilion, Gazebo and Community Center #1 are $150.00 each; $50.00 of that is the refundable deposit. The City keeps the remaining $100.00. The rental rate for Community Center #2 is $200.00; $50.00 of that is the refundable deposit. The City keeps the remaining $150.00. Community Center #2 is located at the former Alexander Human Development Center.
Voting "Yes" were council members Joy Gray, Angela Griffin, Mitchell W. Smith, Gina R Thomas-Littlejohn, and Harold Timmerman. Voting "No" were Joe Pollard and Juanita Wilson. Council Member Tony Staton was absent and counted as a "No" vote.
Prior to the discussion on raising rental rates Mayor Crystal Herrmann reported to council members that someone approached her about buying the former city hall. It was rejected by the council due to the building's historical history. Prior to serving as city hall it was the second location of the Alexander Post Office.
Council meets new code enforcement/animal control officer
"I've worked in a human society of veterinary clinics," White began. "It had animal control in North Little Rock for a couple of years. I was a correctional officer for ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) for a little bit of time. And then most recently, I was an operating partner at a restaurant. So I kind of wanted to come back to animals a little bit and a new code (officer), but I'm a fast learner."
White says he has been studying Alexander's existing ordinances and has already issued 40 citations. He has also submitted a draft of a new animal control ordinance to the council for review.
Council Member Juanita Wilson asked Mayor Crystal Herrmann where is this position in the 2024 budget.
"Mayor, I can't find anywhere in your budget where your budget for this position," Wilson said.
"We don't have to," Herrmann responded.
"You can't hire him until we have budgeted him," Wilson retorted.
Until now the code enforcement officer was part of the police department since the job was being done by one of the officers. The combined code enforcement and animal control positions will now operate as a regular city employee.
Code Complaint
Gray said, "This is just, it is signed an irritated, frustrated citizen and they just have a litany of complaints about people that live around them that have pretty extreme trash situations going on in their yard."
Describing some of the photos she said, "They have what appears to be a tire scrap pile." ... "(T)here's a massive tire pile with trailers."
"(W)e do now have a code enforcement officer, so we should hopefully be able to start taking care of some of this," Gray added. "I'm sure it's probably one of the 40 (Code violations) that he's (David White) checked. But, I just wanted this person to get their moment to be seen and heard by the rest of the council."
Treasurer deadline
"I just wanted to bring this up again because I know we are on a time crunch because you (City Attorney) had mentioned that we need to, so August 7th would be the drop end date for this," Gray said. "If we were to decide to not have a position that's eligible for an election anymore, but where we actually just decide that we're gonna hire some(one), we will appoint a treasurer as opposed to elect one and the appointed treasurer could be a firm of some sort."
As explained by City Attorney Chris Madison at the March council meeting, the council has the option of appointing an individual, or an accounting firm, to perform the duties of treasurer. Also, since council members won't be filling a vacancy in an elected position they won't be limited to residents of Alexander.
Former Treasurer JoAn Churchill submitted her resignation in December, 2023, effective December 31. Since then the mayor has been looking for someone, who lives in Alexander, to fill the vacancy. So far, no one has submitted a resume.
Madison said he will provide a sample ordinance for the June meeting.
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