BLEVINS – The Blevins City Council was called to order by the Mayor on April 7th at 7:00 pm. Board members present: Barbara Patterson, Jon Howell, Dan Cassidy, Kimberly Torres, and Eric Smith. Lisa Arbour, Recorder/Treasurer was present. An opening prayer was offered by Barbara Patterson. The previous meeting minutes were read and accepted with a few minor amendments. The financial report was presented, discussed and approved with one correction. There were no water adjustments.
Old business included a brief discussion of the ongoing sewer remediation project. The contract with OWN Engineering has been reviewed by the attorney and signed by the mayor to proceed with the next step. Billing from SWEPCO had an error last month and the city will receive credit for the error. Also, there will be three new city streetlights added over the course of the next few weeks. The water meter vs. accounts, internal auditing options were discussed briefly but tabled once again.
New business included passing a resolution to take advantage of the ArDOT monies available from the Recreational Trails Program. This is the first step of this process, and it is non-binding at this point. The city is waiting on the proposal from OWN Engineering for the improvements to the walking path at the school to take advantage of these RTP funds. Other discussions were about some downed trees across the sewer right of way and possible solutions to clear them off as well as some minor culvert clean out options. A resident had questions on water rate increases and communication options to learn about city business. The city is looking into how to make improvements to communication options aside from the newspaper and local notice postings. The meetings adjourned. The next regular scheduled meeting will be on May Tuesday, May 5th.