Due to the Christmas holiday, the Monticello City Council December meeting was moved to Thursday the 15th.
The council met with all members present except for council woman Clarissa Pace.
The normal reports from City department heads were not on the agenda but many New Business items were discussed.
The first item on the agenda was to adopt an Ordinance for the Comprehensive Plan for Monticello that has been drafted by the Planning Commission. The commission, chaired by Dan Boice, has worked on this plan for the past year.
Next, was a resolution to pay for the surveying of the dam at Lake Monticello. After some discussion, it was decided to have the entire levee surveyed so that the City could have a baseline idea of what the levee is supposed to look like in hopes that major problems can be avoided in the future. Local surveyor Doug Harton will perform the cross section survey at a cost of $15,000.
Logan Hancock with EFS GeoTechnologies presented to the council members a proposal for upgrading the aerial photography for the city.
With discussion regarding what the State of Arkansas is doing and what surrounding counties are doing, it was decided that the city aerial photography will be upgraded and shot at a three inch resolution.
A resolution to restructure and add Brian Rodgers as a City employee was proposed. Rodgers has been employed by the Monticello Economic Development Commission as the City Inspector. The resolution was approved and Rodgers will keep similar duties as an employee of the City.
A resolution to approve the purchase of new carpet for the Old Post Office building was approved for $8,927.72. The Old Post Office building houses the offices of the Monticello Economic Development Commission.
SeaArk Boats was a hot topic on the agenda as they plan to begin their plant expansion soon.
The council approved a resolution certifying government endorsement of SeaArk Boats to participate in the Tax Back Program and a resolution authorizing payment to SeaArk Boats from the War Chest for improvements and modernization.
Mayor Chase closed the meeting by telling the crowd that it has been her honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Monticello as Mayor for the past four years. She cited unique challenges that each year brought and that she had personally learned so much while working for the City.
