Due to reduced legislative and hearing needs in part because of the ongoing health emergency Council met in a single meeting each for April and May for regular meetings. Highlighted items of business included:
- Excess Item Auction
- Fire Department Staffing Levels
- Outdoor Dining
Excess Item Auction
On fairly regular intervals City departments look to re-purpose or sell off equipment that is past its useful life for City use. This equipment often still has some life left! For emergency and public safety equipment (think fire fighter or police) we try to find homes for that in nearby communities that have needs. The rest of the excess equipment gets posted on govdeals.com.
Fire Department Staffing Levels
In some ways running the City Departments may seem similar to running any private business – there are budgets, department heads, and staff. One difference is some departments have ordinances (laws) that state how many folks and at what level can be in that department. The last time the ordinance was updated it allowed one chief, one assistant, three captains, three lieutenants, 15 full-time firefighters, one full-time inspector, and 13 part-time firefighters – a total of 37 people.
The new complement allows one chief, one assistant chief, three captains, three lieutenants, 22 full-time firefighters, one fire inspector, and we’ve reduced the part-time people down to ten, though currently we only plan on 7 part time slots being filled. This new staffing allowance is more realistic (part time firefighters are increasingly difficult to recruit and retain) while maintaining the budget.
Outdoor Dining
With restaurants being allowed to open in some capacity – though with new social distancing requirements, City Council agreed to modify the zoning code to allow more establishments to extend their seating areas to incorporate more outdoor dining options.
What do you think? Let your elected officials know!
email and phone numbers of all your City Council members are online – https://www.springdale.org/city-council/page/meet-your-city-council
and
City Administration as well –
https://www.springdale.org/mayor-clerk-council
or
Connect with your Neighbors –
https://www.facebook.com/groups/333111242219243
Related Links
Note – on July 31, 2023 Springdale released a new website and previous links were not maintained as well as many minutes and agendas offline.
Past Minutes and Agendas: https://www.springdale.org/meetings/recent
Upcoming meetings: https://www.springdale.org/meetings
Request Public Records: https://www.springdale.org/living-springdale/page/public-records-access
Previous Links:
ICRC Meeting Recording Link (4/15), Link (5/20)
Written Minutes Link (4/15), Link (5/20)
Agenda Link (4/15), Link (5/20)