By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
The Lonoke City Council Monday passed an ordinance establishing requirements that sexually-oriented businesses will have to meet in case some of those establishments come to Lonoke after the new I-40 overpass is completed.
The council also agreed to give Lonoke County Judge Doug Erwin until their next meeting to tear down three dilapidated houses the county owns at 320 Wright St. near the courthouse. Lonoke had decided at its August meeting to pursue a lawsuit against the county.
The council discussed but took no action on spending an estimated $90,000 for repairs to the city’s administrative building.
Aldermen refused to waive an ordinance prohibiting council members from bidding on construction projects, like the bathrooms at the ballpark.
The ordinance on sexually oriented businesses requires that owners and operators receive a sexually-oriented business license before setting up shop.
The application must include proof of age, the proposed location, a description of the proposed business, a sketch or diagram of the premises, how much floor space the business will occupy; whether the applicant has been convicted of, pleaded guilty or pleaded nolo contendere to a sex crime within the past five years and whether a previous business owned by the applicant was declared a nuisance or ordered to be closed or padlocked.
Employees of the business must also get a license, including much of the same information, mainly whether they were convicted of or pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to a sex crime.
The business license will cost $300 initially and a $300 annual renewal fee will be required. The employee license is $75 and there is a $75 annual renewal fee.
Police will be allowed to inspect the business occasionally to make sure it is complying with the ordinance, the ordinance states.
No sexually-oriented business can be open between midnight and 6 a.m.
Sexually-oriented businesses must be 1,000 feet from any other sexually-oriented business, any business that sells alcohol and the centerline of the I-40.
Merchandise cannot be visible from outside the business.
While City Attorney Camille Bennett spent quite a bit of time reading the 11-page ordinance, much of the meeting was spent talking about how the city’s administrative building is, as Alderman Michael Florence put it, a “money pit.”
He said, “We need to build a new facility.”
Most of the council agreed that the facility would house several or all of the city’s departments to save Lonoke money on upkeep at multiple buildings. A new building could also save on utilities if it is constructed with energy efficiency in mind, several aldermen said.
Alderman Koy Butler stressed the need to examine the city’s budget first.
“We’ve got some pitfalls…I’m with you. This building is falling apart,” Butler said.
Several on the council pointed out that Lonoke is already dealing with numerous projects that are monopolizing the city’s coffers.
Mayor Wayne McGhee said, “That’s the problem. We’ve got way too much to do.”
Butler suggested forming a committee to prioritize the city’s projects.
The mayor said ongoing street repairs are estimated to cost at least $1.1 million if not more. The price to update the water system could be $2.5 million or more, he continued.
The council has previously considered a bond issue that would generate $6 million in revenue.
Doing so could pay for streets, the water system and, possibly, and updates to the sewer system, the council members agreed.
But Alderman Pat Howell wanted to know how much the city has to spend on a new administrative building.
Personnel Director Cindy Reaves said the council needed to find out how much the building could cost first so officials can figure out if it would be more affordable than continuing to repair the current facility.
She also argued against putting off the decision on this issue again when immediate action is needed.
Reaves said it's going to cost Lonoke a whole lot more than $90,000 worth of repairs if the awning on the building falls and kills someone.
In other business:
• The county judge told the council that the county bought the three houses intending to demolish them and put a parking lot there. The county has contracted with a company for asbestos removal and the demolition.
Erwin also said, “I’ve been a partner with the city since the get go.”
He blamed the wet spring for the delay. The council has been discussing the houses for the past year.
Before Erwin left after only about 15 minutes of the 2.5-hour meeting, Howell said he was glad the houses would be gone because, “People who live over there have watched and endured it.”
• Last month, the council rejected yet another set of bids to build bathrooms at the ballpark. The lowest bid, submitted by Gerald Prince Construction, was $205,000. Parks director Roy Don Lewis was hoping the concrete-block building with a metal roof would run closer to $100,000.
City Attorney Camille Bennett asked if the council wanted to pass an ordinance waiving another ordinance that prohibits aldermen from bidding on projects so that Aldermen Danny Whitehurst could enter a bid on the bathrooms.
She said the ordinance was there to prevent conflicts of interest or the appearance of inside deals.
Aldermen Pat Howell said, while he trusts Whitehurst’s company to do the job if their bid was accepted, it was better to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
The council agreed.
Even Whitehurst said he wouldn’t be comfortable throwing his hat in the ring unless it was a sealed bidding process.
• The council received the 2012 audit report for the water department, but didn’t discuss it.
The aldermen agreed that rates should be raised to a level more in line with the water rates in surrounding cities so that department can be sustainable.
Some on the council said a public meeting would have to be set for next month if rates are going to increase in November — the same time they were increased last year. But a date and time for the public meeting has not been set.
• The council is looking at purchased a $54,000 truck with a mechanical arm for the street department. But aldermen agreed that they needed to at least see a video of the truck in action before buying it.
• The council voted to spend $18,900 on repairs to the sewer line at Cotton Lane and Rosemary. The aldermen were also introduced to the city’s new public works director, Ron Gosnell.
• Scott Bayles, the new manager of Third Street Apartments, assured the council that he is working with residents to get the trash issue there sorted out.
There have been complaints of trash being left out and being blown all over the area.
The apartments will re-main on the city’s watch list until the next meeting. The Mallard Point Golf Course also remained on that list.
• The city has torn down the house at 519 Hamburg and plans to remove two old cars from there. The council gave the owner of 903 Court Street until the next meeting to bring it up to code.
• The council voted to spend $3,200 to replace two spare hydrants that will be used to replace a missing hydrant that was probably stolen for scrap metal and a broken hydrant.
The aldermen agreed it was best to still have backup hydrants.
• The council voted to spend up to $3,000 on streetlights at the off ramp.
• The council voted to spend up to $2,000 to coat the floor of the community center’s gym. n The council voted to spend up to $500 for GPS units that would be installed in the leaf and li
