Proposal for earlier meetings on agenda
A proposed time change to have earlier meetings of the City Council will be on the council’s Feb. 24 agenda, Mayor Joe Smith said.
Legislation will request council meetings to begin at 6 p.m., 30 minutes earlier. The legislation will be sponsored by Alderman Murry Witcher, Smith said. The council regularly meets on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.
Council meetings begin at 6:30 p.m., but special presentations to the council, a common addition at meetings, have been scheduled to start at 6 p.m. The switch to starting the meetings at 6 p.m. will help eliminate some confusion caused by beginning at different times - sometimes week by week - and by late adjustments when presentations are added after the council’s agenda is released.
The Feb. 24 meeting already has two presentations planned, Smith said, so those will start at 6 p.m. with the agenda meeting to follow at 6:30 p.m.
The meetings switched from having a 7 p.m. beginning in February 2013 after Smith took office, in an effort to end meetings earlier to help department heads and employees get home earlier.
Smith at that time proposed moving the meetings to 6 p.m., but some aldermen said such an early start might inconvenience the public. The 6:30 p.m. time was agreed upon unanimously as a compromise.
At that time, Smith said he would retain the option to schedule presentations earlier than the 6:30 meeting.Beebe key speaker at chamber banquet
Gov. Mike Beebe will be the keynote speaker at the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet Tuesday at Verizon Arena.
A cocktail reception will begin at 5:15 p.m. with dinner and program at 6:45 p.m.
Tickets are $75 per person or $750 for tables of 10.Reservations are available through the chamber at (501) 372-5959.
Council speeding up nonprofits’ funding
To schedule city funding to nonprofit groups to run for a calendar year, the City Council is moving up the timing of those contracts.
On Monday, the City Council voted 7-1 to approve a lump-sum payment of $45,000 to renew its yearly agreement with the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub Inc., originally begun in August. Alderman Bruce Foutch voted no.
The advanced payment is the second in as many meetings the council has approved for a downtown nonprofit. In January, the council approved a $95,000 annual payment to the Argenta Downtown Council that maintains downtown street appearances and curbside flower beds, picks up litter and sponsors and promotes various events in Argenta.
Funding schedules for other groups will follow in coming meetings.
The Innovation Hub is a downtown nonprofit aimed at creating new businesses and jobs through a central site for entrepreneurs to operate and share resources. The new contract is for $5,000 less than the council gave the Innovation Hub in August as “startup money” in exchange for its planned work to create and retain businesses and jobs in the city.
Of the city’s contribution, $15,200 will go toward Innovation Hub salaries, information attached to the legislation said.
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 02/16/2014