The Ava Board of Aldermen voted to change the zoning designation of property owned by Randy and Barbara Pennington, 935 W. Washington, from B-2 Central Business to B-3 General Business. The property previously housed the Ava Bowl building.
Councilmen also approved new wording for the code of ordinances – parking requirements. According to Janice Lorraine, the revision was a request from planning and zoning, and was needed to update the code to comply with current definitions.
Lorrain also reported the City of Ava had recently received drawings from Wal-Mart for a re-model of the store. The company has asked for a May 20 approval date.
During closed session, the board okayed the transfer of David Stout from park maintenance to the water department.
Lifeguard personnel for the city water park was also employed for the summer. Twelve veteran guards will return this season, and 11 new lifeguards were hired Tuesday evening.
Councilman Ric Engelhardt expressed concern about NE 10th Street, and asked the city to consider defining the driving lanes of the road with a stripe. Engelhardt noted the area can be confusing to drivers, and a painted yellow strip would be helpful, especially to drivers picking up and dropping off students at the elementary. Mayor Eddie Maggard said he would review the idea with the street department supervisor, but didn’t see why it couldn’t be done.
Council members and city officials heard an update from Mike Pessina, HDR Archer Engineers, on the bypass elimination plan which needs to be submitted to the state by September.
According to Pessina, the plan arises from the City of Ava’s voluntary compliance agreement with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and pertains to water discharged from the city’s lagoon during high water events.
Under the voluntary agreement, the city has the responsibility to craft a solution that will allow Ava to comply with the new stricter environmental standards. Under the new rules, DNR does not allow water overflow to bypass the wastewater plant or discharge into local streams when excess water filters into the system.
Pessina explained that normal flow from the treatment plant is .7 million gallons per day; under peak circumstances flow is 3.7 million gallons a day. Pessina said the system can only handle peak flow for a short period of time, and even though the system has the capability to store an additional 5.8 million gallons of overflow, the city still has overage output that must be eliminated. However, before a plan can be created for the city, Pessina must measure the amount of excess flow from each lagoon site. Once that figure has been established, a plan can be formulated. By being a part of this voluntary compliance agreement, the City has time to pursue corrective action.
A plan must be submitted to DNR by September 2011.
Expanding city code, council also adopted minimum regulations for the Bill Martin Memorial Airport. The new set of ordinances creates minimum standard requirements for aviation services at the airport, and sets rules for property use.
Accounts payable and the March court docket were approved as presented.
Council present for the meeting were: Ric Engelhardt, Judy Lovan and Burrely Loftin. Bill Long was absent.
City council will meet again on Tuesday, May 10, 5 p.m. at City Hall.
