June 2018 Special Session Council Minutes
OZARK CITY COUNCIL Session
June 21, 2018
5:30 p.m.
Ozark city council met in special session on June 21 st at 5:30 p.m. Roxie Halt, Susan Holman, and Dwayne
Patterson called the city clerk to request the special session.
Mayor McNutt called the meeting to order. Present were Mayor McNutt, Clerk Eveld, Roxie Hall, Susan
Holman, Dwayne Patterson, Harvey Waters, and Rex Anderson. Absent were Attorney Phillips, and Chris
Warden.
Roxie Hall took the floor and said that we've been called idiots and she's not having of it. She's tired of
the black cloud hanging over Ozark and she wants it stopped. She has called the Arkansas division of
legislative audit and requested a special audit of the Ozark fire department. She wants to clear names
even though we just completed an audit.
First on the agenda was spending procedures.
Clerk Eveld explained that the council passes a budget annually, department heads turn in receipts
signed off on by the department head. Marla cuts the check. Clerk Eveld reviews the check and the
backup, then O the mayor reviews the check and the backup and the check is sent. Monthly clerk Eveld
prepares monthly financial reports for council to review and they make sure the expenditures are within
budget. Only they can approve expenditures. Annual legislative audit reviews all financials and receipts.
Clerk Eveld had prepared a list based of Mr. Whiteaker video listing each item he felt was
inappropriate. He had asked the council on what planet these expenses would be ok. Clerk Eveld went
over each item Mr. Whiteaker listed and showed that each item was not as Mr. Whiteaker stated. The
Headphones the fire department t 'bought" were not actually purchased at all. They were free with a
purchase. The boots, shirts, hats, jackets are standard uniform issue. The patches never expire and are
used to identify the department personnel on emergency scenes. Travel expenses for over $2,000
thousand dollars that Mr. Whiteaker claimed for one weekend were in fact for a municipal conference
that six people attended on a Wednesday through Friday. All the hotel expenses and conference
charges were put on one credit card, then billed to the appropriate departments in the financial reports.
Other travel expenses were for CEU's Kevin Eveld must have to maintain certification in HVAC,
Plumbing, Electrical, Fire Marshall, Flood Plain Administrator, and other inspector certifications. The
ITunes charges were for cloud backup for Mr. Eveld city phone and for a software that shows a property
for inspection purposes and the IPAD and pen are for plan review and making changes and drawings on
the electronic plans as needed. Mr. Whiteaker claimed the city went over the new construction of the
community center by $300,000 but Eveld produced the March 2017 minutes where council approved
the additional lane putting the cost approximately $300,000
over initial costs.
Mr. Whiteaker also claimed that his FOIA requests had not been met in the three day limit he says the
law O states he should have received them, but clerk Eveld produced an email correspondence where
Mr. Whiteaker said that he was in no hurry that she could give him requested data as she goes along.
Lastly Mr. Whiteaker stated that fire department calls had increased by 400% and he felt there was no
way. Chief Eveld corrected him stating that the calls had increased greater than that because the fire
department went from taking only fire calls to taking medicat emergency calls, BLS calls, and rescue
calls as well as fire calls.
Holman moved to have a special audit for the years 2015, 2016 & 2017 for the Ozark Fire
Department only, seconded by Hall. on a roll vote, the following voted: Aye: Holman, Hall,
Anderson, Waters & Patterson. No Nays.
A motion to adjourn was made by Hall seconded by Patterson., on a roll vote, the following voted:
Aye: Holman, Hall, Anderson, Waters & Patterson. No Nays.