Cliff Gibson at City Council Meeting

October 22, 2014

Dear Mr. Ardillo:

Our firm has been retained by the City of Monticello (City) relative to problems being experienced with the referenced Contract and the performance of Siemens Industry, Inc. (Siemens) thereunder. We write you now in behalf of the City.

Siemens’ Failure to Provide Legally Required Contractor Performance and Payment Bonds.

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Following last week’s “anywhere but here” reception by the City Council to purchase a section of land on the Whaley property to build a new, ecpanded, centrally located clinic, Mainline Health has withdrawn their proposal.

Here is the letter of retraction…

Dear City Council and Mayor Rogers,

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Allan Nichols, Director of Mainline Health Systems, addressed the City Council at their meeting at last week’s City Council meeting, to ask for permission to purchase property adjoining the new fIre station on North Main Street, for the purpose of building a larger clinic.

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The Monticello City Council met in a specially called session Tuesday evening, to decide whether to hire an attorney, Mr. Cliff Gibson, to represent the City in their dealings with Siemens, Inc., the corporation contracted for $10 million to revamp Monticello’s water system, with his stipulation that a private engineer be employed to assist him.

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Dear Mayor Rogers and Members of the City Council:

In response to the request of the City of Monticello to retain our Firm to provide legal assistance regarding the referenced matter, we advise that our Firm would be pleased to again be of assistance to the City and note that such continues the tradition of our Firm providing legal services to the City that dates back to and includes the administrations of Mayors Anderson, Rogers (first term), and Maxwell.
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After researching the issue of whether the mayor is allowed to vote at a city council meeting where the council members have a split voteof 4–4, city attorney Witt Barton has confirmed that Mayor Joe Rogers ……
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City Attorney Whit Barton addressed the City council, Tuesday evening, about the problem of creeks flooding in Monticello.

Mr. Barton stated he was asked last week whether the City can clean out ditches on private property. He responded that the answer is no, but under the right circumstances they can. If a creek or ditch is a significant part of the City’s drainage system, then it can be cleared by the City.

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The attached audio clip is from last week’s meeting between the City of Monticello and Siemens.

The main conversation point in the meeting tended to be City Council member Claudia Hartness’ concern with “facts”, “rumor “, and “transparency”; 3 words she used a total of 18 times in 15 minutes.

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Following Thursday night’s City Council meeting, with some questions being answered, and many more not being answered; it seems that the internet was a popular plance for many local residents to go and search for Siemens’ (the company who is intalling our new water meters and will install an estimated 45-93 miles of underground water lines) history.  Many of those who did so, forwareded their information to MLive.

Wikipedia describes Siemens in several aspects, including their contoversial history, as shown here.

Listed below are some of the other credible, documented allegation about Siemens.
Siemens in McComb, MS – Federal Court to hear Meter Lawsuit
Siemens in Jackson, MS – “Water Meters Still Worry Council Members”
Siemens Facing Pending Lawsuits in Chicago for Water System Failure
Siemens Facing Lawsuit in Sacramento
Siemens Paid $1.34 Billion in Fines – New York Times

Although these only cover a few of the wide range of products and services that Siemens offer, there is certainly enough “smoke” to be looking for “fires” to erupt.

Following Wednesday’s MLive article spotlighting the $60 million rumors circulating the city about the water system improvement project, the City Council quickly called a meeting for Thursday night, to discuss the issue.

Some Councilmembers were familiar with the questions; while others had no idea, until they read the MLive article.

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The Jordan Park splash pad will open at 1:00, today.

The city pool opened last week, but due to filter and plumbing issues, the splash pad opening was postponed until today.

Work is nearly complete replacing the foundation around the feet of the Burlington water tank.
Another layer of re-bar was added (above the layer show here), and concrete added for stability.

In late April, after considerable discussion, the Monticello City Council approved an amendment to the City’s contract with Utility Service Group to repair and reinforce the foundation of the Burlington water tower. The amount of this contract amendment is $124,200.  This is added to the $476,000 contract with Utility Service Group to do needed initial repairs on the city’s water towers, and then be responsible for on-going maintenance of the water towers.

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A Monticello city council member was arrested, around 9 PM Sunday night, after he argued with law-enforcement officers, after being called by a friend/constituent to speak on his behalf.

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The Parks Committee discussed making several possible changes at the city’s parks.

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Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony was used as an occaision to begin the new improvment to city water service, move into the “electronic age”, with remote meter reading, and also a tribute to Mayor Allen Maxwell, who died last week. Many of Mayor Maxwell’s family members took part in Monday’s ceremony.

The City of Monticello held their first of four “Our Place” town hall meetings, Thursday night, hosted by assistant to the Mayor for planning, Zach Tucker.

A total of 9 folks attended the meeting, 4 from the TEA party,  Tucker, a county employee from Ward 2, and 2 city hall staff, who were signing in attendees (both live in Ward 2), MLive.

The 40 minute presentation dealt with planning and vision concepts.

The discussion, which lasted over an hour, was unexpectedly open to all.  The TEA party members and MLive, as well as others made the most of the opportunity to discuss the “SWOT” (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to our area.

Monday’s meeting to discuss possible weather warning solutions was expected to be a quiet, notetaking event.

That was not the case, as voices and emotions begin to increase.

The full audio file of the meeting is posted below.

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At the City Council’s Tuesday evening meeting, a local business owner asked the Council to pass an ordinance setting time limits for parking on the square.

The business owner requested an ordinance be passed, and signs installed, limiting parking to an unspecified number of hours, so that parking space can be more readily available for shoppers.

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At their last meetings, both the Monticello City Council and Drew Memorial Hospital board moved their meetings to be held on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 6 PM.

Schedule conflicts of board members was the topic of discussion in both cases.

Former attorney, District Judge and city council member Clifton Bond went to be with The Lord, Monday afternoon.

His obituary and funeral service times will be posted, when they become available.

After several years of attempting to get governmental assistance to help fund tornado sirens for Drew County, we’ve finally got funding to assist with the purchase of 27 tower sirens, which will be scattered around the county.

But as the years have passed by, many feel that the towers have been surpassed by digital technology, as the best way to go, to notify county residents of impending disanter, should it occur.

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Posted below is the “2014 State of the City Report” as submitted by Mayor Allen Maxwell.

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Free Mulch!!!!!

Free Mulch is available at the City Transfer Station located at 1466 Old Warren Road.

Please call Cathy Davis to set up an appointment for pick up at 870-367-4407.

Here is the ordinance……

BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Monticello, Arkansas, that Chapter 5 of Monticello City Code, concerning dogs (Ordinance No. 494), is amended as follows:

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Hee is the ordinance….

BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Monticello, Arkansas, that Chapter 7 of Monticello City Code, concerning building regulations (Ordinance No. 526), is amended to read as follows:

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Arkansas State Highway Commission approved a bid for improvements to roadways in Drew County, according to Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) officials.

The purpose of the project is to resurface 1.5 miles of roadway in Monticello..

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A recent list of nuisance properties, as reported and maintaned by the city property inspector, included a city property.

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