El Dorado City Council members will handle a jam-packed agenda when they convene for a regular meeting at 5:25 p.m. today in the Council Chamber of City Hall.
A proposed ordinance that is on the agenda would change the schedule for the council's regular meetings
During an El Dorado Water and Public Works Board meeting Oct. 13, council members voted unanimously to hold its regular meetings at 5 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month, scrapping its longstanding schedule of 5:30 p.m. the first Thursday after the first Monday of the month and again two weeks later.
The change will go into effect in December, with the first meeting under the new schedule set for Dec. 9.
The council will also consider several proposed resolutions, one of which would formally retain local accounting firm Emrich and Scroggins, LLC, for monthly bookkeeping and management advisory services for the city.
The city has been without a treasurer since March and E&S has worked to clean up the city's financial records by reconciling bank statements for 2020 and 2021.
The city council previously agreed to keep E&S on as acting city treasurer.
The proposed resolution includes a letter of engagement that spells out the scope of services that E&S will provide, with an estimated monthly cost of $4,000 - $5,000.
Two other resolutions that are on the council's agenda today pertain to pay for city employees.
City officials previously agreed to an allotment of more than $1.82 million in federal funding that was awarded as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.
Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer applied for the funding on behalf of the city in June and the funds were disbursed in July.
The funds will be doled out to city employees in the form of premium pay for an amount of $1.25 for every hour they worked in 2020 when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit.
Included in ARPA is the Interim Final Rule (IFR), which emphasizes the need for recipients of fiscal relief funding to prioritize premium pay for lower income workers who were most affected by the pandemic.
The proposed city resolution excludes elected officials, salaried employees and city employees who worked remotely in 2020.
Another proposed resolution calls for Christmas/end-of-year bonuses for employees who are on the city's payroll, as of today.
Pay levels call for bonuses of:
• $50, for those who have been employed by the city six months or less.
• $100, for those who have been employed by the city seven months to a year.
• $200, for those who have been employed by the city one to two years.
• $250, for those who have been employed by the city three to four years.
• $500, for those who have been employed by the city five to seven years.
• $1,000, for those who have been employed by the city nine years or more.
The council will also consider a proposal presented by Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer and Robert Edmonds, director of public works, to purchase a smart-texting technology to better communicate with and engage with local residents.
TextMyGov is a 24-hour communication system that allows smart phone users to ask questions, report issues and link into the city's Go El Dorado website for information, among other functions.
Also on the council's agenda is a proposed Memorandum of Understanding from Bird, a micro-mobility/urban, electric-scooter company that is looking to do business in El Dorado.
Additionally, the council will consider nominations to two city commissions, including the re-appointment of Don Miller to the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission and the appointment of Eric Wallace to the El Dorado Historic District Commission.
Miller was appointed to the A&P commission last spring to fill a vacancy that opened when former Commissioner Barry Bagwell resigned in January.
The term expires on Oct. 24.
On Oct. 14, the EHDC nominated Wallace to serve on the commission.
If approved by the city council, Wallace will fill a vacancy that was left by former Commissioner Teresa Golliher, who recently resigned from her seat on the EHDC.