Prairie Grove mayor, City Council to get raises

PRAIRIE GROVE — The mayor’s salary will increase by almost 17% this year.

The City Council voted 7-1 at its December meeting to raise the mayor’s yearly pay by $10,000, from $60,000 to $70,000.

The council also raised the pay for its own members as well as those of the Planning Commission. This year, council members will receive $150 per regular meeting, instead of $100, and $100 for special meetings. Compensation for Planning Commission members will increase from $50 to $75 for regular and special meetings.

A 5% cost-of-living raise for city employees was also approved.

Council Member Rick Ault was the only one to vote against the pay increases for the mayor, council and Planning Commission members, saying he was in “full support” of fair and equitable salaries but believed the council should install a plan where it reviews pay for those positions every other year.

Ault noted the council doubled the salary for former Mayor Sonny Hudson in 2021, due to the fact the compensation had not been changed for many years. By setting up a schedule to review those salaries, Ault said the council would not find itself in the same position again.

“If I’m not at a yes today, I just want to be clear: I am fully supportive of a fair and equitable salary, but those are really important things I think we should consider before we make additional changes,” Ault said.

2024 BUDGET

Council members also approved the 2024 budget during the meeting. Budgets approved for general fund departments (with 2023 budgets in parenthesis) include:

■ Administration: $2.65 million ($2.4 million);

■ Police: $275,203 ($232,406);

■ Fire: $128,960 ($126,100);

■ Library: $250,440 ($234,592);

■ Parks and Recreation: $345,309 ($276,900).

For police and fire salaries, funded in part by a dedicated sales tax, the city has projected expenses of $1.8 million, compared to $1.6 million in 2023.

For the Sanitation Department, the city projects to receive $833,606 in revenue, with $816,920 in expenses. For the Street Department, the budget shows $1.4 million in revenue with $2.3 million in expenses, which includes $1.5 million in construction projects.

The council also approved a resolution to purchase two 2023 Dodge Durangos for the Police Department from Landers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram for $38,100 each through a state procurement program.

Police Chief Chris Workman said the two vehicles were on the lot and would be picked up this month. Both purchases are in the 2024 budget. Otherwise, Workman said, he would have to order the vehicles and it could take six to eight months for the vehicles to come in.

Workman also noted he would be back asking for another car since a vehicle was totaled in an accident in December.

FOOD TRUCK RULES

The council continued a discussion from the previous month about making changes to the city ordinance for mobile food vendors. Mayor David Faulk said he wanted to keep the discussion going for several months to allow feedback from council members and the community before making any changes to the ordinance.

Some possible changes could be allowing food trucks on public property for special events, requiring food vendors to be located farther away from brick and mortar shops selling the same type of food items and prohibiting generators because of their noise.

Ault, who is director of Main Street Prairie Grove, said he believes downtown businesses support food trucks but that there should be a “reasonableness” to them.

Some questions to be answered, Faulk said, are what defines a special event and who would have the authority to approve the food trucks since there would be limited space.