Dam discussions filled up most of the quick Eureka Springs City Council regular meeting June 27.

Coming up with ways to help pay for repairs and improvements to the dam at Black Bass Lake consumed much of the 38-minute meeting at The Auditorium, the majority of time being spent debating whether the City Advertising and Promotion Commission can legally contribute funds to the project.

Council member Autumn Slane got the discussion started when she read a portion of state statute that she feels opens the door for CAPC to be able to use funds to help pay for the repairs and improvements to the dam.

“It says funds credited to the city advertising and promotion fund pursuant to the subchapter may be used, spent or pledged by the commission in addition to all purposes prescribed in a subchapter on and for the construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance, improvement, equipping and operating public recreation facilities in the city or the county where the city is located … including, but not limited to facilities constituting city parks,” Slane read from state statute.

However, other council members differed on opinions on what that statute means.

“Now, what we’re planning to me to do with Black Bass is fix the dam,” council member Melissa Greene said. “If we were to build a park or to use it more as a promotional, yes we could, I feel use the money.”

Council member Bill Ott said most things in Eureka Springs could fall under promotion.

“Eureka Springs has a unique positioning of being not only a resort community, but also being a historic community,” Ott said.

“Unfortunately, being a historic community, we’ve got a lot of things that we promote. They get real old real quick, and I think Black Bass dam is one of them. And I think that if we want things to promote, we’ve got to protect those assets. And I think that Black Bass Lake being a recreation area, as Ms. Slane mentioned, for our community and it being advertised and that’s one thing that got us through the COVID downtime was being an outdoor community because people had plenty of open space to enjoy this community.

“So, I think it would be very apropos for them to say if we want things to promote in this historic resort community, we need to protect our historic assets that we promote to bring people here. So, I think it’s very apropos for the CAPC to consider pitching in to assist on the protection of the Black Bass Lake dam.”

Greene asked Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry if he could get input on the topic from the Municipal League and he said he has already reached out to them and is awaiting an answer.

“I think it’s a great idea, and I’m glad that Ms. Slane brought it up,” Berry said. “If there’s any way possible, I think that would be wonderful, even if they could only pitch in $50,000 or $75,000, every little bit helps … at this point I think it is in the CAPC’s ballpark.”

Slane asked city attorney Forrest Jacobi his opinion on the subject.

“The Advertising and Promotion Commission was enacted by state law back in the ’70s and there hasn’t been a whole lot of litigation about it,” Jacobi said. “Of the one case I’m familiar with is Hot Springs wanted to put money into the convention center to promote, you know, promote concerts and other events there. And it went all the way to the Supreme Court. And the ruling was, yes, you can use CAPC money for a convention center. This auditorium fits the definition of a convention center.

“Other than that, Black Bass dam is infrastructure. Infrastructure would either be covered by roads, or possibly even the parks department, because if you talk about a park, then Black Bass Lake would probably be a park more than it would be some sort of advertising and promotion type venue. I do think the CAPC needs to investigate this a little bit farther and find out from the Municipal League what their opinion is. And once you get an opinion from the Municipal League, you can go forward. But off the top of my head, no, you shouldn’t use CAPC funds for building roads infrastructure.”

Ott responded, “You’re saying building something is different than protecting the asset that makes that at tourism attraction.”

“Well, you could argue that the entire town is a tourist attraction,” Jacobi said. “And therefore, any money that comes in for advertising and promotion could be usurped and spent anywhere you want to. That’s a total can of worms…. I think the CAPC needs to listen to the Municipal League and follow their dictates and come up with their plan of action.”

In other dam business, the council unanimously approved a resolution proposed by Berry to waive the bidding process and purchase stonework for repairs at Black Bass Lake.

The city recently received a grant from FEMA and needed to use the money before a June 30 deadline for the 2022 fiscal budget.

“This has nothing to do with any labor work,” Berry said. “This is just purchasing stonework.”

The stone will come from a local company, Ozark Stone.

“This is an emergency clause, that’s why we’re waiving the bids,” Berry said. “If it wasn’t an emergency, we wouldn’t be waiving the bids.”

In other actions, the council voted to uphold a planning commission decision to deny a rezoning request for 14 Washington Street and approved Mark Hicks’ appointment to a vacant position on the CAPC.

Kate Dryer was selected to fill a vacant spot by the hospital commission, but the council did not vote on her selection.