The Elk City Commissioners met for their regular meeting on Mon., March 4th, at 7 p.m., in City Hall. Commissioner Rick Shelton stood in for Mayor Cory Spieker. Jeff Waters gave the invocation, while Rocky Andresen led the flag salute. Shelton then opened the meeting to a public hearing concerning a proposed street closing.
The proposal was a 20’ alley situated in Block 5 of the Houchens Addition to the City. This is the lot behind Homeland and the future home of the new fire station. City Manager, Tom Ivester, explained that the utilities must be moved and the alley and easements changed.
After the hearing closed, the regular meeting was opened. They approved the minutes from the Feb. 2nd meeting, then also approved Ordinance No. 1263. This ordinance was to vacate a Right of Way Easement that was dedicated to the City of Elk City. They then approved the ordinance to be deemed an emergency ordinance.
The next item on the agenda that was approved was a bid from WDB Engineering, PLLC, for the Elk City Landfill Closure and Post Closure Plan Modification in the amount of $138,500. This is the beginning process of closing the vertical landfill. Ivester said that it was on the verge of closing for several years, but they have used it for the Cheyenne tornado, and they voted to accept their deposit in the landfill.
Ivester and City Treasurer, Jennifer Rainey, explained the cost of closing landfill cells, which is in the millions. They have not closed one in a very long time because of the cost. They agreed that it was time to start closing the cell. They have been setting aside funds for the project, but the cost has prohibited the city in moving forward. The bid came in significantly lower than previous estimates for the same service. The commissioners approved the expenditure.
They also approved a bid received from Western Sealcoating and Striping, LLC for parking lot repairs at 3rd and Jefferson in the amount of $17,675.41. Ivester said this is the parking lot that is behind Dollar General and downtown retail stores. In preparation for the Main Street project, these renovations would be rehabbing the existing surface. This would reseal and restripe the lot.
The bid from Warren Cat for repairs to the Landfill compactor in the amount of $138,952.82 was approved. The main compactor at the landfill was diagnosed with a cracked cylinder sleeve. They could rebuild the existing engine or go with this bid for a factory rebuilt long block with a three-year warranty. The commissioners decided to go with a shorter turn around option with the three-year warranty.
The next item on the agenda was the approval to declare several vehicles as surplus to be sold at the Statewide County Surplus Auction held at the convention center on March 8th and 9th. The items they approved to be sold included 2011 Chevy Tahoe, 2007 Ford Crown Vic, 1989 1950 B Cargo Star Truck, 2008 Ford Crown Vic, 2012 Chevy Tahoe, 2013 Chevy Tahoe, 2012 Chevy Silverado Pickup, and 2012 John Deere F687 mower.
Commissioners approved Purchase Orders FY 23-24 and recurring invoices for March 4th. The Supervisor’s Report for the month was the Carnegie Library given by DeAun Ivester, Shannon Pirus, and Randi Yow. In their report, Pirus and Yow showed the commissioners a presentation about the activities, as well as the numbers that have increased due to their support.
In the City Manager’s Report, Ivester called on Elk City Fire Department Chief Kyle Chervenka to give the commissioners a rundown of the fires that have been and are currently still being fought in the Texas Panhandle and local fires.
“It’s been a busy week. Last week we started on Sunday with a fire west of Elk City.” Chervenka started.
Monday, he received a phone call from a couple of fire chiefs about helping with the Texas fires. Chervenka called for their task force, and they responded. There were 34,000 acres burning. He added that they built solid relationships with the other fire departments that will help ECFD, locally, in the future.
They spent the first day at the first fire, and then Tuesday and Wednesday, they went to the Smokehouse fire in Texas. Tuesday, they spent 21 hours fighting fires. They protected several structures and cattle that night.
“So that was a large event. The Smokehouse fire was burning in a way that I haven’t seen fire in a long time. It seemed like it went behind them. It was unforgiving and unrelenting,” Chervenka said.
The task force then went 30 hours on the north side of the fire. He added that farmers came out that day. There were three other large fires in Oklahoma, but they are working to contain it. They are still working on fires.
Chervenka has been asked about what the residents need. He will be taking those items directly to the departments that need it. ECFD is ready when others call for help.
After his report, the meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m. the next meeting will take place on Wed. March 20th at 2 p.m., in city hall.
