The Elk City Commissioners held their regular meeting, Wed. Sept. 20, at 2 p.m. in City Hall. Mayor Cory Spieker opened the meeting with an invocation, followed by Rocky Andresen leading the flag salute. City Inspector Jackie Addington was first on the agenda with the public hearing for dilapidated structures.
The first structure, located at 943 W. 2nd, was tabled at the last meeting to have time to notify the mortgage company that holds the lien on the house. Addington said that he has not seen any activity or occupants at the house for the last 30 days, and he has not had any response from those he notified. No one was present at the meeting on behalf of the owners.
Addington said that the next structure, located at 522 W. Ave. C, was in bad repair and he recommended it be removed. No one was present to represent the owners of the house.
The meeting then went on to the regular agenda. The commissioners approved the minutes from the Sept. 5th meeting. They also approved declaring the two structures addressed in the public hearing to be dilapidated, detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare and ordered the removal of the structures.
Resolution 2023-13 for C12458 – a resolution concerning Bridge Inspection Responsibility by Local Government for compliance with National Bridge Inspection Standards was approved. This resolution is consistent with what the city has done in the past. It involves having a certified bridge inspector come to Elk City to inspect the bridges within the city.
Commissioners approved a one-year contract with Zoll Data Systems to provide cloud-based software for EMS patient care reporting and billing services in the amount of $24,740. Fire Chief Kyle Chervenka spoke to the commissioners about the program and told them this would be saving the city money each month by combining the billing and patient care reports in one place.
A 1991 Dodge Ram 250 ¾ ton pickup was deemed surplus and will be put out to bid. Also listed as surplus were seven old computers and three monitors. They will be given to the Mangum Police Department.
Next item on the agenda was to approve the city treasurer’s recommendation to close the following bank accounts: police department cash, water and refund account, municipal court training, landfill series, water system imp, economic development, fire cash, municipal court bonds and fines, airport grants, Federal Administrative Forfeiture, and Animal Spay and Neuter. Treasurer Jennifer Rainey told the commissioners that they will be combining all of the accounts into one bank account, and this is the first in the process of combining them into one account. She added that it will be done gradually to make sure there are not issues in accounting during the procedure.
The commissioners approve the Purchase Orders FY 23-24 and recurring invoices for Sept. 20. Then they heard from three supervisors, who gave them an update on what has been happening in their area.
First to report was Matt Bradshaw of the Arrowhead Center. He provided them with the number of people using the center. There were 21,000 people who came through the doors in the first 90 days. After going to the membership phase, there were 14,949 going to the center. He told them that there had been 11 school districts who have utilized the center, and with the summer basketball camps the center saw approximately 38,000 people.
Bradshaw introduced Courtland Wood, who is director of the Arrowhead Academy program. She told the commissioners that they have 47 students enrolled and added five more last week. There are seven members of her team, that include three certified teachers. She said that the response has been positive with the many activities they are doing with the kids. The program encompasses second graders through sixth graders. They also have students from Merritt participating in the program.
In breaking news to the commissioners, Bradshaw announced they have reached an agreement to bring a semi-pro basketball team to the Arrowhead. They will make it their home stadium and host six to eight home games that depend on time and availability. The team ballers are planning on hosting a camp in Oct. He said that they are looking for a name and suggested Western Oklahoma Bulls. Speiker suggested the Elk Bulls.
Additionally, Bradshaw said that they are trying to keep the center busy and that includes all ages of patrons. He sees different ages coming in the doors at different times of the day.
The civic center manager, Julie Brewer, gave her report on the activities at the convention center. She said that they average 70 events a year that include the dog show, fall festival, the surplus auction, the National Junior Show, the Route 66 Square Dancers, and the quilters. This year they will host a new event with the modular railroad group. The convention center is 23,000 square feet and is a 60-yearold building. Brewer asked the commissioners for a new building because there are cracks in the floor, the kitchen needs to be updated, the roof is 11 years old, and the air conditioners need to be repaired often. She also pointed out that the surrounding towns comparable to the size of Elk City have nicer facilities.
Parks department gave a report on the carousel. He said that they found a man out of Chickasha to come fix it, and it is now working. After Christmas they will send the horses to Chickasha to get repaired. They should be completed before the summer season. He also said that the department is two people down and with Christmas lights approaching it will be difficult to keep up with the needs.
City Manager Tom Ivester gave a quick report that included the number of positions that need to be filled. Those positions are a person for the five-plex, two positions at the animal control office, a part time billing clerk, the inspection clerk, a position at the rock yard and one in the sanitation department.
Ivester also explained the pyrotechnics that are being used at the phone tower and the oil derrick. He said that the Dept. of Agriculture contacted him to have a specialist that works with migratory and endangered birds to encourage the black vultures to move on. This is a federal activity, and the city doesn’t have anything to do with it.
Charles Wren, museum curator was elected to the be on the board of the Oklahoma Museum Association at their last conference. After Ivester’s update the meeting moved on to the financial report.
The report was positive although they are still going through the change in the accounting system.
“Our CPI for this period is a 4 percent two year average over 12.9 percent CPI. So when you think about that in perspective over the last two years, our goods and services have increased an average of around about 13 percent. And so we’re seeing that our citizens are seeing that and I think with the Fed keeping interest rates around five and a half percent they have not continued to increase. So hopefully we will see that come back down to a more reasonable level,” Meredith Meacham Wilson told the commissioners.
Rainey gave the sales tax report. She said that the sales tax was down about 3 percent from last Sept., but still about one and a half percent higher for the fiscal year. The use tax was about three percent high from last Sept., but the cigarette tax was down about 15 percent. The commissioners approved the report and they adjourned at 2:55 p.m. with no public comments.
