Oakland
TheTownofOaklandPublic Works Authority monthly meeting was on June 10. Items one through four were general housekeeping items.
Item five was to discuss and take action on replacing 1600 feet of metal water lines in the areas of Dillingham, 11th, and 7th street using funds from ARPA funds received. The item was approved after the council discussed the handwritten estimate for work and requested the estimate be re-submitted, typed in lieu of hand written, to provide a clearer cost estimate.
Before the meeting was adjourned, there was a question as to whether employees were still using the time clock to track time worked; which caused a conflict between the council member that asked the question and an employee that was present. The meeting was adjourned shortly after.
The Oakland Public Works Authority meeting is immediately after the Oakland Town Council meeting the second Monday of every month at 18972 Elizabeth Blvd., Oakland.
Madill
The Madill City Council held their monthly meeting on June 11. Agenda items onethroughfiveweregeneral housekeeping items.
Item six was for the public hearing for the purpose of discussing the proposed budgets for the city of Madill, The Madill Public Works Authority, specialrevenueaccounts,and the Capital Projects Fund. The budget will include a 3% cost of living pay increase for city employees.
Changes included a $40,000 signal light maintenance budget for the light at Francis Street, and the purchase of two new radar lights at a total cost of $75,000. Additional new items were the cost of replacing and maintaining new water meters for the city from UTS.
The cost will be $791,370 forthenewmetersandwillbe paid out in installments over five years; plus an annual fee of $16,000 for UTS to monitor new meters. The new meters will take six weeks to install, once approved.
There was also a discussion in regards to the budgeting for mowing in the Parks and Cemetery Budget. Trustee Mary Ann Hale asked about the budgeting that was set aside for outside vendors to mow, in addition to employees being paid overtime to mow.
City Manager James Fullingim stated that outside vendors were mowing what the city employee were not able to due to the amount of areas that needed to be bush hogged versus other types of mowing. Employees generally do not get overtime for mowing or bush hogging other than the occasional times that they were not able to get to the bush hogging due to instances of events like the SandBass Festival, excessive amounts of rain and other reasons.
Hale inquired as to whether the vendors could take care of the bush hogging in lieu of employees getting overtime. Fullingim explained that the overtime was not frequent and the vendors used were not equipped to bush hog and it may cost more using the vendors.
Fullingim said that if he could find part time seasonal help to mow when there is more than mowing than what city employees could handle, he would do that in lieu of contracting out the work. Council member Fred Stanley asked Fullingim if the city is getting bids from thecurrentvendorsandother businesses to ensure they are getting the best possible pricing.
Fullingim stated that getting bids generally drove the cost up and that allowing him to negotiate the price with current vendors may be more cost effective. After some additional discussion on the mowing, which included the question of if it were possible to have other city employees from other departments be trained to bush hog, there was a question if the vendors used by the city would be willing to do the work or, in lieu of the 3% cost of living increase, use that to hire more employees for the city.
Council member Terry Rushing objected to the idea. Ultimately, the council made no changes to that part of the budget.
There was also a noted budget increase for the Waste and Water Treatment Plant(s) for chemicals and utilities.
Item seven was to to discuss andtakeactiononadopting resolution #739 which is a resolution of the governing bodies of the City of Madill, Oklahoma adopting the annual budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025; council approved the budget.
Item eight was to discuss and take action on resolution #740 which is a resolution establishing guidelines for the fiscal year 2024-2025; item was approved.
Item nine was to discuss and take action on approving the property, liability and worker’s compensation with Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group; item was approved with an increase from $61,739 to $71,454 for property, liability will increase from $54,515 to $66,909 and there will be a decrease in the worker’s compensation from $106,657 to $99,987.
Item 10 was to discuss and take action on approving resolution #738 to apply for a R.E.A.P, council approved to apply. The $75,000 grant throughSouthernOklahoma Development Association will be used to redo the streets running behind McDonald’s; S. 2nd Street running down to Woody Ford.
Item 12 was the city financial report from Fullingim; $338,422.53 sales tax revenue, $43,620.84 in use tax, revenue at 147.91%, and expenses at 114.09%.
Item 13 was Fullingim’s report: there will be “dirt work” done at the soon-to-be Qualls Park. The city is still needing to do repairs to the city pool as there is still a leak and they are hoping to have it open by the following week.
The Sand Bass Festival was a reported success with little to no incidents reported otherthanafewarrestsmade byMadillPoliceDepartment.
Item 15 was set aside to remarks and inquiries by council member; to which MayorTravisWilliamswanted to thank everyone for another successful SandBass Festival.
“Thank you to the city and the police, the fire department, and to all those that helped with the SandBass Festival. It was a good event all the way around and I appreciate the work,” Williams said.
The Madill City council meets at 5:15 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month in the Library Room at the Fred Stanley Center. City Council members are Mayor TravisWilliams, Vice Mayor BobbyDavis,MaryAnnHale, Terry Rushing, Fred Stanley and City Manager James Fullingim. Meeting agendas are available upon request. The phone number to city hall is (580) 795-5586.