Henryetta City Council members approved several agenda items and also discussed the Coronavirus (COVID-19) during their March 24 meeting at City Hall.
Henryetta City Council members approved several agenda items and also discussed the Coronavirus (COVID-19) during their March 24 meeting at City Hall. Mayor Jennifer Munholland
Mayor Jennifer Munholland was appointed to negotiate with the International Association of Firefighters Local #2788 and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 115 for Fiscal Year 2020-2010 bargaining agreements.
Caroline Barado was appointed to the Henryetta Library Board Ward #3 for a five-year term.
Barbara Beymer was reappointed to the Henryetta Library Board, representing Ward #2.
Todd Groff and David Bullard were reappointed to the Henryetta Planning and Zoning Board, each for a three-year term.
All of the following payments were reviewed and approved:
• $20,283.35 to AEP/PSO.
• $10,765.16 to Fuelman.
• $5,971.79 to American Exchange Bank for lease/purchase payments for a ladder truck.
• $10,756.13 to Emergency Medical Services.
• $9,221.42 to Henryetta Economic Development Authority.
• $38,858.19 to Bank of Oklahoma for a 2015 Note Series monthly payment.
• $6,137.50 to Myers Engineering for storm sewer construction near Main Street and North E Street (for the rerouting of storm drains between Taco Bell and McDonald’s).
An emergency on Ordinance #1270, an ordinance that amends Ordinance #781, for the purpose of requiring a manufactured home to be newly manufactured and not previously owned or occupied, in order to be allowed placement in the R-3 District was declared and approved.
Only one bid was qualified to be considered for city parks/lots and weed lots for the 2020 mowing season. The bids were awarded to GrassGrabbers Lawn Care.
Henryetta Rotary Club requested rental fees be waived for use of the Civic Center on April 3 for the annual middle school dance. City council members decided it would only be approved if there was no quarantine in place and school would return to normal.
Consent Agenda items including financial reports, minutes of the meeting and claims for the month of February were reviewed and approved.
Highlights of the City Manager’s Report for February include:
• Water Treatment Plant - A pre-construction meeting was held with Myers Engineering and Quicksilver Utility Contracting regarding settling plates to be installed in a clarifier. The project has been completed. A 200-horsepower service pump was sent off for repairs.
• Waste Water Treatment Plant - Maintenance staff were busy with several sewer main failures and preventive maintenance in preparation for spring rains.
• Street Department - Crews have been hauling materials for upcoming projects and restocking other departments with aggregate. A big sander was rebuilt. All winter maintenance equipment was cleaned and put away. Over 500 tons of material was moved onto the new playground pad at Nichols Park. Tree limbs and debris were removed. Maintenance was performed on mowing equipment.
• Main Street Storm Drain Project - City officials and crews have met with Myers Engineering regularly to prepare the site. Material for the project was ordered and crews await delivery.
• Splash Pad - Testing and maintenance will begin shortly in preparation for the upcoming season.
• Henryetta Police Department - There were a total of 77 incident reports filed for February as follows: Assault (simple) - 4; Burglary/Breaking and Entering - 6; Civil (other) - 1; Driving Under the Influence - 3; Drug/Narcotics (violations) - 5; Drunkenness - 7; Family (other) - 1; Fraud (False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Gain) - 4; Larceny/Theft (all other) - 5; Larceny/Theft (from building) - 1; Larceny/Theft (pocket-picking) - 1; Other offenses (nontraffic) - 17; Public Peace (other) - 1; Public Peace (unattended death) - 1. There were 156 citations and 63 citation warnings filed for February. A total of 1,409 radio logs were recorded. • Henryetta Fire Department - There were 79 incidents reports for February with three charged for the call. Billing for the month was $900. Call back, FLSA and holiday overtime for the month totaled 279 hours. Service calls led the month with 32.91%, up 9.38%. Rescue and EMS calls followed with 29.11%, up 4.60%. Fire calls finished with 11.39%, up 7.47%. Goddard Enterprises rebuilt three city storm sirens which are back in place on new poles. Siren testing was set to being after AEP/PSO installed electric meters. During February, Henryetta FD hosted EMT training classes to re-certify the department’s nationally-registered emergency medical technicians. • Henryetta Public Library - There were 29 magazines
• Henryetta Public Library - There were 29 magazines and 39 books added to the collection. One book was withdrawn from the collection. A total of 541 materials were checked out. Obituary searches totaled 14 and customer assistance questions totaled 53. Microfilm was used 12 times and public computers were used 370 times. There were 13 library card renewals and eight new library cards issued.
Following the approval of the City Manager’s report, Mayor Munholland spoke about the COVID-19 pandemic as follows:
“There is not enough protective equipment for the front lines. Price gouging is going on. Masks are under lock and key at the hospital,” she said.
“It’s scary. I don’t want the virus to be something to take lightly. It is transmitted airborne. Closing things is not going to fix anything if people don’t quit staying in crowds and don’t quit doing social interactions,” Mayor Munholland said.
“I have been in contact on multiple calls with the governor, Oklahoma Municipal League, Oklahoma State Department of Health and Okmulgee County Health Department. Everybody is doing everything in their power but you cannot make people abide by the rules.
“The United States has never seen this. We don’t know what to do. We’re all learning every day and we’re all doing the best we can do. So calling names, pointing fingers and being ridiculous isn’t going to help anybody. It isn’t going to change anything and it isn’t going to make the numbers go down. “Washing your hands, staying away from people
“Washing your hands, staying away from people infected and staying home to quarantine yourself is the best option you have of any. I know it’s frustrating that you can’t go get your hair done, that you can’t go get your nails done, that you can’t run to the bowling alley, that you can’t go to the gym.
“Give it two or three weeks. Saving somebody’s life is a huge difference. It could be your loved one that passes away and then you’re going to be mad that everyone else didn’t comply with what needed to happen.
“If you have stuff in your freezer, eat it. If you have food in your cabinets, eat it. Just because you’re out of eggs today doesn’t mean you have to have eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Use that deer meat you have in your freezer. Use that hamburger meat you have in your freezer. You’ll be alright.
“I was hoping today when the governor spoke, that he would limit how many could be in essential places. We need these essential things. We can’t close them. It would be difficult if we did. It would make life very hard for everybody because we have to have gas to get to work. We have to have food to eat. We have to have medication. Some people can’t live without the medication.
“Remember each day that there are people that are barely making it that day. Check on your elderly. Check on your neighbors. If you’re going to town to get something, maybe you can pick it up for two or three, drop it off on their porch and not have contact with them.
“Remember our local businesses. This is going to be a huge economic impact on everybody here. Not just the city, the city is tax-based. But all these people that work at these facilities that are no longer able to work. You don’t get unemployment tomorrow. That don’t put diapers on that baby. That don’t put milk in that baby’s belly.
“With that in mind, we do have businesses that need to shut down. It is our recommendation that we follow Governor Stitt’s Executive Order, ‘Safer at Home.’ We are one of those affected counties now. We do have non-essential places that are open. A list of essential businesses has been announced. I don’t agree with all of them. I don’t disagree with all of them but it’s what they’ve listed.
“Just try to limit your numbers in groups. If anybody is sick, stay at home, by all means. If you have a fever, don’t go out. “If you can quarantine for three weeks, quarantine
“If you can quarantine for three weeks, quarantine for three weeks and you’ll see a significant drop in numbers across the state.
“I get it, that these are small ‘mom and pop’ businesses. That is what feeds their family and that is what pays the bills and that is the last thing we want to do is put anybody out of business. But we also don’t want that person that’s running that business to die from COVID-19 because they insisted they needed to stay open. You all take care.
“I don’t know when we are going to have another regular council meeting because they’re working on that. We’re going to have a special council meeting to increase Donna’s (White) spending ability Monday at noon to try to get that taken care of so she can do business at usual in case we can’t have public meetings moving forward. I don’t know when it’s going to be lifted. If we have a huge spike in this, it may be May (before the council can meet),” Mayor Munholland said.
In other city council comments, Janna Duggan, a critical staff member at Hillcrest Hospital Henryett, said she has worn the same mask for three days. No new business was presented before the council and the meeting adjourned.
Council members in attendance were Mayor Munholland, Janna Duggan, Christy Jeffcoat and Shannon Scott. Gary Clason was absent. Minutes of the meeting were recorded by Interim City Manager Donna White.
City staff attending were Code Enforcement Officer Jody Agee and Public Works Director Ron Casey.
Henryetta Municipal Authority opened their meeting with the approval of financial reports, minutes of a meeting and claims for the month of February.
All of the following payments on the agenda were reviewed and accepted:
• $12,300 to Center Point Landfill.
• $11,193.26 and $37,962.14 to OWRB for monthly payments.
• $20,000 for Caustic Soda for the water treatment plant.
• $19,000 for Ferric Chloride for the water treatment plant.
Authority trustees also approved $6,190 for repairs for a high service pump motor for the water treatment plant and $8,817.54 for repairs to a Bobcat compact excavator.
No new business was brought forward and the meeting adjourned.