The consent agenda was approved, minus one item selected by council member Perry Shelton. Upon review, that item, which is mandated by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), was also approved. The consent agenda included approval of the minutes from the June 15 meeting, and approving purchase orders (PO's) from fiscal year (FY) for 2009-2010 Enterprise Fund totaling $296,947.04; Joe D. Hall Contractors $96,422.30 and PSA Dewberry for $15,704.35. Both the latter are paid from Sales Tax Revenue Note Series 2009.
Following the consent agenda, at 6:42 p.m., it was suggested by City Attorney, Catherine Coke to recess the AMA meeting and go to the City Council meeting to expedite the meeting process. The council meeting began at 6:42 p.m. with all present. There were no comments from the audience.
The consent agenda for the City Council meeting was approved without two items singled out by Perry Shelton and the minutes, as requested by council member Don Johnson. The agenda included approval of minutes from the regular June 15 meeting, PO's from FY 2009-2010 for the General Fund for $100,090.16, Workers Comp Fund for $22,122.09, the Assurance Fund for $166,017.51, the Airport Fund for $2,697.74, Hotel/Motel Tax Fund for $3,959.40, the Street & Alley Fund for $37,976.44, the Emergency 911 Fund for $97.64, the July 9 payroll of $$375,417.79, mandated overtime of $0.00 and additional overtime of $6,945.75 for a total of $382,363.54. The two items Shelton questioned were invoices from the ice storm, but just recently received. There is one more outstanding invoice which will be coming. Johnson stated he is recorded as having been at the last City Council meeting and wished that be corrected. Those remaining items were approved with the change.
The council received reports from: Cable One, Swimming Pool, Main Street Altus, and the Southern Prairie Library System.
At that point the attorneys arrived and the AMA reconvened at 6:46 p.m. and went into executive session regarding the litigation of Oklahoma Industrial Finance Authority v. the AMA. This case has been stayed by the bankruptcy of Quartz Mountain Aerospace (QMA). The update lasted until 8:14 p.m.
There was no new business and the AMA meeting adjourned at 8:16 p.m.
The City Council meeting reconvened at 8:17 p.m.
The council voted to waive the bid process for chipping oil from Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions of Lawton, since it is the soul source.
The council also voted to approve the renewal of Excell Workers' Comp Agreement for one year with Midwest Employers Casualty Company for $44,047 subject to a final audit. This actually saves the City some money as it provides more protection for the members of the Police and Fire Departments.
The council renewed the contract with Blackboard Connect for the Citizen Notification System for FY 2010-2011 for $18,000. There have been only a handful of complaints. Most people appreciate the information from Blackboard. If people wish to opt out of the system, they may do so, according to Public Information Officer, Matt Coppock.
The new Municipal Complex will require a telecommunication system that can be upgraded. For that reason, the lowest bidder will not receive that award. The council voted to approve Cherokee Nation Technology Solutions as contractor for the system for $190,363.81. There was no local bidder. Most sources are out of state.
A change order (No. 3) was approved for Timberlake for $54,401 for the municipal facility. This brings the total for the City Complex to $8.7 million, up from its original $5.5 million.
The council did not approve the passage of Cellular Telephone Allowance Policy effective July 1. They stated that the cell phone policies needed to be updated, but did not authorize an allowance to be included in the Policies & Procedures Task Force, nor preparing Resolution 2010-21 to add it to the Policies and Procedures manual. Finance Director Joe Don Dunham had made a lot of preparation for this item, detailing costs and speaking with a vendor's corporate office to assess their coverage costs. According to those figures, the phone allowance seemed to be the best choice. Council member Jack Smiley had just spoken to a source before the meeting on providing cell phone coverage for 35 cell phones and 5 smart phones. The figures were substantially better than those given Dunham. He proposed that, instead of giving some employees a phone allowance, the City bid this coverage out. That bid process was approved by council.
The council voted to re-approve the lease for City facilities at the old Fairgrounds on South Veterans Drive to the Boll Weevil Eradication Organization with a monthly rental of $150.00. This is revised from the lease authorized March 2, with minor changes in format.
The council approved the Emergency Ordinance 2010-06 regarding adoption of state laws from the Smoking in Public Places and Indoor Workplaces Act, Smoking in Certain Public Areas Prohibited and Prevention of Youth Access to Tobacco Act, using guidelines from the Oklahoma Municipal League. This is an Emergency Ordinance and an effective date was set at 30 days from this date. The Tobacco-Free Parks issue is still up for consideration. According to Coke, Representative Charles Ortega has requested a ruling from the Attorney General on this issue. The state already has a law about not smoking in buildings. Are parks included in that law? Johnson assured members of the audience that "This council is actively pursuing Tobacco-Free Parks." Coke echoed the sentiment when asked how long this process could take. It could be up to three months, but she quipped, "He is running for Governor. He'll want to speed this along."
The council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and the Jackson County District Court. This adds a curfew and tobacco possession to the list of offenses for juveniles.
The council approved Ordinances 2010-07, 2010-08, 2010-09 to accept the Altus Planning Commission (ACPC) changing zoning for Laurel Homes 9th, 11th, 12th Additions from Agriculture (AG) to Auto-Urban Residential (AR).
The council approved Resolution 2010-23 to accept the ACPC recommendation for the Final Plat for the Hunter Pointe Addition Part VII.
The removal of 608 N. Julian from the demolition list was not approved by the council. The vote was four to four, with the Mayor breaking the tie. The owner is now trying to sell the dilapidated property which would take a lot of money to repair to standards. The demolition order stands.
After a presentation by Planning Director Barbara Burleson, review of documentation, and partners Trevor Deweese and Cary Jessup speaking, Ordinance 2010-10 was approved to change the zoning of 1005 East Ridgecrest from Suburban Commercial (SC) to Auto-Urban (AC). This would allow the 2.21 acre tract of land for development of a mini-storage. At first some residents nearby objected, but found that the landscaped, quiet light industry would not be obtrusive and ended up agreeing to the rezoning. The council approved it also.
The council went into executive session at 9:21 p.m.
During executive session, the council discussed the appraisal of 511 S. Hudson adjacent to the new Municipal Complex. They also discussed the appraisal of 702 N. Park Ln. which was an old nursing home. This is being discussed as a donation to the City and would be appraised at the City's expense.
The council also received updates in negotiation with IAFF and the FOP.
Annual evaluations for the Planning Director, the Parks & Recreation Director, the Fire Chief, the Sanitation Superintendent, and the Water/Sewer Maintenance Superintendent were discussed and all were retained in their positions with appropriate step increases.
The council reconvened at 10:35 p.m. and approved paying the appraisal fee for 511 S. Hudson, but denied the appraisal fee for 702 N. Park Ln. The council received updates on the negotiations between the City and the IAFF and FOP, for which no action was taken. Annual evaluations and one step increase were approved for the following: Planning Director, Fire Chief, Sanitation Superintendent, and Water/Sewer Maintenance Superintendent. The Parks & Recreation Director will be re-evaluated in six months.
There was no new business.
Mayor Gramling had no appointments.
City Administrator's remarks: Mike Nettles said he'd received notice of the Oklahoma Municipal League (OML) conference. It will be Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, in Oklahoma City. Council members need to RSVP.
City Council member remarks: Those who had remarks at that late hour were:
Scot Simco - asked about the loss of water pressure, since it affected Bar S last weekend. Bob Stephenson explained the mechanics of adding bigger water lines and the value of Bar S maintaining a 12-hour water supply to allow their continuation of manufacturing, and also allowing the City the hours to get problems repaired. Mike Nettles also explained there are several water projects slated which would be better to do altogether.
Jack Smiley - said he'd received three letters opposing the dog park. Smiley recently spent time conversing with Christy Counts of the Humane Society. She will be glad to come to speak on the issues of the dog park and an animal adoption model without some of the kinks Altus has experienced.
Don Johnson - was grateful for the letter to the editor in the Altus Times, which praised Holmes Willis and his staff at the Street Department. They've done a good job on the curbs, and intersections.
David Brown - found a light needing maintenance on Park Lane. He's also had calls on alleys flooding on Quail Run South. Bob Stephenson said that is due to the detention pond behind that area, which eventually will be made into a drainage ditch. Brown also suggested that a dog park may need to be located in a non-residential area.
Rick Henry - said he that received five letters against the dog park being located at the Reservoir or behind Tamarack. He's not against a dog park, it's just hard to find a good location. He also mentioned getting street lights on, and the shortcut some people are taking on Val Verde to avoid the "punishment light" on Tamarack and Main. There's too much speeding through the residential area at Val Verde and Tierra Rica. Is it time to redesign the whole Tamarack and Main area? Nettles said this has been proposed before. It would require funding.
Sid Willis - since it was now 11 p.m., joked that he had ten things to bring up. To which everyone laughed with fatigue.
The meeting was adjourned at 11 p.m.
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