City councilors met by teleconference for the regular city council meeting on Monday, April 20, 2020. Some staff and members of the public appeared in person at the Sapulpa City Council Chambers at 425 East Dewey Avenue.
Three of the administrative agenda items involved short-term funding for the 2020 GO bond.
The first regarded the approval of borrowing a straight line of credit from American Heritage Bank for $550,000. On April 6, the City Council authorized and approved the sale of $15 million in GO bonds to occur on May 4, 2020. The City will receive the bond sale proceeds from this sale no later than June 28. AHB has agreed to issue the line of credit to the City so it may begin certain projects now rather than waiting until the end of June when it will receive the bond proceeds. Specifically, these funds will allow the city to start to implement the HVAC repair/improvement at the police station and enter into a contract to begin the “Downtown Master Plan” project. The City says it is crucial that these projects begin immediately.
Since the bond sale proceeds will be available before the line of credit’s maturity date, there will be no cost to the City, unless it draws funds on the line of credit for expenses incurred before June 28.
The next agenda item explained how the $550,000 will be distributed: $260,000 for buildings and fixtures for the Police Department HVAC system, $200,000 for professional services for the Downtown Master Plan, and $90,000 for contingency funds.
The third agenda item awarded the bid to replace the HVAC system at the Sapulpa Police Department. According to the agenda, “After careful review and comparison” of the six bid packets received, the bid would be awarded to Powers Mechanical Service for being the lowest, most responsive, and most responsible bidder, in the amount of almost $260,000. It was noted during the discussion that the HVAC parts should take no longer than 60 days to be delivered and that COVID-19 should not cause any delays on either of these projects.
Councilor Vickie Beyer asked if the recently-established Bond Oversight Committee had already met to discuss and approve these items, and City Manager Joan Riley assured her that yes, they had. Beyer asked for that to be noted in the minutes.
These three agenda items were each passed by the City Council and signed by the Mayor. The first item passed 9-1 with Wes Galloway as the dissenting vote, and the next two items passed unanimously. Galloway said he voted no because he was not comfortable taking out a line of credit from a bank just in case in this volatile market they would be unable to pay it back.
The next meeting of the Sapulpa City Council is scheduled to be held on Monday, May 4, 2020, at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.
