At its Monday, March 8th meeting, the Board of County Commissioners discussed the new ODOT County Certification map that each Commissioner must review for accuracy this week, and they will go over any corrections or changes at next week’s meeting. They plan to submit the altered maps to ODOT by Monday, March 22nd.
District #1 Commissioner Newt Stephens said that county-maintained roads and district boundary lines on the map are specified by color, and he, District #2 Commissioner Leon Warner, and acting District #3 Commissioner Roger Smith need to carefully check their district on the map for mistakes and correct any they find. This will affect GIS updates and the new census redistricting, and will be “beneficial for all of us,” Stephens said.
County Clerk Jennifer Mortazavi asked whether or not ODOT is planning to provide the County with the updated map when changes have been approved and made, as the County is still waiting on maps from the last several years. Stephens said that the updated map is available on ODOT’s website.
Next, there was a discussion on two upcoming auctions in which the County will be participating, the Purple Wave Equipment Auction on March 11th and the Western Oklahoma Statewide County Surplus Equipment Auction on March 12th and March 13th. Assistant District Attorney Andrew Goforth said that this item would not normally appear on a BOCC agenda, but that since the County’s relationship with Purple Wave is new, there were some issues that needed to be resolved prior to attending it.
Purchasing Agent Jana Thomas briefly explained the participation process for these types of auctions, saying that County representatives must have a purchase order prior to attending one, listing the equipment they expect to purchase and the maximum amount of money they plan to spend. Additionally, the cost and amount of items purchased at the first auction could lower the amount that can be spent at the second.
Thomas said the purchasing of three or four different pieces of equipment can become confusing to taxpayers, since it involves several variables, including encumbered funds, canceled funds, and often another purchase order for the same dollar amount for a different auction. They hope that by clarifying some of these more complicated issues it will be easier to understand.
A utility permit request from the City of Oilton to cross West 61st Street South approximately 0.3 miles west of Highway 99 and West 61st Street South junction in District #2 was passed until next week’s meeting.
Warner asked Project Manager Glen Mouser if he had reviewed the request, and Mouser stated “yes.” Warner said that he is hesitant to approve a trench across a hard surface road, and asked Mouser if the road was in good shape, to which he again responded “yes.”
Warner said that he would like to pass the request until he has had a chance to speak with the City of Oilton and to ask them why they want to trench a hard surface road.
During the time for Public Comments, Treasurer Don Engle asked the Commissioners if they were aware of the condition of a portion of South 91st Street, east of Highway 97. Warner replied that this is the dividing line between the City and County and that there had been an unapproved mining operation that hauled 100K loads of dirt from there. The operation has since been shut down, but it caused quite a bit of damage to the road. Warner explained that the County will not repair it until after its scheduled meeting on Thursday, March 11 with the City of Sapulpa and the contractor, to see if the City will allow the excavation to continue. “We are going to see if they will pay for the damages” first, Warner said.
The emergency resolution due to the pandemic will be extended at least one more week. Stephens reported that as of last Thursday, March 4, 2021, there were 153 active cases in Creek County. He and Warner stated that that number has been within the 150 to 160 range, “so we are definitely headed in the right direction,” Warner said.
Regarding the courthouse, Warner said that he was unable to speak with the judges last week, as they did not meet. He would like to discuss a “plan of action” with them about moving forward into the next phase of reopening for court sessions.
Warner concluded that “It is [his] understanding that the worst appears to have passed us and is over, but if you listen to some, the variants of this can become worse.”
