Monday, July 27th’s regular Creek County Commissioner’s meeting took place at 9 a.m. in the ballroom of the Collins Building. Commissioners Newt Stephens and Leon Warner were present. Commissioner Lane Whitehouse was absent and Roy Smith, First Deputy, sat in his place.
Mobile home applicant switches to modular home
Applicant Corey Barnhart returned this week after the commissioners voted to wait for more information to decide on his property split issue last week. The request consisted of rezoning two tracts of land at 11882 West 162nd Street South in Sapulpa consisting of 2.27 acres. The applicant wished to rezone the west tract from Agriculture to Light Residential and the east tract from Agriculture to Manufactured in order to put in a manufactured, or mobile, home. However, last week some neighbors opposed this, citing too many mobile homes in the area already. District 1 Commissioner Newt Stephens suggested that the applicant put in a modular home on the east tract instead, which is considered Light Residential and would appease the neighbors. Barnhart agreed and withdrew his application. County Planner Wendy Murray said she could get everything prepared this week in order to bring the new application to the Planning Commission on August 18th.
Speed limit reduction
The speed limit was reduced from 45 miles per hour to 25 on a stretch of road in District 2, in Drumright, on West 139th Street South east of Highway 16. District 2 Commissioner Leon Warner reported that this is a dead-end gravel road so narrow that it is difficult for two cars traveling in opposite directions to pass each other and several people have barely avoided having wrecks. Neighbors have requested the speed limit change to limit collisions and to make the road safer. The commissioners unanimously agreed to reduce the speed limit to 25 mph on the county-maintained portion of the road.
Bid awarded for new air conditioning units in the Sheriff’s building
It was unanimously approved to purchase and install 4 new energy-efficient air conditioning units in the Sheriff’s office. Three bids were received and the award went to Air Comfort Solutions for $22,400, which will be taken out of Use Tax. This was the lowest bid received and also the company the county has used in the past. The company’s representative recommended the replacement of 4 specific units because they were all installed in 1999. District 1 Commissioner Newt Stephens said, “This needs to move forward.” The office has 11 units total and 4 have already been replaced.
CIRB funds to be allotted
After waiting a few weeks for more information on the subject, the commissioners decided how to divide and disburse CIRB funds from Senate Bill 1888. There was a hearty discussion between commissioners Warner (District 2) and Stephens (District 1). The bill states that counties must follow “specified statutory guidelines” on how to disburse the monies, but where no guidelines exist they must divide them on roads “which best serve the people of the county.” This statement is subjective at best. County Attorney Andrew Goforth spoke extensively on the issue. Eventually, Stephens made a motion to create three new accounts per the chart of accounts that have been created by the Oklahoma State Auditor and the OSU County Training Program. Additionally, the motion divided the new funds as follows: 20% to District 1, 38% to District 2, and 42% to District 3. The motion passed unanimously.
