At its Monday morning meeting the Board of County Commissioners authorized the calling and holding of a special election to levy and collect a perpetual one-sixth of one percent (.1667%) sales tax to distribute equally to all Creek County fire departments that maintain a status of a “member of good standing” with the Creek County Fire District Association. The collected sales tax monies will be used to acquire equipment, for upgrades or maintenance for existing equipment, safety gear, operations, planning, training, or training-related expenses, or for new building construction or improvements on existing facilities. The election will be held Tuesday, April 6.
District #1 Commissioner Newt Stephens stated that the County’s Volunteer Fire Departments have put countless hours of work into getting this issue ready to be voted on by the people.
Leon Warner, District #2 Commissioner, said that this tax is “much needed” and that he has spoken to “many Volunteer Fire Departments and [Creek] is one of the few counties that doesn’t have public support for funding. It is greatly needed and I highly support the passing of this.”
The Creek County Health Department is getting a new 7.5-ton rooftop HVAC unit and another 7.5-ton unit repaired for a total cost of $22,434.00. Three quotes were received, and the Board went with Shoemaker Mechanical, as they are the company the County typically uses and they have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Stephens said that Shoemaker was not the lowest bidder, but that their representative Anna Stingfellow, who spoke to the Board at Monday’s meeting, showed reasoning that they may not have provided the lowest quote, but that they did provide the best quote.
At its January meeting, the Town of Kellyville approved a new housing addition off Maple Drive. The road, however, needs repairs in order to sustain the high traffic that will be using it during development. The Board will contract with Dunham Asphalt using 6 Month Highway/Materials Bid prices on a two-inch overlay on 6/10ths of a mile on the road.
Stephens said that Purchasing Agent Jana Thomas has been working on getting this project ready. Dunham has projected the project will need 880 tons of asphalt and they have lowered their cost from $66.50 a ton to $60.50 a ton, for a total cost of $53,240.00. Dunham also waived the $1,500.00 locating fee and is going to grind some of the road down at no charge. The County is asking for a 15% contingency fee added to the purchase order in case of unforeseen issues or irregularities with the road that may require more than the projected 880 tons. Bonds are required with this project and will need to be received before going into contract with the vendor. This was unanimously approved by the Board.
The County’s emergency COVID-19 resolution was extended one more week. Emergency Management Director Covey Murray reported that as of Friday, January 22, the County had 543 active cases, 50 new cases, and 81 deaths. Warner stated that it “looks like we might have crested and are maybe headed back down on our numbers.” And “with that being said, the Courthouse should be open again on February 1.”
Murray said that the First Responders and Courthouse employees are to receive their second and final vaccination shot on Wednesday, January 27. He said the recipients will be notified by email and that the shots will be administered at St. John’s Sapulpa.
