This story originally appeared in the December 27th Print Edition of Sapulpa Times.
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At the end of a short and efficient regular City Council meeting, Mayor Craig Henderson announced to the Council, public, and city staff that COVID-19 “vaccines are here,” in Sapulpa. Henderson reported that in a call with other mayors and city managers around the state, he learned that County Health Departments are in receipt of a number of vaccines and that they will be the ones to dispense them. The County is looking at giving the vaccines to first responders first—paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and firefighters and police officers with EMT responsibilities. He emphasized that he is neither supporting nor opposing the overall issue of vaccines, but simply sharing information. City Manager Joan Riley confirmed that she is in discussions to find “critical employees” in the City’s infrastructure who will be earmarked to take the vaccine at their first chance, if they choose to do so.
As reported by Sapulpa Times earlier this week, the Administration and Finance Committee agreed last week to approve recommending upgrades to the City Hall Council Chamber’s audiovisual equipment to the full City Council. The Committee took City staff’s advice to accept the $39,645.86 bid from Vox Audio Visual out of Oklahoma City.
The new environment for the Council Chambers will have integrated cameras, integrated audio, on-demand selected displays, and integrated off-site feeds from guests that can be live-streamed across multiple platforms. Vox AV’s quote included a 3-year warranty and was the most complete and lowest price quote as per the scope of the project, according to Mark Stephens, who spearheaded this project. This will be funded from CARES Act Reimbursement funds, and will be a boon to the community at large, according to Mayor Henderson and other members of the Council and Administration and Finance Committee.
This passed the Council unanimously.
A bid for replacement furniture for the police department was approved to local business Merrifield Office Supply. They and another company submitted bids, but theirs was the “lowest, most responsive and responsible bid” at $82,884.94. This amount accounts for a credit received for trade-in furniture and encompasses a whole slew of new furniture and other office necessities such as an ice maker, shredders, filing cabinets, and more. This was unanimously approved by the Council and is part of the recent GO Bond.
It was unanimously approved to amend this fiscal year’s budget to allow for the purchase of a property at 528 East Hobson Avenue for $121,244. Previously, City Council appropriated $35K for a portion of the purchase price of property so the Sapulpa Development Authority (SDA) could purchase it. The SDA has obtained a loan from American Heritage Bank in the amount of $86,223.15 for the remaining cost of the property.
This was discussed in Executive Session on November 16, when the Council unanimously voted in open session to approve the purchase of property located on the southwest corner of Hobson and Maple in an amount not to exceed $125K. The transaction to acquire the property was closed on December 8. The property is to be used for City office space.
