Monday’s Council meeting began with a preliminary report on the 2024 Route 66 Christmas Chute with the regular session being highlighted by a sewer evaluation survey and updated fire department software.
The Fire Department had been using software from Emergency Reporting Systems to track and manage a variety of information with a yearly cost of about $8500. The city approved a new software agreement with First Due for $29,700 per year, necessitated by ERS no longer being supported after October 2024 due to a change in the national reporting system.
“All the new platforms are right around $30,000 per year so we knew we were going to have to go to this increase,” said Fire Chief James Vickrey.
City Council also heard and discussed plans for an infrastructure survey with plans to involve local participation. Sapulpa Public Works Director Steve Hardt described an additional area of the survey for participants to be able to test pipes for contaminants using a magnet.
Monday’s study session additionally discussed future plans and past performance of the “Route 66 Christmas Chute” with Jennifer Dilley. Mrs. Dilley requested the same budget as last year for the 2024 Chute, which would sit at $250,000.
“We want to go around the entire community and ask people to do their windows and their buildings,” she said. “We just want to encourage everybody to get into the Christmas spirit this year.”
Dilley said that the project was continually getting bigger but noted that they have not lost a single volunteer from their roster. Among the changes she discussed were moving displays down the street to no longer block storefronts and switching the placement of the igloos and food trucks.
Other important items from the meeting included approval of the sewer study which will conduct study system capacity analyses for further developments of the intersection at 49th W Ave and Hilton Rd and State Highway 117. The city also approved a change in ordinance that fixes a longstanding issue causing areas zoned for planned unit development to show up as agricultural.
The City Council meets on the first and third Monday of the month, at 5:30 pm for the Study Session, followed by the regular meeting at 7:00 pm.
(A previous version of this story misattributed quotes by Jennifer Dilley to Cindy Lawrence.)
