The Sulphur City Council met Monday night for their regular monthly meeting presided over by Vice-Mayor Alan McKay.
Prior to the start of the meeting, the first order of business was the Oath of Office for Ward 2 Councilman Derek Stone and Ward 4 Councilman Ryan Peters, who both ran unopposed in the recent city filing.
Prior to the oath being administered by the new city attorney Thomas Marcum, McKay asked Marcum if, in his opinion, Peters was eligible to serve after the audit report presented at the March meeting revealed Peters had been compensated on more than one occasion for working on city vehicles at his business, Ryan’s Body Shop. The attorney said in his opinion there was no reason not to swear in Peters.
In further questioning regarding the City Charter, State Statutes and the Oath of Office all prohibiting an elected official from receiving compensation from the body he serves, Marcum said that was correct but cited the Statue of Limitations on the issue.
Marcum performed the Oath to both members, with right hands raised, swearing they would not knowingly accept directly or indirectly any compensation other than allowed by law.
Marcum told members the Statute nor the Charter provide a remedy, and that the only recourse is to present the findings to the District Attorney for possible further action.
Even if the procedure was legal, it could be deemed unethical and as Marcum put it, “the transactions don’t pass the smell test” and should never be done.
Several items on the agenda discussed in the meeting were information and discussion only with no actions taken.
Ward 2 Councilman Derek Stone requested to further discuss the audit report that was presented last month with several questions about the findings. Stone asked the status of the possible under payments to employees that was cited in the audit. Both requests were discussed with no action taken.
No action was taken on question about the status of the time clocks that were approved in a special meeting on March 17.
City ManagerAndy Freeman said the clocks were received Friday and he has been working with Chickasaw Telephone IT Department for ports, internet and other technology issues to get the clocks operable. No time-line was given as to when they would be in use.
Council members approved hiring a certified public accountant from Ardmore to assist with possible payroll findings and aid in getting the payroll reports directly to the software InCode instead of using the paper time sheets as has been the practice. This should allow for an audit trail as requested by the auditor.
Historic Preservation Board Chairman Neil Mayo presented an amendment to the Design Guidelines Booklet, adding approximately nine additional photos of down buildings to the book. The request was approved by members.
The council approved additional compensation to Choosing Charities Grant Firm to allow for the performance of administration services on current grants as well as seeking new grant funding for the city.
Rebuilding location of the fire department substation that was destroyed in the April 27, 2024 tornado was discussed by members and approval was made to build the station back in the same location with funds received from the insurance along with some grants that have been received for the project.
Council members once again heard from Ide Russell concerning a drainage problem at 1508 West Tahlequah. No action was taken.
In other agenda action, members approved the following:
•appointment of Janet Carter as city representative to the Board of Trustees of the Southern Oklahoma Library System for a three-year term;
•allowing for FY25 firefighting equipment grant application and authorizing the Mayor to sign the application;
•allowing for the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Grant Individual Body Camera Program and Use Agreement and authorizing the Mayor to sign the agreement;
•OG&E easement regarding the 40 acres west of town owned by the City of Sulphur;
•transferring funds from the Municipal Court Fund to the general fund as approved in the 24-25 budget in the amount of $50,000.00;
•FY 24-25 budget amendments; •transferring funds from general fund to airport fund for the purchase of fuel for the fuel farm and electrical work on the fuel farm in the amount of $15,000.00;
•authorizing the city manager to set fuel pricing for the airport fuel system as needed;
•approved repairs to Splash Pad not to exceed $10,000.00;
•payment of $13,158.00 to Myers Engineering for engineering services on Chickasaw Nation/ OwRB water project;
•payment of $224,752.72 to Marsau Enterprises, Inc. for Invoice No. 1 for water main replacement on WynnewoodAve.;
•payments of $16,541.25 for January and $11,537.50 for February to Del Sol Consulting, Inc. for storm related consulting services;
•payment of $7,250.00 to Southwestern Equipment Co. to replace packer cylinder in sanitation truck #24;
•payment of $8,481.14 to Holt Truck Centers to replace the rear chassis harness and the wheel speed sensor on the roll-off truck; and
•Task Order No. 2 to Del Sol Consulting, Inc. for continued related storm services in an amount not to exceed $50,000.00.
Members tabled action on quotes for replacing air conditioning units at the library because proper bidding procedures were not followed.
In correspondence and updates, Freeman told members the Chickasaw Telephone Company had donated two vehicles to the city for the public works department; fuel farm is getting closer to having fuel; working on getting information to auditor for 23-24 audit; irrigation line completed; test well drilling still ongoing, and lead line project 34% complete.
Treasurer Ginger Cornell reported sales tax and use tax for year down and SMA will meet budget but may not have a lot to carry over.
All five council members were present at the meeting.
