Drainage Issues On The Street To Be Addressed In The Rebuild, Officials Said
In a relatively light agenda, Sulphur City Council members met for the regular monthly meeting Monday night.
A task order (No. 5) with Parkhill Engineering to engineer a reconstruction project of West 9th Street from State Highway 7 (Broadway) north to West Muskogee Street was approved. The project is for one block of road on the West side of the new school bond project and will also include addressing the drainage problem that has existed there for a long time. The total cost to engineer the project is $76,500.00.
Two change order requests by Pavers, Inc. to add lime for stabilization on the ongoing street paving project was approved by members. Pavers’representatives were present at the meeting to answer questions about the request. The two streets approved were west Tishomingo Street and East Vinita Street.
A state contract bid for a new brush truck chassis for the fire department was approved. The city had previously requested sealed bids but none were received. The truck will replace the one lost in the tornado. The total cost for the extension cab chassis from Joe Cooper Ford of Yukon was $61,721.00. The city will also have to equipment the truck with a bed, pumps, lights, etc. before putting into use.
Several items discussed on the agenda received no action from members.
City Manager Andy Freeman updated members on a task order approved last month with KSA Engineering to design and administer the airport runway rehabilitation crack seal project. Freeman said the initial total quote was approximately $98,352.00, however when contract was received it was slightly lower at $98,173.00. The agenda item was for information only.
Also no action was taken on a possible paving project design and bid specification preview.
No bids were received on Bid Request 2026-101 for pump repairs on a 2018 Ford Explorer.
In Sulphur Municipal Authority agenda action, members approved the following:
•payment of to $9,175,00 to Del Sol for storm debris consulting for December; and
•payment of $$323,668.61 to Downey Contracting for Invoice No. 2 for well drilling on the OWRB/Chickasaw Nation Project.
In the consent agenda, members approved the following:
•payment to FirstNet not to exceed $900.00 for cell phone service;
•payment not to exceed $25,000.00 to Finish Line for fuel for February;
•payment of $460.00 to Murray County Sheriff’s Office for January book ins and jail stay fees;
•payment of $1,497.49 to Pavers, Inc. for high performance cold mix;
•payment of $1,492.36 to Pavers, Inc. for high performance cold mix;
•amending the 25-26 budget;
•payment of $114.94 to Premier Truck Group for rear seals for sanitation truck #24; and
•payment of $967.63 to Healdton Oil Company, Inc. for two barrels of hydraulic oil.
Sherri Snyder with Choosing Charities updated council members on several ongoing grants being pursued for the infrastructure upgrades and more for the City of Sulphur.
Members approved the treasurer’s reports presented by City Treasurer Ginger Cornell.
Cornell did voice concerns about sales tax collections trending downward for the second month in a row. She stated with inflation prices, it would make sense for sales tax collections to be trending up instead of down.
Freeman told members in correspondence and updates that the sales tax for February was down approximately $43,000.00 compared to last year’s receipts for February. Freeman noted the Use Tax was up approximately $10,000.00 and the lodging tax was also down.
The Use Tax is taxes collected from mainly online sales. Freeman reported the recently discussed bridge for the OWRB/ Chickasaw Nation Project at the Stevens well site has been put on hold. Since the bridge was not originally included in the plans, a change of scope on the project will have to be completed before proceeding with the bridge.
All five council members were present at the meeting.
