(Cushing, Okla.) It may have been the “last hurrah” for Jim Hogrefe as commissioner on Monday, but it was “business as usual” at City Hall. Hogrefe was honored for his six years of service on the Commission and presented a plaque by Chairman Joe Manning.
“I still can’t believe it,” Hogrefe said, shaking his head. “But we ran a clean race and I would like to commend Don [Amon] on his work in the future.”
Amon, who won the race for Seat #5 by a narrow margin, was in attendance and will be sworn in May 5th at 10 a.m. in City Hall during the annual organizational meeting of the City Commission.
In comments from commissioners, Commissioner Terry Brannon took a moment to commend Hogrefe on his work on the commission, saying, “I appreciate your leadership,” he said, adding, “You’re still welcome to come to the meetings.” He also assured Hogrefe “his seniors” would continue to be taken care of.
Proclamations were also made for Relay for Life’s “Turning Cushing Purple this week,” National Day of Prayer in Cushing, May 1st, and “Fair Housing Month” in Cushing.
Several things on the agenda were simply “bookkeeping” items such as resolutions to amend the 2013-2014 to accommodate additional funds from grants or other funding.
“This is a good thing,” City Manager Steve Spears said.
Those items included:
A $2,000 grant from the Humane Society to the Cushing Police Department to allow Animal Control to use lethal injection instead of gas. (Those administering the injection are certified to do so by the Oklahoma Veterinarian Board.)
$1,327.45 from Creek County Wildfire Revenue for the Cushing Fire Department. Funds will be used to purchase Class A foam and foam equipment for wildland trucks.
$250 in additional donations to the Cushing Police Department. As of March 31, 2014, the Cushing Police Department has received $3,750 in donations. The donations will be used to purchase a ballistic shield and stop sticks. In addition, they plan to mat and re-frame police pictures for display at the Public Safety Center.
Commissioners also approved to increase the ambulance billing expense to $24,000 to reflect the increase in revenues collected so far this year. According to Fire Chief Chris Pixler, the billing expense is directly impacted by the percentage of revenues collected.
Other agenda items approved by commissioners were:
A resolution declaring books at the Cushing Public LIbrary as surplus. The surplus will be donated to the Friends of the Cushing Library to be sold in their book sales. All proceeds will be given back to the library.
A resolution to approve the purchase of a new fuel management system for the city’s service center. Spears said the old system was no longer working efficiently and the new system will provide better stats. Cost of the new system: $10,154.00
Three conditional use permits were also approved by the board. Two were 5-year reviews of conditional use permits for mobile homes located on North Noble and East Bressy and the other was a conditional use permit for operating a hotel in a C-3 district on North Central (formerly known as Living Oasis Assisted Living Center).
Three members appointed to the Senior Citizen Board were: Harold Day, Delbert Patterson and Sarah Dooley.
It was also noted in June there will be three expiring terms on the Cushing Library Board.
In his monthly City Manager report, Spears mentioned a couple of projects people have been inquiring about – bleacher covers at the ball fields and the splash pad. The bleacher covers are going up now with the hope of completion this Friday and the splash pad work has begun.
In comments from commissioners, Hogrefe asked one of his favorite questions – “I have to ask, are we through with the camera work?”
Spears said camera work on the sewer system continues and most likely will always continue. “It worked so well,” Spears said, “we will probably keep doing it.” He went on to say a deep repair is currently underway near the hospital – between 2nd and 3rd street.
In other city business, the board approved to purchase items needed for the electric distribution improvement project which includes the new middle school project. Spears recommended the approval saying the wood poles and electric materials could be purchased through the city at a lower cost, thus saving taxpayers money. The sum of $375,000 has been budgeted to fund electrical improvements to serve the new middle school.
The board also approved $12,229.00 for the repair of a pump at the wastewater treatment plant.
Under Cushing Hospital Authority business, the board approved a resolution to execute acceptance of an agreement for legal services with the firm of Conner & Winters for representation on issues relating to the sublease of Cushing Regional Hospital from the Authority. The lease with Ardent expires in 2015.
Meetings are open to the public. Regular meetings are held the third Monday of each month at City Hall.
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