Following another round of inclement weather, the Okmulgee County Board of Commissioners were back to business as usual on Wednesday morning.
Commissioner Erik Zoellner opened Wednesday’s meeting with a prayer of thanks for the county’s endurance during the cold temps and said that water is “back on and running” in the Beggs area.
Mayor Jacob Branson, who was not at the meeting, but who held one last night in Beggs to hear resident’s frustrations with the water issues also said that the system is operational, but stopped short of saying everything was back to normal, as crews continued to monitor the situation.
Following the approval of the minutes, the board went on to approve the following:
Officer’s Reports
• A December report for the election board — Blanket Purchase Orders
• District 1: S&H Auto for $500
• District 2: O’Reilly’s Auto Parts for $250, Auto-Zone for $250
• District 3: RPI for $500, Cintas for $900, O’Reilly’s Auto Parts for $1,000
• Nuyaka Fire Department: RPI for $5,000
• Assessor for fuel (cost was not provided during meeting) — Employee Forms
• District 1: There was a donation of 30 minutes of sick leave from one employee to another.
• District 3: There were two employments ceased and one retiree.
— Private Property Agreements
• There were three private property agreements approved for District 1.
— Transfer of Funds
• Reimbursement for Emergency Management Director Jeff Moore’s travel expenses.
— Transfer of Appropriations
• County Clerk Tonya Day said that this money was transferred from payroll into another account and that this transfer was to fix that deficit.
• A Cash fund request of appropriations was also approved.
-Later in the meeting, the board awarded a bid for a 2023 or newer truck for the Nuyaka Volunteer Fire Department. A member of the department was in attendance and reviewed the bid prior to the board’s approval.
Next, the commissioners acknowledged the recent fair board election filings. No one filed for District 1 and Christy Huckabee was the only one to file for District 2. There were, however, three who filed for the District 3 seat: Benjamin Summey, Brandon Crider, and Taylor Crocker. There will be an election on Feb. 3 at the Dewar Fire Department.
A possible amendment to the regular scheduled meetings was tabled until the next meeting. Commissioner Zoellner said that he was working on a resolution concerning the amendment.
Prior to going into an executive session, the board heard the weekly report from EM Director Moore.
Moore talked mostly about the efforts to assist in resolving the issues with Beggs water system, including providing a water buffalo for residents.
He also said he attended the Northeast Regional Emergency Managers meeting in Claremore and met with Director of Oklahoma Emergency Management Annie Mack Vest, who was appointed to the position by Gov. Kevin Stitt in December of last year.
OCEM Director Moore’s full report can also be found in this edition.
