KAY RABBITT-BROWER SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
During its May meeting, Beggs City Council elected a council president, approved the purchase of two pre-owned vehicles and made numerous personnel decisions.
Shortly after the meeting began, the council voted to act as the Beggs Public Works Authority and heard from representatives from the Eastern Oklahoma Development District (EODD) and Myers Engineering who gave updates on work to be performed on the sewer system and securing funding for those projects. Mayor Roger Merrill reported Engineer Bill Smith will provide the council a list of projects which can then be prioritized. Bids will go out once funding has been secured.
Smith reported on how the excessive rain in April damaged the New Beggs Dam downstream channel and emergency spillway. He explained the water eroded the area downstream, and reported he will get repair costs. He suggested using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, adding more will be required to repair the spillway.
The Authority also approved the purchase of a 1991 Mitsubishi minicab truck for $4,600 and a delivery fee of $600 from Auto & More of Enid and a 1998 Chevrolet 3500 C/K regular cab, 2 WD truck for $3,900. These vehicles will be used by City employees so they will no longer have to utilize their personal vehicles. Merrill stated the vehicles will not be taken home by those employees. Both trucks have already been purchased.
The Authority went into a brief executive session to discuss hiring a full-time manager for the public works. Once they re-convened, Authority members voted to hire Taylor Hackney to fill that position. Before concluding the meeting, members discussed entering into a monetary compensation contract for emergency BPWA water plant operators for a two-month period from March 13 to current date. The emergency operators were required due to vacancies in those positions. Beggs City Councilman Kenneth Lyons along with two employees from the City of Preston filled in for those vacancies during that time. There was a question regarding the legality of Lyons receiving monetary compensation since he serves as a member of the council. City Attorney Angela Bonilla indicated he could not. Lyons explained the benefit to the City of those men contributing their time. But because of the statute prohibiting council personnel receiving monetary compensation, the Authority members voted against entering into a contract, but expressed interest in investigating ways to fairly compensate those men.
The Authority then voted to adjourn the public works meeting and convene as the city council. They voted to elect Ward 1 Councilman Cody Burton as council president and to authorize he and Merrill to be signatories on nine city accounts. This action also removes former Mayor Jacob Branson from the accounts. The rest of the meeting involved personnel issues. The council voted to re-appoint attorney Javier Ramirez as municipal judge as per State code/statute.
Other personnel issues were discussed in executive session. When the council reconvened after the executive session, they voted to terminate Christa Walker from the Beggs dispatch department; upgrade Kesha Conn from part-time to full-time dispatch; hire Jolene Patino as part-time dispatch; hire Darryl Jay and Daniel Gilbert as full-time police officers; hire Jordan Greenwood and Michael Hendrix as parttime police officers and move Mark Dawson from assistant police chief to part-time reserve officer. Before the meeting concluded, there were comments from the public regarding posting meeting agendas on the City’s Facebook page. Merrill responded saying the City’s website is being updated and plans call for the agendas, and possibly meeting minutes, will be posted there. He stated he would like to see the City investigate live-streaming the council meetings also.
Councilwoman Cindy Hubbell shared that the Okmulgee County Commissioners approved an agreement to maintain Beggs streets. Merrill reported he had attended the Commissioners meeting and explained the City of Beggs will supply materials and the County will do the work. He pointed out this is an agreement that can be amended if need be, and will be renewed every year.
