The Okmulgee County Board of Commissioners met for their regular session Monday with several items approved including a bid for the remodeling of the courthouse restrooms.
Agenda items approved: • Officers Reports Health Department (April) and County Clerk (May)
• Blanket Purchase Orders: $1,500 for General Government to Cookson Hills Publishers and $600 to Dildine Lawn Service, $250 for Emergency Management to Dildine Lawn Service; $800 to Cintas for District 1.
• Employee Form Jess Gordon, District 1.
• Utility permits District 2 with Rural Water District 20 Bid #10 for the long-awaited courthouse bathroom remodel was approved. Refuge Restoration was awarded the project with a bid of $91,253, which includes complete refurbishment of both the men’s and women’s restrooms.
“They were the only bidder with a full and detailed proposal and even came beforehand to ask what tile and partitions we wanted,” a county rep stated. A prior bidder had been rejected due to incomplete submissions.
Also approved was Bid #11 for road materials over a six-month period. Most vendors were awarded contracts, with the exception of Logan Asphalt and Vance Brothers, who had only submit- ted bids for hauling services – not materials, which the county was specifically requesting at this time.
A spreadsheet outlining the awarded vendors and approved pricing is expected to be compiled by the county’s purchasing agent for internal documentation.
One agenda item – the addendum to the Opioid Abatement Grant – was tabled for next week. In new business, the commissioners approved payment for a Chevrolet vehicle for the Treasurer’s Office to be used by the tax deputy. They also approved an application for a $275,000 matching grant under the Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP). The grant requires a $75,000 upfront expenditure from the county, which has already been committed. “It’s supposed to be one of the easiest grants to get in Oklahoma,” noted one official during the meeting.
Sheriff Eddy Rice also discussed ongoing repairs resulting from a recent lightning strike that severely impacted courthouse infrastructure. The courthouse’s camera system is expected to be serviced starting Tuesday, although a full timeline for restoring door systems remains unclear.
Officials are also exploring options such as lightning rods or heavy-duty fuses to prevent future incidents.
Emergency Management Director Jeffrey Moore delivered a report confirming no new damage had been found from the previous week’s storms. “We monitored the Deep Fork River and didn’t see anything new beyond what had already been reported. FEMA personnel were with us Saturday to conduct a preliminary damage assessment,” Moore stated. “We’re now waiting on engineers to evaluate a few affected sites before we can get firm numbers.”
As for the weather outlook, Moore added a warning: “There’s a chance of rain every day starting tonight through the end of the week anywhere from 20% to 90%.”
The board voted to go into executive session to discuss a matter listed on the agenda.
