Annual departmental reports made up a large part of the written report submitted by Business Manager Joe Don Dunham to the Alva City Council Tuesday. He also provided updates on current projects.

President’s Day on Monday, Feb. 18, will make some changes in city schedules. The city will be closed in observance of President’s Day although essential services such as police, fire and EMS will operate as normal. The city council meeting usually held on the third Monday will be moved to Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m. due to the holiday.

Dunham said trash pickup will not run on President’s Day, Feb. 18. Services will resume regular pickup on Tuesday and should have all pickups caught up by Friday.

City Hall HVAC

The replacement of the heating and air conditioning system ran into a temporary setback with additional asbestos found. It was located in an electrical chase but is non-friable asbestos which is less costly to remove. If the removal goes as planned, the HVAC project should be completed as planned by Feb. 15.

Work Order System

After testing, the city is going live with the new SeeClickFix app. Users can report problems to the city using a cellphone. The app must first be downloaded on a cellphone. Then an individual can take a picture of something that needs fixed. The app will use the phone’s location to go with the photo and submit it. The city will route the report to the proper department.

Swimming Pool

Alva residents are invited to fill out a survey on the municipal swimming pool. The survey is available on the City of Alva Facebook page.

Dunham said a preliminary plan has been put together so the pool can open in May. The plan has been sent to the state health department for approval.

Community Development

The economic development committee has been discussing the idea of developing an economic incentive grant. The grant would provide an incentive for business owners in Alva’s commercially zoned districts to make improvements to their buildings.

The park and building committee is still evaluating the swimming pool issues to determine the best course of action.

Due to lack of business there was no board of adjustment meeting in January.

The planning commission held a special meeting on Jan. 8 to approve the recommendation of Kelly Schrock and Jeff Mapes to the strategic land use task force. They also discussed the proposed Young Street 6 housing addition. Their next regular meeting will be on Jan. 28.

The city has accepted quotes for the demolition of 928 Barnes and 1437 Young.

During the 2018 calendar year, the city completed 180 inspections including 27 building, 33 electrical, 42 mechanical and 78 plumbing. A total of 176 permits were issued including 29 building, 30 electrical, 41 mechanical and 76 plumbing. Permit fees collected totaled $7,725.02.

Job Openings

Dunham said the city currently has one employee out for a workers comp injury. They are actively seeking a part time police officer, a full time Firefighter I for the rover position, four EMS personnel and one or two part-time airport attendants.

Library

The Alva Public Library sponsored a total of 146 programs for the citizens of Alva in 2018 including Little Explorers Storytime, Tuesday Activity Day, 17 small group activities, three craft time programs, 15 summer reading programs, and 12 elementary class visits.

Adult, teen and family programs during the year included Let’s Talk About It Oklahoma, a knit and crochet club, escape room programs and meetings of the northwest genealogy group.

New programs planned for 2019 include a Code Club for fifth grade students, a financial fitness workshop, and expanded teen and adult programming.

Recreational Complex

The rec center provided activities in 2018 in which 1,683 youth and adults participated along with 67 teams. These included numerous youth and adult sports activities as well as NWSOU soccer, softball, intramurals and robotics competition.

Police

During 2018 Officer Kaleb Keplinger completed his CLEET training and graduated. He is currently going through field training which will be completed in January or early February.

The police statistics show 60 accidents, 586 citations, 1,682 traffic warnings, 492 reported filed or written, and 667 traffic warnings. Total money resulting from citations was $119,286.

Fire

In 2018 the fire department tested 336 fire hydrants, performed hydrostatic testing and washing on approximately 2.5 miles of fire hose, and did the annual pump testing. Engines One and Two and the Ladder Truck all passed inspections and were recertified.

In training, 32 firefighters completed 63 hours of training in various classes. Firefighter Spencer Burns completed rope rescue I and II. Firefighter Jordan Leon obtained his EMT national certification. Seven volunteers completed 104 hours of training to obtain the Firefighter I certification.

The department responded to an increased number of calls in 2018. They had 754 calls compared to 678 in 2017. Of those 13 were structure fires, eight were vehicle fires, 38 were grass fires and three were tank batteries. They handled 134 aircraft standbys (for air ambulance service). They had two fire investigations, four rescue or entrapment incidents, two motor vehicle accidents with fatalities, 337 EMS calls. There were several smoke investigations and nine smoke detectors were installed.

Emergency Medical Services

In 2018 the EMS helped 1,055 patients compared to 943 in 2017. In the 2018 runs, 48 were cancelled, 230 were assistance with no transport, five were transported by local law enforcement, two transported by private vehicle, 181 were standbys, and 586 people were treated and transported.

The EMS transported 986 people to Share Medical Center, 91 to Enid, 40 to Oklahoma City and six to Kansas for a total of 1,123 transports.

EMS completed several training courses and participated in special projects such as job shadowing, a career fair, EMR and EMT skills test, “A is for Ambulance” alphabet activities at Washington Elementary, and the Vial of Life program for health information.