Despite a snow storm Tuesday, several people showed up for the Alva City Council public hearing on the Young Street Six Housing Addition. Mayor Kelly Parker limited comments strictly to whether people agreed or disagreed with the Planning Commission recommendation to deny the addition.

Another topic related to the housing addition came up, but Parker said it would have to wait until public comments at the end of the meeting.

The mayor said the housing project request had been heard before the board of adjustments and twice before the planning commission. The planning commission looked at it and "deemed the project did not conform to zoning requirements for an RG8 zone."

He said there were two main problems. There wasn't enough frontage to construct six houses on those two lots and a partial lot. And there wasn't enough space on five of the six lots to construct residential housing in RG8 zoning.

"We heard from many of the people that are in the room this evening at the planning commission meeting, and the planning commission voted unanimously to deny the proposed development," said Parker.

He said he only wanted to hear, "Do you support or do you oppose the planning commission denying the development?" Parker said if comments "get out of hand," he would end the hearing.

One by one, individuals stood, gave their names and said they supported the planning commission recommendation. Speaking were Tom Crenshaw, Kelly Schrock, Julia Schrock, Carl Hartwig, Tim Bodenschatz and Deanna Jackson (her husband just said, "I'm with her").

Mayor Parker noted that Christy Kornele was the only one not speaking. She said as chairman of the planning commission, she still stood by their recommendation.

The hearing was closed and the council voted to accept the planning commission's recommendation to deny the housing addition. Abstaining was Councilmember Brandon Sherman.

What About Water Runoff?

The council moved efficiently through the remainder of the agenda, skipping all the report items. Parker said council members could read the reports and ask questions later.

At the end of the meeting, the mayor asked for citizen comments. Schrock stood and called the council's attention to the city ordinance on diversion of storm water. He said there were three things to be included in construction plans. He asked if these were included in the Young Street development plans.

Parker invited him to stop by City Hall to see. Schrock said he did, and the city inspector said they didn't have any. Schrock said wording in the ordinance "looks like we should have had something. We got dirt work going; they're piling my yard full of dirt." He asked if permits were required for dirt work and the answer was no.

"By this ordinance (on storm runoff), it looks like we should have had something. I'm trying to figure out if they did the sketch and the city approved it, or they didn't do it and the city didn't shut them down."

Crenshaw handed around a set of photos from Forrest Nelson showing the dirt work. He asked, "Why was there no erosion control on the project?"

"The city should have some concern about this because that flow is all going into that Ninth Street drainage," he said.

"We're basically asking for something to be done because that's going to become a big problem this spring," Crenshaw concluded.

Appointments and Nominations

The council voted to appoint Randy Stelling and Mary Hamilton to represent the city in contract negotiations with the firefighters union. Both served in that capacity last year as well.

The Oklahoma Economic Development Authority asked each Woods County town to nominate a mayor as a board member to represent Woods County. The Alva council voted to nominate Mayor Parker. Other eligible county mayors are Susan Bradford of Waynoka, Joel Shoulders of Dacoma and Shad Brackin of Freedom.

The Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group asked the city to nominate up to two candidates to fill a three year term on their board of directors. Parker said Randy Stelling indicated he would be interested, so the council voted to nominate him. The election to decide who will serve on the board will be held later.

Other Business

The only council member absent was Daniel Winters. On the consent agenda, the council voted to approve minutes of the January meeting, claims of $141,845.02 and payroll expenses of $200,101.89.

Alva Utility Authority

The Alva Utility Authority, consisting of the same members, met next. They approved minutes of the last meeting, claims of $83,167.24 and payroll expenses of $53,293.03.

The city received five bids, ranging from $205,555 to $321,000 for the well field chlorination system. The engineer had estimated the cost at $152,500, so the low bid puts the city about $50,000 over budget.

However, Dunham said the city saved about $220,000 by deciding to do the work themselves on the waterline project. He said that's where the overage for the chlorination station and the HVAC overrun will come from.

Dunham said there's still plenty of funding for remaining projects in the budget. Only two projects had not been bid out. One is the sanitation lift station on Skyline and the other is a pressure pump on the Oklahoma Boulevard water tank (Oklahoma & 14th).

Board members approved the low bid of $206,555 from Beylco Inc. of Sapulpa.

Alva Economic Development Authority

Kat Lunn

Tom Crenshaw shows the city council photos of the Young Street dirt work. He said, "That's going to become a big problem this spring."

After the utility meeting, the Alva Economic Development Authority meeting was held. The board approved minutes of the last meeting, claims of $303,060.588 and payroll expenses of $13,976.47.