Alva swimming pool plan waiting for health department response

 

March 22, 2019



Will the Alva swimming pool be opening Memorial Day weekend? This question remains unanswered as the city waits for a response from the Oklahoma Department of Health. The city submitted a plan to address the pool problems but has not received a response.

Alva Business Manager Joe Don Dunham told the city council Monday the plan calls for spending about $9,000 on improvements this year with more to come later. Until he receives a response, Dunham is waiting to advertise for summer employees at the pool. The city will employ 19 people there if the plan is approved.

Update on Projects

Dunham said the City Hall HVAC project is nearing completion. Staff expects to be back in the city office by April 6.

Replacement of the water transmission line will begin soon. All material has been purchased for the job which will be handled by city employees. There are a few lines to move off of the current line to avoid interruption in their service. Then the work can begin on the replacement.

Construction on the new water chlorination station is expected to begin April 1. Dunham said he met with both engineers, Myers Engineering and Beytco Inc., on March 7 for a pre-work conference. Beytco will have 75 days to complete the project which would be June 14 if there are no weather delays.

The city will be requesting an extension for the rehabilitation of water well numbers 66 and 67. Weather caused delays on these and on the transmission line replacement.

City Department Reports

Customer Service: The customer service center entered and forwarded 134 work orders, processed 30 citations, handled 1,921 payments (180 from credit card processing) for a total of $260,383.27. During February, the staff processed and mailed 2,527 utility bills and responded to 922 incoming phone calls.

Water-Wastewater: This department worked on regular projects and maintenance during February. They are currently two positions short with one job opening and one person out on medical leave. They had 54 turn on or off orders, nine re-reads and replaced one meter.

Sanitation: In addition to routine pick-ups, the department has been chipping and cutting the limbs taken to the transfer site. These chips and logs are free to citizens when available. Staff will not be able to help load any of the material. The city was reported to DEQ for possibly illegally burying trash in the river by the transfer station. DEQ came unannounced to investigate and did not find any fault in the city’s actions.

Planning Department: During February, 11 inspections were completed and 11 permits were issued. Permit fees collected total $379. Three complaints were filed about inoperable vehicles with action taken on two and the third pending.

Library: During February the library promoted a Financial Fitness workshop which will begin March 25. The six-week free course is funded by a grant. The annual Friends of the Alva Public Library Chocolate Fantasy will be held on April 4. The Code Club started in March with a group of eight fifth grade students. During the summer, the coding club will be open to anyone who has completed third grade.

Street Department: The street department worked to clear streets of snow, salted and sanded streets for ice, and then hauled the snow so it didn’t damage the streets. They are working to clean streets of grass. Streets such as Fair, Mill, Santa Fe, Choctaw, High, Olive, Third, Fourth and Fifth were cleaned as regular maintenance.

Streets cleaned as prep work for chip and seal coat or asphalt overlay were: Hunt, Seiling, Park, Meno, E. Maple, E. Locust, E. Church and E. Center. All of these are slated for either maintenance chip and seal or asphalt overlay.

Crews have also been stacking rock for use during the summer and have been repairing alleys around Alva. Vehicles have been washed several times to remove salt and sand. Approximately 150 tons of salt and sand were applied to streets throughout Alva. Because of the weather, the blades on the loader have worn and replacement was required.

Chips and rock were hauled to the Alva Recreation Center to level out the entrances and repair the parking lot. Approximately 120 potholes were repaired with millings and six tons of cold asphalt mix.

Alva Recreational Center: During January, the ARC hosted competitive basketball serving 269 children and ending Feb. 23. Soccer sign ups began Jan. 9 and ended Feb. 22. There were 28 youth practices and 26 gym activities such as indoor soccer, softball and adult basketball. Women’s volleyball is every Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. with seven teams playing. The ARC hosted eight classroom meetings and five birthday parties.

Police: During February, the police department made 162 separate contacts resulting in 32 tickets and 130 warnings. Tickets issued were ten for drugs or narcotics, nine public peace, five civil, two for threats or intimidation, one assault and five other offenses.

Fire: During February, the department responded to 57 calls. Of those, 38 were for EMS assist, five were for aircraft landing zone safety, four were vehicle wrecks with injury, two were agency assists or traffic control. They had one call each for a structure fire, a false alarm, a hazardous material spill, a smoke investigation, a power line down, a natural gas meter hit and leaking, a smoke detector installation, and a fire response or controlled burn.

The department began updating pre-fire plans in January and continued through February. Responses to all commercial properties are pre-planned for firefighter safety and effectiveness. Pre-planning initially starts with identifying and compiling information such as natural gas, water and electric disconnects, fire alarm systems, sprinkler control valves, building access points, materials that would be hazardous, explosive, etc., type of occupancy, type of construction, contact information of the building’s owner or key holders and much more.

Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Bryan Miller is heading the state firefighter’s association sub-committee working with State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister to develop fire prevention and public education material that coordinates with STEM curriculum. He has also been working with OSU’s Fire Service Training helping write new curriculum for Fire Inspector I and Fire Inspector II.

Emergency Medical Services: One employee was sent for 16 hours training required for recertification. In preparation for quarterly inspections, inventories were completed, expired or damaged equipment and supplies were removed and transferred to training supplies.

Three of the four EMS units required maintenance in February. Unit 17 had the rear heater valves repaired and a fuse replaced. Shifter linkage was ordered for replacement. Unit 19 had both batteries replaced, a new motor installed, heater lines repaired and an oil leak fixed. Unit 20 had a bad AC hose replaced and the AC unit recharged. The fuel filter, thermostat and injector harness was replaced.

The EMS had 86 calls in February with 52 patients transported. Eight were transported out of Alva.

2019 Community Visions

The Bank It program has chosen two city programs for their 2019 Community Visions program. The program will fund the Alva Public Library summer youth programs during January – March.

The Bud Rose Park Renovation Project was designated for six months of funding for April through September.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Our Family of Publications Includes:

Arc
Newsgram

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024