The Alva City Council meeting Monday began with the swearing in of unopposed candidates who filed for the April municipal election. Beginning new terms of office are Mayor Kelly Parker, City Clerk Melody Theademan, City Marshal Jim Scribner, and four councilmembers: Connor Martin, Ward 1; Brandon Sherman, Ward 2; Mary Hamilton, Ward 3; and Randy Stelling, Ward 4. City Attorney Rick Cunningham administered the oath of office. Theademan was not present for the ceremony.

The next task was the election of a council president who presides over meetings when the mayor is absent. Dr. Bo Hannaford was again elected to this position.

Mayor's Report

Mayor Parker talked about the successful Lieutenant Governor's Turkey Hunt held last week, He served as a hunting guide and said he enjoyed spending a couple of days with the representative from Google. Parker said the hunters took 22 turkeys.

The city is looking for employees in several capacities. The mayor said encouraged people to apply, saying the city offers competitive wages and benefit packages.

Parker closed his report by reading and signing an Earth Day proclamation provided by the Oklahoma Home and Community Education group. Earth Day is celebrated April 22.

Audit Report

Chris Angel of Angel, Johnston & Blasingame, PC gave a brief presentation. He said the 2017-2018 fiscal year audit had no findings requiring public reporting. He praised the cooperation of the city staff and thanked the council for letting him make his report last year by telephone since he was traveling at the time.

Water Project

Alva is rehabilitating two water wells, #64 and #66, which were found to be contaminated and taken out of service. The council acknowledged receipt of a permit from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to rehab the wells as part of Alva's ongoing project of restoring all the water wells. The project has an estimated financial impact of $215,117.91. The anticipated funding would come from an upcoming bond issue of $1,800,000.

Other Business

A public hearing on the municipal swimming pool will be covered in a separate story. The city expects to open the pool by the end of May but a date has not been set.

The council looked over the list of candidates for the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group board of trustees to serve three-year terms. They chose to vote for Alva councilmember Stelling and Russ Meacham, CFO for the City of Perry.

Last month the council approved the purchase of a new rescue truck for the Alva Fire Department. City Business Manager Joe Don Dunham said he used figures from the time the budget was put together, but since then prices have gone up. He told the council an additional $11,000 would be needed. The new Ford F550 truck is being bought off the Oklahoma State Purchasing Contract through a local dealer. Much of the cost comes from outfitting the truck for rescues. The $151,000 price tag is more than the $140,000 budgeted. Dunham said the additional amount will be transferred from another line item or a budget amendment may be needed.

The council approved the purchase of airplane fuel by the airport not to exceed $32,000. Aviation fuel prices have been going up "pretty significantly", according to the mayor. The turnaround time on the fuel is about two to three months. The council had to approve this expenditure since Dunham is limited to $25,000.

The annual software maintenance agreement with Tyler Technologies, Inc. was approved at $99,684. Dunham said the city paid almost $100,000 for the software about 20 years ago. The maintenance contract keeps the software current and updated.

The council approved paying claims of $111,517.77 and payroll of $246,159.47.

During the citizen comment period, Jewel LeDou told the council there was a house in the 900 block of Flynn that she described as "very shabby". She said she would like to see it demolished since it is on one of the main streets of the town.

Councilmember Hamilton asked about the time allowed for cleanup after a residential fire with furniture left out in the yard. Dunham said the city has no set time, but if it is becoming a nuisance it will need to be addressed.

The councilmembers serve as trustees for the Alva Utility Authority (AUA) and Alva Economic Development Authority (AEDA). The mayor serves as chairman. Those meetings followed council adjournment. Parker, Martin, Sherman, Hamilton and Stelling were sworn in during each of those two meetings.

The AUA approved claims of $96,476.94 and payroll expenses of $72,140.25. The AEDA approved claims of 27,091.22 and payroll expenses of $13,155.17.