Woods County commissioners discuss pandemic
March 18, 2020
Although it wasn’t on the agenda, the Woods County commissioners spent some time discussing response to the coronavirus pandemic. Under new business, the commissioners responded to questions from County Treasurer David Manning. Everyone seemed to agree the situation is fluid, changing from day to day.
“Experience tells me there’s always this deal of under-reaction and over-reaction,” said Commissioner Randy McMurphy. He said there’s discussion about holding a special meeting with emergency managers, the health department and commissioners from the counties included in District Attorney Chris Boring’s jurisdiction.
“I really hate to get into this mandating thing,” said McMurphy. Regarding the Woods County Courthouse, he said, “I have no issue with every elected official coming up with their own plan.” He said it was up to Manning’s discretion whether the treasurer’s department decided to keep the office open or lock the doors and put a lockbox out for tax payments.
Manning asked if there was any plan to close the courthouse, and McMurphy said, “I don’t think we can do that.”
Commissioner John Smiley told Manning he should do “whatever feels safe for your office.”
“It’s going to be a tough little old bit in here,” continued Smiley. “You know, it’s all new. We’ve never been here before. We’re going to learn and probably make some mistakes and do some good.”
Commissioner David Hamil said he’d been talking a little to the Alva mayor. “I don’t think the City of Alva has any plans to close offices, but they’re going to look at that on a day-to-day basis.”
“It’s going to be a pretty tough time,” added Smiley. “We’ve just got to make sure we come out of it good.”
Other Business
After receiving lower-than-expected bids on two mowers from his district, Smiley decided to sell the 2016 mower for $8,001 to Roger Mantz. He put that in the form of a motion, and the other commissioners approved. Smiley will keep the second mower for use in his district.
The commissioner approved a state-local agreement with the Oklahoma 911 Management Authority for a grant in the amount of $91,178.75. This will pay for a computer-aided 911 dispatching system. McMurphy said this included CAD (computer aided drawing), a voice recorder and more upgrades.
The commissioners also approved blanket purchase orders, warrants and claims.
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