At the Alva City Council meeting Monday, July 20, Finance Committee Chair Bo Hannaford reported on the meeting held just preceding the council. He listed some of the large claims approved by the committee. From the general fund, the audit prep fee was a little over $12,000, bulk fuel about $7,000, debt services and Alva Economic Development Authority of about $16,000 and Alva Utility Authority a little over $57,000. The larger than usual payroll amount covered three pay periods in June rather than the usual two.

At the end of June, cash balances were a little over $150,000. Investments were a little over $1.5 million. The committee met with City Treasurer Trent Goss about some certificates of deposit that came up for renewal. It was decided to reinvest those into short-term or long-term CDs.

In sales tax, the city collected a little over $323,000 which was down about 11 percent from last year and down about four percent from month to month this year.

Revenue and expense reports from all departments should be sent to all city council members by the end of the week, Hannaford said. “Our department heads and our departments have been doing a great job of watching their budgets. I just want to say the council really appreciates that from all the departments,” he added.

Councilman Daniel Winters asked about a $100,000 increase in the cash balance since City Business Manager Angelica Brady took over administration. Brady explained that money was set back to pay the payroll which was due before sales tax came in.

“Do you feel like the sales taxes are being turned in from all areas?” asked Councilwoman Mary Hamilton. “We are monitoring that,” said Brady. As of the end of last quarter (June 30), she had not looked at that since the quarter ending in March. She will be looking at that soon.

Mayor’s Report

Mayor Kelly Parker told the council that Oklahoma Municipal League (OML) has been watching what’s going on with the coronavirus statewide. “They have canceled about all of their in-person training for the foreseeable future,” he said. “I understand they’re looking at some online options for different types of training.” The mayors’ summer conference has been canceled; the fall annual conference has been canceled.

Parker said on the Oklahoma State Department of Health website there is a breakout of cases by county and city. “As people are traveling, I’d just encourage citizens to keep an eye on that stuff because some counties have a much higher prevalence of the virus than others,” he said. “We’ve been pretty fortunate here in Alva that we’re not having the incidence of active virus as maybe some of the other counties are having, which also means we’re not having to have the fights in city council over whether or not to wear a mask. I’m glad of that.”

The mayor gave a “shout out” to people and businesses in the community who have purchased school supplies for all Alva kids in elementary and middle school.

He said he’s been spending some extra time with Brady to assist her in the transition into her city manager position. “I think Angelica is transitioning things very well. She is implementing the financial policies internally as we would wish for her to in regard to accountability within the departments, and she’s working to get the right people in the right places on the staffing to get us where we need to be,” he said. “She’s really doing a great job.”

City Business Manager’s Report

“Department heads have been doing a lot of learning,” said Brady. “As Dr. Hannaford mentioned, we are working to make our department heads responsible for their budgets so they have been learning how to manage that budget a little bit differently than they have in years past. Not only are we looking at what they have for their budget as a whole for each year, but we are breaking it down by month. As sales tax revenue comes in or as revenue for the respective department comes in each month, we are making adjustments to the monthly budget goals that they have to meet.

“I think they’re doing a great job. In fact, I think they’re probably being more conservative with their spending than I would be. So I’ve turned that responsibility as far as what decisions they get to make for their budgets back over to them. I feel like it’s going well.”

Brady says there are several open positions. Fire Chief Kirk Trekell is on vacation until he officially retires in September. “We’ll be looking at what changes we need to make in the fire department this month,” she said.

The program director at the Alva Recreation Complex has resigned, and the city will be posting that job opening. The city is also hiring for part time EMT’s to help offset the overtime current EMS employees are working.

Brady discussed plans for street maintenance this year. “Many of you may have noticed our street department has not been very active as far as repaving streets” said. The city’s budget year runs from July 1 through June 30. “So last fall we overspent our budget for the street department just in the fall. When we got to spring this year, our street department has done a lot of things. They’ve helped us mow in different areas; they’ve picked up limbs just to kind of fill in the gaps.”

With the start of the new budget year, Brady says the city is starting to ramp up street maintenance as budget money comes in for that department. Repaving will start on Locust Street from 6th to 11th. On Flynn Street near the Garnett station, there’s some concrete work to be done. Then the plan is to repave College on the west side of the square. If any money is left over and depending on the season, probably next year, the street department will work on 4th Street in front of City Hall.

The street department budget will include the $5 fee on city water bills, about $130,000 for the year. Also included is motor vehicle tax and excise tax for about $20,000 more.

Council Action

Council members present were Winters, Connor Martin, Hamilton, Hannaford, Randy Stelling and Brian Wallis. Absent were Chris Eckhardt and Brandon Sherman.

Following a public hearing, the council declared properties at 719 Seiling, 116 Flynn and 228 Center as dilapidated, authorizing city staff to take action for abatement. This was covered in a story in Friday’s Alva Review-Courier.

Council members approved the annual agreement with Northwest Technology Center to provide a school resource officer for the 2020-2021 school year. Northwest Tech will reimburse the city for actual hours worked. It’s anticipated the officer will work two hours per day.

A revised fee schedule for cemetery services was approved. The fees have not been increased since August 2006 and are some of the lowest compared to similar size cemeteries. Fees will increase about 25 percent.

An executive session was held to discuss contract negotiations with IAFF Local 3782 representing Alva firefighters. No action was taken on that topic when the council reopened the meeting.

In the consent agenda, the council approved minutes of the last meeting on June 15, claims totaling $155,680.91 and payroll expenses of $297,274.88.

Alva Utility Authority

After the council adjourned, the same members convened as the Alva Utility Authority. They approved minutes of the June meeting, claims of $12,629.81 and payroll expenses of $84,323.76.

Trustees approved a change order on the booster pump project on Oklahoma Blvd. at the water tower. It was determined the existing valves and piping would not be functional to reuse. Engineering determined a bypass would be the most effective route. This added $6,994.83 to the cost.

Due to COVID-19, the parts took longer to deliver than anticipated, requiring an extension of 90 days to finish the project. The additional cost will be paid by the 2018 bond revenue.

Brady said the work has been completed except for the electrical hookup. OG&E has to change the phase of the electrical service at the site.