The Woods County commissioners didn’t know exactly what would be needed to fix heating and cooling units at the courthouse. One of the HVAC units had a hole in the heat exchanger but two others were the same age. They suspected those two might also need some repairs. They asked Steve Foster, head of courthouse maintenance, to contact local companies to get an inspection of the units and estimates on repairs.

Four local companies were contacted but only one responded with a quote. Fair Plumbing found that three units have holes in the heat exchangers and gave quotes for repairs. A larger one-ton unit also needed repairs but it was still under warranty so would cost less. The total for the repairs including installation will be about $17,700. The commissioners approved Fair Plumbing to do the needed work.

All three commissioners – David Hamil, Randy McMurphy and John Smiley – were present for the meeting Monday morning in the commissioners’ office at the courthouse.

Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, Inc. applied for numerous road crossing permits. After checking maps and legal descriptions, McMurphy determined the fiber optics installation was along what’s known as the Freedom Cutoff. It runs from SH-14 west to County Road 280. The permits were approved.

The commissioners acknowledged a letter from the Woods County Election Board to the City of Alva stating the election board would not be renewing their lease for a suite in the Professional Building. The lease expires June 30. The election board will be moving to the Downtown Mall.

Two transfers of appropriations were approved. Hamil in District 1 and McMurphy in District 2 wanted to transfer $14,697.58 each from Highway CIRB to personal services for payroll.

The commissioners discussed the use of CIRB (county improvements for roads and bridges) funds provided by the legislature. McMurphy said funds must be spent by July. The state auditor will be looking at the accounts, and if not spent the money could go elsewhere. McMurphy and Hamil have been spending their allocations on payroll, but Smiley has not spent his funds. He said he’s been planning to use the money for rock and gravel. McMurphy said CIRB money can be spent on operating expenses but not to purchase equipment. Smiley said he will get the money spent on rock, fuel, etc.

The commissioners voted approval of the Stolz Telecom annual service agreement for Woods County E911 in the amount of $9,500. This covers equipment in the E911 office.

The Woods County Sheriff’s Office asked that several items be declared as surplus. These included two radios, two cameras and three radars. The equipment will go to Northwestern Oklahoma State University. The equipment was in vehicles that went to the university. This action will take it off county books.

An after-the-event request for use of the courthouse lawn was submitted by the Woods County Coalition. Their taco pile-on event was held April 22. They talked with courthouse personnel but did not get the form filled out and official permission granted. McMurphy emphasized that anyone wishing to use the courthouse grounds needs to fill out a request form in time for the commissioners to approve it at a meeting. One reason is to avoid conflicts in scheduling. He said this event could have conflicted with one of the concerts planned by Alva Public Schools, but the concert location was changed to the school.

The commissioners approved payroll, warrants, claims and blanket purchase orders.