Alva Review-Courier -

The Alva City Council made an appointment to the Alva Hospital Authority and passed three resolutions during their meeting Tuesday night. Present for the meeting were Mayor Kelly Parker and councilmembers Daniel Winters, Garrett Lahr, Gail Swallow, Sadie Bier, Troy Brooks, Joe Parsons and Greg Bowman. Taylor Dowling was absent. City Business Manager Stephen Ford and City Attorney Drew Cunningham were also at the meeting.

Appointment to Hospital Authority

Mayor Kelly Parker explained that Jason Gaisford, chairman of the Alva Hospital Authority (AHA), is moving outside the city limits. This makes him ineligible to serve on the authority.

Parker said Gaisford, AHA trustee Dr. Bo Hannaford and Share Medical CEO Kandice Allen recommended that Connor Martin be appointed to fill the vacancy.

Bowman, the council’s representative on the AHA, made a motion to approve Martin, seconded by Bier. The motion passed 6-1 with Brooks voting no.

The next meeting of the AHA is Jan. 23.

Public Hearing on Long Range Plan

The City of Alva received a CDBG grant that helped them map current infrastructure such as water lines and develop a long range plan for future capital investment in the infrastructure.

A committee consisting of Mayor Kelly Parker, Garrett Lahr, Taylor Dowling, Gail Swallow, Joe Parsons, Greg Bowman and Stephen Ford met several times to develop the plan. In their Jan. 11 meeting, they approved a final spreadsheet of projected capital improvements.

Listed are ongoing projects as well as planned projects. Some of the planned projects are expected to be paid through the city budgets while others are dependent on grants and donations. The spreadsheet includes actual and estimated costs spread over a five-year period from 2024 through 2028.

It’s noted that projects may be undertaken in any order of priority, and new projects may be added or deleted from the list by resolution of the city council.

Ongoing projects include water system improvements, sewer system improvements, cemetery improvements, airport, Homestead, economic development and façade improvements, and condemnation and demolition of dilapidated structures.

Planned projects for 2024 include the Professional Building at $60,000 from the city budget and the Alva Recreation Complex parking lot at $150,000 from the city budget. Projects planned to begin in 2025 include poly carts for sanitation funded from the budget or grants, and work on both Hatfield Park and Bud Rose Park to be funded by grants and donations.

A public hearing was first held on the plan, but no members of the public had anything to say. (Only this reporter and one other person made up the audience.)

Following the hearing, the council voted to approve the plan (Resolution 2024-002) by a 5-2 vote with Brooks and Parsons voting no.

Other Business

Resolution 2024-001, an amendment to the annual budget, was approved. On the revenue side, the amendment recognized grants received for the airport while the balancing expenditure went to capital outlay.

A third resolution closed out the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) received for the Capital Improvement Planning project, which was completed with the five-year plan.

Council members also approved the consent agenda consisting of minutes of the Dec. 18 meeting, claims of $522,224.97 and payroll expenses of $225,124.93.

Mayor’s Report

Mayor Parker didn’t have a lot to report. He said last week he talked to eighth-grade students at the Alva Middle School about the Oklahoma Municipal League essay contest. He encouraged the students to write on the contest topic “If I were mayor…” Students will be writing their entries as a class project.

Parker said he’s hopeful that an Alva entry will be among the Top 3 to be recognized during the Council of Mayors meeting in February.

Manager’s Report

Ford said the city plans to extend the Locust Street waterline project up to 11th Street, replacing the old line and moving it to the side instead of in the middle of the street.

There are 221 new water meters left to be installed. He’s hopeful that project will be finished this month.

He invited everyone to check out the city’s new website at http://www.alvaok.org. He also encouraged everyone to search their app store for the new City of Alva app. The free application provides city notifications, updates and coming events.

Ford plans to attend the CMAO conference for city managers Jan. 24-26.

He said plans are underway to begin work on next year’s city budgets.

Brooks said his water meter froze during the extremely cold weather. He asked if the city had other such reports. Heather Bonham, who was taking the minutes, said they had three other reports. She said the water meters are installed at varying depths. To protect against freezing, it is recommended a circle of insulation be placed under the meter cover with a slit in the insulation for the antenna wire which connects to the cover.

Bowman Urges Use of Hospital

In the time allowed for council comments, Bowman said Alva has a hospital and the community needs to decide if they’re going to use it or lose it. He related his recent personal experience when his insurance provider wanted him to go out of town for care that could be provided in Alva. He questioned the need to go out of town, and they agreed he could use the local hospital. “If we don’t use them, we’re going to lose them,” he said of the hospital.

Authority Meetings

The Alva Economic Development Authority meeting followed council adjournment. They approved minutes of the last meeting, claims of $1,372,419.02 and payroll expenses of $19,964.32. Mayor Parker reminded the trustees, made up of the council members, that the claims were high because of ongoing projects like the installation of turf and the swimming pool project.

The Alva Utility Authority meeting convened with trustees approving the consent agenda including minutes of the last meeting, claims of $152,609.71 and payroll expenses of $53,069.53.

A video of the meeting may be viewed at http://www.AlvaReviewCourier.com.