Meeker utility rates to increase

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The Meeker Town Board, meeting as the Public Works Authority, voted this week to raise water, sewer and trash rates effective Nov. 1.

Town Administrator Dickie Walton explained to the Trustees that several months ago the city of Shawnee raised its rates. Meeker purchases its water from Shawnee.

“We absorbed that increase because the PWA had the money to do it,” he advised the board. “However, Shawnee is raising its rates again,” he added, saying “that Meeker needs to increase its rates.”

Paperwork sent from Shawnee to Meeker indi cates that Shawnee is raising its rates effective Oct. 1.

PWA Clerk Jody Vaughn, presenting information to the Trustees, recommended raising the minimum rates by $1 each.

“Our water rate is $29 a month and the recommended increase is to $30,” she said.

The proposed sewer rate is $14.50, up from $13.50 a month and the proposed trash rate is $14.95 a month, up from $13.95. “The total increase for

water, sewer and trash amounts to about $3 a month for a minimum bill,” she informed the PWA Trustees.

They agreed to the proposed increases and initially voted to make it effective Oct. 1. However, their legal counsel James Hodgens told them it needed to be Nov. 1 because he had to draft an ordinance for the Trustees to adopt during their October meeting.

The board voted again and made Nov. 1 the effective date.

The board, meeting as the Town’s Trustees, authorized staff to apply for the 2020-2021 Central Oklahoma Economic Development District (COEDD) grant in the amount of $75,000 for street improvements.

They also adopted a resolution authorizing application for financial assistance from the Rural Economic Action Plan fund and approved Mayor Aaron Head as chairman of the Board as the authorized signer for the application.

Board members agreed to allow Meeker City Hall to re-open effective Thursday, Oct. 1, with masks not required but appreciated.

The board adopted a resolution concerning funding from the CARES Act Coronavirus relief fund confirming it’s the policy of the Town that all Public Safety personnel costs are substantially dedicated to the COVID-19 response efforts of the town throughout the ongoing state of emergency.

The board also set Trick or Treat night for Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Board members voted to allow the Smithsonian Institution to bring its exhibit to Meeker City Hall in 2021. Walton said he visited with a representative of the Smithsonian Exhibit who told him, “We are at the top of the list. It hasn’t been approved,” he added, “but only six cities across Oklahoma will be selected to have the exhibit in their communities.”

Walton has been advised, too, that Meeker will be provided $5,000 to help promote it if the town is chosen.

Board members also voted to limit the number of garage sales a person can have each year. The attorney was authorized to draft an ordinancethat limits garage sales to three days, two times a year, per individual, per residence.

The ordinance will exempt the city-wide garage sale.

In other business:

The Board voted to allow City Hall to close on Oct. 12 in observance of Columbus Day with employees using their vacation leave.

Board members agreed to have staff set up a new checking account specifically for an Oklahoma Water Resources Board Emergency Grant.