McLoud’s City Council, with only three members present, tabled action on the appointment of a vice mayor and also held off filling the Ward 2 position.
Council members did approve lifting a moratorium on billboards in the city limits. They also approved waiving special event fees for the McLoud Chamber of Commerce’s Shop the Block on Dec. 3 this year.
The Council members also were presented engineering updates on several projects.
With Council member Daniel McClure, Jr., absent from Thursday night’s meeting, only Mayor Ralph Snider and Councilmen Steven Tomaszewski and Larry Dillon were in attendance.
During the September Council meeting, Ward 2 member and mayor at the time Stan Jackson resigned his position. With that, during last week’s meeting, there were agenda items to appoint a vice mayor and possibly fill the Ward 2 position.
Mayor Snider indicated he wanted to table action on the vice mayor appointment since McClure was not in attendance and Tomaszewski and Dillon agreed, all voting to table the item.
On filling the Ward 2 position, three persons, Doug VanScoyoc Jimmy Davis and Veronica Wilkerson were listed on the agenda for possible appointment. None of them attended the meeting.
It was pointed out VanScoyoc, who is on the McLoud School Board, had decided he couldn’t serve due to a conflict and with the other two not there, the Council tabled action.
Council members heard a brief presentation from two representatives with a company requesting lifting the billboard moratorium. They advised the Council they want to place a 14 feet by 48 feet billboard on the south side of I-40 in the McLoud city limits and were requesting that in order to obtain a permit.
Interim City Manager Cody Roe explained that in 2018 a moratorium had been placed on billboards. Council members agreed with the proposal and voted to lift the moratorium.
The Council members were advised the billboard will not interfere with the I-40 widening project and reportedly it’s okay with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Dean Hill, representing the McLoud Chamber of Commerce, addressed the Council briefly on waiving the permit for the Shop the Block event.
“We’re going to initiate a Christmas Tree Lighting and a Shop the Block Event at the same time,” Hill told the Council. The event is on Saturday, Dec. 3, he said.
The Council approved the request unanimously. Hill said it wouldn’t block the intersection and the event would be on the sidewalks.
The Council heard an engineering update from Bryan Mitchell, senior project manager for Parkhill Engineering.
He advised them the sewer line project paid for from a CDBG grant was fully completed and under budget.
The 2022 Elementary and Intermediate School Sidewalk project was $3,500 for each sidewalk, a total of $7,000, he said.
He also discussed the 2022 water model update with the Council and Council members voted to approve both of those.
But the one he labeled “contentious,” is the I-40 sewer solution project which he pointed to and the $6,475,000 loan with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. “We’re 18 months into a 36-month time frame and this needs to be addressed,” he informed the board.
Mitchell reiterated several times his concern about the timeline, the placement of a lift station and how long it could take due to the nearby floodplain.
After considerable discussion, the Council agreed to hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3, on just that project.
In other business, the Council approved an ordinance dealing with felines and also approved the emergency clause.
They approved a budget amendment to include receiving $416,146.01 in ARPA funds and $93,611.50 in CDBG grant money.
Former City Manager Buck Day addressed the Council during public comments. He told the Council he believes Mc-Clure has a conflict of interest serving on the Council since he works for the Oklahoma Municipal League as an attorney and McLoud is a member of the OML.
Meeting as the McLoud Public Works Authority, they approved a budget amendment of $32,000 on the water model update.