The Chandler City Council set a deadline for a vote on whether to take over Clearview Cemetery in their June 12 meeting.
The Council spent considerable time discussing the transfer of the title, with City Attorney Larry Lenora cautioning about liability.
“As a citizen, I’m very much in favor of supporting the cemetery. As a city attorney, it’s my duty to point out that there may be some issues concerning taking responsibility for it,” Lenora said.
He asked for time to compile more records so the city would better understand which plots were filled, which were available, and which ones had been purchased but not filled.
The council members present, as well as members of the Clearview Cemetery board, voiced support for the transfer. Mayor Kent McVey asked Lenora to prepare his research so the council could vote in September.
Howard Dickman presented a citation from the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma National Guard that identified Chandler as the official hometown of the Oklahoma National Guard. It’s a project Dickman has been working on for years. One copy of the citation will be put up in the American Legion hall, while the other will be placed at the Rt. 66 Interpretive Center.
“It took me 20 years to get to this spot, and here we are finally,” Dickman said. “Now, I didn’t do all this work by myself. There are people that helped - the Hoffmans, the Ferrells, the museum here in town, the 45th, et cetera, et cetera. And Colonel Matthews, the historian at the headquarters of the guard… And then also, I had a lot of help from Michael Kerr and Patricia Kerr.”
The Council also voted to put up a temporary fence along the highway edge of Rainbow Park and adopted the operation budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025, including the pay schedule, for $6,301,690.34. This doesn’t include upcoming projects, with City Manager Jason Orr saying the council would vote on budget amendments as they come up.
Other actions include selling Hangar No. 5 at the Chandler Regional Airport to JSH Properties. Orr said the city still owns the land, and JSH already uses the hangar.
The funds from the sale are expected to be used for capital improvements at the airport.
The council also reappointed Ray Acord to the North Central Regional Airport Authority Board of Directors for a four-year term beginning July 2024 and approved a contract with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce for $650,000 for McClanahan Park. They also approved the Interlocal Cooperative Agreement with Circuit Engineering District #4 for Sign Shop Services.
The Chandler Municipal Authority approved a contract change order from Cowan Group Engineering for the Sewer Rehabilitation Project and three pay applications. The first was for Bennett Inc. for $44,089.25 for the Sewer Rehabilitation Project. The second was for Orr Construction, Inc., for $17,898 for the 9th Street Drainage Project, while the last was for Orr Construction, Inc., for $22,361,34 for the 12th Street Drainage Project.
The CMA also adopted its operating budget of $9,576,733.1 for the fiscal year 2024-2025 and approved a contract with Guthrie Excavation LLC for $187,815.60 for the Cleveland Avenue Waterline Improvement Project.