The Stroud City Council voted to hire Jeff Wilbourn, current Meeker town administrator, as the new city manager at its regular meeting on Aug. 13.
The Council went into executive session for about an hour to an hour and a half, according to current City Manager Bob Pearman, before coming back into session. Council Member Caleb Ball made a motion to hire Charles Palmer, seconded by Raph e Thompson; however, it did not get enough votes to pass. Council Member Jeff Stiner then made a motion to hire Wilbourn, with all members but Thompson voting yes.
Pearman said they have not discussed a transition timeline, though there is a transition period expected. He added that it hasn’t quite set in yet that he’s retiring.
“I’ve still got a couple grants going that I’d like to see finished, and (we’ve) got airport construction and street paving and lake work and park work. I’d like to see those -- I mean, they’re gonna happen, but I’d like to hang around a little bit longer to see it,” Pearman said.
This is Pearman’s second retirement -- he previously retired from public education before becoming city manager almost nine years ago. He plans to stay in- involved, either through his church work or helping with plants on Main Street.
“It’s been great. The city of Stroud has been really good to me, and the people are good. And I think it’s been a great ride,” he said.
The Stroud Utilities Authority (SUA) voted on that same night to move forward with the GRDA contract partnership and electrical upgrades for the City of Stroud. GRDA expressed that it wanted to continue providing electricity to Stroud, and its board approved a $3.4 million loan to the city to upgrade the electrical system. The loan is to be paid back over 20 years. The first 10 years will have 0 percent interest, while the next 10 years will have a low, bond-like interest rate.
Stroud is the only town in the state GRDA has such a partnership with, and is one of two towns with GRDA that has this particular voltage, the city manager said. He added that Stroud has wanted to do this for about 30 years or so, but could never afford it.
Pearman explained that the city has two different voltages, with one that is outdated. Bringing that up to par is very expensive and requires a lot of replacement upgrades to the electrical system, such as replacing poles, lines and transformers. He said the savings from line loss alone will pay back itself in 30 years. It will also bring two new substations into the city and GRDA has agreed to move another transformer into this substation.
“It will allow us to balance out our power so that we can continue to grow. The new substation that we put in is almost maxed out with all the growth that we’ve had,” the city manager said. “This will allow us to have some available electrical for growth in the near future.”
He said there is no set timeline on how long the project will take, but engineers are working to determine just what is needed before everything gets started.
The SUAalso approved a lease of the Old School house property to Kerry Rickner for a sober living home and tabled the renewal of Violett Junktion’s lease. An item on possible action to open certain parts of the lake for archery deer hunting was removed as it wasn’t ready for discussion yet.
Other actions taken by the Stroud City Council include voting to allow Five Tool Management to research and bring before the Council funding options for the new Stroud Fire Station, as well as to go after the Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Grant Program.
The Council also authorized Jennifer Davis as an authorized agent for the City with the Oklahoma Municipal Retirement Fund, and reappointed Marvin Hudson and John Alexander to the Stroud Planning Commission. It also approved Patricia Davis’ request for a tiny home in her backyard.
The Council approved the Lincoln County 911 contract, the Apprentice Information Systems Annual Maintenance Agreement for FY 26-27 for $48,988, and repealed an ordinance on consumption of alcohol for Hogtoberfest in September. The Council also approved an ordinance on decorum at public meetings. The Council tabled action on a resolution adopting an official social media and public communications policy until next month.