Sallisaw will most likely not see an increase in electric rates in 2017, City Manager Clayton Lucas told city commissioners at their regular meeting Monday evening.
Lucas informed the commissioners that the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), from which the city buys power to resell to customers, recently announced there would be no increase in electric rates next year.
Lucas also announced the commissioners are due to complete a regular utility study, and a meeting will be set in October to review the preliminary study.
The commissioners approved a resolution approving a $1.8 million mortgage for Sequoyah Memorial Hospital to “provide funds for financing debt, cash flow and other emergencies of the Sequoyah County-City of Sallisaw Hospital Authority.”
Sallisaw attorney John Cripps, hospital board chairman, said the hospital is doing all it can to save money. “We’re cutting costs everywhere we can,” he said. He noted that rural hospitals are struggling to survive. Government cutbacks in reimbursements are hurting hospitals’ budgets.
He added that the hospital was reimbursed by insurance for a recent small fire.
The commission also:
-approved a memorandum of agreement with the Sallisaw Now Coalition to act as the fiscal agent for the coalition’s grant.
-approved a change order not to exceed $34,941.20 for a street overlay. The change order allows the city to use excess grant funds to extend a street overlay to Elm and Denton Streets.
-approved a $12,500 contract with Neel, Harvell and Associates, P.C., for engineering services for the underpass pumps on Cherokee Avenue. The pumps, which help with flooding in the underpass during heavy rains, need replacing. The city has set aside $75,000 for the project which includes $31,394 in FEMA funds received this year.
-discussed an ordinance requiring a license and fee for itinerant vendors after city businesses complained about the competition. A $600 annual fee was discussed, but action was delayed to a future meeting. Non-profit organizations and the Farmers Market will be exempt from the new fee.
-tabled a discussion on a request from the Sequoyah County Fire Department Tax Board for the donation of the city’s property on Eppler, which was purchased for a proposed animal shelter. The animal shelter was built on its original site, and the Eppler Street property is not being used. Lucas said the city is awaiting an appraisal of the property.
During the Sallisaw Municipal Authority meeting the commissioners:
-approved the purchase of a 3,000 gallon super tanker fire truck at a price of $217,000, which includes $100,000 in grant monies from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Cherokee Nation; and
-approved the purchase, for $26,500, of a power supply (battery) for the city telecommunications headend.
Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director
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