Sallisaw Receives Oklahoma Municipal League Award

Sallisaw’s new Construction Crew is expected to save the city more than 

$2.1 million over the next several years.

City Manager Clayton Lucas with the OML Award.

The City of Sallisaw was awarded the Oklahoma Municipal League (OML) Municipal Innovations Award for “superior and innovative efforts” on Sept. 15 at the OML Conference in Oklahoma City.

City Manager Clayton Lucas announced the award Monday. He said, “Each year the Oklahoma Municipal League recognizes the officials and staff of one city under a population of 10,000 and one city over a population of 10,000 for their superior and innovative efforts.

“This award provides a means for sharing Oklahoma’s best public service ideas and demonstrates that those involved with local government are progressive, caring and committed to their communities.”

Sallisaw officials and staff were specifically honored for finding innovative and creative ways to plan and execute the first of a list of capital improvement projects planned over the next several years at a fraction of the cost. Earlier this year the city formed a new Construction Crew consisting of five employees and a superintendent. Together, these six employees constructed a new Leachate Lagoon at the Sallisaw Landfill for about $900,000 less than the cost of contracting the project out. They are now beginning on the construction of a new landfill cell, which is expected to save an additional $500,000 over the cost of contracting that project out.

Next year the Construction Crew will build a new Flow Equalization Basin at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, as required by the Oklahoma Department of Quality, which will save an additional $769,000. 

Over the next two years it is anticipated that this new department will save the city more than $2.1 million. In addition, the City of Sallisaw has done several other new and innovative things including: 

· Built a new animal shelter in house, saving about $90,000;

· Partnered with Cherokee Nation’s On the Job Training Program saving about $15,000;

· Created a new Tree Trimming Department that works all year, rather than contracting these services for a few weeks each year at a higher cost;

· Hired an Economic Development Consulting Firm to fill the gap between retail that Sallisaw could support but does not currently have by reaching out to national retailers and restaurants;

· Expanded DiamondNet wireless internet services to several areas of Sequoyah County; and

· Aggressively applied for and received more than $1 million in grant funding over the past year.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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