Town trustees, John Dorsey, Winston McKeon, and Rusty Satterwhite, prepare to convene the town hall meeting

WELCH—The Welch Town Council played host to approximately 35 Welchkins last Thursday night in a 2.5-hour, town hall-type meeting at the Welch Civic Auditorium. The meeting began with each of the three town trustees and the volunteer fire department chief reporting on various items of town business. If you’d rather hear the meeting audio than read our report, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Documents distributed at the meeting were:

• Town of Welch Financial Report
• Welch Public Works Authority Financial Report
• Sample WPWA Request for Waiver of Water/Sewer Fees Form
  
• Town of Welch Complaint Form
• Town of Welch Pet License Form
• Town of Welch Open Records Request Form [retrieved from town hall Apr. 12, 2010]
  

Mayor Winston McKeon led off, thanking attendees for their interest. Here are some highlights of his comments:

• He referenced what they have viewed as recent successes, such as the town clean-up day, snow removal efforts, affording to have three paid staff members, the lagoon project funded by the community development block grant (CDBG), Empire District Electric’s painting of power poles, and Harvest Fest growth.
• McKeon announced that another town-wide cleanup day is scheduled for Sat., Apr. 17, 2010. (See our previous story here.)
• He also stated the town is in the process of re-purposing an existing vehicle for snow removal and sand/salt use.
• He anticipates applying for another CDBG in 2010 to resurface as many streets as possible.
• There are efforts to install benches and new planters on main street.
• McKeon requested citizen volunteers step up to assist with the town’s emergency readiness team.
• He noted that the Welch Cemetery maintenance has been put out for sealed bids, which will be opened at the council’s regular meeting, Mon., Apr. 11. (See our previous story and download RFP form here.)
• He explained that the town has made a change in how town finances are handled. The town clerk is no longer a signatory on town checks. Two trustees must now sign all town checks.
• He reminded attendees of town hall hours: Mon.-Thur., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (closed one hour for lunch); Fri., 1 p.m.-6 p.m.
• He invited input from citizens.
• He asked that trustees be given an opportunity to respond when people send cards and letters.
• He reported that the town will be renegotiating franchise agreements with utility companies and asked for input regarding utility service.
• A goal for the year will be seeking grant moneys.
• He encouraged citizens to request any and all town information by filing a Freedom of Information/Open Records form at town hall.
• He also referenced garbage collection information previously posted here.

From Trustee Rusty Satterwhite’s remarks:

• He explained the process by which Harley Malone and Brad Mount read meters, noting that equipment failures are leading to no-reads, which must be followed up on.
• He explained that existing equipment will not staff to read meters through snow.
• Two mains have broken recently, causing delays in billing.
• He addressed the water leak waiver policy. If a bill is in question due to uncharacteristically high water use, citizens are asked to pay their average water fee and ask the town clerk to file a waiver form for town council consideration. (Download sample form here.)
• If residents have large water usage, filling pools for example, their sewer rates will be adjusted if the town is notified.
• He reported that rates are being adjusted upward because there haven’t been water rate increases since the late 1980s-early 1990s.
• He stated that the town will likely change billing cycles from the first-to-last day of the month to 15th-through-14th of the month. Bill will still be mailed from the first tot he fifth of the month. The two week difference will allow public works staff some cushion to do re-reads and deal with unforeseen issues like leaks, main breaks, and computer failures.
• He stated that a grant has been secured to install a lift station on the north side of town, and that the installation should be complete by the end of summer.
• He reported that town lagoons fill very rapidly during storms and that a smoke test will soon be done to determine where the large influx of water originates.
• The town is looking to purchase new meter reading equipment.
• The town is working with a new engineering firm that also seeks grant funding fro needed projects.
• He referenced the recent notices the town received from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality noting that at certain times of year the town water supplies have elevated levels of radium.
• Public works needs residents with copper/lead plumbing to allow them to take periodic water samples. If you have copper/lead plumbing, please call town hall at 918-788-3616 if you would allow samples to be taken from your home. The state is requiring 20 samples from the system (up from the previous 10), and the town is have difficulties finding that many copper/lead systems.

From Trustee John Dorsey’s report:

• The town contracts with the Craig County Sheriff’s Department (CCSD) to provide police services. Each month, the town pays CCSD $3200 in exchange for 68 hours of patrol per week.
• The council has discussed manning its own police force, but the current arrangement is more cost feasible.
• The council receives a monthly report from CCSD.
• CCSD has up to 24 hours to respond to non-emergency situations.
• Part of the $3200 monthly fee is recouped by tickets issued.
• The town has complaint forms to report issues that citizens would like addressed. Download the form here.
• Dorsey is also the administrative officer for property violations, and he patrols periodically. The town seeks amicable resolution to issues but does have authority to fine offenders.
• Brad Mount serves as animal control officer, and he has been concentrating on stray dogs. The town has and Mount is trained in the used of a tranquilizer gun. Stray cats will also be dealt with.
• The council has passed an ordinance allowing ATVs and golf carts on town streets so long as they have a town permit, are driven by a licensed driver, and are operated only in daylight hours.
• The town is pursuing homeland security grants for police department.
• The council has discussed security cameras for certain locations.
• The town would like to start a neighborhood watch program.

Fire Chief, Brandon Webster, reports during the town hall meeting

From Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brandon Webster’s remarks:

• He thanked people for paying their dues.
• He noted that dues have gone up but that the fire department is working to lower its ISO rating, which should lower property insurance rates significantly. The current ISO rating is 8, and they hope to lower it to 6 or 5.
• Storm siren speakers are in place to serve the hill on the south side of town. Empire District Electric is purchasing an activator switch for them and has agreed to install and power them free of charge. Additionally, a new activator switch has been purchased for the sirens at town hall. The new activators will allow for remote activation, so that storm spotters can run the sirens from the field, rather than having someone physically activate them from town hall.
• They are working to provide a storm siren on the north end of town.
• Burn permits are available from town hall.
• Volunteers are needed for the Harvest Days committee.
• The fire department has taken over maintenance and flushing of fire hydrants from public works. It will help the fire department with its ISO rating and free up public works staff.
• Dues are spent on maintenance, equipment, training, and personal protection.
• Volunteer fire fighters are receiving training every other month.
• May 22 will be the fire department fundraiser feed.

The floor was then opened to questions from the audience, and several were forthcoming. Many centered on recent water bill issues. Due to equipment failure and inclement weather, water bills were estimated for November 2009, December 2009, and January 2010 (December, January, and February bills). Most persons’ March bill was higher, as it was a return to actual usage charges. Town Clerk, Barry Oliver, reported that the billing software computes an estimate by taking the last 12 months’ bills, deducting the highest and lowest, then averaging the remaining ten.  The first month a bill is estimated, it is billed at 90% of that average, the second month it is billed at 75% of the average, the third month is billed at 90%, and so on. No one could recall a previous time when bills had to be estimated for three months in a row. Additionally, town water meters measure in 1,000-gallon increments, and no rounding is done. So, if a water customer uses 999 gallons of water, it goes un-billed. The next gallon they use will cause them to be billed for 1,000 gallons. So, it’s possible for a customer to be billed for no water one month (when they used almost 1,000 gallons), then be billed for 2,000 gallons the next month (when they used only 1,001 gallons).

There were various other questions and answers. Rather than try to recreate them here, we’re giving you the opportunity to hear it as it happened via the audio recording below. Some speakers were not on microphone, so they may be harder to hear. WelchOK.com will be following up on the legal issues that were raised.

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