The Town of Oakland received a positive review at the monthly town meeting. On July 8, grant writer Millie Vance updated the council on the 17213 CD 96 Water System Improvements Project. “The project was funded in phases,” Vance said. “The first phase was the permit to construct, and the second phase was the $249,999.” According to Vance, the town matched the funds at $15,325, and the grant awarded the remainder.
The funds from the grant addresses both of the consent orders, said Vance. “It addressed the low water pressure, and the by-products issue.” The water lines were replaced and there was an agitator installed in the water tower to help decrease toxins in the water. Vance also announced that Rhonda Whitsett received an A+ on the audit. It was perfect.
Once the council closed the public hearing on the 17213 CD 96 Water System Improvements Project, and voted to closeout the document due to completion, they discussed the possibility on accepting bids for the vacant Animal Control position. Whitsett said they cannot just take applications. “Since it’s not an employee position, we need to place an ad in the paper to accept bids.” Council member Kay Idleman asked how long they should give the public to place bids. The council then discussed a decent time frame.
Oakland Town Mayor John Moss inquired if there were any current animal control issues. Whitsett informed him that there were none. The council then decided to run an ad for three weeks, and then go over the bids at the next town meeting.
Another agenda item was discussing and taking action on Ronnie Doyal attending the Oklahoma Rural Water Association Conference in August. To keep his license, Doyal must attend a specific amount of training hours and this conference satisfies some of those needed hours.
After approving the agenda item for Doyal to attend the conference, the council discussed an ongoing issue, code enforcement. A few of the council members are frustrated because some of the residents’ yards are in dire need of being cleaned and mowed. Unfortunately, the town is not at a point where they can enforce the laws prohibiting yards from becoming unruly.