Board of Commissioners Hold Regular Session

The Ponca City Board of Commissioners met in regular session on January 11. Mayor Homer Nicholson called the meeting to order, which was followed by the pledge of allegiance.

Ceremonies and Proclamations

The character trait of Positivity for January was introduced.

Consent

Under the consent agenda, the City Commission voted to approve the minutes of the Ponca City Board of Commissioners Special Session held on December 28, 2020 and a resolution appropriating money for the payment of claims against the City of Ponca City.

Reports

Under the City Manager’s Report, City Manager Craig Stephenson provided information on various items.

The City of Ponca City will observe Monday, January 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as a City holiday. Residential refuse will not be picked up. The Ponca City Landfill, Ponca City Library, Marland’s Grand Home, Marland Mansion and Estate, and Ponca City Senior Center will be closed Monday, January 18. The Lew Wentz Golf Course and Ponca City RecPlex will be open Monday, January 18.

Residential Ice Storm Tree Debris Only Collection is on-going and the Street Division is in Section 11, the Park Division is in Section 10. There are 21 sections in total and as of January 8, 2021 city crews have removed 18,331 cubic yards of debris from the community.

The Christmas Tree Recycling area is open and will close on January 20, 2021 and the old Christmas trees will be turned into mulch for gardening and landscape usage. The mulch will be available free to the public, and those interested will need to bring their own shovels and containers for transporting the mulch. The mulch will be available beginning January 28, 2021 until it is gone. Please be sure and remove all lights and ornaments from the Christmas trees before bringing them to the Christmas Tree Recycling area.

The City of Ponca City now has a social media App to provide information. It is listed as City of Ponca City OK in the App Store. 

The City Commission will meet with City management and departments on April 19 and 20 to discuss the Fiscal Year 2021-22 Budget. These meetings days allow the various departments of the City to present to you what they do with the funding appropriated to them in serving the community.

On January 15, 2021 Animal Control will close at noon and staff will relocate to the new Northern Oklahoma Regional Animal Care Facility. The new facility will become operational on Tuesday January 19.

On Friday, January 8, City staff met with the Kay County Health Department to help with their logistics of delivering the COVID-19 vaccinations to the community. It is anticipated that recent changes to the process will provide for improved operations. City staff will continue to work with the Health Department to revise the process as needed for efficiencies.

A public hearing will be held January 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Commission Chamber of City Hall on CDBG-CV (Coronavirus) funding. The funding application will be presented to the City Commission for approval at the January 25 City Commission meeting. The City’s current proposed application is for Rent/Mortgage Assistance, Utilities Assistance Program and Food Bank Program. New Emergency Resource Agency is the proposed administer of the program for the City, as they work in this arena already and have tools aligned to work with the abovementioned programs. The grant is for a total of approximately $612,000.

Rob Dick, Assistant to the Director of Public Works, presented the City of Ponca City’s Snow and Ice Control Manual. Each year staff informs the Ponca City Board of Commissioners and public of the City’s procedures in the event of a snow or ice event. Snow and ice removal routes are based on the following priorities: first, major arterials; second, secondary arterials; third, business district; and fourth, schools. Snow and ice control guidelines state that snow is plowed only on major streets; snow will not be plowed on residential streets; property owners are responsible for clearing their driveways and sidewalks; property owners shall not place snow in the street; a snow/sand mixture will be applied to dry road surfaces in anticipation of snow or ice; and the intensity of the storm and time of day may provide for a change in the established priorities.

Public Hearings

The Board of Commissioners conducted a public hearing and voted to accept Contract No. 17591 Community Development Block Grant complete. Three projects were completed within this contract, including Home Buyers Assistance, Special Services, and Phase II Marland’s Grand Home Improvements.

The total amount expended for these projects was $261,577.30, expending $60,000 for Homebuyer Assistance, $66,567 for Special Services with a personnel match of $6,722.30, and $128,288 for Phase II Marland’s Grand Home Improvements.

Home Buyers Assistance was provided 18 times, resulting in 52 people being served. Special Services projects included three electrical service upgrades/repairs, eight sewer/gas/water line replacements, three furnace replacements, and one tree limb removal project, resulting in 32 people being served.

Phase II Marland’s Grand Home improvements included the perimeter stone water table on all four sides of the main house, not including the sunroom portion. The scope also included the north and south stone porch bases, as well as the long stone planters that reside on the porches between each post.

It should be noted that total funding for Phase II Marland’s Grand Home was through CDBG Construction – Buildings ($46,220), Marland’s Grand Home ($11,000), and Capital Improvement Projects – Marland’s Grand Home ($71,068), of which the Friends of Marland’s Grand Home funded $38,174.

New Business

Under new business, the Board of Commissioners voted to approve the Hazard Mitigation Assistance State-Local Agreement FEMA-DR-4438 HGMP (Hazard Mitigation Grant Program) in the amount of $90,000. The City of Ponca City prepared and submitted a grant application for the update of its Hazard Mitigation Plan to the OEM (Oklahoma Emergency Management) utilizing the HMGP. HMGP funds are available to counties when a Presidentially-declared disaster is declared in Oklahoma.

The HMGP grant application for the plan update has been approved by the OEM and Federal Emergency Management Administration in the amount of $90,000 in federal funds with a 25% local match of $30,000, which will be met through in-kind personnel costs.

The City has waived its right to request subrecipient management costs, as the match for this project will be personnel costs in administering this project. An update to the Hazard Mitigation Plan is required every five years, so that the City of Ponca City may continue to access HMGP funds for all mitigation type activities.

Examples of past mitigation type activities utilizing HMGP funds include the Individual Safe Room Project, Property Acquisition Projects, Weather Radio Project, and Public Safety Center Generator Project.

The Board of Commissioners also voted to approve all unit price bids submitted by various contractors for items of work performed for sidewalk maintenance through June 30, 2021.

The Sidewalk Maintenance Program is funded through the ½-cent Street Improvement Sales Tax. Since 2012, $1.43 million has been spent on standalone sidewalk projects. The Sidewalk Maintenance Program was created in 2016 to provide a quicker response to requests for smaller sidewalk maintenance needs.

To date, $272,290 of sidewalk maintenance projects have been completed under this program, including 5,947 LF of sidewalks and 78 new ramps. Sidewalk projects have ranged from 10 LF to 915 LF in length, with an average length of 248 LF.

Ponca City Utility Authority Agenda

The minutes of the Ponca City Utility Authority Special Session held on December 28, 2020 and a resolution appropriating money for the payment of claims against the Ponca City Utility Authority were approved.