City Council - Regular Meeting

You guys ready? Okay. It's now 5.30. It's great to see everybody this evening. Before we call the meetings to order and have the pledge, Sharon Wilber from Ellison Avenue Methodist Church is going to Pray for us this evening. Come up to the podium, Sharon.

Our dear Heavenly Father, we come before you this evening with thankful hearts. Lord, we are so very thankful for these men and women who have been elected to be the voice of El Reno, to speak for the people of El Reno. And so, Lord, we pray tonight that you guide them that you give them wisdom. Lord, as elected officials, they often have to deal with some tough issues. And so, Lord, guide them with compassion. Let them lead with integrity. Lord, keep in their minds and hearts always the democratic principles that our country was founded on, Lord. That of liberty and justice for all. Lord, let them serve the town of El Reno faithfully. We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Join with me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

It is five 32 and we call the El Reno air park authority regular meeting on this Tuesday, July 14th to order starting with roll call vote and trustee black here.

Here.

Consent agenda. The following items are considered to be routine by the El Reno Air Park Authority will be enacted with one motion. Should discussion be desired on any item, the item will be removed from the consent agenda. Considered separately, there are three items.

Move to approve items one through three.

Second.

Motion made and seconded. I will call the vote. Senator Trustee Black? Yes.

Vice Chairman Jensen? Yes. Trustee Brothers? Yes. Trustee Nethering? Yes. Chairman Schaefer?

Yes. Brings us to item 4E for discussion, consideration, action, possible amendments regarding the award of a bid for project. Hanger 1, salvage and demolition package 1A, 2A, and 3A, and authorize the mayor, city manager to sign documents associated. It should say mayor, city manager, correct? Yes.

Okay, yeah, we went out to bid to go and remove the hangar number one at the airport, which is in the path where we're going to be building the new jet hangar. The intent is to go and salvage the main structure of the building and reassemble it elsewhere on the airport for future use. We've gone out to bid on this twice. We went to bid a little over a month ago. The bids came in really high, so we went out to bid again and got much better bid results. There were two bids that came in. There's three components to the bids that will need to be awarded. Based off the bids, bid package A1, we're recommending you go to hanger salvage. Dwayne drew a construction amount of $44,600. Bid package 2A, which is for the terminal demolition, go to total demolition services in the amount of $32,000. And then bid package 3A, which is to replace the concrete work. going to Wade Drew construction amount of $78,600. This totals a total of $205,200. Okay.

You guys have had a chance to look at that and review that. Any questions or comments on that?

New to award bid package 1A, the hangar salvage to wade through construction for $94,600. Bid package 2A for the terminal demolition to total demolition services for $32,000. And bid package 3A, the concrete paving to wade through construction for $78,600. Authorize the mayor, city manager, interim city manager, WB, sign. Second.

Okay, motion made and seconded. Roll call vote starting with Trustee Black.

Yes.

Vice Chairman Jensen.

Yes.

Trustee Brothers. Yes. Trustee Nellery. Yes. Chairman Schaper.

Yes. Bring us to item five, discussion, consideration, action, possible amendments regarding a guaranteed maximum price amendment to the construction management agreement with WL McNabb for the El Reno Airport Hangar Salvage and Demolition Project. Tim, do you want to just explain this a little further detail?

Yes, so I have. About a quarter or so ago, we approved a contract with McNatt to go in and be a construction manager for the demolition portion of this contract. They are the general contractor for removing the jet hangar right there. And so with the bids you just awarded, that now gets factored into the new maximum guaranteed price that they will charge us for doing the work, which is approved over there. So with their markup, the general services and everything else, the guaranteed maximum price is going to be $278,080. Okay. Good. Any other questions?

Move to approve the amendment to the construction management agreement with W.L. McNatt and Company establishing a guaranteed maximum price of $278,080 for the hangar salvage and demolition project and authorize the mayor and or city manager, interim city manager to execute the amendment on behalf of the city.

Second.

Motion made and seconded. Roll call vote starting with Trustee Black. Yes.

Yes, all those in favor Okay, it is 536 and I called the recreational authority regular meeting of Tuesday July 14th to order with a roll call starting with trustee netheri Here The consent agenda the following items are considered to be routine by the ill ring or recreational authority and will be enacted with one motion Should discussion be desired on any item that item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. We have items one through four Move to approve items one through four second Motion in second roll call starting with the trustee Schaefer.

Yes Yes Yes Move to adjourn

Second. Okay. All those in favor? Aye. We're done.

It's now 537. I call the El Reno Municipal Authority regular meeting of Tuesday, July 14, 2026 to order. Roll call starting with Trustee Nethery.

Here. Trustee Brothers. Here. Vice Chairman Block. Here. Trustee Schaefer. Here. Chairman Jensen.

Here. Consent agenda. The following items are considered to be routine by the El Reno Municipal Authority, will be enacted with one motion. Should discussion be desired on any item, that item will be removed from consent agenda and considered separately. And we have items one through four.

Move to approve items one through four.

Second.

Motion made and seconded. A roll call starting with Trustee Schaefer. Yes.

Vice Chairman Black.

Yes. Nothing was pulled. Brings us to discussion items. Discussion item five. Discussion, consideration, action, and or possible amendments to approve purchase of fiber cable for fiber construction.

So this is for the purchase of additional backbone fiber. We're currently running pretty low on that and materials are getting scarce to find. So I have to be in the position to be able to move quickly on that. This is for a maximum purchase of spend of 85,000. We will get three quotes on that before anything is purchased.

Any questions?

Move to approve the purchase of the fiber optic cable. Not to exceed 85,000. Second.

Motion made and seconded. Roll call started with Trustee Nether.

Yes. Trustee Brothers. Yes. Vice Chairman Black. Yes. Trustee Schaefer. Yes. Chairman Jensen.

Yes. It brings us to item six, discussion, consideration, action, and or possible amendments regarding an agreement with Myers Engineering for downtown streetscape sewer name replacement and allow Mayor Chairman to sign documents associated.

So yes, this is the first step of many. We're in the process, we already have grants to go in and do streetscape phase one downtown, replacing sidewalks and other infrastructure. We also have a grant to go in and start constructing the mobility hub across the street from the filling station. As a part of these projects, we realized we need to go replace the infrastructures beneath the ground. The sewer system and the water systems are several decades of some areas we think crisis. in excess of possibly 100 acres over here. So we want to make sure we replace the infrastructure before we replace everything on the ground, so we don't have to do it twice. As a part of that, the state now has a new program out, which is one-time funding. On the sewer side of this item, if you will take out a note to replace the sewer system that they funded them, they will go to forgive 25% of the principal. And so essentially, we're going to be getting the project for 75 cents on the dollar. And so this contract over there is just to begin the engineering for us to be able to make an application to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to go after that money in the future and get us ready for these projects.

Any questions?

Move to approve the engineering services agreement with Meyers Engineering Consulting in the amount of $162,300. Second. Motion made and seconded.

Roll call starting with Trustee Schaefer. Yes.

Vice Chairman Black. Yes. Trustee Brothers. Yes. Trustee Nether. Yes. Chairman Jensen.

Yes. Bring us item seven, discussion, consideration, action, and or possible amendments regarding an agreement with Myers Engineering for downtown water main replacement and allow Mayor Chairman to sign documents associated.

Yeah, this is a exact same thing as to previous on it, only this is on the water side. And with the water board program, we're able to get 50% of the principal for this. So essentially getting the project for 50 cents on the dollar for a work program.

Okay, any questions?

To approve the engineering services agreement with Myers Engineering Consulting for $143,000. Second.

Motion made and seconded. Roll call starting with Trustee Nethery.

Yes. Trustee Brothers. Yes. Vice Chairman Black. Yes. Vice Chairman Shaver. Yes. Chairman Dixon.

Yes.

Moved to adjourn.

Second.

Motion made and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. We're adjourned. It's now 542 and I call the El Reno City Council regular meeting of Tuesday, July 14th. 2026 to order roll call starting with councilwoman nether here we're still gonna recognize Amy I'm Chris Amy's not here with us tonight but Amy Smith for 13 years of dedicated service to the city of El Reno and with We've got a plaque and some stuff that we're going to give her. But we just hope and pray that she gets to feeling better, Chris. And I know last night she had a little bit of a rough night and stuff. And so we totally understand why she's not here. But just know that you guys are in her thoughts and prayers. And we miss her and just wish the best. Thank you. We also have a proclamation of an emergency disaster where on June 21st and 22nd of 2026, storm caused substantial damage to property structures and destruction of trees, power lines, and El Reno. Whereas the mayor of the city of El Reno, Oklahoma did find that the following conditions constitute a threat to the safety and welfare of the city and create an emergency disaster situation within the meaning of Section 683.3 of the Oklahoma Emergency Act of 2003. Also, we find that the Various emergency repairs, man hours and equipment hours associated with this storm in El Reno, Oklahoma qualify as expenditures from the Emergency Disaster Fund and or any reimbursement that may be made by FEMA and therefore be it resolved that I, Steve Jensen, as Mayor of the City of El Reno do hereby proclaim an emergency disaster in El Reno, Oklahoma. brings us to item E, consent agenda. The following items are considered to be routine by the city of El Reno. The El Reno City Council will be enacted with one motion. Should discussion be desired on any item, that item be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. And we have items one through 15.

Motion to approve item one through 15.

Second.

Motion made and seconded. Roll call starting with Councilwoman Nethery.

Yes. Councilman Brothers. Yes. Vice Mayor Black. Yes. Councilman Schaffer. Yes. Mayor Nissen.

Yes. Motion passes. Nothing was pulled. Brings us to item G, audience participation. Anyone having an item of business to present to the City Council that does not appear on the agenda, please come to the podium. This time, state your name, your request, and limit your presentation to three minutes. Any item being presented must pertain to the City of El Reno business. Oklahoma Open Meetings Act prohibits the City Council from taking official action on requests made during this portion of the agenda unless otherwise noted on the agenda. Anyone? Seeing none, we will go on to discussion items. Item 16A, to conduct a public hearing to rezone from rural agriculture, District A1 to suburban agriculture A2 and residential estate RE for the property described as a tract of land being part of the east 331 feet of both the north half and the north half of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter and the south half of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 27, Township 13 North, Range 7 West of the Indian Meridian, Canadian County, Oklahoma, also known address as 4893 North Affadel Road. I declare the public hearing open.

Okay. Emily Ritchie is not able to be here this evening to the family works. She's sitting, so I'll be speaking on her behalf. This is for five acres on 4893 North Asheville Road. This is just to the south of Hefner Road in a really rural part of the community over there. The applicants, Joe and Carrie Felton, are requesting to split off an acre so a new single-family home can be built there. We only allow for one single-family home. in the A1 district for every five acres. Since they have five acres, we need to rezone the entire parcel, so the recommendation coming from the Planning Commission is the one acre where the new house is gonna be built to be rezoned to RE, which is our roughly one acre size zone. The remaining four acres to be rezoned to A2, which is our roughly two acre middle size zone right there. And this does have a unanimous recommendation approval from the Planning Commission.

Okay. Any questions? Any discussion? No comments. I declare the public hearing closed. Brings us to 16b, discussion and consideration action under possible amendments regarding ordinance number 9416, ordinance to rezone from rural agriculture A1 to suburban agriculture A2 in residential state RE for the property described as track of land being part of the east 331 feet. of both the north half of the north half of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter and the south half of the south half of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section twenty seven thirteen seven uh... uh... canadian county oklahoma address forty eight ninety three north half of dell road moved to approve ordinance ninety four sixteen second motion made and seconded to approve ordinance ninety four sixteen roll call started with uh... councilman shaffer

Vice Mayor Black? Yes. Councilman Brothers? Yes. Councilman Nethery? Yes. Mayor Jensen?

Yes. Motion passes. Item 17, discussion, consideration, action under possible amendments regarding an appeal by Rick Pugh of Administrative Code Hearing Officers Findings at a structure located at 2410 Townsend Drive is dilapidated. The public notices should be removed in accordance with 246.1C.31 of the El Reno City Code of Ordinances. Any discussion?

I'm filling in for Emily on this one. Since the last council meeting wherein Mr. Pugh appeared and was ordered to appear at the June 8th administrative code hearing and get permits within a week of the council meeting, none of those things have happened, is my understanding. No appearance at the June 8th meeting, and as of today at 2 o'clock, no permits have been pulled on this property.

Make to deny the appeal and approve Resolution 2652.

Second.

Motion made and seconded. Roll call starting with Councilwoman Nethery.

Yes. Councilwoman Brothers. No. Vice Mayor Block. Yes. Councilman Schaefer. Yes. Mayor Jensen.

Yes. Motion passes. Item 18, Discussion, Consideration, Action, and or Possible Amendments Regarding Resolution Number 27-001, a resolution authorizing the calling and holding of a general election in the City of El Reno for the purpose of electing one elected official as council member from Ward 3, setting forth certain facts as required by state law and directing that this resolution be delivered by the city clerk and or designee to the Secretary of the Canadian County Election Board for the purpose of giving such official notice of said election.

The only thing that I would like to point out on this is typically we would start the registration process the last Monday of the month. However, it doesn't meet the state deadline, so we had to push it back or move it forward a week.

Okay. Any other discussion?

This time it is.

Okay. Okay.

Move to approve Resolution 27001.

Much made. Seconded, roll call starting with Councilman Schaffer. Yes.

Vice Mayor Black. Yes. Councilman McBride. Yes. Councilman Nutterin. Yes. Mayor Jensen.

Yes. Item 19, nomination and appointment of one trustee and one alternate trustee from the City of El Reno to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Oklahoma Environmental Management Authority for the remainder of a three-year term expiring on June 30th, 2028. Do we have any nominations?

I second the nomination as the current trustee and as myself as alternate. Well, somebody else is dying to do it. I second the nomination. Are you trusting Lindsay's attendance?

Is Lindsay good with that? I'm good with whatever. Okay. Well, we have a motion and a second. Roll call starting with Councilwoman Nethery.

Yes. Councilman Brothers. Yes. Vice Mayor Black. Yes. Councilman Schaffer. Yes. Mayor Jensen.

Yes. Brings us to reports. I don't have a lot to report, but I just want to thank Chief Brown for being willing to step in. as our interim city manager we started off with a bang. You know, you start one day and you get a tornado the next day and you just jump right in.

Same day.

Oh, same day. Oh, it was that night. Yeah, same day. Yeah. But you're used to working behind the eight ball and we really appreciate jumping in and I obviously appreciate all the staff from the city just to help cover all the bases. I know Tim, you've worked hard. Everybody works hard. And We just appreciate all of that. And just, it's been, you've kept us informed up to date and abreast of really what's going on and I just want to publicly say thank you and stuff. El Reno was selected a regional winner as one of America's favorite small towns for 2026 by Parade Magazine and Stellar, a national corporation. We weren't the national winner of America's favorite small town, I'll give Ray a list and he can run an article, but one of the northwest region was Bend, Oregon. We were in the southwest region. Lodi, California, they ended up being the national winner, but Montpelier, Vermont, a place in Wisconsin. A lot of cities. But I think it was just an honor for Elrond to be considered. They really highlighted, you know, why were we selected. A lot of it goes to our Burger Day and stuff, the celebration of that and that we're the home of the, you know, onion fried hamburger and just with our Burger Day festival of all that, you know, as long as it's going on and stuff. It's just a... A great honor for El Reno. The only other thing, we need to continue to pray for rain. I know the drag boat racers are concerned. The water is still deep enough to run so far, but we can't get much lower and stuff. And it's rained around a little bit. I mean, fortunately, we got that one thunderstorm. It raised the lake levels a couple of feet. We just, you know, we need one more good storm. But as of right now, races should be able to go on safely. And we've made, Chief and I met with them, made another access point to deeper water so they can get the boats in and stuff. And it'll help them. even long-term, logistically, maybe speed the races up where they can enter boats from two lanes. And I know that's been a concern in the past. It'd be helpful if they could speed the races up. And this will be able to stage some of that. Maybe if the lake level is low enough this year, maybe not this year, but in the future, it will. But that's all I have.

No real updates from me other than Blessing Baskets has their annual fundraiser for Festival of the Trees on Thursday. I would encourage you to attend for Christmas in July, which why wouldn't you be?

Our city employees are wonderful. They work extremely hard, but I'm reminded when I see, you know, Waterline repairs or street signs being put in or a bad car wreck and it's 100 degrees outside. Really appreciate you guys working out in the heat.

It's noticed and it's appreciated and it cannot be easy.

Thank you for that. The second annual El Reno Bear Hunt starts tomorrow. Check social media for more details.

I just... copy everything they said. But, you know, it is good to see Chief Brown up on this side of the horseshoe after 46 years. That's your point. A little warmer up here.

I'm just keeping my back against the wall.

Um, I, I just wanted to, um, uh, finally celebrate publicly that, um, waffle houses broke ground.

Yeah.

So, um, seven brews about done, right? Like there's businesses coming, businesses being built and it's a positive thing. It's a, you know, it adds, adds a little bit more charm to our small town.

So bricks plus has their signs up.

Yeah.

Taco Mayo's close.

Yep.

I saw a taco price add something in the window today.

Good. Yep. That's a good thing.

August 3rd. That's good.

Yep.

Chief, do you have anything to report? Well, yeah, a couple of things. First off, thank you, counsel, for the faith and accolades. I do appreciate it. I was feeling this other while ago that I can honestly say this will round out my career. I've been blessed. The city of El Reno has been good to me and my family for a lot of years. And I'm really grateful. And I mean that humbly. Thank you for my teammates, the guys and gals here, that from day one, even before day one, said, hey, we got you, you know, whatever you need. And thank you for a light council meeting. I appreciate that. Thank you for all the encouragement. Again, we have a great team here. And I'm truly grateful and thankful for that. There's a lot going on in the arena. Being the police chief, you saw a lot of things going on, but I had no idea of some of the things that actually goes on behind the scenes, and all the work that these folks do, and the council people, and the contacts. And we need to know more about this, and the health ones. I truly and honestly appreciate each and every one of you. I do want to recognize we lost Ed Fowler. He went home to Arizona. When you do that, I'm not sure, but he did. family, but we have the pleasure of hiring Ms. Carrie Love. Carrie will be a great asset to our team. over 20 years of experience and service in the EMS and the ambulance. 14 years riding a truck as a paramedic and in the last six years at her county EMS service, last six years as the director of it. So Kerry brings a lot of experience and we're really excited about it. We'll have another great announcement, another new hire that actually starts the 27th for our golf course. We're real excited about Patrick, and I can't remember his last name, Brewer. We're excited to bring Patrick aboard. He becomes well-recognized in the golf course community, so we're excited to bring him aboard and have him with us. Again, thank you all for the confidence. Thank you guys for your help. I appreciate you, dearly, and it's all for me. Okay.

All right. Thank you.

Okay. I get to say something positive about tax numbers. It feels like it's been such a long time. Sales tax, we brought in $1,100,139.79. This exceeds the monthly budget by almost a little over $100,000. So that's a great way to start off the new fiscal year. On use tax, we brought in $287,658.08, which exceeds our target monthly budget by almost $48,000. On the hotel-motel tax, some more positive numbers also. We brought in $54,106.95, which exceeds our monthly budget of $36,900. So hopefully we can keep this up for another 11 months.

free removal, and whatever. They're working pretty hard. We have at least two crews working every day, at least five, sometimes six days a week. Right now, we're at 36 loads and just over 1,700 cubic yards of material being picked up. They're working hard at it. We're going to get it all picked up and cleaned up. Just continue to ask the folks to be patient with us as we get that done. Thank you for that.

For broadband, we are at 895 active service lines. We started building our first apartment complex at Fairway Breeze. Settlers Crossing is fully live and OTX is moving along pretty quickly on the Legion Park area. Okay.

I'm going to adjourn to executive session.

Motion made and seconded to adjourn the executive session. A roll call starting with Councilwoman Nethery.

Yes. Councilman Brothers. Yes. Vice Mayor Black. Yes. Councilman Taper. Yes. Mayor Jensen.

Yes.

All right.

We'll move to approve contract.

for professional services with Oklahoma Municipal Management Services to provide professional services in the area of executive search for the position of city manager and approve resolution number 27-004 concerning the hiring process for the city manager and establishing policies and procedures for hiring process. Second.

Second, roll call started. Councilman Schaffer. Yes.

Vice Mayor Block? Yes. Councilman Brothers? Yes. Mayor Jensen?

Yes. Motion to approve Interim City Manager Employment Agreement with Kendall W. Brown and allow Mayor and Chairman to sign all documents related thereto. Second. Vice Mayor Block? Yes. Councilman Schaffer?

Yes. Mayor Jensen? Yes.

And motion to authorize payment of $202,337 to complete the purchase of the property located at 2408 Sunset Drive, District Court of Canadian County, case number CJ2025-976. Second. Motion to make a second. Roll call.

Starting with Councilman Schaefer. Yes.

Vice Mayor Black. Yes. Councilman Brothers. Yes. Mayor Jensen.

Yes. Motion to adjourn.