[0:04] [gavel banging]

[0:06] All right, I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order.

[0:09] The Ponk City Board of Commissioners regular session, Monday, August 10th,

[0:12] 2026, 5:30 PM. If everyone would please rise and join me in the

[0:16] Pledge of Allegiance.

[0:19] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

[0:24] and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible,

[0:29] with liberty and justice for all.

[0:33] [chairs scraping]

[0:36] All right, the first item on our agenda today is the consent agenda.

[0:40] All items listed under the consent agenda are deemed to be non-controversial

[0:45] and routine in nature and will be approved by one motion of the governing

[0:48] body. Do you commissioners have any items to be removed from the

[0:52] consent agenda? If not, I would entertain a motion.

[0:54] Motion to approve the consent agenda as written.

[0:57] I'll second.

[0:58] Okay. Call for the vote.

[1:04] Okay, consent agenda is unanimously approved. We'll skip item number 10

[1:08] and go to item number 11, Commissioner communications for the

[1:12] Mayor and Commissioners. Uh, Commissioner Bock.

[1:15] Yeah, I just want to remind everybody,

[1:17] school's getting ready to start. Uh, watch the school zones, all that

[1:20] fun stuff. Make sure you go slow.

[1:22] Yep, there'll be lots of kids heading back to school. Commissioner Bowers.

[1:25] Nothing to report, Mayor.

[1:27] Okay, Commissioner Newcom.

[1:28] Um, I just wanted to say what a great time it was to have crazy days

[1:32] this weekend, even with the heat, people got out and did some shopping

[1:36] and some um, fellowshipping together, so, hey.

[1:40] Yeah, it was, it was definitely a great time downtown.

[1:42] Uh, there was, there's so many people that it takes to make an event like

[1:46] that happen and, you know, Main Street and all the downtown building

[1:49] owners and business owners, so it was a really, really good time.

[1:52] All right, we'll move on to the report section, item number 12,

[1:56] which is the City Manager's report.

[2:01] Mayor and Commissioners, uh, I have three things. First is the Vision

[2:06] 2040 is still, community survey is still active and live.

[2:11] So, but I will remind the public that we're looking for information on,

[2:15] you know, putting together a vision for uh, the next 15, 20 years for

[2:22] Paka City. Please, it's important for you to go make sure your voice

[2:26] is heard in there. Uh, that survey does close on August 17th, so a week

[2:32] from today. Uh, we'll put it out again on our social media blast on

[2:36] Sunday and say, yeah, one more day.

[2:39] So I know everybody is putting it out, putting it off to the last day,

[2:42] because I'm as guilty as anybody else.

[2:44] And then just as school, school was mentioned, summer's coming to an end,

[2:48] so we got students heading back to school.

[2:49] That has an impact on the Amback and Wince pools.

[2:53] Uh, they'll be open through normal operating hours through this week.

[2:57] But then effective, uh, beginning of Monday of next week, they'll,

[3:01] they'll only be open on Saturdays and Sundays through Labor Day,

[3:04] September 7th. Uh, is the final day of swim.

[3:07] And then I would like to introduce to everybody our new Park and Rec

[3:11] director, uh, Mr. Ryan Hayfen.

[3:15] Go ahead and stand, Mr. Ryan. Thank you. So, Ryan's now official

[3:19] Park and Rec Director.

[3:20] [applause]

[3:23] He's been with us for a few years as an assistant and he's done a great

[3:26] job in the interim and so we're excited from the staff's perspective to have

[3:29] him being able to accept that position for us. So, and with that,

[3:33] I'd take any questions.

[3:37] Nope, sounds good, Ryan, we are so excited to have you step into that

[3:40] role and look forward to your leadership. So.

[3:44] All right, we'll move on to item number 13, receive the Puk City Main

[3:48] Street review.

[3:55] Hi, I'm Morgan Did Lake. I'm the assistant director at Ponca City Main

[4:00] Street and I have Jake Creek here and he's going to be giving the

[4:04] program update and I'll be here to assist him.

[4:11] Sorry, first time using this remote.

[4:14] Uh, so

[4:16] Nope.

[4:20] There.

[4:21] Our mission is to serve Ponca City and its citizens by promoting quality

[4:24] of life through efforts focused toward economic growth, historical preservation,

[4:30] cultural development and revitalization of the downtown and surrounding areas.

[4:35] Our vision is to cultivate a vibrant downtown Ponca City by activating

[4:40] vacant and underutilized spaces by supporting local businesses and fostering

[4:45] a welcoming environment for all residents and visitors.

[4:49] Our transformation strategy is place making and business recruitment

[4:54] and retention.

[4:58] In July, we added

[4:59] for new board board members and you can see them on that page.

[5:05] each of our board members is required to actively participate in one of the

[5:09] four committees that make up the four-point approach from the

[5:13] National Main Street Center.

[5:15] community members are welcome and encouraged to participate in

[5:19] one of our committees.

[5:21] Our organization committee, uh, and those were the members

[5:26] and highlights include a digital investment campaign,

[5:31] friend of Main Street donation letter,

[5:34] uh, five under 40 applications. We received a record number of

[5:37] applications this year for that.

[5:40] And, um, we are working on upcoming projects include the

[5:46] [ding] re-wrapping a signal box wrap.

[5:49] ice on the plaza sponsorships, uh, showcase and

[5:56] then that is just more of our

[6:01] I don't know why it keeps doing that.

[6:04] I'm sorry.

[6:06] Next is our economic vitality.

[6:10] Uh, they've completed some downtown wayfinding signage.

[6:15] advertise and promoted the time frame app.

[6:19] quarterly coffee, which has been held on January 27th and May 12th.

[6:25] and we are now AARP grant recipients for

[6:31] $15,000,

[6:33] which is to improve or to improve our downtown by adding 18 new benches.

[6:37] this fall.

[6:42] over the past year, our program has generated $17,000

[6:47] and overages in additional sales for downtown merchants.

[6:52] uh, through the downtown dollars, card holders typically spend 30% or more

[6:57] in their value of the card and 51% of users explore new businesses they

[7:02] haven't tried before.

[7:05] Design Committee.

[7:07] um, we've introduced uh Art in the Alley,

[7:11] window display of the season and adopt the alley, adopt the alley.

[7:15] uh, added or is part of Keep Oklahoma Beautiful grant,

[7:22] which brings money and is trying to beautify our alleys and keep them clean.

[7:29] Promotion Committee.

[7:33] Uh, we've had a ladies' night, downtown retail event

[7:37] round table, 101 Rodeo, uh, crazy days

[7:43] and we're working on some Facebook story telling.

[7:50] Uh, upcoming is Goblins on Grand.

[7:54] where uh Charity Angels will be the host and

[7:58] partnered with Heather Canon Honda

[8:01] and Main Street, we have Ladies' Night, Small Business Saturday, Christmas

[8:05] Open House.

[8:11] um, this year we had the Main Street Now conference, we had a remote um trip

[8:17] to Downtown Ponca City from the Tulsa Main Street Now conference,

[8:21] where we had Kelsey Wagner and some Main Street board members attend.

[8:29] And this year so far, we've had over 1,000 hours

[8:35] valued at 35,000 in volunteer hours

[8:40] dedicated towards downtown revitalization.

[8:45] And we've done the downtown recipient of the

[8:52] Main Street grant through the state where we received funding towards the

[8:56] Santa Fe

[8:57] Depot Corridor project,

[8:59] which is to help improve the streetscape around the Santa Fe Depot.

[9:05] and some pictures of before and after.

[9:09] And this year we're applying for that same grant with PCDA to help improve

[9:13] the City Central building.

[9:17] And we have won nonprofit of the year through Ponca City Chamber this year.

[9:23] And that's it. Any questions?

[9:29] [thunk]

[9:30] Just a just a comment, great presentation.

[9:32] We appreciate you guys being here.

[9:34] Um, it just watching all the growth that you guys have done.

[9:37] I mean, I I'm old enough now, I can say 10 years ago, I remember when Main

[9:41] Street was just a one employee

[9:42] and one little office in in City Hall and to watch you guys have have grown

[9:46] over this time and, you know, the Grand Arts District and all the signal

[9:50] boxes and all the many, many things. Um, you guys do a fantastic job.

[9:54] So I just want to appreciate all your hard work.

[9:56] All right. Thank you, guys.

[9:59] All right, we will move on to item number 14 under new business.

[10:03] Consider and vote on a resolution by the Board of the Commission of

[10:07] the city of Ponca City, Oklahoma, committing the Ponca City Board

[10:11] of Commissioners to seek legal relief for carbon black dust

[10:14] resolving to enter into a contingency agreement with a

[10:18] law firm to pursue a lawsuit and directing city staff to

[10:21] render all necessary assistance.

[10:24] Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners.

[10:28] I'm Shane Allen, your city attorney, and I'm here to

[10:31] talk to you about a resolution to seek legal relief for

[10:35] carbon black dust settling on Ponca City.

[10:40] resolving to enter into a contingency agreement with a

[10:42] law firm to pursue a lawsuit

[10:45] and directing city staff to render all necessary assistance.

[10:49] I'll tell you a little bit about um the resolution.

[10:53] Since January 1st, 2026, Ponca City residents have filed

[10:57] 23 air quality complaints with the Oklahoma DEQ, the Department

[11:02] of Environmental Quality.

[11:04] In response, the city passed a joint resolution, as you'll

[11:08] recall, with the Ponca tribe on February 23rd, 2026 to

[11:12] identify the dust composition and source and to coordinate

[11:16] with the DEQ.

[11:18] On April 16th, the DEQ evaluated the Continental

[11:22] Carbon facility and as a result issued a notice of violation

[11:25] on June 19th,

[11:27] alleging 81 areas of non-compliance.

[11:31] On July 20th, the DEQ issued an administrative compliance

[11:35] order assessing a $528,750 penalty and requiring immediate

[11:40] testing and a compliance plan,

[11:45] following a separate $51,100 penalty paid July 2nd.

[11:52] Continental Carbon submitted an initial response on July 9th.

[11:55] And then these materials, they public are available on the

[11:59] DEQ's Ponca City Concerns page.

[12:04] So go there for more detail on that.

[12:06] The proposed resolution authorizes a contingency

[12:09] agreement to pursue legal relief related to carbon black dust and

[12:13] directs city staff to assist while the city continues

[12:16] coordinating with the DEQ and EPA to address air quality

[12:20] concerns tied to the Continental Carbon facility.

[12:26] And with that, I'll offer to answer any questions.

[12:38] Okay. Okay.

[12:40] So, I will leave you to it. Thank you.

[12:43] Okay.

[12:45] Um, well, before we take action on this, I just would

[12:48] like to, you know, communicate with the citizens. This is

[12:51] obviously something that's been ongoing for a while.

[12:54] Uh, what I said back when this first happened is that we would

[12:57] follow the science and the facts,

[12:59] and I believe that's what's brought us here today.

[13:01] Um, unfortunately, these things do take a long time. So,

[13:05] uh, I do want to just continue to encourage the citizens that

[13:08] if you do have issues to report those to DEQ.

[13:11] Um, I appreciate all the comments and feedback that I have gotten.

[13:17] Um, is there no other comments

[13:19] or questions, I would entertain a motion on this.

[13:24] Motion to approve item 14.

[13:27] Second.

[13:29] Call for the vote.

[13:35] All right, item is unanimously approved.

[13:37] We'll move on to item number 15, consider and vote upon

[13:40] the fiscal years 2026, 2029 collective bargaining

[13:44] agreement between the city of Ponca City and the fraternal

[13:47] order of police, Lodge number 103 and authorize the mayor

[13:50] to sign.

[13:52] Mayor, Commissioners, I'm Don Bohan, your Deputy City Manager.

[13:55] Uh, I come here this evening to talk about what I consider

[13:58] to be a very positive piece of business.

[14:00] Um, as you're well aware, um, Human Resources Director Frank

[14:03] Wilson and I have been meeting over the last several weeks, uh,

[14:07] regularly with the Fraternal Order of Police representatives

[14:10] and negotiating committee, uh, to negotiate a new CBA collective

[14:13] bargaining agreement with the FOP, the represents the police

[14:17] officers of the city of City.

[14:20] After several meetings, we have landed on what we consider to be

[14:23] solid terms for both parties, agreed upon language and present

[14:26] to you this evening, um, a new CBA that is a three-year

[14:30] agreement, which means we do not have to come back to the table

[14:33] and negotiate for three more years.

[14:36] Um, the kind of the key highlights of that are that it provides for

[14:39] a 3% cost of living adjustment each year of the three years,

[14:44] as well as a restructured longevity plan that benefits

[14:47] and rewards those who stay long-term with the city and

[14:51] the department.

[14:53] And, um, a new, uh, incentive uh plan that

[14:59] also rewards those who voluntarily

[15:00] seek higher levels of training and certification.

[15:02] um and specialized uh skills in the job.

[15:06] And then we are also changing the way vacation accrues.

[15:10] It doesn't change the amount they get or anything else,

[15:12] it's just how it accrues for them.

[15:15] As well as numerous language changes that we agreed upon for clarity and

[15:18] consistency throughout the throughout the contract.

[15:21] Um, I'd like to commend Caleb Landis and those who've been coming to the meetings with him.

[15:26] Uh, it's been a very, a very collegial and collaborative effort,

[15:30] and things have gone very smoothly.

[15:32] Um, this contract actually will back date and take effect on July 1.

[15:37] Uh and last through fiscal year 29.

[15:40] So, I'm happy to answer any questions.

[15:42] And our our hope is that that you would agree and authorize the mayor to sign

[15:47] the contract and we can move on down the contract and we can move on down the road to the next piece of business.

[15:52] Very good.

[15:53] Uh, I want to acknowledge all the members of the Fraternal Order of

[15:57] Police that are here. We appreciate uh your partnership.

[16:00] Uh, for the citizens who may not know, this is our second three-year agreement in a row.

[16:04] Uh, which I'm very proud of. I think that we have a great relationship, um,

[16:08] with the police and the FOP, and we've just had such a positive experience.

[16:13] Um, I think it's a great deal, you know, our goal is to take great care

[16:17] of our police department so that they can take great care of our community,

[16:20] and I think this deal really does that.

[16:22] Um, so, any questions or comments?

[16:25] With that, I'd entertain a motion.

[16:26] Thank you, gentlemen.

[16:28] Item or sorry, motion to approve item 15.

[16:32] I'll second.

[16:33] Okay, call for the vote.

[16:39] All right, motion is approved.

[16:40] Thank you very much.

[16:41] Thank you.

[16:45] All right, we'll move on to item 16, consider and vote upon the purchase

[16:48] and installation of a specialized air handling unit for the Recplex.

[16:52] provided by Train US Inc and authorizing and directing the

[16:56] finance director to make two initial payments in the amount of

[16:59] $189,186.00 each,

[17:04] and a final payment in the amount of $189,000 sorry, $189,186

[17:11] for a total project cost of $567,558.00.

[17:17] You have a big bill, your first item, huh? Yeah.

[17:20] Mayor and commissioners, I'm Ryan Hafen, your Parks and Rec director.

[17:24] Um bringing an item for consideration this evening that will as mentioned

[17:28] allow us to purchase a new air handling unit for the Natatorium

[17:32] in the Recplex.

[17:33] uh specifically for the lap pool area.

[17:36] Um and then to go ahead and make some initial payments in order to get that

[17:41] that order going.

[17:45] Uh this is the a look of the current unit, uh specialized pool unit number

[17:51] one. There this is one of two units, so we have two pools.

[17:54] Uh the Natatorium there is divided into the family activity pool and the lap pool.

[17:58] This unit would be to serve the lap pool portion of the Natatorium.

[18:05] This is just another view of it. This is of the two, this one faces north

[18:09] in this little mechanical well on top of the Recplex roof,

[18:14] um, sits in this recessed area.

[18:16] This is a look of both of those.

[18:18] Uh each of those units are close to 15,000 pounds, um and and handle

[18:24] and move a lot of air in that in that space.

[18:30] Uh the current unit is the same age as the building. It was original with

[18:34] the build.

[18:35] And um has over the course of the years, uh been dealt with some some

[18:42] failing components.

[18:43] Some some parts that didn't work right.

[18:46] Uh it is on its fourth set of compressors and so there's been a lot

[18:50] of work done on this unit to try to try to keep it going.

[18:53] Uh but we, you know, have reached a point where it has just reached end

[18:57] of life.

[18:58] Um, a lot of the maintenance issues that, uh, you know, have come about

[19:03] with this unit, uh, just by examination or observation from our

[19:08] from our maintenance staff is that there was a lack of maintenance done

[19:12] for the first several years of the unit.

[19:14] Uh, you know, it came for our city staff to occupy the building and

[19:18] start to perform maintenance, uh it was found in this unit in particular

[19:22] that as they went to change out filters that the original filter,

[19:27] probably the original filter, uh simply just disintegrated, uh when

[19:30] trying to replace.

[19:31] And so a lot of those things just uh this unit just did not receive the

[19:36] proper scheduled maintenance to ensure that it could extend and make up,

[19:41] you know, a longer life.

[19:44] Uh it, uh...

[19:48] This unit, you know, obviously it's got a big price tag, but it's

[19:53] critical for the operations when you talk about what kind of air it's

[19:57] handling and

[19:58] that natatorium, a very humid air, very uh uh you know,

[20:01] a lot of chemicals are used in that area.

[20:03] And so uh it's a unit that, um,

[20:07] in order to protect uh not just our swimmers and our users,

[20:10] uh to be able to breathe clean air,

[20:13] but but to protect the the the components inside

[20:16] the natatorium, uh

[20:18] we we need proper air handling.

[20:21] And so this is something that that uh is in critical need of

[20:24] replacing as it's mentioned, it's

[20:25] currently operating on two of the four compressors

[20:28] that are inside that unit.

[20:30] Uh, this item will authorize uh staff to execute a Omnia

[20:34] partners uh purchase contract.

[20:37] This is a a competitively uh awarded uh contract that's that's on uh

[20:42] Omnia partners.

[20:44] It's a uh essentially a purchasing co-op that allows us

[20:48] to to select uh in particular train LLC.

[20:50] Train is is is a company that we work closely with,

[20:53] have a great relationship with, as they service the other

[20:56] 10 units uh rooftop units on on the Recplex.

[21:02] And so being able to select train's contract allows us to to keep that um

[21:05] maintenance and service uniform.

[21:08] allows us to tie into our current uh online monitoring software.

[21:13] So it'll allow uh able to continually check on the on the status of those units

[21:16] and make sure that they're

[21:18] they're operating uh properly.

[21:25] This is a look inside the Recplex, especially the on the lap pool side.

[21:28] Uh you can see the the duct work, uh which is supplying air from

[21:31] that unit and also the the big

[21:34] 8-foot by basically 8-foot by 8-foot uh square there on the left side

[21:38] on the wall, that's the uh that's the return air.

[21:42] So uh it is it is moving and circulating a lot of air.

[21:46] It's it it's um mixing and and one of the things about this unit is it's

[21:51] it is able to make decisions on based on based on outside air and the inside air uh on

[21:56] how much air to pull from the outside and how much to actually

[21:59] recirculate uh based on

[22:01] humidity levels, um, and that type of thing, temperatures.

[22:05] So uh it's it's a like I said a specialized unit and and does

[22:08] a really good job of ensuring that the

[22:10] not only the air clean but it's it's comfortable for our users.

[22:17] Another look at the side. So uh it's a 30-foot ceiling

[22:19] uh in that natatorium.

[22:21] So not only is it 7,000 square feet, but when you add 30 feet,

[22:24] uh you're looking at uh,

[22:25] you know, nearly 220,000 cubic feet of area inside that inside that room.

[22:32] Um and so it's it's moving a lot of air.

[22:36] Uh, the lead time for this unit is is 30 to 34 weeks.

[22:40] So we're looking at uh March into April uh to make this purchase.

[22:46] Uh in the meantime, there would be a uh payment due um

[22:48] to execute the order and then

[22:51] and then again at shipping.

[22:54] and then once completion is done, we can make a final payment uh

[22:57] at the end of of uh basically the turn key installation.

[23:02] Uh, installation itself will take about a week. We'll have to

[23:05] remove the unit that's currently up there,

[23:06] bring in a crane that will uh take that 15,000 pound unit off the roof.

[23:11] Uh, we will look to salvage as much uh useful parts as we can

[23:14] from that unit, especially

[23:17] there's a a computer drive in there that's estimated to be about $9,000.

[23:22] Uh, it's a it's a drive that was put in uh three or four years ago and uh

[23:27] we feel like it would be a very useful part to have on hand uh

[23:32] for for future use, which could be used in either SPU one or two.

[23:38] Um, we don't expect that the operation of the pool will be disrupted.

[23:42] Um we'll be able to take care of uh any um installation issues on top of the roof,

[23:48] not not anything inside the natatorium itself.

[23:51] Project is is funded through the GL there and we are

[23:55] recommending approval of this item.

[23:58] Uh I don't with that I'll take any questions you might have.

[24:02] [tap] I just mentioned that we've talked.

[24:04] So this lasted about 16 years.

[24:08] If you probably take care of it, we should be able to get

[24:10] 25 out of it. I mean, so.

[24:13] Uh, like I mentioned, there are there are two units.

[24:16] and we're only replacing one currently. I don't want to put put anything out

[24:19] into the air, but uh unit two is

[24:20] is is operating the way it should right now, so.

[24:25] All right. I would entertain a motion on this item.

[24:29] I'll make a motion to approve.

[24:30] Second. Okay, call for the vote.

[24:37] All right, that item is approved. Thank you so much.

[24:41] All right, we're going to move on to item number 17,

[24:42] which you're doing.

[24:45] Consider and vote upon the purchase and installation of new play features

[24:48] at Liberty Playground provided by Happy Playgrounds LLC

[24:52] in the amount of $78,453 and 0 cents.

[24:58] So mayor commissioners, this is a, uh, this is an item

[25:00] a little bit more excited to present, uh,

[25:02] because I I know the impact it's going to have on our community,

[25:05] especially in that neighborhood in in Liberty.

[25:07] Uh, but this is to, uh, consider and vote upon that, uh, purchase

[25:11] of of new play features there.

[25:13] Um, give you a a view of of the playground currently. So there

[25:17] there used to be, uh, originally when the when the playground was installed,

[25:21] a two to five-year-old, uh, structure, which is what you see there,

[25:26] and then a, uh, five to 12-year-old structure, which was no longer, uh,

[25:30] there's no longer in use, and that was removed in in 2023.

[25:33] Uh, so this just a couple different angles. You can see that vacant

[25:36] area in the playground where where a structure used to be, uh,

[25:39] and where we're looking to once again return that playground to

[25:42] to two full, uh, structures.

[25:49] That five to 12-year-old structure was removed due to, uh, some some

[25:52] concerns about, uh, safety. There were some some hazardous areas within

[25:56] the structure that it was deemed just not usable.

[25:59] And so that that structure was removed.

[26:04] Right. [inaudible]

[26:06] There there was vandalism, yes, it was yeah, yeah.

[26:10] And this, the the the the preschool structure, the the two to five-year-old

[26:13] structure is that you see there is also a replacement was done in 2020.

[26:18] And that also was a result of of significant vandalism due to Arson. So.

[26:23] Um, this, this project, uh, will, uh, allow us in in this budget year

[26:27] to to to bring that that playground back to its its original design.

[26:34] Uh, we we received three different bids from from some republe,

[26:38] uh, playground manufacturers,

[26:40] and based on Happy Playgrounds bid, uh, a proposal that we really feel

[26:44] like compliments the the current structure there, and and due to their

[26:48] competitive pricing and their their experience that we've used, uh,

[26:51] you know, throughout the community with with happy playgrounds, different

[26:56] structures, uh, we've been very happy with their, with their work.

[27:00] Uh, this is a rendering of what that structure would look like.

[27:04] Uh, so it would tie in very well with the pirate themed, um, theme of the

[27:08] playground.

[27:09] This is a, uh, it would connect those those linking steps that come off

[27:13] the the the southwest side of that young playground, uh,

[27:17] moving into this, uh, structure that's a net climber.

[27:20] It's difficult to see in this picture.

[27:22] Um, this one is a little bit easier to see, but inside that octopus's

[27:25] tentacles are, uh, a net climber, which allows children to, uh, play

[27:30] on the on the structure, on the net.

[27:33] Then we've got some, uh, a couple of steppers onto a a crab climber.

[27:38] And then also a ship, uh, spring rocker, uh, located just to the,

[27:41] to the north of the, of the octopus.

[27:44] And so this is a, uh, structure that, uh, I feel compliments the,

[27:48] the playground very well. uh,

[27:51] avoids some redundant types, uh, features that that are already covered

[27:54] in in the in the structure, uh, that's existing now.

[27:59] Uh, in addition to Liberty School has, has several playgrounds that,

[28:04] uh, have your traditional, uh, structures with slides and and different

[28:06] climbers.

[28:08] And so this is a, uh, a new thing that allows kids to kind of, uh,

[28:11] interpret how they're going to play and how they're going to use the structure

[28:15] and and kind of taps into their imagination.

[28:24] This is the the rendering from above, an aerial view of what that would look

[28:28] and how it ties into the the the structure existing now.

[28:35] Uh, so a couple of things that'll need to happen. We'll, we'll, uh, based on

[28:39] approval, once once we've got approval here, uh, we'll set a installation

[28:42] date with Happy Playgrounds.

[28:45] We'll have to do some things to prep the the site for installation.

[28:49] We're going to remove or or at least, uh, temporary remove some of that, uh,

[28:53] rubber mult surfacing that we might be able to reuse and and, uh, use

[28:57] once everything's installed.

[28:59] So we'll we'll slide that mulch away, uh, we'll remove any kind of impediments

[29:02] that might be in the in the subgrade.

[29:05] There are currently some some anchor points from the previous structure

[29:08] when they were when it was removed.

[29:11] Uh, currently only 8 to 10 weeks on on lead time, so we're looking at the

[29:14] fall for for installation here.

[29:16] And, um, again, we'll we'll get that rubber mulch, uh, back down and and,

[29:19] uh, have a have a a full playground once again in in Liberty

[29:25] neighborhood.

[29:28] It was budget for 80,000, this comes in just under budget, and, uh,

[29:31] we recommend approval of this item.

[29:35] Any questions?

[29:38] Okay. Um, I'll just comment that as a a mom with little kids or as with

[29:42] any parent, I used to take my kids to all the parks and the pirate park

[29:45] was by far their favorite.

[29:47] And so I was really happy when staff said they were going to continue the

[29:50] pirate themes because it's we can't change the name now, so, yeah.

[29:53] Very good.

[29:55] All right, I would entertain a motion on this.

[29:58] I'll make a motion to approve.

[30:00] Second.

[30:01] Okay, call for the vote.

[30:08] All right, item is approved.

[30:10] We'll move on to item number 18,

[30:12] consider and vote on the purchase

[30:14] of an upgrade to the Ponca City

[30:15] outdoor warning siren system

[30:16] in the amount of $96,081.80 to

[30:21] Goddard Enterprises, utilizing

[30:23] funds from a Philip 66 grant.

[30:29] Mayor Commissioners,

[30:31] I'm Jason Junkins, your Emergency Management Director.

[30:34] I'm here to talk to you about the

[30:35] warning siren upgrade based on

[30:38] the Philip 66 grant we received

[30:40] after the April 17th tornado

[30:42] that went through the refinery.

[30:44] So I think we'll remove that rumor

[30:46] that tornadoes do not hit Ponca

[30:48] City because of our refinery.

[30:51] So, um, basically we received

[30:54] the grant after the tornado,

[30:55] kind of opened up some funds

[30:57] from Philip 66.

[30:58] And this project is going to focus

[31:01] on upgrading our current outdoor

[31:02] warning sirens.

[31:04] Um, they remain an important

[31:06] part of our warning system for those that are outdoors.

[31:09] And the sirens are just one layer

[31:12] of how we keep the citizens safe

[31:15] when we have a tornado or wind event.

[31:20] So with that, what we're looking

[31:21] at with this upgrade is to increase

[31:23] our reliability and capability

[31:25] of our outdoor warning siren.

[31:27] Um, right now, we have a legacy

[31:30] outdoor warning siren that's built

[31:31] around a single point of failure, I.E. me.

[31:35] Um, and that's not really uh,

[31:37] strategically sound, um, when it

[31:40] comes to emergency management or

[31:42] the doctrine for my profession.

[31:44] So we're trying to build in some redundancy with this.

[31:48] This upgrade will allow us to do

[31:50] to verify the status of our sirens.

[31:53] Right now we depend on either me

[31:55] going out once a week and checking

[31:57] on those sirens and hearing that they

[31:58] go off or reports from citizens.

[32:00] What this would do is be to allow

[32:02] us to know, you know,

[32:04] from basically the uh, my office,

[32:07] what the status of each of those

[32:09] are and what's ready, you know,

[32:10] what we could need to replace as

[32:12] far as batteries, because they operate on battery backup.

[32:14] It'll also reduce delays.

[32:15] It'll allow us to uh, basically

[32:18] design a perimeter around Ponca City

[32:20] and any, um, you know, tornado

[32:24] track that hits that perimeter

[32:26] would automatically sound the sirens.

[32:29] Um, right now, the way that, um,

[32:32] tornado warnings work is it goes off by county.

[32:35] And so it takes an additional

[32:37] layer of, okay, is that going

[32:39] to impact Ponca City or is it not?

[32:42] By doing this, we'll know that.

[32:43] It'll also give us the capability

[32:46] for some of us to activate the sirens remotely.

[32:48] We don't have that opportunity

[32:51] right now, one of us has to be

[32:52] in the office to do that.

[32:54] So it increases that capability.

[32:56] This upgrade also stays within

[32:57] the confines of the grant that

[33:00] was given to us by Philip 66.

[33:03] And the other thing that based

[33:05] on what I'm recommending for the

[33:06] vendor we go with, it'll avoid

[33:08] some unnecessary, you know,

[33:10] technology fragmentation.

[33:13] Um, and I'll explain a little

[33:14] bit more about that on the next slide.

[33:17] But what this will do is it'll

[33:18] increase our operational confidence,

[33:20] our system monitoring and our warning capability.

[33:23] So here are the three vendors we looked at.

[33:26] The one on the left, the ATI

[33:29] systems was looking more for us

[33:31] to completely replace the uh,

[33:33] all of our system with their

[33:35] system and it would take multiple

[33:37] years to do that.

[33:38] That does not fit into my goal

[33:40] of it not being a fragmented system.

[33:43] Um, the middle one, American

[33:45] signal, came in comparable.

[33:48] Um, however, we currently on the

[33:51] right use Goddard, and most of

[33:52] our sirens are federal signal.

[33:54] Um, he works on our stuff, he has

[33:57] a great reputation,

[33:59] and I it would be in keeping

[34:01] with not having a disparate

[34:03] hodgepodge system that

[34:05] I would be concerned that would

[34:08] work properly based on what we're

[34:10] trying to do here with this upgrade.

[34:12] So that's why I'm leaning towards him.

[34:13] And this kind of just take a look

[34:16] at at what this contractor would offer.

[34:20] I mean, he is the lowest bid right now.

[34:21] It fits within our grant, it'll

[34:23] maintain the compatibility and

[34:25] existing federal signal sirens,

[34:27] which are have a very good reputation.

[34:30] He's our current service provider.

[34:31] He has an impeccable reputation

[34:34] with Oklahoma Emergency Management,

[34:36] and avoids creating like that

[34:38] mixed vendor siren system that

[34:39] I'd try to keep us from going to.

[34:42] Um, some of the key features,

[34:44] the map-based and polygon

[34:45] activation. That's that

[34:46] perimeter I talked to you about.

[34:48] Um, the two-way communication

[34:50] and status feedback is where we

[34:51] know what the status of those

[34:53] sirens are and prevent them from

[34:55] going down. Um,

[34:58] on a reoccurring basis. This will

[35:00] also include new batteries and installation.

[35:01] The the one thing about selecting him is after the first year,

[35:04] there'll be a $3,250, you know, software maintenance fee.

[35:09] but I feel like in the interest of compatibility, consistency,

[35:14] his reputation and the fact that

[35:17] our near peer, you know, and our surrounding communities already

[35:21] uses him and knows how to do knows how the system functions.

[35:26] I think it will help us with our learning curve when it comes to

[35:29] implementing this and that's why

[35:31] I'm suggesting that we go with this vendor.

[35:33] subject to your questions.

[35:35] [chair squeaking]

[35:39] Well, I think I would be remiss to say, you know, how much Philip 66

[35:42] has been a great partner and when we appreciate everything that

[35:44] they've done and

[35:46] where we are so blessed here in Punk City to have so many great

[35:49] industrial partners, but

[35:51] That I would if there's no other questions, I'd entertain a motion.

[35:55] I make a motion to approve.

[35:57] Seconded.

[35:58] Okay, call for the vote.

[36:04] Item 18 is approved.

[36:05] Thank you.

[36:07] All right, would entertain a motion to adjourn.

[36:11] I make a motion to adjourn.

[36:14] Seconded.

[36:15] Call for the vote.

[36:20] All right, our regular commission meeting is adjourned.

[36:23] I will go ahead and call to order

[36:24] the Punk City Utility Authority meeting.

[36:27] under the consent agenda. Um,

[36:29] do items do commissioners have any items to be removed from the

[36:32] consent agenda?

[36:34] Okay, if not, I would entertain a motion on that.

[36:37] I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

[36:40] Seconded.

[36:41] Okay, call for the vote.

[36:45] Consent agenda is approved.

[36:47] First item under new business is to consider and vote on the purchase

[36:50] of a 2026 Versalift VST 6000 bucket truck from Time

[36:53] Manufacturer company in the amount of 276,000 dollars and

[36:58] nine 276,

[37:01] 992 dollars and zero cents.

[37:05] Good evening, Mayor Commissioners.

[37:06] I am Eric, Electric Superintendent with Ponka City Energy.

[37:10] I am here tonight to request your approval in purchasing a Versa

[37:13] lift VST 6000 bucket truck from Time manufacturing in the amount

[37:17] of $276,992.

[37:21] Uh, this truck will be purchased on a source well pricing contract.

[37:25] Uh, the current truck that we have has reached its longevity. Um,

[37:29] it's a truck that's very vital to us, both in our day-to-day

[37:31] operations and our emergency operations.

[37:34] Um, it carries two linement up in the air, it's capable of setting

[37:38] transformers, uh, cross arms, it's it's it's our our go-to truck.

[37:42] So, uh, getting a new truck would be very vital just in the

[37:45] consistency and the reliability that we need to uh to service our

[37:48] members every day.

[37:50] Um

[37:52] currently, uh,

[37:55] with that, if you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them.

[38:01] Any questions?

[38:02] No.

[38:03] Okay, entertain a motion on this one.

[38:06] Motion to approve item six.

[38:08] Second.

[38:08] Call for the vote.

[38:13] Uh oh.

[38:18] There we go.

[38:19] All right, item number six is approved.

[38:22] Move on to item seven. Consider and vote on work order

[38:24] number seven to the master agreement with Garber LLC for

[38:27] professional services to complete a water distribution network

[38:29] hydraulic analysis project number WD 2026-01 in the amount of

[38:33] 139,000 dollars and zero cents.

[38:40] Thank you, Madam Chair. I am Jesse Beck, your Environmental

[38:42] Services Director.

[38:44] Uh,

[38:45] And now we can come up.

[38:47] Uh, so,

[38:48] This is a project that's we've been wanting to do for a very long

[38:51] time. It's been a long time coming.

[38:55] Um, I'm going to go into just a little bit of of history on it

[38:58] and and what a hydraulic analysis might be.

[39:01] Um, which really is just nerd stuff.

[39:04] So,

[39:05] Um, plumbing at scale is a little different than plumbing in your

[39:08] house. You if you've ever done home plumbing projects, you think you

[39:11] you hook some some pipes together, you pressurize it and the

[39:14] water just goes where you think it should.

[39:18] But we have 233 miles of pipe.

[39:20] And at at that kind of scale, water really has weight to it and and

[39:24] you've got uh pressure and time that kind of work against you.

[39:30] And which of course made me think of Andy De Fraine, which is the best

[39:32] movie ever.

[39:34] So,

[39:34] Um,

[39:36] Uh, so how much water are we talking?

[39:38] So,

[39:39] here's Ponka City.

[39:41] Uh, with the 233 miles of pipe, we have a bunch of different sizes.

[39:45] And if you remember your uh algebra or your geometry.

[39:50] Here's a pretty easy way to do the volume.

[39:52] We have 13 million gallons of water in the system.

[39:56] Well,

[39:57] I I don't know what 13 million gallons looks like. So I talked to

[40:01] chat GPT about it.

[40:02] That's a football field of water 30 feet deep.

[40:05] And we move through that about every day and a half in the system

[40:08] that's always underneath our feet all the time.

[40:11] So that's a lot of water.

[40:13] Um, oops, there we go. 30 feet.

[40:15] So, uh, then then you can say, okay, how much does that weigh?

[40:19] There's 8.34 gallons or pounds per gallon, so it's 109 million

[40:23] pounds of water.

[40:25] What does that weigh? I don't know that either.

[40:29] So, it winds up being about 1360 fully loaded tractor trailers.

[40:33] It's a lot of of weight.

[40:35] That all wants to that's all kind of fighting you at any time that

[40:40] you're trying to pressurize it. It water's like my brain, it always

[40:44] seeks the lowest level.

[40:44] So, and it's, uh, so what does that mean? So why why do we care about

[40:49] that?

[40:49] So here's ideally what you'd have, you'd have this nice little system

[40:52] where you're pumping water into everybody's house, but you've got

[40:56] this these different elevations.

[40:58] And, uh, what happens is you have gravity fighting against you again.

[41:02] And so you kind of only have two options if you've got a system

[41:06] like this where everything's connected all together.

[41:08] You either pump to the level of the lowest house, and then the the

[41:13] house up on the hill doesn't get enough water.

[41:15] Or you pump to the level of the highest house and you get a big problem for the guys down down below.

[41:20] So, what would be better is if you have these zones, where you

[41:24] separate one from the other and you can then control pressures

[41:29] and flows at at the different zones.

[41:32] And that's exactly what we've done in Ponca. There we go.

[41:35] We have these zones, um, we have the low, intermediate, the high,

[41:39] and then later we added the industrial park and Lake Ponca zones.

[41:43] And I had a really cool graphic that I was trying to do and I spent

[41:46] way too much time on that didn't really work that was showing the

[41:49] this doesn't really tell you the picture, this the a cross section

[41:54] shows you where how those those different zones interact vertically.

[41:57] And and that would have been important but I could not make that

[42:00] work.

[42:01] So, um,

[42:03] the problems are that when these zones, um, over time, these zones

[42:08] were established in like the 30s and over time we have had un

[42:12] unintentional crossings where 2:00 a.m. fixes, you uh this pipe

[42:18] didn't work, you pipe in something from somewhere else.

[42:20] You also have intentional ones where uh you had neighborhoods

[42:23] that didn't have enough pressure and uh you saw that there was

[42:27] great pressure next door and you would pipe it in, but then that

[42:30] connected the zones over time to where we lost the ability to control

[42:34] that.

[42:35] And then we also had areas where we uh probably didn't even think

[42:39] were developable back in the 30s.

[42:41] And so, um, we've got areas that were being piped to because it was

[42:45] the easiest way to do it and not the not the right way to do it. So,

[42:50] Um, what that what you wind up with is it's almost impossible to control

[42:54] pressures. You have places where you're you're blowing the lids off

[42:57] of some buildings and uh other buildings simply can't even supply

[43:01] water on their highest levels.

[43:03] You have, um, areas where we are pumping water in circles all the time.

[43:08] Um,

[43:09] and uh 24/7, 365, I mean it's it's a lot of electricity that we're

[43:14] that we're expending for no real good purpose other than we have to

[43:17] keep it moving or else it will uh not service the populations that

[43:22] that are at a higher pressure needs.

[43:25] And then it's really difficult to determine capacity if someone comes

[43:29] to us and says, can we build a neighborhood here or a car wash here?

[43:34] It's hard to say. Because um it looks like we should be able to, but

[43:38] we can't really know how much pressure is being siphoned off of

[43:43] lower areas or needing to be supplied to other areas.

[43:46] So it's really difficult uh challenge to to even try to manage

[43:49] a system where it just sort of is just it's just evolved. So.

[43:56] Um, what we're proposing is this study.

[44:00] Garver will study the pressures and the flows, they've got uh meters

[44:04] that will do all that for us.

[44:05] Um, and they will develop a plan to unscramble these zones or

[44:09] develop a better plan than zones, I don't know which they'll come up with.

[44:13] Um, but uh whatever they come up with will be uh an actual like

[44:17] thought out plan, not just something that was good enough at the

[44:21] time.

[44:22] Um,

[44:23] It's a 10-month study, so it's going to be pretty involved.

[44:27] It's uh again, there's that word hydraulic analysis, they'll be building

[44:31] a hydraulic model uh that we can actually use later again, so that

[44:34] if if somebody comes to us and says, hey, we want to build a hotel

[44:37] here, can we? We can actually with numbers be able to answer those

[44:41] questions, so it'll be a really great tool for us moving forward.

[44:45] Um, they will be able to recommend how we would delineate these zones

[44:48] or if we should, and how to keep them separated, but um, sometimes

[44:52] it's just even a matter of closing valves that nobody knew exist.

[44:56] Because

[44:57] the stuff has happened. You know, it's been so long in the in the process.

[45:01] Uh, the project cost is 139,000, um, and, uh, it will come out of our capital budget.

[45:08] And that is all.

[45:09] I'd be happy to take questions.

[45:14] Uh, just a couple questions. Um, I think this is fascinating.

[45:18] Your PowerPoint did not disappoint,

[45:20] so thank you for taking the extra time for that.

[45:22] Uh, like if we were to have a huge company come to Ponca City because

[45:26] we are tapping into Kaw Lake, we we have plenty of water.

[45:29] Getting the water pressure right matters. Um, will this be able to

[45:32] answer some questions if we needed to build, you know, if we had a

[45:35] thousand new jobs that we needed to build a thousand new houses, you

[45:39] know, where could we build those houses? Will that help answer that

[45:41] question even outside city limits?

[45:44] Yes, that is absolutely the question.

[45:45] Okay.

[45:46] Yes.

[45:47] Yeah, and around the lake and all, we'll have that.

[45:49] Okay.

[45:49] Very good.

[45:51] Well, so it'll be within the city limits.

[45:56] Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, I answered the question before you said.

[45:59] Okay. one.

[46:01] Yeah, outside the city limits typically is handled by, um,

[46:03] rural water districts, and so they're.

[46:05] Right.

[46:06] Yeah, so this should still help us know, uh, where that water needs

[46:09] to move.

[46:11] Okay. It's not specifically for us.

[46:13] It could maybe point us in the right direction of this direction might be

[46:15] better than this one.

[46:16] Okay.

[46:17] Very good.

[46:18] For sure.

[46:19] Okay.

[46:20] There's no other questions?

[46:22] Entertain a motion on that.

[46:25] I'll make a motion to approve.

[46:27] Second.

[46:29] Okay, call for the vote.

[46:33] Item is approved. Thank you so much.

[46:34] Thank you.

[46:36] All right, item number eight

[46:38] is to consider and vote on a financial incentive to be paid to Robert Lewis

[46:42] Construction LLC for the construction of two new single family speculative

[46:46] homes located within the Fox Run addition to the City of Ponca City

[46:50] in the amount of $75,000.

[46:54] Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

[46:55] I'm Chris Henderson, your Development Services Director.

[46:59] Just a note, that water study will help us in our development of

[47:04] our new subdivision.

[47:07] It's very critical for that.

[47:10] uh, in that area where you have the chronically low water pressure.

[47:13] Right.

[47:14] That study will.

[47:15] Maybe it's just one pipe and we can fix it.

[47:17] think?

[47:18] It could be a valve, you just never know, but, uh, it'll be very

[47:21] critical as we, uh, make plans to develop a subdivision that'll

[47:24] eventually have 70 houses in it.

[47:28] Um, Miss Lewis is our poster child for our program, if you didn't know

[47:33] that.

[47:35] Um, she was one of the early participants, uh, beginning in, uh,

[47:39] 2022, and since then she's built, uh, six really, really beautiful

[47:44] homes in the Fox Run subdivision.

[47:48] And she just recently completed, uh, house number six, and, uh, she

[47:54] is the owner of the last two buildable lots in that subdivision.

[48:00] unless Commissioner Byers wants to sell one of his lots.

[48:05] this is, this is I don't have a fancy PowerPoint, but I have a pictures of

[48:09] really, really beautiful houses that, uh, Miss Lewis has, uh, done over

[48:14] the last four years.

[48:17] And, um, this was the most recent and she got a COO for that, and, uh,

[48:24] made her eligible to participate in the program again.

[48:27] So.

[48:28] we have an application from from her and, uh, again, with our current

[48:33] policy of kind of lowering those incentives a bit.

[48:37] Uh, instead of 40,000, she was offered 37,500 per house.

[48:42] And of course, she took it.

[48:45] as you might guess.

[48:47] Uh, these again, the last two lots in the subdivision, all of these

[48:52] houses were valued at least 450,000 and at least one was over $500,000.

[48:59] So she has, uh, she's added a bit to the old property tax rolls, that's

[49:03] for sure when it comes to valuation.

[49:07] Uh, it's a standard development agreement, uh, it's 12 months.

[49:13] just like it has been in the past, she's done exactly what we asked

[49:16] her to do.

[49:18] And, uh, your staff recommendation is to give her an incentive of

[49:23] 37,500 per house.

[49:28] Any questions or comments?

[49:31] I think this has just been a fantastic program, it's been

[49:34] fascinating to watch it grow and change over the over the years.

[49:37] Has 2022 seems like it was just yesterday, but here we are.

[49:41] This is the 23rd application.

[49:43] 23rd.

[49:44] the program.

[49:45] Okay.

[49:46] Very good.

[49:47] 23.

[49:49] Okay, well I would entertain a motion on this item.

[49:52] I'll make a motion to approve.

[49:54] I'll second.

[49:56] Call for the vote.

[50:01] Item is approved.

[50:03] Thank you so much.

[50:05] All right, with that, I would entertain a motion to adjourn.

[50:10] I'll make a motion to adjourn.

[50:12] Second it.

[50:13] Call for the vote?

[50:19] All right, we're journ. Thank you for coming everybody.

Commission Meeting 8/10/2026

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