Council Raises Bid Threshold to $15K

Watonga City Council was observing social distancing when it met May 5 in regular session. The meeting was in the auditorium rather than council chambers and some of the council members wore masks or were on speaker phone, but all were in attendance.

The city audit for 2018-19 was on the agenda, but it was tabled until the firm, FSW&B CPA of Yukon, can complete the report. That audit will be on the agenda again for the May 19 meeting. Cities are audited annually to determine if they are following best financial practices.

The council then moved on to regular topics, such as approving the claims against the city – paying the bills – and minutes of the April 21 regular meeting and a special meeting held two days later.

That special meeting was required to approve additional funding for a city project when it went over the original appropriation. The city has had a $7500 limit on projects before it was required to go out for bids.

City manager Larry Mitchell had placed on the agenda amending the existing resolution to raise that limit to $10,000. It has been in force since 2001.

“It would update the language and increase the authorization that hasn’t changed for almost 20 years,” Mitchell said.

“So if we had had this in place already, we wouldn’t have had to hold that special meeting in April?” queried Allen Cowan. City attorney Jared Harrison said that was the case.

Council member Travis Bradt, on speaker phone, asked Harrison what most cities have as their authorization limits. Harrison replied that his research showed them all over the map, from $7500 up to $15,000.

Council member Bill Seitter, also on speaker, asked Mitchell how he came to the $10,000 figure.

“I felt it was reasonable and sound threshold,” Mitchell said.

Seitter replied he was fine with the $10K limit but would also be agreeable to a $15,000 limit. After some discussion Seitter amended the resolution to reflect the $15,000 limit and it passed unanimously.

The council also passed a resolution to join Oklahoma Municipal Management Services. They had previously approved a resolution to join the organization, but it was never executed – completed and filed – during the time there was no city attorney. The new resolution was for full membership beginning July 1. Mitchell said OMMS had agreed to waive partial fees for May and June, giving the city a credit of $1,000 and thereby reducing the annual fee to $1,000.

Council member Kendra Baker asked Mitchell why some light and water bills were not getting to the residents in a timely fashion, and sometimes did not arrive at all

Ṁitchell said he was aware of the problem and could only lay it at the feet of the postal service. For instance, he said, the most recent bills were sent out at the end of April. They had left Watonga and gone to Oklahoma City by April 27-28, and from there should have come back to Watonga. However, he said, but now, a week and a half later, some residents still had not gotten their bills. Some of those customers had called to get their bill balance and appeared a few minutes later to pay it, so he knew they weren’t trying to avoid paying by saying no bill had arrived.

“So, they can call in and get their bills?” Baker asked. Mitchell said yes, the customers were welcome to call the light and water office and get their current balance.

The council moved then to public works, approving the minutes and paying the bills, and adjourned at 6:40 p.m.

Connie Burcham can be reached at Editor@WatongaRepublican.com