By Tatyana Nyborg
Contributing Writer
On Feb 11, 2016, the Town of Mannford, Board of Trustees met to discuss various issues.
The Board of Trustees has five elected officers. They are Adam Gilbert, Trustee; Tyler Buttram, Mayor; Skip Scott, Trustee; Charlie Busch, Vice Mayor; and Johnnie Bozarth, Trustee.
Previously, Webco Industries requested the City of Mannford to close Foster Road.
MIke Howard, Webco Industies Senior Vice President, explained the reasons for the request in his letter to the City of Mannford administration, “There are a number of reasons underlying our request, including assisting our compliance with regulations such as the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. However, the primary reason is employee safety. It is critical for companies to control unauthorized access to facilities, and therefore employees. Because of the proximity of our facility to Foster Road, we cannot adequately secure our perimeter without closing and fencing off Foster Road.”
After reviewing the proposal and the map, the majority of the Board of Trustees approved the Foster Road closing.
Another request, discussed at the February meeting, was the use of golf carts on city streets. It appeared that some golf carts and other off-road vehicles had created a disturbance for residents. Because of that, the Trustees agreed on a set of rules, which would be applied to operating golf carts in Mannford.
The rules include such regulations as operating a cart by a driver with a valid Oklahoma driver license; keeping the speed at 25 miles per hour or less; giving an audio signal before passing a pedestrian; etc.
Failure to comply with the new golf cart operation rules could lead to a warning or a fine of $200, or even impoundment of the vehicle.
Mike Nunneley, Mannford City Manager, presented a financial report on sales and use tax collections at the meeting.
The city received $773,396.42 of sales tax from the July 2015 to February 2016 period, which is $5,609.28 more than during the same period a year ago.
The use tax was collected in the amount of $81,723.93 from July 2015 to February 2016. It is $4,805.19 more than the same period of the previous fiscal year.
Nunneley also proposed to the Trustees about raising fire run rates.
“Our rates on rescue, brush and other fire trucks, which we bill to insurance companies, are low in comparison with other towns,” he said. “We need to increase them.”
For example, a rescue truck rate is currently $200 and the tanker’s is $250. The Board of Trustees agreed and approved the rate increase.
The next City Council meeting will occur in March. The meetings are usually conducted on the second Thursday of each month, starting at 6 pm. They are open to the public.