Meeting of 1998-9-1 Special Meeting

County Commissioner Frank Walker called the meeting to order and County Clerk Charley McGuire called the roll for County Commissioners reflecting the presence of Commissioners Frank Walker, Claud Mansell and Gary Jones. Asst. District Attorney Jerry Cude was present on behalf of the County. Mayor Powell welcomed the County Commissioners.

Ken Graalum, Communications Director, said he recently spoke with the company addressing the county and they are waiting for information from four communities in Comanche County, and once that information is received, they can proceed with the master street addressing for the county. A meeting was held this morning regarding the Fort Sill project and a contract with Fort Sill should be presented to Council within the next 30 days.

Graalum said dollar amounts mentioned previously for putting a dispatch console into the City’s dispatch center have not changed; prices for equipment have remained the same. An additional $3,900 may be needed for remodeling, for a total project cost of $63,856, to provide a console position in the City’s dispatch center for the county and all political subdivisions within the county that will participate in the E911 system. Anticipated time frame to complete remodeling, purchasing equipment and coming on line is 90-120 days after direction is given to proceed.

Jones said personnel costs to man the dispatching were estimated between $88,000 and $100,000 on an on-going annual basis. Graalum said those costs are for the City to provide personnel in the dispatch center to dispatch for the county, and those figures do not include equipment charges. Jones said the county’s annual collections from the E911 fund are approximately $100,000, and he suggested transferring those funds to the City in exchange for providing that service. Jones said as more people are added to the system, the money would go up proportionately and the City would handle all the E911 services.

Shanklin asked if the City supplying the employees, benefits, and all related items would cost more than $100,000. Graalum said not on personnel costs, and that he did not believe the data base or systems maintenance would be significantly more than the City is paying now. Williams asked if $64,000 was needed for equipment. Graalum said that would cover equipment, remodeling and getting everything set up to operate.

Mansell asked about having funds left for the purchase of signs. Jones said there is $112,000 in the E911 account, and with the expense of $63,865 it would leave almost $50,000. Mansell asked if there would be $12,000 a year left out of the money, if the cost is $88,000 for personnel and the amounts received is $100,000. Jones said the City would be responsible to maintain the data base and upkeep of equipment, and if that is not done, the County would be responsible for it and they are not equipped to do it. Mansell said the County cannot contract for longer than a year and Walker said it would have to be renewed annually. Cude said the contract could be done annually and a contract can only be done when the funds are available for it; a multi-year contract is acceptable if there are funds available to pay for it, and the contract can be worked out for this particular item.

Doug Wells, MIS Director, said additional support may be needed in MIS if the County and Fort Sill are being added to the system. Graalum said future agenda items tonight include the jail, law enforcement and MIS services, and depending on the direction desired by the Sheriff’s Department, if it is other than just computer aided dispatch and includes the records management portion that the City has in place, then Wells would have to address that because additional support will be required if the ancillary packages are adopted.

Walker asked if it was to transfer all of the money or part of it. Jones said starting from the date the contract is signed, at that point, the 911 funds that come to the County would go to the City to cover the expense; whatever money is available in the fund at the time would be used to buy the equipment and signs and the existing money there would remain with the County until everything is all set up. Walker asked when it would be transferred to the City. Jones said the County would transfer the funds from that point on; if the contract is effective July 1, 1999, then the City would collect all the funds and the County would pay the City for the equipment costs but the City would collect all incoming 911 funds from that point on, but any funds collected between that time would remain the property of the County. Walker asked what they would do with the $80,000 left over in that account. Jones said there are certain things the County can use those funds for, as long it is a 911 purpose. Williams said such as the signs and Jones agreed and suggested computer packages were eligible. Graalum said it can be used for communications equipment, such as upgrade of rural fire notification systems.

Jones said it should cover all the other services, such as data base upkeep and all associated costs because it was his understanding that the $88,000 was only for the dispatch, and they need to know the costs of the associated services. Graalum said until he had a better handle on the data he would be getting from the Medicine Park Telephone Company, Pioneer Telephone Company, and the various other non-Bell entities, he could not provide a good estimate of costs but it would likely be under the extra $12,000.

Walker suggested the City draw up a contract on a cost basis, since the exact costs are not known, but bring back the exact costs for the first year and asked if they were looking at a March implementation. Graalum said it will depend on how rapidly Medicine Park, Indiahoma, Cache and Geronimo get their addressing information in to MDE, and MDE is stopped and cannot begin until those communities provide the addressing. Jones said they cannot instruct the towns on how to do their addressing. Graalum agreed and said he and the MDE representative had discussed how they could work around the towns and isolate them within the data base so they could continue without delaying the project, and that would depend on the authority given tonight.

Ralph Perkins, Harper-Perkins Architects, Wichita Falls, said his firm had been developing options regarding the county’s jail overcrowding issue. Options pursued ranged from remodeling existing facilities, purchasing new land, using existing county courthouse facilities, or using existing county land. Based on Department of Commerce population projections and incarceration rates from the State, the county should provide a minimum of 224 but Perkins suggested a minimum of 250 to be able to carry the county through the year 2010. If the Truth in Sentencing law is passed in a certain form, it could have a devastating effect on county jail populations making it much higher than standard incarceration rates. The proposed facility should have flexibility to be able to expand quickly should the need arise.

Perkins said the suggested option is for the County to use the existing industrial property that houses the old Haggar slacks plant, and build a free standing facility on that site which has enough acreage to allow for expansion. The existing building could house dormitory style incarceration, should that become necessary, as well as classrooms and rehab areas. The County voted in principal to adopt that site and the philosophy of building a 250 man free standing jail at that location, hoping to be able to deal with the Chamber of Commerce which owns the building, and the City of Lawton which owns the property, to enter into long term agreements with both groups. He said it was hoped the city and county could jointly operate or use the facility, or that one group could take over the responsibility and the other relinquish the responsibility relative to the jail. Projected cost is $11.5 million and financing options are being reviewed.

Beller asked if 250 beds are adequate. Perkins said the county houses approximately 120 prisoners on average. Bill Adamson, Police Chief, said the City averaged 41 prisoners per day last year and the maximum capacity is 47, and more than that requires triple bunking which is not a good standard in operating. Perkins said given those numbers, 250 would be close. Beller suggested the City contract with the County and the County operate the jail. Beller said it would likely be more efficient being run by one entity and the City may have less liability if it were not a joint operation.

Purcell said a group looked at a jail facility in Wichita Falls and asked if something similar could be done here by using the old Hagar facility for a certain class of prisoners and using the current jail for a more secure facility. Perkins said they had looked at those options and both the police and sheriff have to deal with classifications of prisoners, so simply having dormitory facilities will not solve the problem. Perkins said they could probably get 400 people in the Hagar building in a dormitory arrangement, but that will not solve the problem and it is not what you want to do.

Perkins said they looked at putting a jail operation and Sheriff’s department at the Hagar site, and that would allow for the classification separation that is needed, as well as booking areas, etc. He said the position of the building on the site at present would make it difficult to expand, and the current jail facility is 25 years old and is antiquated, so it is important to have a flexible facility. Perkins said they had looked at having the facility at the Hagar site, as well as housing more hardened criminals in the existing county jail, and the Health Department said the current facility does not meet standards; if anything is done with it, it will have to be brought to current standards. Current standards are such that it will be difficult to put very many people in that location because of day lighting requirements; inmates are to have 8% daylight and perimeter cells could be made by cutting holes in the outer walls for daylight, but the original design of the building makes it difficult to trench out the floors for plumbing because it is a structural slab and holes cannot be cut in it, which is a limiting factor. The best arrangement in using the existing site was a dormitory situation where they could keep 60 of the current 92 beds and bringing it to standard.

Perkins said the other issue in terms of operation, which would affect both bodies, is if there is a facility in a location other than the courthouse and trying to operate the courthouse as well, there are minimum staffing levels required by the jail inspection division. If there are two locations, there are two control rooms, meaning a minimum of two control room officers; floor officers are also required. To maintain two separate facilities the cost would be at least $300,000 per year additional in staffing costs. The best option is a single, one place facility which has the ability to adapt and grow, and the reason they were comfortable recommending 250 beds was because they knew this could be adapted and expanded rapidly depending on Truth in Sentencing, and this led back to the option at the Hagar site on Bishop Road. It is a reinforced concrete building of a fire resistive nature, and it is similar to what was done in Wichita Falls at the Sprague Electric plant where dormitories were made in the existing building at an economical price compared to new construction.

Beller asked how the prisoners would be transported or if there would be electronic arraignments. Perkins said they are in the process of implementing that electronically, and some judges are doing arraignments in the jail although some feel that is a violation. Perkins said prisoners would be kept at the courthouse until it was time to move them. Beller said he understood the recommendation was to have only one facility and both the City and Courthouse facility would be closed. Perkins said that would be done; there would be two processes, arraignment would be done by video requiring an arraignment facility in the courthouse and the jail; there would have to be transportation on a daily basis for courts, pleadings, trials, and those matters. Perkins said they would build holding cells in the current jail facility; there would be a transportation officer to load prisoners into a vehicle and transport them to the cells at the courthouse, and they are planning for four cells.

Beller asked how they would handle taking county prisoners to one place for arraignments and city prisoners to another facility for arraignment. Perkins said arraignments can be done with video but as far as coming to municipal court, it would be the same process if they actually had to go back to court. Jones said the Wichita Falls site was toured and appeared to be very efficient, although they indicated they would rather have only one location.

Warren said it was his understanding that, other than the trial itself, the only time the defendant would have to be in the courthouse would be during the preliminary hearing and most of those are waived, other than possibly 10-20 per month. He said there would not be that much transportation and most of it would be from video.

Shanklin asked who owns the Hagar building. Walker said the Chamber of Commerce, and the property is owned by the City of Lawton. Shanklin asked if security would be greater in this location than it would be at Wackenhut. Perkins said they would be similar; there will be high security cells, as well as dormitory cells. Shanklin said the proposal here is to spend $11 million for 250 beds, but there is already a building and the land; Wackenhut spent $70 million for 1,500 beds but had to buy the land and construct all the buildings. Perkins asked if Wackenhut houses state prisoners and response was yes. Perkins said as a state prison, you do not have to deal with a lot of the things the counties and cities have to deal with in terms of what they are providing; those prisoners are already convicted and have processing to come in, but the county will have to have a lot of booking and support facilities so when you compare building pure cells at Wackenhut to building cells, plus booking operations, plus the County Sheriff’s Department operations, and things like that, then you have to look at it from a different point of view. Perkins said they are building a lot more space than they are jail cells so there are many more things to contend with; they also have to maintain temperature controls a little bit more, and state prisons do not have to provide air conditioning, but county jails do.

Shanklin said there was no cost shown for transporting inmates. He asked Jones if the proposal was to rent bed space to the state when they have an oversupply now. Jones said no, in the event there is Truth in Sentencing, the state was saying they would pay the county and enter into a long term contract, meaning the county would be allowed to keep those inmates, but it would allow the county to build the additional capacity and use those revenues for funding. Jones said none of that is in the plan, although the plan shows the capacity to go from 250 to 450, but the additional 200 beds are not included at this time. Shanklin asked how many of those prisoners could be dealt with through their homes with ankle bracelet surveillance. Walker said the district judges make those decisions.

Warren said the City and County need to come together because it makes no sense for both groups to be operating a facility. He said he had passed out a letter he received today, and he had previously asked if there had been discussion about contracting this out and the answer was we are in this by ourselves and nobody wants to contract for it or it costs too much money. Warren said he called Wackenhut today and the gentleman he spoke with was extremely excited to even have a chance to talk to the county and city officials here; they have at least two plans where they can design, finance, construct and operate the facility and provide it to the city or county for an amount of money or a mixture thereof. He said he would like the opportunity to hear from someone like that.

Jones said it was his understanding that Wackenhut had been contacted and came back with a figure of $12.5 million for 250 beds. Warren asked if it was just contracting the facility or paying them by the bed. Walker said it was Wackenhut building a 250 bed pod and $10 to $12 million was a ballpark figure. Warren said he understood Wackenhut would build and operate it at their cost and charge the city and county an agreed upon sum. Walker asked how much profit Warren thought Wackenhut would be making. Warren said he would not know until he asked them. Walker said Wackenhut is charging the State $40 and it gets very expensive. Warren said he was not trying to get into the county’s jail operations but that it would be nice to hear from Wackenhut that they would charge more than what the groups could afford to pay. Jones said they amortized the life of the facility and figured the cost and it was $25-$26 a day, and the best bid Wackenhut had submitted to anyone was $39-$40 a day, and there is a significant difference in what they offer. Mayor Powell asked what the amortization included. Jones said the cost to build the facility, staffing and all operations costs at $26-$27 a day.

Bill Adamson, Police Chief, said he would like to see a combination city/county jail because it would be more efficient. The City is currently paying $368,000 a year to operate the City’s jail. He agreed only one entity should run the jail due to possible conflicts. The City’s prisoners cost approximately $24.35 a day to house. Purcell asked Adamson if he felt the City should not operate the jail, but leave that to the County. Adamson said yes, and it would be more efficient, safer, and avoid overcrowding for the county and city. Adamson said he would prefer a contracted, settled upon, agreed upon price for the City’s involvement as opposed to a per day bed payment because that would create another accounting system of how many prisoners were held for the city on a given day.

Mayor Powell asked if this would be a convenience or a cost saving measure for the citizens. Adamson said it would be somewhat convenient and it may cost more in the short run, but we would be better off in the long run, and more officers could be freed up if the City did not have a jail to operate.

Beller asked what the state pays the county now to house prisoners. Walker said $24 a day. Kenny Stradley, County Sheriff, said the State pays nothing until after the prisoners go to trial and receive sentencing, which could be up to two years, then the State pays $24 a day. Stradley said they seldom keep them very long due to the overcrowding, but they try to take several prisoners to the state facility at Lexington at one time to save money.

Jones said the City currently pays $361,000, and it would be approximately two years before the new facility could be constructed; he asked if the City would be willing to start out with $361,000 for the first year and then agree to negotiate each year for a cost of living or inflation rate. Mayor Powell asked if Jones was talking about doing that prior to a facility being built. Jones said he was talking about agreeing in principal, and the county would get nothing until the prisoners were transferred.

Shanklin asked if anyone in Lawton would be financing this. Walker said just by the vote. Shanklin said the citizens of Lawton would be paying the sales tax to finance it for the county. Jones said the county is inclusive of the City of Lawton. Shanklin said sometimes it is. Sadler asked if the question was whether the City would pay the same amount it is already paying, but to pay it to the county. Jones said yes. Sadler said he certainly would be, and that he would favor a cap on cost escalation for the future.

Warren asked if the operational costs had been figured for the 250 bed jail. Jones said approximately $1.2 million; currently the county pays $368,000 and there would be the revenue contributed by the city, some revenue from the additional beds, and the difference would have to be made up somewhere and one source may be if the county does not have dispatchers, there would be about $80,000 in additional funding that could be used for jailers because that would be covered by the other agreement discussed earlier. There would still be a shortage of about $150,000 in operational costs to consider.

Warren asked if the 250 bed facility would cost $1.3 or $1.7 million to operate. Jones said the $900,000 approximate figure was the Sheriff’s total budget, and the portion of his budget used for the jail is $368,000. Mansell said the Sheriff’s budget is $989,000. Stradley asked if the cost was an additional $300,000 to operate the jail. Perkins said they seemed to be mixing amounts for the Sheriff’s operation and the jail operation; when fully operational, there will be a need for six jailers on the floor, one transportation jailer, two control room officers, a nurse, and an administrator, so at fully functional levels, there would be $800,000 in core staffing, $90,000 in core staffing, $800,000 in officers, utility costs were estimated at $100,000 per year; food costs at $180,000 or about $2 per day per prisoner. Perkins said you do not want the facility to fall into disrepair and $50,000 was allocated for annual maintenance costs, for $1.2 million total operational cost when fully occupied and operational. Perkins said the Sheriff is spending $368,000 to operate his jail with 90-100 inmates and the City is spending $361,000, so the Sheriff is really stretching it, and if you are spending almost $700,000 between the two groups now, it is about $500,000 short overall for the new facility.

Baker said the City’s figure of $361,000 is the operational cost, which does not include any capital costs. He asked how many employees worked in the jail section and Adamson said there are ten jailers. Baker said the employees would be displaced, but if there is two years’ notice, perhaps they could be placed in other departments or would desire to work for the county.

Beller asked where the funding would come from to make up a $500,000 shortfall. Jones said there would be approximately 50 extra beds, and if 40 are rented to the state at $24 per day, or $40-$45 to the U.S. Marshal’s Office, that would be $262,800 in the first year coming from that. Beller said that was not enough to make up the difference. Jones said the county has $108,000 more than last year, and suggested the county tighten its belt, find the additional money, and take it from the increase in ad valorem taxes. Mansell said you cannot operate this facility now or in the future without some kind of permanent tax. Beller asked Barnthouse, excise board member, if funding was available and Barnthouse said they were not that far along yet.

Haywood said his constituents are in Ward 7 and there are currently two DOC facilities in that ward. He said he would be asked why this facility is planned for the same area and if other sites had been looked at or how this site was determined to be the best. Haywood said he would be asked why all these facilities are coming south and asked for someone to suggest an answer. Walker said that site was selected because the City of Lawton owns the property, the Chamber of Commerce owns the building, they can get into it for $225,000 and it is ten acres; if they were to buy it from an individual, it would be a much higher price. Jones said they would have room to expand in this location.

Warren said he spoke with the Wackenhut representative about the location, and the suggestion was made that this would be the best time to negotiate because they have the construction crews on site to build a pod at that location. He said it does not necessarily have to be in that location, but to find another location would be much more costly since the City owns the land.

Shanklin asked if the county was attempting to have this on the ballot in November and if such a decision had to be made by tomorrow. Mayor Powell said he understood the City wanted to get out of the jail business and asked if the County wanted to take the prisoners. Jones said he thought that should be done. Stradley said the County is in trouble, and when he sent the State Inspector to check the City’s cells it was found that only 22 were legal. Stradley said in response to Haywood’s concerns, there was a study done all over town but that he took great pride in the Sheriff’s Department which would provide good security with the traffic in and out.

Mansell said in response to Shanklin’s question about being on the ballot, the County Commissioners would hold a special meeting at 10:30 in the morning to make a decision as to what there would be on the funding, which would be a tax one way or another, either ad valorem or sales tax, and it will be on the November ballot. Shanklin asked how they expected to do it, because Lawton was also looking at a sales tax, and neither may pass, especially when it is known that the $700,000 being spent now will go to $1.2 million when they are combined. Beller said it would increase the beds from 140 to 250. Shanklin said the population of prisoners would not immediately increase to 250.

Beller said he thought Lawton should get out of the jail business and support a joint facility with funds being spent on jail operations now. Warren asked what it would cost to house a prisoner at the full 250 capacity. Jones said $26-$27 a day or less. Jones said if this passes, it might be possible that Hansel-Phelps, the current construction contractor for Wackenhut, might submit a favorable bid for this facility.

Purcell asked how the County proposed raising the $11.5 million. Walker said there is an option for ad valorem. Jones said the options are sales tax or ad valorem and that he would like to see a 1/4% sales tax for ten years for the $11.5 million, and that decision would be made tomorrow. Mansell said time is about to run out as far as getting something on the November ballot and the County had worked on this subject for quite some time.

MOVED by Purcell, SECOND by Smith, to accept the concept that the City and County get together, and have the County run the jail and the City provide, obviously negotiated, but at least to start off, the $361,000 in the first year, whatever that is, and that gets renegotiated every year.

Adamson said the law enforcement records management was to inform the Council and Commissioners of an area that may be possible to combine in the future. Lawton has acquired a Dictaphone System for calling in reports, as well as a records management system, although it will take some time to get both systems on line. If it works well, the City could possibly be in a position to take on the law enforcement records management system for the County Sheriff should he be willing, and an agreement reached between the two groups. He said it would be more efficient, computerized, the Sheriff’s deputies could dictate reports by phone to clerks in the Police Station who would enter them in the computer, and the Sheriff’s deputies could downlink the report and make a copy for themselves. Records would automatically be archived on the computer, and other records could be scanned into the system for archival purposes. Adamson said he would need to find out what kind of a burden this would place on the police department so he could determine that if an additional clerk is needed, he would suggest that be provided by the county, so it would not cost the City any extra and it would not cost the Sheriff anything extra because he may be able to displace an employee doing this work now, and both systems would communicate and be beneficial. He said it should be looked at in the future as to benefits.

Jones asked how long it would take to determine the cost to the County. Adamson said if the Sheriff and both bodies are willing, he would meet with the Sheriff to determine the work load and that could be done in a few weeks; as far as the time line to go into it, that is not definite. Mayor Powell asked Sheriff Stradley if he was interested and Stradley said yes, it would be a help to his department. Mayor Powell suggested that Baker, the Police Chief, the Sheriff and the City’s MIS Supervisor get together to pursue this and provide information.

Dick Huck, Parks & Recreation Director, said the City has had a lease agreement with the County for use of the property at 17th and G for the last 30 years. The lease will expire within two years and there was a need to know if the lease would be extended for a period of time or if the County would need the property for its uses. Jones said he thought the need for the County to use the property was no longer being considered due to the decision regarding the Hagar slacks property. Consensus was that a contract would be presented to the County Commissioners for lease of the property.

Dan Tucker, Code Administration Director, said the Health Department building is located on City owned property and there may be a duplication in insurance coverage being funded by both agencies. Baker asked who Tucker should speak with in that regard and suggestion was the Health Department Director.

Doug Wells, MIS Director, said the County Assessor’s Office allows computer access for three city departments to the Assessor’s records system. There are several areas where this could be done. Robert McAdoo, County Assessor, said six City employees visit his office regularly and it was hoped that computer access would allow for more efficient use of personnel. Wells said there is only one phone line, which is slow, and other methods would be better but there are costs involved. Williams suggested the costs be explored because costs are currently being incurred by personnel spending time looking through records. Mayor Powell suggested those involved look into this and present information to each group to allow for efficiency.

Chuck Bridwell, Human Resources Director, said there was a possibility of cost savings in combining employee groups between the City and County to perhaps receive a more favorable rate on items such as insurance. Walker suggested an inquiry be made to see if the school system would be in favor of joining in such a group also. Bridwell will check the legal ramifications and possibilities and return a report.

Marion Donaldson, Library Director, reviewed the County’s past contributions to the City in terms of employee costs and costs for books. She suggested the amount contributed by the County not be tied strictly to employee related items, but that another method such as participation levels be explored. Livingston said the funds received from the County are deposited into the General Fund at this time and budgeted appropriately. Purcell said he appreciated the County’s approval of increased contributions this year for book purchases.

Warren said he was trying to compute the jail prices but came up with a difference of $2.3 million to $1.2 million and Walker explained the difference is the debt service required to repay the debt for the construction. Warren asked if the annual budget for the jail would be $2.4 million and Jones said possibly more; the $2.4 million includes debt service.

6. Each group expressed its appreciation for the joint meeting. The County Commissioners adjourned at approximately 7:20 p.m. City Council recessed from 7:20 p.m. to 7:35 p.m. Lawton Water Authority meeting convened at 7:35 p.m., followed by remainder of the Lawton City Council session as recorded below. Roll was called to reconvene Council.

Purcell said he requested this item for Council to determine how to proceed. It was determined that the three envelopes received after August 28, but postmarked prior to August 28, would be considered. Items discussed were copying applications for review, ranking applicants, the number that would be interviewed and various interview methods.

Criteria in the job announcement was reviewed by Vincent as follows: Mandatory criteria are bachelor’s degree in public administration or closely related field; two years experience as a City Manager or Assistant City Manager; experience of finance, budget, economic development, and capital improvements; they will have to live in the city during their entire tenure; they must be available no later than December 1, 1998, plus the 35,000 population when they were in the field of city management. Preferred criteria is master’s degree in public administration or closely related field and seven years increasingly responsible experience in the field of city manager. Council liability for not following the mandatory criteria was discussed.

Beller asked if it was imperative that this be on the November ballot, or if more time should be taken to agree upon an acceptable proposal and have the election in February or March. Future election dates were December 8 or January 12, but the next scheduled city-wide election would be February 9; Lawton’s regular election is March 2.

Beller said it is a complicated package and the taxes would not go into effect until the year 2000. Purcell said he felt the election should be held in November because if the sales tax is not approved the water bill increase will have to take effect January 1, 1999; if the sales tax is not voted on until March, there will have been lost collections which would cause a larger utility rate increase. Beller said if Council agrees to a program, and part of it involves a utility increase, when do we intend to put the utility increase into effect. Purcell said the numbers were based on a date of January 1999. Warren said the same discussion was held last March and action is needed. Shanklin said trying to pass such large issues after only a couple of meetings is a mistake. Williams said the county is proceeding with the jail issue and this may need to be a single item on a ballot; a utility increase could be used to identify years three through seven of the sewer rehab and that can be done any time. Purcell spoke against paying for a special election for this issue only and suggested the biggest voter turn out will be in November.

Baker said this was taken to a vote in March 1998 and the City can go out for one more vote this calendar year, and if the voters do not approve this in November, there would be another opportunity for an election six months later. Funds need to accumulate to be ready to start the third year of the sewer rehab. Williams said a utility increase is needed January 1999 regardless of a sales tax vote in November.

Shanklin said the City Attorney should clarify whether the City would be held to the items listed in the resolution if an election is held. Mayor Powell said the Council would decide what would be included and the priorities, and not all the items from the three lists had to be included. Shanklin said you will be telling the citizens what you will do with the money; if a $4 or $2 million savings is found, will it not be pursued because we told the citizens certain things would be done. Williams said the citizens would appreciate using good judgment. Vincent said it would depend on how the ordinance is worded; in the past, you have worded it where it is basically general infrastructure capital improvement items without specifically listing what those items are. Vincent said it does not have to be done that way. Mayor Powell said we need to tell the people what we will do if the issue is to be passed, and if a project costs less than estimated, the payment for it will be less and they would be fair and honest with the people.

Purcell said a one cent sales tax for five years will generate $37 million. He suggested consideration of a vote at the regular election in March to fund a water treatment plant through ad valorem tax or a utility bill increase. Purcell said he did not think certain projects should be listed on the March ballot. He said the $15.2 million on the phase one sewer rehab should be listed, but it should not be so specific as to state a drainage improvement on 34th Street for a certain amount. Purcell said if a specific street is listed, but three years from now there is a severe problem on another street, you may need to use the money there instead. He said some could be very specific but others may need to be more general in terms of streets or water lines.

Shanklin said the amounts are $60 million and more, and that he thought a lot of the Public Works staff, but he felt a second opinion was needed. He said funding is shown for chlorine but other plants are going to chlorine dioxide or ozone three due to the costs. Warren said the cost to be able to use the ozone is said to be very expensive. Shanklin said PSG does the plants in Oklahoma City, Yukon, Bethany, and others, both water and wastewater, and they have gone with the other methods and operate 350 plants nationwide. Warren said the process may be cheaper but the cost to retrofit the facility should be considered. Shanklin said that is why he suggested a second opinion.

Ihler said from the calls they had made, the cost of ozone was much more than the cost of chlorine. Review had been done about putting in ozone at the north plant, and it could cost as much as $1 million, and that is not a fully researched number. Technology is beginning to look at osmosis type filtration due to the cost of ozonation. Installing membrane filtration is a possibility in the future but it is a new technology also. Shanklin asked about chlorine dioxide. Ihler said the cost for a chlorine dioxide system would be less costly than ozone, but the ozone would be a better disinfectant with regard to fighting some of the THM’s and other things.

Beller suggested Council should determine that the ballot should be phrased “including but not limited to” the sewer rehabilitation program, southeast water plant, and include numbers to reach the desired level, $60 or $70 million, but not clutter the ballot with every item because Council may determine the maintenance building could be put off or done for a lesser cost. He said the major items should be listed. Shanklin said that has been done in the past and the issue carried. Beller said priorities were changed and Shanklin said only regarding the excess funds that were received.

Beller asked for a consensus of whether every item should be listed on the ballot and if some items should be scratched from the list. Mayor Powell said Council should agree on which projects should be approved. Beller said phase one sewer, $15.2 million, is an absolute requirement, as well as the water pump facilities for $450,000 and the Clean Air Act compliance issues. He said $4.5 million for Subtitle D cells at the landfill was questionable in his opinion, and one reason shown was due to the waste being brought in from outside the City limits, so perhaps that portion should be examined. Beller said listing one item that people did not approve of could cause problems. Shanklin said some people may ask what the City plans to do with all the money because they are not being told. Purcell said it is going into sewers, streets and water, and you cannot pick every single street.

Mayor Powell asked if anything should be eliminated from the list for $54.2 million. Beller asked if each item would be listed on the ballot. Powell said no, he was referring to the amounts so they could address how it would be funded. Warren said he had hoped they could go to a vote on the sewer rehab with the understanding that if the vote did not pass that it would go on the utility bill, which appeared to be giving the citizens an option. Warren suggested taking the water treatment plant out and go back for an ad valorem tax for that purpose; it is not imperative to have the funding for that plant on January 1 and it can wait until March.

Discussion was held on being able to do the plant for less than $30 million. Purcell said a one per cent sales tax will only raise $37 million so they cannot say they would do all the projects shown on the money that will be raised. Mayor Powell said the sales tax percentage had not been decided.

Williams said the Finance Director had identified that $5.70 per month on the utility bill would fund the remainder of the first phase of the sewer rehabilitation program. He said he would not be opposed to having that on the sewer part of the utility bill starting January 1, 1999, to fund years 3-7 of the sewer rehab program. Livingston said Lawton has $14 million on the OWRB priority list right now, and if you want to make it as easy on the utility bill as possible today, you could borrow money and pay 4.9% on 60% of the debt and 0% on 40%, and it would come out to a little more than $3 per month on the utility bill. Williams said he did not want to finance the first phase for 20 years. Livingston said it could be considered given the favorable interest rates and it is possible there could be a larger population during that 20 years that would make it less. Williams said they started with the sewer problem and now there are many, many more items identified, and suggested something be placed on the utility bill beginning January 1999 for the sewer program and then identify and prioritize the other needs. Williams said everyone on Council must agree to whatever program is taken to the voters, as well as the media, and everyone has to sell it to the citizens, and Council cannot even agree on when to have the election.

Sadler said he felt $60 million was the most that should possibly be considered, and that a 1% sales tax was the most that should be requested, not knowing what the County would request on the jail, and that $5 on the utility bill is about the most they could ask for; 1% and $5 is $10 million short. Sadler suggested staff work on a $20 million southeast plant, rather than $30 million, and bring the projects down to a level where the 1% and $5 would fund them.

Warren asked about options for repaying money borrowed from OWRB. Livingston said it can be repaid through the utility bill or through sales tax. Warren asked if the $60 million package for one cent sales tax and $8.50 on the utility bill was figured using a $14 million OWRB loan and Livingston said no, it is a pay-as-you-go program. Warren asked if the $8.50 could be lowered using an OWRB loan. Livingston said yes. Purcell suggested $37 million in projects be identified to match the $37 million that would be generated by a one cent sales tax.

Baker said he assumed the water plant could possibly be done separately, and based on that assumption, he had asked Ihler to look at the projects to determine what could be funded with the one percent tax or $37.5 million, and Ihler had compiled a list for Council consideration if desired. Baker said the list included the “had to do” projects, and added water line repair and replacement for $2 million, and added streets, so it is a $37.5 million package to match the 1%. The list was distributed. Ihler said the list includes the $70 million package identified last night, minus the southeast plant and minus $2.62 million for major arterials; the remaining projects were the same except the major arterial amounts were changed from $8 million to $5.3 million. Baker said the list is staff recommendation if Council desires to go forward on the one percent sales tax.

Smith asked if OWRB funding could be used for the water plant. Keith McDonald said they discussed the $30 million with OWRB today, and that would be a qualifying project, along with the wastewater projects. McDonald said use of OWRB’s SRF program is more economical under any of the scenarios discussed than doing the projects on a pay-as-you-go basis. Haywood asked the interest rate on a $30 million loan and McDonald said it would be the same as discussed previously, 40% at zero interest and 60% at market interest, so it would be about 3 or 3.5% after everything is calculated.

Mayor Powell said he hoped something could be included for economic development. Baker said if the County takes action on the jail tomorrow for 1/4%, it was his understanding that if the vote is approved, it could free up some funds the County has for economic development. Purcell said the infrastructure is a method of improving economic development efforts. Mayor Powell said Lawton competes with other cities who provide incentives, and those were the funds he was referring to. Williams suggested the group that reviewed the sales tax recently could review an economic development funding strategy for voter approval. Warren suggested the county may wish to address economic development so it would be a county-wide measure. Including funding for mass transit was briefly discussed.

Vincent asked if the motion was based on the most recent project list distributed so he could include the appropriate language in the documents. Purcell said phase one sewer rehab should be spelled out specifically, and the others are water, streets, drainage and landfill improvements.

b. Consider adopting an ordinance assessing and levying an excise tax beginning January 1, 2000, for a specified period to be used for capital improvement projects and capital outlay of the City, and submitting the ordinance to a vote of the electorate, adopting a resolution setting the date for a special election and establishing the questions to be placed on the ballot.