MINUTES

LAWTON CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING

OCTOBER 14, 2008 –  6:00 P.M.

WAYNE GILLEY CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBER

Mayor John P. Purcell, Jr.                Also Present:

Presiding                        Larry Mitchell, City Manager

                            John Vincent, City Attorney

                            Traci Hushbeck, City Clerk

COL Robert Bridgford, Fort Sill Liaison

            

Mayor Purcell called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. Notice of meeting and agenda were posted on the City Hall notice board as required by law.   Invocation was given by Pastor Rodney Mitchell, Agape Faith Worship Center, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL

PRESENT:                Bill Shoemate, Ward One

James Hanna, Ward Two

Janice Drewry, Ward Three

Robert Shanklin, Ward Five

                    Stanley Haywood, Ward Seven

                    Randy Warren, Ward Eight

ABSENT:                    Jeff Patton, Ward Six

Jay Burk, Ward Four

PRESENTATION OF CITIZEN OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER 2008 TO TARRA GILBERT.

Sandra Kuntz, Chairman of the Mayor’ s Commission on that Status of Women announced that Tarra Gilbert has been named Citizen of the Month for October.    

Mayor Purcell read a Certificate of Congratulations from the State of Oklahoma and a Certificate of Commendation from the Mayor’ s Office.  

PROCLAMATION FOR MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY.

Mayor Purcell introduced Leroy Giles, Youth Services Coordinator for the City of Lawton Parks and Recreation Department, introduced members of the Girl Scout Troop 490 from Fletcher, the LaSill Optimist Basketball team, the Youth Advisory Board and Cameron Plus students.

Mayor Purcell proclaimed Saturday, October 25, 2008, as Make a Difference Day.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:  None.

CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAWTON CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETINGS OF SEPTEMBER 9 AND SEPTEMBER 23, 2008.

CONSENT AGENDA: The following items are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted with one motion. Should discussion be desired on an item, that item will be removed from the Consent Agenda prior to action and considered separately.

Mitchell requested item #21 be considered separately.  Mayor Purcell requested item #9 be considered separately.

1.    Consider the following damage claims recommended for approval and consider passage

of the resolution authorizing the City Attorney to file a friendly suit for the claims which

are over $400.00: Rickey and Stephanie Kinnaird in the amount of $200.00.  Exhibits:

Legal Opinions/Recommendations.

2.    Consider approving the deposit of a reimbursement check from LURA, in the amount of One-Thousand Three Hundred Eighty-Five and 00/100 Dollars ($1,385.10) into City Attorney’ s 231 - Professional Services Account.  Exhibits: None.

3.    Consider adopting a resolution approving the settlement by a joint petition and making payment in the workers’  compensation claim of Terry Turner. Exhibits: Resolution No. 2008-138.

4.    Consider adopting a resolution approving the settlement by a joint petition and making payment in the pending workers' compensation claim of Ed Penland.  Exhibits: Resolution No. 2008-139.

5.    Consider approving an agreement for limited services between the City of Lawton and the Lawton Enhancement Trust Authority providing for funding for general operations, on a project specific basis for enhancement projects and for limited city assistance.  Exhibits: Proposed agreement.  

6.    Consider approving the application of Lawton Beautiful Inc. and the Lawton Enhancement Trust Authority to provide an enhancement project for the south 11 ^th street area from the airport entrance to SW Bishop Road and provided limited city assistance.  Exhibits: Application letter to McMahon Foundation, Cost break down and Draft design of the project.     

7.    Consider ratifying the assignment of City of Lawton Temporary Employee contract to Express Employment Professionals and authorize the Mayor to sign the assignment.  Exhibits: Assignment of contract documentation.

8.    Approve a Resolution in Support of the Waurika Lake Water Conservancy District’ s intent to proceed with the purchase of the remaining water storage capacity at Lake Waurika, acquiring said resources from the US Army Corps of Engineers and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the Resolution in Support.  Exhibits: Resolution  08-140.

9.    Consider approving a memorandum of agreement between the United States Army Garrison Fort Sill and the City of Lawton for emergency communications.  Exhibits: Proposed Memorandum of Agreement 2008.

Mayor Purcell stated in the background it talks about the memorandum of agreement and also agrees to the need to increase the number of Fort Sill personnel from six to nine, but when you go the actual agreement, in paragraph five, it says only six people.

Derrell Morgan, Communications Supervisor, stated that right now they do not have room for the other three, so having nine people would not do them any good. Currently Lawton dispatches all of their fire and EMS calls and they have six dispatchers which handle the majority of the police traffic.  In order to hit all they need to hit they need about nine people.

Mayor Purcell stated the commentary said nine, but the agreement said six and he didn’ t know if they needed to correct it.

Morgan stated when they move to the new facility they will talk about expanding it to nine people.

10.    Consider approving an amendment to Cooperative Purchase agreement between the City of Lawton, Oklahoma and the Mountain Metro AMBUCS of Lawton, Oklahoma, established August 14, 2007 for the construction of a baseball field, “Miracle Field”, specifically designed to accommodate special needs children and young adults changing the location at the McMahon Park at 38 ^th Street and Lee Boulevard to a specified location on the west side of Elmer Thomas Park and authorize the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the same.  Letter of Request from the Miracle League of Lawton –  Fort Sill, OK. and Amendment to Cooperative Purchase Agreement.

11.    Consider accepting FEMA/State of Oklahoma reimbursement checks for the total amount of six thousand, three hundred ninety-six dollars and eighty-eight cents ($6,396.88) and authorize the Finance Department to deposit these funds into the Fund 35 account established to repair the damaged infrastructure for which the funds were appropriated by FEMA. Exhibits: Summary of FEMA and State Reimbursements.

12.    Consider accepting a FEMA/State of Oklahoma reimbursement check for the total amount of one thousand two hundred ninety one dollars and twenty four cents ($1,291.24) and authorize the Finance Department to deposit these funds into the General Fund, FEMA Fund 35, Sewer Rehab Fund and the 2005 CIP to reimburse the accounts from which the funds were expended during the 2007 summer floods.  Exhibits: Summary of FEMA/State of Oklahoma checks received to date and eligible project costs.

13.    Consider rejecting bid proposals for the Storm Drainage Replacement Project #2008-10 and authorize City staff to repair the concrete drainage channel.  Exhibits: None.

14.    Consider accepting the Water Infrastructure Improvement Phase 2 (Tower) Project #2006-9 as constructed by Landmark Structures I. L. P. and placing the Maintenance Bond into effect.  Exhibits: None.

15.    Consider acknowledging receipt of permits for the construction of sanitary sewer lines from the Oklahoma State Department of Environmental Quality to serve the NW 75 ^th Street Sanitary Sewer Line Extension, City of Lawton, Comanche County, Oklahoma.  Exhibits: None.

16.    Consider approving an agreement with PSA-Dewberry, Inc. for professional engineering design services for the Nine Mile Creek Sewer Line Project #2008-2.  Exhibits: Location Map.

17.    Consider adopting Street Light Resolution No. 458 to authorize the installation/removal of street lights at the locations listed in the Resolution.  Exhibits: Street Light Resolution No. 458.

18.    Consider setting the date of November 18, 2008, to hold a public hearing and consider an ordinance closing a 10-foot easement on Lots 15 and 16, Block 1, Stephens Addition, also known as 2106 NW Atlanta Avenue. Exhibits: Application, Location Map and

Council Policy 5-1.

19.    Consider granting a revocable permit to allow parking and maneuvering on a portion of the SW 12 ^th Street right-of-way north of Lee Boulevard and on a 25-foot utility easement on property located on the northeast corner of SW 12^th Street and Lee Boulevard.  Exhibits: Application and Revocable Permit.

20.    Consider awarding (CL09-007) Electro Fusion Polyethylene Fittings for DR 17 Pipe to ISCO Industries of Pryor, OK.  Exhibits: department recommendation, abstract of bids.

21.    Consider awarding (RFPCL09-008) Emergency Notification System to CodeRed of Ormond Beach, FL.  Exhibits: department recommendation, proposal price sheets

Mitchell stated he distributed information about the program called CodeRed, which is a reverse E-911 system that will allow the city to notify citizens both in the city of Lawton and Comanche County should an emergency occur.  This will allow them to be very site specific.  For example, if there is a grass fire in the southwest part of town, this would notify those surrounding property owners by phone or cell phone.

Morgan stated it will allow the community to log into a website and add additional contact numbers or fax numbers.  It is capable of handling the entire county.

Mayor Purcell stated staff has been working on this for about three years.  He stated they also need to work with Lawton Public Schools to make sure they have access to this system.

Mitchell questioned the implementation date.

Morgan stated he is not expecting it to be more than a couple of months.  They will have to work with the media to get the word out for people to get on the website and look at their contact information.

Mayor Purcell stated he assumes people will have access through the city, county and school websites.

22.    Consider awarding (CL09-009) Degreaser to Mid-American Research Chemical Corp. of Windthorst, TX.  Exhibits: Department recommendation, abstract of bids.

23.    Consider assigning current contract (CL08-040) Footwear (Safety, Athletic & Walking)-Item: Athletic to Kesslers Team Sports, Inc. of Tulsa, OK. Exhibits: memo from Kesslers Team Sports, Inc., Assignment of Contract form.

24.    Consider approving appointments to boards and commissions.  Exhibits: None.

25.    Consider approval of payroll for the period of September 22 –  October 5, 2008.

BUSINESS ITEMS:

Mayor Purcell stated they need to strike item #31.  There needs to be some corrections made to the item.

26.    Consider revising Council Policy 10-4 changing the elevation level of Lake Ellsworth for which pumping will be suspended during the transfer of water from Lake Waurika to Lake Ellsworth.  Exhibits: Council Policy 10-4.

Jerry Ihler, Public Works Director, stated Council Policy 10-4 deals with when they pump water from Lake Waurika to Lake Ellsworth during certain periods of time.  It is based on the lake elevation of Lake Ellsworth.  As the lake level starts falling, the current policy is at elevation 1225 they turn the pumps on at Lake Waurika to start supplementing Lake Ellsworth.  They would like to change that policy to move that location from when they start pumping from Waurika to Ellsworth to three feet higher.  This will ensure a sooner time frame when they start supplementing Lake Ellsworth as it relates to moving water to Lake Lawtonka.  Once the southeast plant comes on line they will be pumping 28 million gallons a day to Lake Lawtonka as well as 5 millions gallons a day coming out of Ellsworth to the southeast plant. Lake Ellsworth will go up and down much faster than it has in the past.  The other reason for this change is that 80% of the treatment capacity is at the Medicine Park plant and comes from Lake Lawtonka so they want to ensure they don’ t let Lake Ellsworth get down too low.  As they are using Ellsworth water by gravity flow to the southeast plant, when they get down to 1228, that is when they will stop gravity flowing water from Lake Ellsworth to the southeast plant and that is when they will start pumping water from Lake Waurika to the southeast plant and this would be a good match from a water standpoint and a pumping policy.

Mayor Purcell questioned who controls the lake levels that are posted on the website.

Ihler stated that is under USGS control.

Mayor Purcell stated there used to be a line on there that would show the top of the flood gates and that has disappeared.

Ihler stated usually when it doesn’ t show it is because the elevation of the lake is below the scale of what is showing on the site and it may be that it doesn’ t show the top of the gate.

Mayor Purcell requested item #28 be addressed.

28.    Consider an ordinance amending Section 22-4-1-415, Division 22-4-1, Article 22-4, Chapter 22, Lawton City Code, 2005, by adding six additional areas to be serviced by the automated refuse collection, providing for severability and declaring an emergency.  Exhibits: Ordinance 2008- ____ and Location Map.

Ihler stated as part of the budget this past year, staff presented areas that consisted of 8,000 carts to be placed.  Unfortunately, from the time the budget was approved the price of the carts has increased.  They are not able to provide carts for the full area that was identified in the budget process.  The ordinance identifies the areas that will be included.  He stated about 7,000 carts should be delivered by the end of the week. This gives them approximately 15,500 carts in the system, which means they are about half way.

the ordinance, read the title only and declaring an emergency.  AYE:  Drewry, Shanklin, Haywood, Warren, Shoemate, Hanna.   NAY: None.  MOTION CARRIED.

(Title read by City Attorney)                    Ordinance 08-63

An ordinance pertaining to utilities amending Section 22-4-1-415, Division 22-4-1, Article 22-4, Chapter 22, Lawton City Code, 2005, by adding a ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth area to be serviced by the automated refuse collection providing for severability, declaring an emergency.

27.     Consider approving Change Order #1 submitted by J.L. Walker Construction, Inc. for the replacement of exterior windows on the south wing of the old Lawton High School,    increasing the Phase II restoration contract by $331,080 and authorizing the Mayor to execute the contract amendment.  Exhibits: Letter from City Manager dated September 8, 2008, Letter from J.L. Walker Construction dated August 29, 2008 and Agenda Item Commentary from May 13, 2008.

Mitchell stated the City Council awarded the Phase II project in May for a low bid base price of $3,981,000 and at the time they had to remove the windows in order to bring the base bid into budget.  The commitment at that time was when the money became available they would proceed with adding the windows to the project.  He is asking the Council for an account transfer of $350,000 from hotel/motel funds to be used as a collateral pledge so that they can go ahead and purchase the windows.  If the windows are not purchased in the month of October, then they will need to go out and rebid the window portion of the project.  He stated the money from the museum project will be not released until the project is started.  He feels that by the time they actually end up needing the money for the windows, they will have the money released from ODOT for the museum project. This is more of a pledge because they need the money in the bank in order to approve the change order.  He does not believe they will actually expend the money.

29.    Consider approving and taking appropriate action, as necessary, for a recommendation to appropriate funding for professional trimming/pruning of the trees at Elmer Thomas Park.

    Exhibits: None.

Shanklin stated he spoke with Kim Shahan, Parks and Recreation Director, because during the storm last week there were many limbs that blew down.  He stated that some of the trees are growing grotesquely and they need to do something to take care of them.  He hopes to take the money out of hotel/motel tax or out of the council contingency fund.

Shoemate questioned if the City trims those trees.

Kim Shahan, Parks and Recreation Department, stated that during the winter months staff will attempt to prune trees as much as possible.

Drewry stated she did drive through the park and there are trees that needed to be pruned.  She questioned if staff can get to all those trees or do they need to get some help.

Shahan stated they will not be able to prune all the trees in the winter in that one particular park because there are multiple parks.

Drewry questioned what had been done in the past?

Shahan stated there has never been any funding directly associated to just pruning trees.  They are just done as they are able to get to them.

Shoemate questioned who would do this pruning and where the figure came from.

Shahan stated the figure is based on $30 per man hour.  It is a three man job for trees of this size, so they are looking at $90 per hour.  

Warren questioned if they would rather do this in house and keep the $25,000 for a fence for the park.

Shahan stated pruning trees is a major task.  He has ten men that do all the mowing and all of the maintenance in all of the parks and the right of ways.  This is an ongoing problem and it is an issue of priority.  They will address what they can, but there will always be somewhere where those trees are not maintained properly.

Warren stated that pruning trees is not a one time deal and if they want to do this they need to start putting this in the budget every year.  He would just as soon not spend the money unless they are going to commit to this every three years or so or they are not going to accomplish anything.

Drewry stated it sounds like they need a budget item year after year because it is not only Elmer Thomas Park, there are parks all over town.

Shanklin stated those trees have not been pruned in 20 years and the reason he did not go to the McMahon Foundation because in 1989 or 1990 when they were trying to gather up around $800,000 to redo McMahon Auditorium, the McMahon Foundation took care of everything and refurbished the auditorium.  He stated these trees have been neglected.

Hanna stated there are many events held in the park and they need to make it look good.

Shahan stated there are 70 large trees he has targeted just on Ferris from 6 ^th to 2^nd Street.

Drewry questioned if they should put this out for bid.

Mayor Purcell questioned if $25,000 was going to come anywhere near taking care of all the trees that need pruning in Elmer Thomas Park.

Shahan stated there is 173 acres in Elmer Thomas Park and this could address just the major size trees.  That is the way they estimated the cost with bidding it out to the private sector.  He stated they do not have the equipment to go out and do a full project like this.

Mayor Purcell suggested they go out for an RFP or RFQ to find out what it will cost to take care of all the trees.  This $25,000 will not accomplish much.

Warren agreed.  They just need to bid this deal out and see what it will cost.

Drewry questioned if they can come up with the money.

Mitchell stated he believes they can get out an RFP pretty quickly and get a bid. This may be a better way to approach it.

Hanna questioned if Shahan had spoken with any tree trimming services.

Shahan stated yes.  That is how they came up with the $90 per hour estimate.

Mayor Purcell stated that they would not know how many trees needed pruning until someone goes out and looks.

Drewry stated they would have to limit the cost to $25,000 for this year and see what they could get done.

Mayor Purcell stated someone has to have some idea of how many trees need to be pruned.

Shanklin stated that there are 70 trees along Ferris.

Mayor Purcell stated they need to identify a source of funding in the motion.

Shanklin suggested that Shahan determine if the money should come out of the Council contingency fund or out of hotel/motel tax.

Mayor Purcell stated this Council has to determine where it is coming from, not Mr. Shahan.

Haywood stated he feels it should come from hotel/motel funds.

Shanklin agreed.

AMENDED MOTION: MOVED by Shanklin, SECOND by Haywood, to appropriate $25,000 out of hotel/motel tax funds for the trimming of trees in Elmer Thomas Park.   

Hanna stated this should be placed in the budget every year so they can keep up with all of the parks.

Drewry stated she does not want to limit this to just the 70 trees on the front, they need to look at what can be done with that amount of money.

Shoemate suggested they pick the worst ones in the park.

VOTE ON THE MOTION:  AYE:  Shanklin, Haywood, Warren, Shoemate, Hanna, Drewry.   NAY: None.  MOTION CARRIED.

30.    Consider approving an Ordinance amending Chapter 22-1-1-102-A(1) and A(2), Lawton City Code, 2005, as amended, increasing the income limits for elderly and disabled persons to qualify for a reduction in utility rates and amending Section 22-1-1-104-C to conform with Section 22-1-1-102-A(2) regarding income level amount, providing severability, and declaring an emergency.  Exhibits: Ordinance 08-___.

Shanklin stated this started back in 1995 or 1996 at a level of $12,000 and it went to $16,000 then $18,000 and then $22,000.   He stated there are approximately 700 currently on this program and they may get another 300 or 400.   He stated many of his constituents could use that extra money every month.  They need to show that they do have respect for the elderly and the handicapped.

Haywood questioned if you can apply for this discount at any time.

Shanklin stated they have to come down here and prove it.

Warren stated that he understood what they have done in the past and he agreed with it, but he does have trouble with the amount at this point.  There are too many people that are single parents that are working making $7 an hour trying to raise a family and we don’ t provide them with anything as a way of helping to offset the fact that they are less fortunate than the rest of us.   He is hard pressed to say that elderly people deserve that money more than that young person trying to raise a family.  There are a lot of people in Lawton, Oklahoma that aren’ t making $22,000 a year and they are trying to raise families and they are trying to put gas in their car and they are trying to do all those things that we all do every day.

Haywood questioned if Councilmember Warren agreed that the elderly should get this break.

Warren stated that he does not think that he could support giving it to elderly and not giving it to somebody else that is trying to make a living that is only making minimum wage.   It is not that he does not think the elderly deserve it, he just doesn’ t think you say they’ re the only ones that are having a hard time.

Hanna stated that the young couple working at McDonald’ s probably chooses to work there because they don’ t want to further themselves by going to school at night.   He stated the elderly can’ t do this.  What if they are sick and have to pay $1,000 a month for medicine.  What are we going to do for them?

Warren stated he could say the same thing about that young person who made a decision to have a job at someplace that didn’ t provide them with insurance. They decided not to buy that insurance, they made those choices.  He stated he is not saying that he is not in favor of this.

Mayor Purcell stated he was on the Council when they started this.  The issue now is whether they raise the wage from $22,000 to $25,000.  He stated someone working minimum wage working 40 hours a week will only make $13,600 a year. Next year when the minimum wage goes up to $7.25 they will be making $15,000.  He stated someone making $10 an hour would be making $20,800 and $11 an hour will make $22,800 which is where we are now. Some of these people are single moms and dads raising one or two children.  He feels they need to leave this at $22,000, otherwise they will be up to $30,000 next year.  What do they do for these other people who are at least in dire straights as the elderly?  If they raise this every year or two they are going to have some real problems and how do you explain that to the other people who are struggling.

Warren stated he would rather they put together a program for people whether they be elderly, disabled or under employed and something that is tied to the poverty level.  Then you have something that is tangible.

Mayor Purcell stated right now, one third of city employees, who some will say are well paid, are in the range of $17,000 to $25,000.   If they move this up to $25,000 one third of our employees would fall into this category.

Haywood stated low income need a break too, but tonight they are talking about the elderly and disabled individuals.  He questioned how much of a discount this would give to these individuals.

Mayor Purcell stated it would be $26.61 a month.

Mitchell stated they may want to take the base annual income of $22,000 and adjust it each year based on the social security cost of living adjustment every January.

Warren stated he could go for the $25,000 if they could attach something that says that in the future the policy will be raised according to the social security increase or something like that so that they don’ t have to revisit this every year.

Mitchell stated that since they are looking at those over 65 years of age, the social security adjustment might be appropriate.

Mayor Purcell stated they will have to change the ordinance at a later date to accomplish Councilmember Warren’ s suggestion.

the ordinance, read the title only and declaring an emergency.  AYE: Shanklin, Haywood, Warren, Shoemate, Hanna, Drewry.   NAY: None.  MOTION CARRIED.

(Title read by City Attorney)                    Ordinance 08-64

An ordinance pertaining to utilities amending Section 22-1-1-102 and 22-1-1-104, Division 22-1-

1 Article 22-1, Chapter 22, Lawton City Code, 2005, by increasing the annual household income

limit for elderly and disabled persons to qualify for a reduction in utility rates, providing for

severability, declaring an emergency.

31.    Discuss any changes Council wishes to make to City Code Section 21-2-1-215 Interference with meters-Averaging charges –  Adjustment of water bill relating to customer requests for utility account adjustments involving unexplained high water consumption and take appropriate action as necessary.  Exhibits: Ordinance 06-85 and Ordinance 08-08 and Minutes from January 8, 2008, Council meeting.

32.    Consider and approve revisions to City Council Policy 7-2, Residential Antidisplacement and Relocation Assistance Plan (RARAP).  Exhibits: The proposed RARAP is on file in the City Clerk’ s office.

Mitchell stated this is a revised plan which has to do with changes in federal and state law regarding relocation and the removal of low and moderate income housing.  The requirement here is that the plan will provide for a one to one replacement of those houses that are removed under any program that we undertake with community development block grant money.

REPORTS: MAYOR/CITY COUNCIL/CITY MANAGER

Shoemate complimented the parents of the children who were up on stage tonight. There are some outstanding parents sitting in the audience tonight.

Drewry stated she participated in a community symposium on service to the community.  Muskogee, Enid, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Lawton participated.  She stated one of the issues was on the topic of voting.  If people do not get out and vote, it just shows they don’ t care for their community, state or government.  It is important that they encourage all the citizens to get out and vote and that they should expect the elected officials not to represent just the republican or democratic parties, but to represent our community and southwest Oklahoma in whatever they do.  If they are going to move forward in Oklahoma they need to forget those lines and start looking at this state.

Hanna stated the school bond issue is coming back for a vote and he encouraged everyone to look at the issue and vote the way they feel.  He feels the Council needs to support this issue.

Mayor Purcell stated there are people in Washington, D.C. watching what this community does to support all three of the items on the ballot.  It will be very important when the next BRAC comes along.  They need to get people out to vote.

Shanklin stated they need to get it passed.  He stated BRAC is not going to make a penny for him but this does not mean he will not support it.   He stated it is going to be a hardship for some people.

COL Bridgford stated he cannot comment one way or another on how to vote on a bond issue but he does disagree with Councilmember Shanklin in that BRAC does affect everyone in the community.  He stated this community has done a terrific job in terms of anticipating BRAC growth.  There has been a lot of houses and apartments built along with other expansion not only in Lawton, but in Elgin as well as the downtown revitalization.  The people who are coming here will go to where the schools are.  Surrounding communities have done a great job of working infrastructure and a great job of working schools and bond issues and hundreds of folks that have been trickling in the past six months have gone outside the Lawton area to where the schools and new facilities are.  He stated housing prices will change in Lawton if everyone goes outside of Fort Sill and there are a lot of houses not being sold and the long term of Lawton-Fort Sill is how well this move comes.  Whether you see it right away or not, it may hit your pocket book down the road in terms of housing prices and the market itself.

Shanklin stated the Chamber president was here a month or so ago and he jumped him out because they did not support the school bond election.  He stated they even put some of that on advalorem.

Mayor Purcell stated the reason it failed is because in Oklahoma it requires a 60% vote for school bond issues and not enough people got out to vote.  He stated those employees who are affected, the county, city and school employees need to get out and vote.  He clarified that BRAC has an impact on this entire community and every single person in it.  If they did not have these 10,000 people coming in they would not see this growth.  BRAC has a major impact on this community and he does not know why anyone would contemplate that it doesn’ t.

There being no further business to consider, the meeting adjourned at 7:44 p.m. upon motion, second and roll call vote.

    ____ /s/ John P. Purcell, Jr.______________

JOHN P. PURCELL, JR., MAYOR

ATTEST:

____ /s/ Traci L. Hushbeck_______________

TRACI HUSHBECK, CITY CLERK