| Tuesday night, City manager Ted Graham reported the most recent sales tax retune amounted to $205,411.65. That is a $7,603.44 drop from a year ago. It comes on the heels of the May return that was up nearly $20,000 from 2014. Breaking down the distribution, Graham said $77,029 would be given to the general government operations, $51,352 to the municipal authority, $68,470 for restricted funds and $8,558 to the Henryetta Economic Development Authority. |  |
| Money was on the minds of council members as they heard Graham report repairs to the water storage tank east of town could run over $7 million. "If you go back with a concrete redo, we have an estimate form $3.6 million, $4 million, a complete package is $7 million." When asked about earlier estimates of $1 million, Graham said there is a problem with lead-based paint. "The way it has to be remediated is close to the $1 per gallon cost. We have a report that it has lead-based paint." He said any work on the existing tank would involve removal of the paint before any construction could be done. Henry Koelzer said there was an estimate of $600,000 to $700,000 involved cutting about a foot off the existing tank and lowering the roof. He said the city has received some preliminary cost estimates for residual lagoons running from $1.9 to $2.3 million. That would construct drying beds for the sludge created by treating water from Jim Hall Lake. Graham told the council rains have created problems treating the water. "We have an algae bloom at the lake," he said. He explained the temperature causes the lake to "turn over" requiring additional treatment. The city manager said the turnover is occurring nearly every day due to inflow of water from rains. In May, the city has received a total of 24.8 inches of rain. He told the council the Crazy Snake Festival was an, "overall success," but it, "was unfortunate the National Weather Service put out a lightning warning." Mayor Jennifer Clason said refunds are still available for ticket buyers. The VIP ticket holders need to take a photo of their bracelet and email it to Levelland Productions at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to receive an email. He said talks are planned with Levelland to possibly hold a concert on the Friday before the Labor Day weekend. Following a 90-minute executive session, the council voted to limit city manager spending to $5,000. Anything more than that, must be brought before the council. | |
