$6 surcharge to be removed from water bills

The $6 monthly surcharge on water bills will be taken off on the September water bills.
That charge was put in force to pay toward the audit that will be held by the state. The cost of that audit is expected to run between $50,000 and $75,000.
Even though the audit has not started, it is expected to take place some time this year. “We know the audit is coming. We don’t know how much it is going to cost,” Jennifer Clason said.
“We have had multiple people come requesting it to be removed,” she added.
The dilapidated wooden fishing dock at Nichols park is going to be replaced.
old dock Tuesday night, Henryetta council members approved an $11,300 expenditure to put in a floating fishing pier.
That money is going to be reimbursed by the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance as one of the projects the group is taking on at the park.
The Alliance members came to Nichols in June and met with city officials to determine the scope of the project.
The new dock will be coming from Beaver Docks in Norman. No date was given when it would be installed.
Council members gave their support to a $64,000 request from the Henryetta Economic Development Authority (HEDA). That money will be spent over a several years long period as part of a grant to get a new doctor to come to town.
Under the terms of the grant, the money would be paid out at the end of each year the doctor completes his practice in the community. It would be spent to help the new physician pay off his student loans and would be put with a grant from the Physician Manpower Training Commission.
The incentive would be to get him to live and be a doctor and see patients in Henryetta, said HEDA chairman Keith Estes. He said the doctor
Questioned about the economic benefit to Henryetta
The grant is required to dependent upon locally-raised funds, said Estes. He could be funded through the hospital authority but Clason said the hospital authority is in the process of a doing an emergency room remodel that is going to be around $3 million. “That would deplete what the hospital authority has in the event of an emergency,” she said.
“This pays off his student loan. said HEDA member Jim Beymer. “He has to show at the end of the year he has paid it on his student loan.”
It is a four year period maximum with the feds paying a larger amount. the first year he would pay about $18,000 and go up a percentage each year.
“Everything we put in is matched more than 100 percent by the government,” Estes added.
Dee Renshaw, Henryetta Hillcrest hospital administrator, explained the program is designed to get more doctors in rural hospitals. If the doctor left before the program was completed, the funds would not be spent.
That grant request was authorized by HEDA members at their June 10 meeting.
Also approved was a request by HEDA for $25,000 for construction of restroom facilities at the Main Street tennis courts. Clason said the project has been a, “huge asset to the city of Henryetta.” She pointed out there are always people at the courts.
lion Ron McAfee asked the council for help moving a pair of concrete lion statues that were donated. The statues would be placed at the entrance to the McCutcheon Park parking area then an arch constructed over it. He said the Lions club has purchased the statues and would donate them to the park.
Council members said that can be coordinated between the Lions Club and city crews. No date was given when the statues would be in place.
Firemen were given authorization to replace any broken flag pole lines for various businesses in town.
The council gave approval to tear down a house at 409 West Gentry. The home, once owned by Milton and Louise Kilgore, was called dilapidated by code enforcement officer Jody Agee.
Clason said city crews are working with DEQ to find the best place to put in the prefabricated bathroom facility at Nichols Park. The facility is going to be connected to one of four of the current septic tanks at the park.
City workers have spent some $6,000 on the HOTT trails at Nichols and Clason said last month the city received $3,409. To date the city has spent some $6,000 to work on it. The trails have generated over $22,000 in revenue to the town. “How much tax revenue we will never know,” Clason said.
She pointed out sales tax receipts are down because of the completion of construction work that was affecting sales during the past year. “We had two years of construction that filled our motels. If you look back we are not down compared to where we were at the start of construction. It’s important for people to buy local and stay local,” she said.
The city budget was based on lower sales tax revenues.