The approved a survey done by Kelly Engineering of Tahlequah on what is known as Indian Road, in District 2, north of Vian. District 1 Commissioner Steve Carter said the survey was part of the county's plans to work with the Cherokee Nation on resurfacing the road. The project, planned for 2010, is expected to cost about $500,000, Carter said, and the tribe will pay for the project.
The commissioners approved soil testing done by Geotech over Big Skin Bayou in District 1, in preparation for construction of a new bridge in the future.
They also approved pre-testing for construction of a new bridge on old Highway 64 by the golf course in Sallisaw. District 3 Commission Mike Huff said the plan for the replacement of that bridge is also in the far future.
After the commission meeting, the commissioners and Sheriff Johnny Philpot met as members of the Sequoyah County Criminal Justice Authority, which operates the jail.
Christine Calbert, jail administrator, reported 107 prisoners were being held at the jail, with "one or two illegals waiting formal charges."
In the last few weeks, the arrest of illegal immigrants pressured the jail's financial resources, but most of the illegal immigrants have been picked up by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Calbert said.
Calbert also told authority members that the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) had sent a sick inmate to the county jail for holding, and the county jail is having to pay for guards while the inmate is hospitalized in Tulsa.
"We are not supposed to get anyone with any medical conditions at all," Calbert said about the county's contract with the state to hold non-violent prisoners. The county gets about $33 a day to hold prisoners for the state.
The prisoner, Calbert said, "...told DOC personnel he had problems but they just went ahead and sent him here anyway."
Calbert said she could not, by law, reveal the man's illness, but she added, "It was something that needed to be taken care of."
Authority members said they had no choice but to provide guards for the hospitalized prisoner, but that Calbert should contact DOC about reimbursement.
