The five-year plan includes oiling and chipping various roads in District 1, the east end of the county, for a total of $202,000. In District 2, which is the west half of the county, the five-year plan includes asphalt overlays and chipping and sealing various county roads, for a total of $1,526,548. In District 3, the central portion of the county, the plan includes chipping and sealing various county roads for a total of $213,000. The estimated total for road improvements over the next five years is over $1.9 million.
For 2006, the three commissioners reported $699,832.09 in highway appropriations were spent for labor, equipment and fuel. District 1 Commissioner Bruce Tabor, commission board chairman, reported that the projects listed in the five-year priority plan for 2006 were accomplished with highway funds and sales tax money. County government gets a half-cent sales tax for county road improvements.
The commissioners approved an agreement for the administration of the use tax, which is the sales tax money collected for various projects, based upon the approval of the district attorney's office of the agreement. The agreement, which is a yearly contract with the state to administer the taxes, Tabor said, includes a half-cent tax for the jail, the half-cent tax for the county roads, and a quarter-cent tax for county volunteer fire departments. Tabor explained the money is collected and returned to the county by the state.
The commissioners also approved the Sequoyah County Rural Fire Department Tax Board by-laws, based upon their approval by the district attorney's office. Tabor explained the county board, made up of rural fire department representatives, will help distribute the collected sales tax to the fire departments.
Charles "Chuck" Wyckoff, member of the Sequoyah County 9-1-1 board, explained to the commissioners that the 9-1-1 board was having to charge the Brent Volunteer Fire Department for a radio frequency so that the volunteer firefighters could receive the 9-1-1 calls.
Brent Fire Department officials have said in the past that they are not receiving the 9-1-1 dispatch signals. They received permission from Rural Water District No. 4 to place an antenna on the water district's water tower on top of Wild Horse Mountain, south of Sallisaw, for better reception. The installation of the antenna is underway, Margola Vix, fire department spokeswoman, said.
The commissioners approved a plat for the Heather Oaks Addition, which is off Will Morgan Road between Muldrow and Roland. Connie and Ron Riddle are building the addition, which will have 10 new homes.
Tabor noted that the addition's roads will not be considered county roads. County roads in such additions must be built to county specifications, inspected and in use for at least a year before homeowners can ask the additions' roads be accepted into the county roads system.
