Municipal Authority allocates more funds, alters fee schedule

The Sallisaw Municipal Authority has approved additional funds for the wastewater treatment plant bar screen project, and updated the city master fee schedule related to new electric and water connections.

A change order for the wastewater treatment plant bar screen project was approved in the amount of $21,000, which increased the project price to more than $500,000.

“Approval of this change order will provide for the installation of an additional manual bar screen which is needed to remove debris at the highwater mark in the basin,” Keith Miller, city building development director, told the SMA board. “For safety reasons, an extension of the platform and walkway is needed to access the second tier of the bar screen. The additional concrete is for the support of the walkway.”

City Manager Keith Skelton said the original contract price of $445,009 plus the additional $21,000 brings the new contract price to $502,009, “which includes a previously approved change order in the amount of $36,500.”

SMA also approved a resolution providing for updates to the city master fee schedule.

“This update addresses connection fees associated with new electric and water connections,” Skelton told the SMA. “Given the current volatility of the cost of electric and water materials, it has become increasingly hard to calculate new connection costs.

“This update removes the set costs of connections and lists connection fees as ‘At cost plus 8% to cover portions of labor.’ As new connections are needed, the last purchase order issued for the materials will be used to calculate the fees required for new electric and water connections. These changes are noted in Section 4 of the master fee schedule.”

Skelton stipulated that “the ‘plus 8%’ does not apply to the purchase costs of commercial transformers.”

In end-of-the-year housekeeping, SMA approved regular meeting dates for 2023 to be the second Monday of each month, immediately following the City Commissioners meeting.

Immediately following the SMA meeting, the Sallisaw Library Authority met and approved regular meeting dates for 2023 to be the second Monday of each month, immediately following the Sallisaw Municipal Authority meeting.

The Sallisaw Industrial Finance Authority then met and approved regular meeting dates for 2023 to be the second Monday of each month, immediately following the Sallisaw Library Authority meeting.

Finally, the Sallisaw Economic Authority convened and approved regular meeting dates for 2023 to be the second Monday of each month, immediately following the Sallisaw Industrial Finance Authority meeting.