Council Takes No Action on Legal Counsel

(Above, Mayor Carolyn Nuckolls presents an award honoring Jim Reiling at Employee of the Month, at this week's Council meeting. Reiling is gas foreman in the utility department.) (At Top, the city's only bridge rated "deficient" by an engineering firm, located on Main Street over Spring Creek Branch).

The Grove City Council and its attorney spent an hour and a half in Executive Session at Tuesday's meeting but took no action on either item. Council discussed, according to the Agenda, a pending claim directed to the City Council in the form and substance of a Taxpayers' demand for recovery of public funds, and a discussion of the Grand Lake Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #171 negotiations as authorized under state statutes.

Honored as Employee of the Month at the meeting was Jim Reiling, Gas Foreman in the utility maintenance department.

Council agreed to waive the standard $1,000 per day rental fee for the Northeast Oklahoma Kenel Club's annual dog show, and authorized a grant application for the Grove Fire Department for the purchase of a new rescue truck with the city paying 10% of the cost; also included was hiring of new personnel under the SAFER Grant which allows the city to budget additional full time employees for four years, with the city paying 100% of the cost for the fifth year and thereafter.

Council also approved $2,000 for foundation design for a "Welcome to Grove" sign at Sailboat Bridge, and declared Saturday, April 8 as "YMCA Healthy Kids Day." Council also heard a report from city manager Bill Galletly on the city's bridge inspections from Kelly Engineering & Associates, Inc. which showed only one of the city's bridges structurally deficient. This bridge is at Spring Branch Creek on Main Street north of Highway 59. Estimated cost to fix it is $270,000, according to Kelly Engineering.

A presentation from Ron Cottrell of Carlson & Cottrell, CPA's was made to Council regarding the city's annual financial audit (see separate story).