The Ponca City Board of Commissioners held their regular session on Jan. 23, 2023. Mayor Homer Nicholson called the meeting to order. In attendance were Commissioners Bodick, Chapman, Scott, and Taylor.

The City Commission approved the items on the consent agenda which are deemed to be non-controversial and routine in nature and are approved by one motion. The approved items include the following: - The minutes of the regular session held on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2023.

- A resolution appropriating money for payment of claims against the City of Ponca City - A resolution of the Board of the City of Ponca City amending the operating budgets of various funds for Fiscal Year 2022-23 - A resolution of the Board of the City of Ponca City appointing members to various boards and commission, and establishing the terms of office thereof - A resolution waiving City Code Sec. 7-1-4 (the number of garage sales in a given year) for a City-Wide Garage Sale Day on Saturday, April 22, and waiving the $5 permit fee in conjunction with the City’s Annual Spring Cleanup which will be held April 22 to April 29.

- Authorizing and directing the Finance Director to make an initial payment to Medalcraft Mint, Inc. for Ponca City medallions in the amount of $3,054.47.

Item number 8 on the agenda was removed as it needed further work and will be on a later agenda. That item read as such: “Consider and vote on a resolution by the Board of Commissioners of the City of Ponca City, Oklahoma waiving the connection fee for a new water meter serving the Ponca City Soccer Complex located at 4134 Lake Road.

The next item on the agenda consisted of City Manager Craig Stephenson’s report.

The Christmas Tree Recycling Area will have mulch available to the public on Thursday, Jan. 26, until it is gone.

The Senior Resource Network of Northern Oklahoma will have a presentation on “Seasons of Aging” on Saturday, Jan. 28 from 11 am to 12 pm at the First Presbyterian Church on East Grand Avenue.

Preparations for Fiscal Year 2023-24 are underway and a kick-off meeting with staff and department heads was held on Jan. 23. They will have a Work Session meeting on Feb. 6 to discuss the budget process and where they will be for the upcoming fiscal year.

Animal Control numbers for 2022 are in and they have received a total of 899 animals and have released 824 or 91.7%, while euthanizing 75 animals or 8.3%. The City of Ponca City has a goal to establish a no-kill facility by 2025 in cooperation with the Northern Oklahoma Humane Society (NOKHS). To be considered a no-kill facility, The City of Ponca City and NOKHS must have a placement rate of 90% or higher. Nokill does not mean that no euthanasia will occur. Most of the animals euthanized are those that are diseased or vicious in behavior.

Development Services Director Chris Henderson shared information with the Commissioners to vote on an ordinance amending Title 10 of the City Code of Ponca City by the addition of a new Chapter 12 entitled “Registration of Roofing Contractors” that would provide registration requirements, a registration process, fees and renewals, general liability and worker’s compensation insurance requirements, penalties for violations, and repealer and severability.

The Commissions previous spoke with Henderson during a work session held on Tuesday, Jan. 17 to discuss an ordinance that would require all roofing contractors doing business in Ponca City to be registered with the city. This ordinance would also provide penalties for non-compliance.

Within the past year, city staff have been alerted to two incident where elderly citizens were taken advantage of by roofing contractors. In both of these instances, the contractors were not licensed with the State of Oklahoma.

Since 2010, the State of Oklahoma has required roofing contractors to be licensed by the Construction Industries Board (CIB) for the purpose of protecting the healthy, safety and welfare of the public by regulating various skilled trades such as pluming, electrical, mechanical and roofing. CIB only has two inspectors covering the entire state, which resulted in some cities have adopted local ordinances to require the registration of roofing contractors.

Henderson shared that there are 14 local roofing contractors that are licensed by the state, and of those, only six are in good standing.

This ordinance would require roofing contractors to be registered with the City of Ponca City. Ponca City already requires the registration of those working in construction trades, and it is common for staff to issue citations to out of town and out of state tradesmen who have not registered with the city.

The Commissioners voted to approve the ordinance.

The Commissioners also approved a resolution setting initial and annual fees for the registration of roofing contractors in the City of Ponca City, which will take effect 30 days after publication. This was a companion item to the ordinance.

City Engineer Jim Fairbanks was on hand to discuss the next item. The Commissioners would vote upon Change Order 1 and the final payment for the “Street and Water Line Improvement Project, Third Street - Walnut Avenue to Oklahoma Avenue”, Project No. SST 22-1 to Ellsworth Construction OKC DBA A-Tech Paving in the deduct amount of $2,902.69 and the final payment in the amount of $27,831.87.

This project began on July 5, 2022. The project has thus far put in a trench box inlet at both intersection to allow for more capacity to get runoff away from the streets and into the storm sewer system. They have also replaced the old clay pipe under that section of street.

In total, this project combined street repair and improvements, storm sewer improvements, and water line improvements.

This item required a companion item in the Ponca City Utility Authority (PCUA) meeting, because it was using different funds.

The Commissioners voted to approve the item. The City Commissioners then voted to adjourn their meeting and convene into the PCUA meeting.

The Commissioners voted to approve the consent agenda items including the minutes of the Jan. 9 session, a resolution appropriating money for the payment of claims against PCUA, and the companion item for Change Order 1 and the final payment for the “Street and Water Line Improvement Project, Third Street - Walnut Avenue to Oklahoma Avenue”, Project No. SST 22-1 to Ellsworth Construction OKC DBA A-Tech Paving in the deduct amount of $2,902.69 and the final payment in the amount of $27,831.87.

The Commissioners then voted to adjourn the PCUA meeting.