Local/Area News

Three Henryetta city council seats will be up for election April 6, 2021.
At the December council meeting, the election notice was approved with the wards 3 and 4 and counselor at large positions declared open for filing.
Currently Janna Dugan is the ward 3 councilmember, Jennifer Munholland is ward 4 incumbent and Michael Dickey fills the at large spot. He was appointed to that council seat last April.
The filing period for city council starts Monday, Feb. 1, 2021 and will end at 5 p.m., Feb. 3. To be eligible for the wards 3 and 4 spots, a person must live within the ward boundaries. The At Large position is open to anyone living within the Henryetta city limits.
At the Monday meeting, council members approved a $98,371.30 bid to replace a sewer line on Warren Road. The project has been several years in the works. “We have a lot of old sewer lines in town,” said Munholland.
Also gaining approval was $14,929 to purchase a mixer for the water department. The city currently only has one mixer but is required to have a second one as backup. “We can’t order these overnight,” Munholland said.
Another large payment, this $13,450 to Centerpoint Landfill was approved by the council. That covers the monthly trash service by the city. Rates to the city went up two years ago resulting in an increase to local resident. Four years ago in December the city was charged $9,300. Over the past 12 months, the city has spent $164,400.
Issues with water meter reading were brought up following receipt of a letter from a city resident complaining about a higher water bill.
City clerk/interim city manager Donna White said meters are read every month unless the person charged with that task is pulled off to help with another issue. “Our policy allows reading meters every other month in some cases then estimating the bill,” she said.
Munholland told the council a long term goal is to purchase electronic meters that can be read by a person driving by the meters instead of opening each meter site. She said those meters are expensive and the city has budgeted $25,000 to pay for them. Those new meters are installed when old meters go bad. About 25 percent of the meters have been replaced.
City officials are working with engineers to determine what repairs need to be done to the spillway at Henryetta lake. A number of pipes within the concrete and earthen spillways have corroded over the years and need to be replaced. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board has been brought into the discussion about the repairs.
Counselor Dugan asked if an issue with loose dogs has been addressed.
“We are picking up dogs,” said police chief Steve Norman. He said the city spends about $1,000 each month with dogs being transported to a no-kill shelter in Pittsburg County. “We may need to come up with new ordinances,” said councilor Dickey.
“We don’t have a dog problem, we have a dog ownership problem,” Norman said. “How many people have come into city hall to get tags,” he asked.
Council members agreed to allow Trampas and Sherry Parker to use Nichols Park for their vintage motorcycle races next year.
Over 600 racers attended the race in November and Munhollad pointed out the increase in sales tax revenue was due in part to that event. 
The early request was made to allow the Parkers ample time to advertise the upcoming event.

Henryetta school board members put the scheduled evaluation of Henryetta superintendent Dwayne Noble off for a month at the Monday night regular meeting.
“We are not in full attendance tonight and we are trying to get everybody’s opinion,” said board president James Williams. Board member David Bullard was not present for the regular December meeting. That decision was reached after the board adjourned into executive session for only eight minutes.
In other business, the question of attendance at basketball games was brought up. Earlier this week, Gov. Kevin Stitt had mandated only four tickets are to be issued for each player and attendance is limited to only 50 percent of gymnasium capacity.
“I’m wondering how they will get the tickets,” said Williams. “Some schools get them early with parents calling and saying they are for a certain player.” He said the Henryetta gym can hold up to 1,700 people.
Noble went on to say he is going to be meeting with other administrators and coaches around the county to discuss the annual Okmulgee County basketball tournament.
Two air conditioning units for the gymnasium are expected to arrive around the end of December but work installing them would not take place until after basketball season.
Board members approved a plan by the music department to sell tickets for their musical. Noble said funds from those sales would be used to cover the cost of purchasing the rights for the music.

Oklahoma Senate President Greg Treat R-Oklahoma City, has named Roger Thompson to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee when the legislature convenes in February.roger thompson
“This is both an honor and a tremendous responsibility, one that I do not take lightly,” Thompson said.
“Ultimately, the state budget impacts every single person in our state. When we talk about appropriations, we’re talking about the funds that support our schools, roads and bridges, public safety, health, mental health and services for some of our most vulnerable citizens. But unlike the federal government, Oklahoma’s constitution mandates that we must write and approve a balanced budget.”
Last year, Oklahoma’s revenues were impacted by low energy prices and by the COVID-19 pandemic—factors that continue to affect revenue collections in the state. The Legislature also faces the additional challenge of funding Medicaid expansion, which was approved by voters last June. The latest projections are that the expansion will cost the state an additional $165 million to $247 million in Fiscal Year 2022, which begins next July 1.
Thompson said Oklahoma’s Board of Equalization will meet on Dec. 18 to make its initial certification of how much money will be available to appropriate in the coming budget year.
“We face significant challenges, but this is the job we signed on to do on behalf of our fellow Oklahomans. We’re tasked with being the best stewards possible of our state resources, and I’m confident in the talent, abilities and dedication of my fellow members,” Thompson said.
Sen. Roger Thompson can be reached at 405-521-5588 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The first snowfall of the year covered Henryetta and Okmulgee County with over two inches of wet, white beauty Sunday. According to police motorists have been careful in town and only a couple of minor mishaps reported on the highways around the area. No injuries were reported in those accidents. Police are urging drivers to be extra cautious overnight and into Monday since much of the slush on the highways is expected to freeze. City crews were out early sanding down some intersections and closing off Fifth and Third Street hills. The snow didn't sotp some families from having fun sledding down the hills at Nichols or, in the case of Tabor and Greenlie Jones, from building snowmen, some about as tall as their parents.

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Santa in the form of a check from the Oklahoma Tax Commission was good to the city of Henryetta this month.
The monthly sales tax distribution for December amounted to $252,881.79, a $20,000 gain from a year ago.
That finished out the calendar year for the town with $2,971,496 well ahead of the $2,816,203 received last year.
Over the past ten years, Henryetta has seen a mostly positive growth in sales tax receipts. In 2010, the 12-month total from January through December amounted to $2,447,996. As 2020 comes to an end, the town finished with $2,971,486. Most of those ten years showed monthly gains although three months, February, March and May of 2020 saw the sales tax check lower than the same time a year ago. In 2017, ten out of the 12 months posted declines.
Use tax monies, those spent primarily on online purchases, again finished out the year on a positive note.
The December use tax check amounted to $44,139 compared to $26,680 a year ago. That ten-year gain went from $97,323 in 2010 to $323,329 this year.
Dewar banked a check for $11,831, a $1,000 gain from 2019 and helped the town end on a $9,786 positive note.
Around the area, Okmulgee received $588,392, up nearly $40,000 from a year ago; Okemah $111,772, a gain from $97,789; Weleetka $12,976, down from $16,624; Morris $20,098 compared to $26,353 last year; Beggs $43,339 up from $33,389; Dustin $7,918 compared to $4,577 a year ago; Checotah $382,227 up from $380,838.
Statewide, the disbursement of $154,648,811 in sales tax collections returned to the cities and towns reflected an increase of $4,830,778 from the $159,479,589 distributed to the cities and towns in December last year.