CHICKASHA — City staff was authorized to solicit bids on a water distribution system improvement project, and a zoning change to allow expansion of a recreational vehicle park on the south side of town was approved by the City Council.
Documents indicate one water line will be installed on Missouri Avenue between Third and Fourth streets. Another will be constructed along Virginia Avenue from Shepherd to Henderson and along Henderson from Virginia to the alley. If the costs are reasonable, the line on Henderson may be extended from the alley to Tennessee Avenue.
The projects will include curb and gutter replacement, pavement repairs, and installation of fire hydrants and valves, bid specifications show.
• A 1.5-acre tract of land at 402 W. Almar Drive was rezoned from R-1 residential to C-2 General Commercial, which cleared the way for phase 5 of Pecan Grove RV Resort at 600 W. Almar Drive. The application was submitted by Walter Glen Snedeker and his wife, Gina.
The newly rezoned tract will accommodate “about 14 to 16” RV sites, he said. Their first phase was platted in 2013 and the RV park has since expanded to 108 sites, Snedeker said. The RV park has electricity and natural gas, is plumbed with municipal water and sanitary sewer lines, and has asphalt parking spaces, the couple’s application shows.
Over the past decade the RV park has grown from an increase in transient workers, visitors to Chickasha and Oklahoma, and full-time travelers such as “snowbirds” who travel south in the summer and north in the winter, Snedeker told Southwest Ledger.
“We’ve been very blessed,” he said.
• The city council also approved a request to allow the annual Juneteenth Celebration to be held June 16-17 in Washita Valley Park, and waived all fees associated with the event. The celebration was suspended for the past two or three years because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Chris Mosley noted.
• The city received notification that its service fees for membership in the Oklahoma Municipal League increased almost 15%.
OML Executive Director Mike Fina notified the City of Chickasha that its service fees for Fiscal Year 2023-24 will be $19,208. The city’s OML dues were $16,726 in FY 2022-23 and $14,714 in FY 2018-19, records show.
A municipality’s OML service fees are based on a formula whose factors include the town’s population, sales tax receipts and the local sales tax rate.
On its website the OML says it is recognized as “the unified voice of 586 Oklahoma municipal governments in assisting in shaping policy at the state and federal levels.”
The OML provides training for city officials; lobbies at the state Capitol on legislation that affects municipalities; supplies handbooks for city officials, including planning commissioners and city councilors; compiles a salary and benefits survey and a municipal utility costs survey; and participates in legal and regulatory proceedings and filing legal documents on behalf of OML members.
• The city council also voted to readvertise for bids on oil and gas mining leases on 440 city-owned acres in Caddo County. The sale/auction was advertised about a month ago but failed to attract any bidders, City Manager Keith Johnson indicated.