Sequoyah County Commissioners approved several bids last Monday, including one for $40,000 to a private contractor to prepare the Hazard Mitigation Policy for Sequoyah County Emergency Management, along with discussions or actions on other items pertaining to the agenda.
Jonathan Teague, deputy director of Sequoyah County Emergency Management, said the Hazard Mitigation Policy provides a plan in the event of a disaster such as most recently, the Moffett flood and must be updated every five years. The enormous amount of work, meetings and research, involved to develop the policy which is several inches in stack can be costly, Teague said. Teague said a hazard mitigation policy would provide a plan in place within the policy manual to deal with a major disaster should one occur again in Sequoyah County.
The amount, contingent upon the DA’s approval, does not include additional costs such as gas or any other expenditures involved in completing the policy, Teague said, “So we may be looking at about $45,000 or $46,000 in total costs.”
In other business, commissioners approved two annual “Interlocal Agreements” between District 1 and the town of Muldrow and Roland Schools to provide services to the town and school when needed.
Also approved was a bid of $33,194.00 submitted by Blue Ribbon Auto to purchase an SUV for the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office to be used by the Crime Victim’s Unit.
During citizen’s presentation, Teague mentioned excessive heat warnings for the next few days and advised those who must be outdoors to take precautions. Excessive heat has prompted early football practices and later ballgames while cancelling some games, and also early trash pickups and some businesses to make adjustments to their work schedules, according to some of the comments.
Teague did say a cold front is expected next week with temperatures dropping to the 80s. He also mentioned an oncoming tropical storm in Texas which may affect the weather in Oklahoma.
Sequoyah County Sheriff Larry Lane Jr. reported schools in Sequoyah County now have seven SROs (School Resource Officers). Lane said he has met with superintendents from the schools and is requesting with the “new monies” coming into the schools, they can help with costs of providing SRO services for the students and staff.
Lane said it is costly to train, uniform, provide vehicles and find officers to do the work, and hopes there will be some positive feedback into obtaining help from the schools with additional costs.
He also spoke about insurance for the jails and how one lawsuit could wipe out any insurance the jails may have, using one as a prime example. Lawsuits could also cause an increase in local taxes to defer the cost, Lane said.
Jim Rogers, Dist. 3 Commissioner, commended Lane and how the Sequoyah County Jail serves as an example for other jails in the state.
“I think Larry does a fine job of making sure our jails are taken care of. Our jail is ranked in the high 70s and there’s 77 jails in the state,” Rogers said.
Charles House, undersheriff for the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office, reported his recent attendance to learn about electric automobiles and if they would be beneficial for the sheriff’s office. After explaining some of the advantages and disadvantages of the automobiles, House and Lane both agreed electric automobiles would not work at this time.
