Lawton City Council Live Blog, Nov. 14, 2023

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - This is the live blog of Lawton City Council for the Nov. 14, 2023 meeting. All city council members were present at the start of the meeting.

You can find a pdf of the Council’s full agenda here.

There are some important items that are being discussed during this meeting including item 15, 19, and 22.

15. Consider approving an ordinance pertaining to Animals, amending Section 5-1-101, 5-1-104, 5-1-105.1, 5-1-106, 5-1-111, 5-1-118, and 5-1-120, Article 5-1, Chapter 5, Lawton City Code 2015 and amending Section 5-5-501 and 5-5-508, Article 5-5, Chapter 5, Lawton City Code 2015 by defining redemption period and service animal; establishing City Manager approval for euthanizations within the redemption period; clarifying that large reptiles may be unlawful; allowing for redemption periods to be extended; expanding on service animal allowances; correcting grammatical errors; renumbering as needed; providing for severability; allowing for floor amendments; and establishing an effective date. Attachments: AW ORD

19. Consider directing staff to bring a resolution to raise the rental rates for full-time campers, trailers, boathouses, dry stalls, and wet stalls located at Lake Lawtonka’s recreation areas for calendar year 2024 by an amount not to exceed 25% excluding the five boathouses formerly managed by the School House Slough concessionaire with said rate increases to take effect on January 1, 2024 and direct staff to evaluate the feasibility of a two-tiered fee structure for Lake Lawtonka’s recreation areas, differentiating between Lawton residents and non-residents.

22. Direct staff to evaluate equipment in all City of Lawton parks, come up with a plan to invest $1 million in repairs and upgrades to equipment, provide a proposed budget number for repairs and upgrades that are needed above the $1 million, and bring back a plan and budget to the 1st meeting in January. Concurrently, review the existing plan provided by staff and offer direction as necessary. Attachments: Park Improvement Proposal

After proclamations and a presentation by John Michael Montgomery on the Holiday in the Park, the city asked if any audience members wanted to participate. Multiple individuals came up to speak on behalf of Lawton firefighters, specifically their pay.

There was a bit of a back and forth between city council and one of the speakers who wanted to use more time through a delegation of someone else’s time. That speaker ended up having to sit down.

The Facebook comments sent under the Lawton City Government Facebook page during this time had harsh words for the mayor and city council. Some mentioned their disgust for the council and the mayor, others mentioned how only voting would make changes.

After nine minutes of speaking on this particular subject, the council moved on. No one else came forward to speak.

The consent agenda was then brought forward. One of the items on the consent agenda was approving an employment agreements between the City of Lawton and John Ratliff for the position of city manager. You can view the employment agreement here.

The City Council passed the consent agenda 8-0, after pulling item number 11 for further discussion.

11. Consider award of construction contract to Ellsworth Construction OKC, LLC Dba A-Tech Paving for the City Wide Pavement Rehabilitation Project, City Project No. PW2301 Attachments: Ellsworth Construction Contract

(2:55 p.m.) Item 11 was then discussed.

After officials stated they are wanting to award the bid to Ellsworth for being the lowest bidder, council members took time to make comments.

Mayor Booker said this is 10 wins for the citizens and George Gill, Ward 4 representative, said he was proud of the work that is being done. Mayor Booker then spoke again to say everything has come together and called out names of individuals he felt should be thanked for their efforts.

A motion for approval was made. The council voted 8-0 to pass and approve the awarding of the contract. Only one question was asked by Ward 8 council member, Randy Warren. He asked if striping was included in the contract.

(3:20 p.m.) Item 12 was passed unanimously after a brief presentation by those wanting to bring businesses to the particular address.

12. Hold a public hearing to consider approving an Ordinance for a change of zoning from the R-3 Multiple-Family Dwelling District and R-2 Two-Family Dwelling District to C-5 General Commercial District zoning classification for the property located at 58 NW Sheridan Road, Lawton, OK 73505.

Item 13 was then discussed.

13. Hold a public hearing and consider approving an Ordinance pertaining to planning and zoning by amending section 18-8-1-805, Division 18-8-1, Article 18-8, Chapter 18, Lawton City Code, 2015, relating to amounts of space required by designating the required number of parking spaces required for stadiums, sports fields, and arenas, providing for severability, allowing for floor amendments, and establishing an effective date.

After another brief presentation once more, no questions were asked by council or a member of the public. City council then voted unanimously to approve the item.

Item 14 was then brought forward.

14. Receive a report from staff and Garver Engineering regarding the implementation of the CIP Portal for citizens and take action as deemed necessary.

The company Garver, who gave the presentation has said on their website that, “Garver provided operational assistance, auditing, and input to the City of Lawton, Oklahoma regarding its water and wastewater treatment plants. Our experts were able to streamline operations and improve efficiency at the treatment plants. With their expertise, Garver assisted with improving operations performance and increasing overall plant efficiencies.”

This company also came to Lawton in 2022 to help assist with a STEM camp.

There were some questions for this company, specifically when this program will be ready for the citizens. Mayor Booker as well was Ward 4 member George Gill asked questions.

(3:40 p.m.) Item 15 was then brought forward.

Roy Rodrick from Lawton City Welfare spoke before the council. He said they needed to update the code to meet the standards such as the new policy allowing for miniature horses to be used as service animals. Mayor Booker thought he was joking, but he in fact was not.

The acting city attorney said we night have to table it due to a wrong section being present in the title of the item. The city manger questioned that reality. Mayor Booker said he’d rather be safe than sorry and not vote on the item.

The City Manager said the main driving force behind this wanting of change is due to the OML sending out what they believed to eb the model ordinance for animal welfare.

No vote was taken on this item. Item 16 was then discussed.

16. Consider approving an ordinance pertaining to Animals, amending Section 5-1-120, Article 5-1, Chapter 5, Lawton City Code 2015, by establishing that dogs are not to be left outdoors and unattended for a period exceeding one-half hour when the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, providing for severability, establishing an effective date, and allowing for floor amendments.

Ward 8 member Randy Warren said he was unsure if there would be a case if there are breeds of dogs who prefer the cold and thus, would be better off staying outside for that amount of time during the cold.

Ward 4 member George Gill said he likes the item and asked councilmember Warren if he talked to those dogs that he was referring to.

A motion was made to amend the item to include language to allow for Nordic dogs to be exempt from the item.

That motion was passed 7-1 with Ward 6 member, Robert Weger, voting no.

(4:00 p.m.) Item 17 was then discussed.

17. Receive a detailed report on how the $3 million added to the Streets materials account in the 23/24 budget has been spent and/or obligated thus far and give any direction deemed necessary.

After a short presentation, there was a slight discussion amongst council and the presenter.

Item 18 was then discussed.

18. Consider directing staff to initiate Request for Proposals for the operation and management of the Lake Lawtonka School House Slough convenient store to include the fuel pumps.

After a very brief discussion, the item was approved 8-0.

Item 19 was then brought forward.

(4:25 p.m.) 19. Consider directing staff to bring a resolution to raise the rental rates for full-time campers, trailers, boathouses, dry stalls, and wet stalls located at Lake Lawtonka’s recreation areas for calendar year 2024 by an amount not to exceed 25% excluding the five boathouses formerly managed by the School House Slough concessionaire with said rate increases to take effect on January 1, 2024 and direct staff to evaluate the feasibility of a two-tiered fee structure for Lake Lawtonka’s recreation areas, differentiating between Lawton residents and non-residents.

The presentation given talked a lot about the mount of money being spent keeping up Lake Lawtonka and surrounding area. They also mentioned that with a 25% increase, the rate are still $1,000 below the cheapest RV parks in the area.

The Chairman of the Lakes and Lands then spoke before the council. He said they would be in favor of increasing prices as long as the sewage and water system out there be improved amongst other things.

Mayor Booker said we all have the same goal of wanting a nice lake with nice amenities, we just might disagree on how to get there.

Mayor Booker said he would like to see this approved as well as a plan for $3 million for use to upgrade amenities at the lake.

The presenter said this will be a 25% increase every year, for three years.

A motion was made to make sure a plan and resolution is brought to council for rate increases over the next three years before an actual vote on the rate increase takes place.

The motion was approved 8-0.

(4:40 p.m.) Item 20 was then discussed by council.

20. In conjunction with the proposed increases to the lease rates at the Lake Lawtonka recreation areas, consider directing staff to initiate a Request for Proposals for the installation of WiFi services at the Lake Lawtonka School House Slough recreational area.

Mayor Booker said this should be included in $3 million dollar plan resolution as well as item 21.

21. In conjunction with the proposed increases to the lease rates at the Lake Lawtonka recreation areas, consider directing staff to initiate a Request for Proposals for the repair and upgrades to the waterline system serving the Lake Lawtonka recreation areas.

Item 22 was then brought forward.

Larry Parks gave the presentation. He said there are issues with some Lawton Parks including chipped paint, surfacing issues, vandalism, dilapidated bathrooms, lack of shade, and lack of benches.

Parks further said this is just a drop in the bucket, and more parks need improvements.

Mayor Booker said it didn’t take long for Parks to learn the way of municipal government because he has an improvement for a park in every ward.

Two plan options with two different price ranges were given to council. The more expensive one would cost the city $1,525,350, while the cheaper plan would cost $950,500. Parks said the more expensive one would allow the city to fix things easier.

Mayor Booker told the council he’d prefer the more expensive one. They would have to find the money within the budget.

A motion was made to put together a plan for the more expensive option. The council voted 8-0 to approve the motion.