“We want to do what’s best for the town,” Mayor Cecilia Taft said during Tuesday night’s Special Meeting of the Luther Public Works Authority in which the board chose the highest bid to bring generators to the Town to help in emergencies.
The board was pulled together for a special meeting to open bids for generators that will be partially paid for through grant from the town from the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. With a quorum of three members, (Birlene Langley and Ron Henry were absent), the board unsealed two bids. Even though the grant is for $79,000, both bids tonight exceeded that amount. And the board voted to go with the higher bid, saying the user-friendly and versatile aspects offered by the higher bid were a better choice.
The company, Texoma Power LLC, from Ardmore was awarded the bid for approximately $117,855 for three generators to service the town in times of power outages – ensuring power would be maintained to water and sewer systems, and to the fire department. After the meeting, town trustees said the issue of funding the generators beyond the grant award, at about $35,000, will be taken up at another meeting. The September Treasurer’s Report presented at the Town Meeting listed the LPWA General Fund balance at nearly $46,000, and it’s Rainy Day Fund at $300.
Benton Ray, owner of Texoma Power, drove to Luther for the meeting and answered many questions. He assured the trustees his staff will train town employees on how to run the generators, and more importantly, keep up the maintenance. The other bid was from Imajunes Inc., from Broken Arrow. Trustees called the owner of that company to ask questions about his bid during deliberations.
The new bids for the generators were issued following an August meeting of LPWA, recounted here from The Luther Register:
SPECIAL MEETINGS. The LPWA held a Special Meeting August 17, in which the board agreed to scrap current bids for town generators that are to be paid for by a $79,000 grant from The Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG). It’s because the bids for five generators came in over the grant amount. New Town Trustee Andy McDaniels suggested that instead of five generators, the town seek to just get three – one to cover the fire station, one to cover the water tower, and one to travel on a trailer to meet the other needs. Fire Chief Jason Miller, who inherited making sure the town followed through on the grant after some employee turnover, said McDaniels solution should get the job done to ensure the town could maintain water and sewer service during a power outage. The board voted unanimously to re-seek bids to accommodate the new plan.
The LPWA Board will meet again to finalize the generator deal to satisfy the grant specifications before a December deadline.
In other news, the LPWA Trustees tonight voted to allow Mayor Taft to sign final paperwork on the sale of the 112 S Main building. The Town sold the historic building to Pam and Jesse Simmons who plan to open an antique and home furnishing store with booth to rent.
The Luther Register broadcast the meeting on Facebook Live and had about 100 viewers. However, we will broadcast the next meeting using Pericope.
