The new mayor of Luther is Jenni White. At the new town board’s first meeting, her fellow trustees voted White as mayor and Jason Roach as vice mayor. Both were elected in April along with Paxton Cavin and Trandy Langston. Ron Henry is the fifth trustee.
“Thank you. I appreciate that. The agenda has my name on it a lot but it wasn’t just me; the whole board worked on this,” White said before presiding over the 30 item agenda at the May 9 meeting.
If you didn’t watch the meeting on the Luther Register’s FB page, highlights of the meeting are recounted here:
- Voted to approve spending $85 each for new trustees to participate in required training by the Oklahoma Municipal League, unless any trustee wants to pay for it personally.
- Approved new ordinance to allow public comments prior to each agenda item during meetings.
- Approved a new ordinance to hold town meetings in ADA-compliant structures
- Moved to get up to date on codifying town ordinances since the last known official update was in 2011
- Approved new policy for meetings.
- Each trustee became a liaison for five Town branches of oversight by a drawing:
- Paxton Cavin – police department
- Trandy Langston – planning commission
- Ron Henry – Town Hall
- Jenni White – fire department
- Jason Roach – LPWA
- Squared up to pay the Luther School District $25 each time the (ADA compliant) Community Center is used for meetings
- Nominated Herbert Keith to Planning Commission
- Approved an estimated $950 for repairs on a police cruiser from Bob Howard
- Approved paying for a commercial building inspector up to $2500 for inspection of the bank building to proceed with the bank’s offer to give the Town its Main Street building in exchange for a land next to the Dollar General on Hwy 66 for the bank’s construction
- Agreed to declare a Notice to Abate Nuisance to 207 S Main and 202 S Main. A hearing on the matter will be June 13, at the next regular town meeting.
- Paid $5,108.78 from Town general funds to Cemetery Fund to comply with an audit finding
- Changed signature cards at the bank from the former trustees to the new ones for the accounts: Town General Fund, Town Rainy Day Fund, Town Cemetery Care Fund, Luther Police Department, Luther Economic Development Fund, LPWA General Fund, LPWA Rainy Day Fund, LPWA Loan for Fire Department, LPWA Loan for Vehicles, LPWA Rural Development CD, LPWA Meter Association CD, LPWA CD and Town of Luther Safe Deposit Box.
- Changed signature cards for Town of Luther Fire Department Grant Fund, administered by the federal government, to include both Jason Miller and John Brown, Sr., as signers as well as one other signer chosen by Chief Miller.
Another item on the agenda involved Seventh Street again. Trustee Ron Henry said he wants the Town to call on his behalf to Oklahoma County to determine why a tinhorn has not been installed on his property, and why the county has not proceeded on paving the strip to connect Seventh from Beech Street to Main Street. Mayor White said she will make the calls.
The final item on the agenda was about fireworks. Although the purchase was not made part of the budget approved by the last board, Trustees are considering amending the budget to find the $3,600 for the annual Independence Day Fireworks show. The board took no action on the issue as they weigh the pros and cons including if the effort gives a boost to local businesses or is worthwhile with other pressing financial needs,. It’s likely the board will welcome input on the issue at its next public open discussion meeting on Thursday May 25 at the Community Center.
