City Manager’s Report
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By Danny Delay
It has been an honor to meet and begin working with such a great group of individuals who truly represent what it means to be a team. Atoka is a very fortunate community, and I am extremely proud to be part of this organization.
The Meter Project is still progressing well. The Contractor is working hard to get all of the new automated meters installed. The City Crew and Contractor are working together very well to insure a smooth transition.
This project is approximately eighty-five percent complete and we are hopeful to be able to see the completion in the next month or so.
We have begun utilizing the new billing software and as with anything new, we are working through a few hiccups. Due to this, bills were mailed out late this month.
Customers will notice a difference in the look of their bills; they will still be in postcard format, just a different type of postcard. If there are any questions, customers can contact the billing office.
The Water Plant experienced a scraper/shaft issue which caused one of the trains to quit working.
Again, members from our other crews came together to make the necessary repairs to get that trane back to treating water. They also worked diligently to finish refurbishing the other train to get it back in service as well.
None of the employees complained about long hours required; their main concern was making sure that the plant could operate and continue to provide water to our community.
The Water Plant is running on an average of thirteen hours, and producing 421,000 gallons per day.
The Water/Sewer Maintenance Crew fixed water and sewer leaks on south Mississippi, Russell Avenue, Cedar, Elm, Montana, and Maple Street.
The Crew also read meters, did locations, assisted at the water plant and the wastewater plant when needed. I really appreciate these employees for always helping wherever and whenever needed to ensure our ultimate mission is accomplished.
The Wastewater Plant is working to reduce the sludge content and running well. The new UV bulbs and sleeves have been installed and are working as they should.
We’ve had some repair issues come up that required replacing pulleys on the digester blowers that are now working properly. Other routine maintenance has been addressed as needed.
The Capital Improvement Crew worked on patching pot holes on several streets in town. They also cleaned various storm drains, and mowed lots on Ohio, C, and 6th Street. This Crew also helped at the water plant this week.
The Parks Crew has been mowing all of the city properties, right-of-ways, and medians. They also painted parking lines on Ohio Street.
A date of October 6, 2020, has been set for the drive thru flu shot clinic. This is our second year partnering with the Atoka County Health Department, JAMM Transit and the Choctaw Nation.
The Atoka Police Department general activity report for the reporting period of 08/13/2020 through 09/2/2020.
The Police Department responded to 351 disturbance and “other” calls for service and related incidents/actions (this does not include traffic stops or traffic contacts).
There were 26 municipal prisoners booked into the Atoka County Jail and four Municipal Court Arrest Warrant(s) served. There were 34 Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation National Incident Based Reporting System Offense Reports filed in the Municipal Clerk’s Office and eight Official Collision Reports filed in the Municipal Clerk’s Office.
There were two Emergency Detention (Mental Health). After initial evaluations and eventual medical clearances at the Atoka County Medical Center, the subject was transported to mental health facilities in McAlester and Lawton.
Monday, August 31st, a technician from SignalTek requested permission to install a remote monitoring system for the traffic signals at the Court Street intersection.
Once operational, the system will allow technicians in the Tulsa office to monitor any potential problems, and in many cases, make remote corrections or adjustments as needed.
The system is part of a pilot project for their company and will be installed and operated at no cost to the City of Atoka during the testing period. The system is not yet fully operational, but should be soon.
On Wednesday, August 19, 2020, Celebrate Recovery and the Atoka-Coal Baptist Association donated a pallet of bottled water to the Police Department.
Their kindness is greatly appreciated by our department, as bottled water is used daily by our Police Officers, especially during the hot summer months.
On 08/19/20, 08/26/20 and 09/02/20, Chief Dodson continued having weekly video meetings with a policy manual expert from Lexipol regarding the review and analysis of our existing Policy and Procedures Manual.
The project is progressing and remains on schedule, but will take several more weeks to complete.
On 08/20/2020, the Atoka County Courthouse closed again due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It remained closed through 08/30/2020.
New procedures for booking inmates into the Atoka County jail were imposed during that time via Administrative Orders from District Judge Inge. Essentially, the directions were to cite and release persons for all non-serious criminal violations.
For more serious criminal violations, if the violator was showing signs or symptoms of Covid-19, they had to be medically cleared by a Medical Doctor prior to any booking procedures.
Monday, August 31st, Chief Dodson contacted a technician with SignalTek regarding recurring problems with the Court Street traffic light system going into “flash” mode periodically.
Further, the Chief reported an issue with the primary call designation and lane detection for east-west traffic rather than north-south.
On Tuesday, September 1st, the technician removed our conflict monitor and replaced it temporarily with another conflict monitor owned by SignalTek.
The conflict monitor for that traffic control system has been sent to the manufacturer for diagnostics and repair.
