City Manager’s Report
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By Danny Delay
The last two weeks have been extremely busy; as all of our staff have been taking care of their normal workload, as well as, anything else that occurred requiring their attention.
Their hard work on a daily basis, is greatly appreciated by myself and our council.
I would like to remind and encourage everyone to please take advantage of our Fall Cleanup Week, which is September 21st-25th.
This is your opportunity to get rid of items, and clean up your places, free of charge. We are beginning a proactive approach to clean up the City of Atoka; which will include Code Enforcement officers going around to all places where existing violations are occurring to ensure the landowners are aware of the exact nature of each violation, what they need to do to correct it, and what the consequences will be if they don’t correct it.
This will require every citizen doing their part to make Atoka the beautiful place we all envision. Please do not hesitate to let us know, if you see an area or dwelling, etc., that needs cleaning up or has become a safety issue and so forth.
We all deserve to live and work in a clean and safe city; and our goal is to make that happen here in Atoka, as soon as possible.
The Meter Project is still progressing well. The Contractor, assisted by the city Crew, has continued working hard to get all of the new automated meters installed, to ensure a smooth transition.
This project is approximately ninety-five percent complete and we are hopeful to be able to see the completion by the end of the month.
The last 30-40 meters are at commercial locations and are going to be more time consuming as some are embedded in concrete.
We have begun utilizing the new billing software and as with anything new, we are working through any issues as they arise. If there are any questions, customers can contact the billing office for answers.
We truly understand the frustrations that arise when a change occurs; and I’d like to personally thank all of our customers for their patience during this transition.
The Water Plant’s second trane should be back online by Tuesday or Wednesday. The Water Plant staff have been working diligently to get all the new parts painted and replaced.
Members from our Capital Improvement Crew finished the concrete pad under the water tower located at the Water Plant. This is a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requirement; that should the tower overflow, the water hits the pad and spreads out rather than just hitting the ground directly and causing an erosion issue.
We will build these pads under the other water towers as soon as possible. Due to the recent Water Plant issues and repairs, we’ve been flushing hydrants as frequently as needed to clear up the discoloration of water. The Water Plant is running on average fourteen hours, and producing 420,000 gallons per day.
The Water/Sewer Maintenance Crew fixed water and sewer leaks on south California, Cedar, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, Weston, and Indiana Avenue.
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; including spending most of Sunday, September 13th, on repairing a major water leak on South Indiana Avenue.
They are truly dedicated to providing the best service possible to our citizens. The new sewer camera arrived this week and will take out the guess work and greatly reduce the man hours involved in finding and repairing any dogged-up sewer lines.
The Wastewater Plant is continually working to reduce the sludge content and running well. We’ve replaced one of the blowers on the Aeration Basins and will be replacing a check valve as soon as it comes in.
We also replaced two pulleys on the digester blowers, so they 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, filled in a major sink hole, cut brush, mowed, swept downtown, helped with various water leaks, poured the concrete pad and assisted at the water plant this week.
They also helped at the rodeo parade with barricades and clean up. I truly appreciate the way this crew also jumps in and helps other crews, as well as, the water plant and wastewater plant to take care of any task needing completion.
The Parks Crew has been mowing, spraying, and weed eating all of the city properties, right-of-way’s, medians, and cemeteries.
They have repaired the front door at the Police Department. Again, I appreciate this crew helping elsewhere when needed to do whatever needs done on any given day.
The Atoka Police Department general activity report for the reporting period of 09/03/2020 through 09/16/2020; the Police Department responded to 238 disturbance and “other” calls for service and related incidents/actions (this does not include traffic stops or traffic contacts).
There were 15 municipal prisoners booked into the Atoka County Jail and four Municipal Court Arrest Warrant(s) served.
There were 22 Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation National Incedent-Based Reporting System Offense Reports filed in the Municipal Clerk’s Office and six Official Collision Reports filed in the Municipal Clerk’s Office.
There were zero Emergency Detention (Mental Health).
On Thursday, September 3, 2020, Chief Gene Dodson had a meeting with three AT&T Account Managers at the Police Department.
The meeting was regarding the wired and wireless telephone services being provided to the Police Department.
Further, they discussed the still unresolved issue with our main non-emergency telephone line (889-3250).
The telephone line cannot be forwarded or transferred to the Atoka County Sheriff’s Department dispatch for after-hours and weekend calls etc.
As such, our after-hours and weekend telephone calls are not being answered. Little was accomplished during the meeting and we continue to contact AT&T daily about the problem. As of Thursday, September 17, 2020, the issue has still not been corrected.
After hours and on weekends, PLEASE CALL the Sheriff’s Office directly at (580)889-2221 should you need our police force for any reason.
Wednesday, September 9, 2020, Chief Dodson contacted a technician with SignalTek regarding recurring problems with the 13th Street traffic light system.
Random lane detection issues were occurring with the west bound left turn lane from 13th Street onto South Mississippi Avenue.
The “cycle-skipping” issue periodically occurred during the previous weeks, but had gotten more frequent.
The technician determined that there was a pixel related failure in the center of the detection camera lens. The malfunctioning camera was replaced with a new camera on Friday, September 11th. The traffic light system has been operating normally with no further complains received to date.
On September 11th, Chief Dodson worked with an Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) Engineer and a technician from SignalTek to determine the model and brand of traffic control system and cabinet that will be needed for the HAWK Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon project on Greathouse Drive in front of the Atoka High School.
Saturday, September 12th, officers provided traffic control and extra patrol for the Atoka Trail Riders Parade downtown.
During the referenced period, Chief Dodson continued to have weekly video meetings with a policy manual expert from Lexipol regarding the review and analysis of our existing Policy and Procedures Manual.
The lengthy project is progressing and remains on schedule.
The following Animal Control numbers were reported from 09/01/20 through 09/14/20.
Thirteen dogs that were picked up by the Animal Control Officer. One “other” animal contact or warning issued. Six dogs were adopted from the pound. Dogs claimed by owner, 11, and zero dogs were euthanized. One animal carcass was retrived for disposal. There are four dogs being held at the pound. Three dogs have been properly registered according to the City Code.
