Kingfisher County commissioners accepted a bid from SPM Services of Weatherford to build a new parking area at the courthouse Monday at a cost of $245,000 – $160,000 for the parking area and $85,000 snow melting sidewalks.

The action came after a lengthy report from Commission Chairman Heath Dobrovolny on the results of telephone interviews he conducted with officials of both the low and second low bidding companies and past customers of Red River Homes LLC, who submitted the lowest bid, and SPM Services.

He said he checked with the chief operating officer of Red River Homes and officials of the cities of Mustang and Choctaw where Red River Homes had done projects as well as officials of SPM Services and three entities it had done work for including Thomas, Southwestern Oklahoma State University and the city of Altus.

He said the Red River Homes owner told him he operates three companies, which primarily do house construction and he had to go though that company to provide required bonding for the project.

Dobrovolny said Mustang and Choctaw officials both said Red River Homes company completed the projects in what appeared satisfactory condition although inspection and testing reports had not all been received.

One also reported it had experienced difficulty in maintaining telephone contact with the company.

An earlier low bidder on the project in June had his contract cancelled because of failure respond to telephone inquiries regarding the project at a time commissioners felt work should be under way.

He said one city official was not satisfied with post-project cleanup work by Red River Homes.

Dobrovolny asked fellow commissioners Jeff Moss, District 1, and Ray Alan Shimanek, District 2, their opinion on what action to take.

Shimanek moved to accept the second low bid by SPM Services as the best bid.

Moss provided the second and all three commissioners voted in favor of awarding the contract to SPM Services.

Dobrovolny emphasized that neither Red River Homes nor SPM Services had done work for Kingfi sher County in the past, thus there could be no bias involved in the selection of the second low bidder, a fact he stipulated be documented from his interviews and included in the official record of the meeting.

Red River Homes LLC submitted a bid of $130,000 on the primary project and $65,000 on the snow melting sidewalks portion of the project but did not include a number of days to complete the work, according to the bidding document.

Commissioners also held an executive (closed) session with attorneys Chris Collins and Justin Ashlock of the firm Collins, Zorn and Wagner regarding a suit filed by Connie Hendrix against the sheriff’s office regarding an alleged incident in the jail while she was a prisoner.

Commissioners voted to take no action on the case after returning to open session.

The case is styled Connie Hendrix vs. Dennis Banther, Sheriff of Kingfisher County, et al, and is filed in the U.S. District Court for the western district of Oklahoma with the case number CIV-20-1022-F.

Commissioners declared a list of sheriff’s department equipment, including computers, battery backups, radios, recorders, two Dodge Charger vehicles and jail equipment as surplus, allowing it to be removed from county property rolls and disposed of, a payment of $600 to Sanders Funeral Home in Kingfisher for the cremation of Stephen Selfridge as an indigent, a rightof- way pipeline road-crossing permit for Howard Drilling Enterprises in District 1 located five miles east of Kingfisher and a public access drive for Tom-Stack LLC 1050 feet north of the intersection of N2800 Road and 248th Street west of Okarche.

County Engineer Nik Smith announced safety training meetings for county road departments by CTTC Instructor Paul Hursh beginning Tuesday in District 1.

Dobrovolny announced he would attend an Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma (ACCO) insurance committee meeting Wednesday.

Commissioners voted for intent to submit an opioid abatement grant award application with Associate District Judge Lance Schneiter as point person to the Oklahoma Opioid Abatement board in Oklahoma City. The opioid abatement board is under the direction of the state attorney general’s office.

Also present for the meeting was Pat Barrackman regarding right-ofway status on the Uncle John Bridge on Robberts Avenue at the east edge of Kingfisher.

Moss referred her to attorneys working on the bridge right-of-way efforts, noting he had received no additional information.

Emily Lee, deputy county clerk, served as official minute clerk.