Kingfisher Mayor Geoff Covalt and City Manager Jim Thomas held a “State of the City” meeting for approximately 80 citizens and city employees on hand last week.

The Wednesday luncheon meeting was held at the Pioneer Engineering Conference Center. It was co-sponsored by the Kingfi sher Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Pioneer Telephone.

Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors President Ellen Wilfong introduced Covalt and Thomas and told those in attendance that the purpose of the meeting was to inform Kingfisher residents of the capital improvements that the Kingfisher city commissioners deemed critical to be implemented over a 10-year period.

Covalt, who is himself an engineer employed by CEC Engineering firm in Oklahoma City, said the city hired three engineer consulting firms to address water treatment, drainage, sewer and street repair and maintenance issues that “must be addressed within the next 10 years” to avoid serious problems in the future.

He said the 10-year monetary commitment to address these problems is estimated at $32 million in today’s dollars.

“The commissioners and myself strongly feel that these concerns have been kicked down the road for too long and we will soon face real problems if we don’t enact a plan to deal with them now,” Thomas said.

He added that although the improvements would not be “flashy or shiny” they are nonetheless vital for the continued smooth flow of service to residents of Kingfisher.

They also touched on the subject of the construction of the new fire station for which bids will be opened Sept. 18.

That bid opening will be held at 2 p.m. at City Hall and the public is invited to attend.

Thomas said that he and Kingfisher Fire Chief Ryan Gibson were in agreement that the new structure would satisfy the needs of the city and area for the next 50 years.

The estimated total cost of the fire station is $13.5 million.

Of that, $9.1 million is budgeted for the actual construction and an estimated $4.4 million will be expended toward land purchase, consulting, engineering and architect fees as well as interest on the loan. “Kingfisher is a wonderful community, but many folks don’t realize that the city has grown less that 1 percent in population over the past 100 years,” Thomas said.

He noted that as a hub of business and economy for the county, many area residents utilize the amenities of the city for recreation and activities.

“We have a great golf course, walking trails, little league sports facilities, parks and the Vernie Snow Aquatic Center just went through over $250,000 in much-needed improvements and repairs last year,” he said.

He also noted that the quality of life in Kingfisher was as high or higher than in any city he has worked in over his 40-plus-year career in city management.

Covalt and Thomas both stressed that transparency was their number one goal is addressing these critical needs.

Covalt also noted that these improvements would not be addressed “all at once.”

He said they would be addressed in “bite-size chucks” over the next 10 years, as funds became available. Thomas said that the hospital’s half-cent sales tax was set to come to an end in 2031, but the hospital board felt that it may end sooner than that. “When that happens, it will be our recommendation to extend that half-cent tax to help pay for these improvements,” Thomas said. Covalt added that currently the city’s annual income and budget allowed for only $500,000 in discretionary budget.

He said that the math of $500,000 multiplied by 10 years only allowed for $5 million to address the $32 million in improvements.

Thomas said federal grants were being sought to offset the expenses and the city would work within its budget restraints to accomplish the goals over the next decade.

Covalt emphasized that the capital improvements were not a “wish list,” but were mandatory in most respects.

“City governments are heavily regulated by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality),” he said. “We can put Band-Aids on some of these issues for a while, but most of them must be addressed soon, or we face hard problems in the future.”

Thomas also commented on issues concerning electrical power distribution.

He said Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OG&E) has been contacted on numerous occasions regarding occasional power outages running up U.S. Highway 81 from Okarche to Kingfi sher to Dover.

He said the reality was that the substation transmission issue was a “population of residents affected problem” and that although OG&E had the project on its list, the company had higher-population concerns that were higher on that list.

He said Kingfisher does have a power plant with diesel engines that began generating power for the community in the 1920’s.

To truly address age issues with the plant would require the city to invest in new or rebuilt self-cooling generators and to do away with the water cooled engines that have been out of production for many years, Thomas said, adding that repair parts were now, in reality, impossible to find.

He said the power plant was part of the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority emergency power generation grid and was funded in part through the OMPA.

“So that’s another expensive project we have on the list,” he added.

Covalt closed the meeting by thanking those in attendance for taking the time to listen to the problems the city faced and stating that city government required interest and action by citizens.

He said the city commissioners needed and encouraged participation by city residents to help solve the problems the city faces.

He invited everyone to become involved in city government activities by attending commissioner meetings and becoming truly informed on the business of the city.

Brent and Stephanie Snider of The Shed Grill & Bar provided the meal for the meeting.