Kingfisher County commissioners voted Monday to put North End Construction of Norman on notice that without immediate response to a starting date for a courthouse parking lot project the contract would be rescinded and new bids requested.

Commission Chairman Heath Dobrovolny (District 3) said three calls he made to the contractor regarding a starting date have not been returned.

District 1 Commissioner Jeff Moss moved to contact the contractor by certified mail requiring a response by next Monday’s commission meeting. District 2 Commissioner Ray Alan Shimanek seconded the motion and voted with Dobrovolny and Moss to make the decision to send a certified letter unanimous.

Dobrovolny said the company was awarded the contract on June 30 and he would have thought the project would have been completed by now.

North End Construction was delayed by rain on an Enid School project near the time the county contract was awarded, thus an immediate work start was not expected.

Commissioners took action on another matter that caught them off guard at the weekly meeting, a state law requiring bonding for non-county employees.

Dobrovolny, who termed the requirement under state law 19 O.S. §§ 1501 nonsensical, said he had checked legal resources who reported there was no way out of compliance.

The entities falling under the requirement include county fire departments, libraries, fair board, museum and possibly Emergency Management Services (EMS) and ambulance service districts.

Dobrovolny said he was checking with state authorities to determine if EMS units were bonded through state agencies.

Dobrovolny said he learned of the new requirement at a training meeting for county officials held by Oklahoma State University when presenters raised a question of how counties were handling the requirement.

Kingfisher County commissioners answered the issue by requiring the bond be applied to the positions of requisitioners and receivers of each entity with notification to be sent to each entity this week.

Dobrovolny said he had inquired of a local insurance agent about the cost of the bonds and was given an estimate of between $350 and $500 a year (each).

The entities will be responsible for obtaining the bonds individually, which can be paid with county sales tax funds. Such bonds are available from insurance agencies.

Commissioners also approved the county’s fiscal year 2024 budget of $28,592,876.52 (see separate article on the budget elsewhere in this edition), monthly operations reports from county offices (sheriff, treasurer, county clerk, assessor, election board and health department), the county’s financial statement for the fiscal year ending June 30, a resolution for the health department listing surplus items to be removed from property rolls that were declared surplus at the preceding week’s meeting and monthly appropriations for county offices.

A request from Pinnacle Development for a District 1 county road pipeline crossing permit was tabled for action next week to address procedural points.

A right-of-way permit for a 12-inch poly gas line and a 10-inch salt water poly pipeline road crossing was approved for BCE-Mach II Midstream Holdings, both located six miles south and three miles east of Hennessey in District 2.

A request for appropriations for the general fund from the REAP grant for Kingfisher Rural Water District 3 in the amount of $15,500 also received approval.

Attending the meeting in addition to commissioners were county budget maker John Storm of the firm of Storm and Hauser, County Clerk Jeannie Boevers as official minute clerk and County Engineer Nik Smith.

Dobrovolny reported a meeting of the county excise board and board of tax roll corrections would be held Wednesday and that he would attend an ACCO health plan committee board meeting on Thursday.