Okmulgee County District 1 Commissioner Ron Ballard will officially retire at the end of the month.

Ballard’s final day will be Sept. 30, after more than 15 years of county service.

During Monday’s meeting of the Okmulgee County Commissioners, District 2 Commissioner David Walker presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Ballard for 15 years and nine months of service to the citizens of Okmulgee County.

“We wish you the best in your endeavors,” Walker said. “We do appreciate you.”

Ballard was also honored Monday morning in a retirement reception in Courtroom 3, which was attended by many county employees along with District 2 and 3 employees.

Also in attendance were retired commissioners James Connors and Bobby Hardridge, along with Becky Thomas, retired county clerk.

Ballard served as a commissioner for eight years, and then stepped aside for four years, before being re-elected, serving for the past 15 years.

“It’s going to be a little different not coming down here,” Ballard said. “It sure has been an experience but I do appreciate it. It’s going to be different. I appreciate each and every one of you.”

Sheriff Eddy Rice expressed his thanks to Ballard for all his aid and assistance to the Sheriff ’s Office.

Under Input by the Public, Mayor Mickey Baldwin addressed the board about roads and bridges.

“There are some bridges that are passable for trucks, but not passable for our school buses,” he said. “I’ve heard that you were working on a couple of bridges but I didn’t know which ones. There are a handful of them.”

The information Baldwin was referring to was a report and map from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) which stated many bridges around the state aren’t safe for school buses. ODOT says some bridges can't handle the full weight of a school bus. They shared their recommendations of places to avoid with the State Department of Education.

Okmulgee County does have several bridges that are on the list.

Baldwin stated the bridges inside the city limits have been inspected but wasn’t sure about the county.

“With the city, we contracted with a bridge inspector to do some of our bridges inside the city limit,” he said. “I just wanted to get the right people together, because I know that is part of your work.”

His second question was concerning road repairs inside some of the small towns in the county and how those are handled.

Ballard stated that each district handles a specific town, for instance District 1 handles Beggs and Preston streets, while Morris lies in District 3 under Commissioner Dan Artussee.

“We have this year assisted Morris in two or three different items when they’ve called us,” Artussee said.

Agenda items approved were:

• Officers’ Report: Treasurer’s Office for $337,117.48 and Election Board for $9,940.32.

• Blanket Purchase Orders: Emergency Management to ComData for fuel as needed, Nuyaka Fire to S&H Auto for $500, Nuyaka Fire to RPI for $500, Sheriff ’s Office to Oil Pit and Assessor’s Office to District 2 for fuel as needed.

• Employee Forms: Casey Thomas, District 3, fulltime; Jean Gouthier donated 22.5 hours of sick leave to Lloyd Stidham.

• Utility Permits: Rural Water District #7 with District 2 on Dentonville, one mile east of 150 Road on Lincoln.

• Detention Transportation Claim for $475.43.

The board approved the previously tabled Memorandum of Understanding between Okmulgee County and William Wynn.

Emergency Management Director Tim Craighton reminded attendees about the Hazard Mitigation Planning Meeting that was held Tuesday at OSUIT.

He also stated a meeting is planned for next week with the Muscogee Nation.

Last week, the Muscogee Nation was named a designated recipient for public assistance due to the severe weather event May 2-8 in Oklahoma. This action designates the Muscogee Nation to serve as the recipient for FEMA public assistance, allowing local communities to submit as sub-applicants through the tribal government.