The Okmulgee County commissioners approved three appointments to the County Fair Board during Monday’s meeting. This action came after no one filed for the seats during the most recent Fair Board Election.

Representatives appointed were:

• District 1: Kim Wahnee

• District 2: Tess LeBlanc Brown

• District 3: Brooke Smith During the session, Assistant District Attorney Carmon Rainbolt informed the commissioners of the difficult decision to shut down the Drug Court Program and the Anna Mc-Bride Mental Health Court. Part of the decision was due changes in drug case classifications, along with competency evaluations and screenings.

Due to the vacating of the two offices, ADA Rainbolt inquired as to the possibility of utilizing the facilities as office space for the new attorneys who are being added to the District Attorney’s staff, beginning March 1.

He added that the space may also be utilized for the DA Supervision Program.

Those currently in the Drug and Mental Health Courts will have their programs complete before the programs are closed out, but office space is not needed for that, only storage for files.

The addition of two part-time attorneys in the District Attorney’s Office will make the department full staffed.

Agenda items approved were:

• Officers Report – November, December and January for the Sheriff ’s Office.

• Blanket Purchase Orders: District 2 – RPI, $1000; Cintas, $700; Autozone, $250; District 3 – RPI, $500; Cintas, $700; O’Reilly’s, $900; Burnett’s Hardware, $500; Bruckner’s, $16,000 for repairs; Emergency Management, ComData, $1,000.

• Employee Forms – Donation of sick leave from Jean Gouthier to Ryan Roberts and Jeremy Van Straten; Laura Alpers, District 2, full-time; Levi Morgan, District 2, full-time; and Dawn Longan, County Clerk, full-time. Also approved were Requisitioning and Receiving Officer for OSU.

The commissioners clarified a previous motion regarding the payout of use tax for the payment for the floor in the Treasurer’s Office. It will be paid out of Capital Outlay instead, which was approved by the board.

There was discussion about the need for traffic control and road service patchwork related to a railroad crossing project by BNSF.

Commissioner Steve Ward stated that the railroad is planning on repairs to the track crossings.

“So what they want us to do is block the roads off…they’re supposed to start at one end of the county. Every railroad crossing is going to get replaced -the whatever’s underneath of them. That’s all I know about it,” Ward said.

Undersheriff Smokey Patchin asked the commissioners to let the OCSO know when the barricades are put in place so they can insure that citizens don’t remove or drive around them.

• Approved Invitation to Bid #1 for a 2020 or newer day cab truck for District 2.

• Approved publishing the listing of Okmulgee County employees salaries for 2024.

Reports from Emergency Management Director Jeff Moore:

• Director Moore provided an overview of the county’s response to the recent winter storm, highlighting the collaboration with ODOT, Highway Patrol, and other agencies.

• He noted that the county’s resources were not overly depleted, as they were able to maintain some deputies for regular calls while also assisting with the storm response.

• Director Moore conveyed the appreciation from ODOT and Highway Patrol for the county’s assistance in sanding the highways, which helped reopen critical routes more quickly.

“I’d like to pass on from the Highway Patrol to the commissioners,” Moore said. “Apparently, this doesn’t happen very often, but ODOT and the Highway Patrol requested assistance from all three districts. They were very appreciative of getting the sand trucks out on the highways. They know it’s not something we normally do, but they were very appreciative. If it wasn’t for getting the sand trucks out for District One, District Two and the District Three down south, we wouldn’t have been able to open up Highway 75 and I 40 as quick as we did, so … very appreciative of that and we wanted to pass that on to you guys.”

Under New Business, ADA Rainbolt addressed the board concerning the improvements in Courtroom 2. He stated that for the electronics portion of the renovations, there were grant funding for $41,089, which would cover the majority of the cost. He asked if the county could cover the remaining $297.67, to which the board approved.