By CRAIG HALL
Members of the Heavener Utility Authority discussed increasing the city’s water rates to match the rate hike the Poteau Valley Improvement Authority implemented earlier in the month at Thursday’s meeting.
Present were Mayor Max Roberts, Council members Melinda Ballantine, Joey Clubb, Marvin Meredith and Jim Roll, along with HUA members Billy Adrean, Jim Carr, Jason Tiffee and David Tamplin.
No action was taken on the hike as City Manager Cody Smith was asked to present where the Authority’s water rates are currently based on a prior plan to increase the rates in stages. The matter will be presented at the next meeting.
Donna Roper, former owner of Heavener Flower, discussed her displeasure with trash pickup after she said trash was left outside her building for several weeks.
“I don’t think I should pay for a service I am not using,” she said.
Russell Vanhook of Vanhook Sanitation, which services the city’s trash service, said he was happy to take care of the problem. Her trash had been placed in a heavy container outside of the building and included loose refuge. In the past, there had been trash bagged and they were able to take the bags and place them in the trash truck while they could not do that with the loose trash.
Roper had closed the flower shop in January and had been asked to get a new trash can to replace the metal container. She also said the city’s sanitation contract was over and what was going to be done about it.
Mayor Roberts said he would get with the city’s attorneys to discuss how to handle the situation.
The HUA then went into a brief executive session to discuss an update on litigation between Estruct and the HUA, along with an update on the OK Foods contract.
The Council approved spending up to $7,000 for carpet in the upstairs section of the new police station on Highway 59, although Chief Ty Armstrong said the cost might be less.
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