The Okmulgee County Board of Commissioners held their regular meeting Monday morning, discussing a number of routine agenda items and hearing updates from local agencies on public safety and social services.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Rosie Lynch from the Okmulgee County Homeless Shelter delivered an invitation and heart- felt remarks in honor of the shelter’s upcoming milestone.
“I just want to welcome you all to the Okmulgee County Homeless Shelter,” Lynch said. “We found out just about a week and a half ago that we are celebrating our 30th year of serving the community, and so in celebration of that, we wanted to officially invite the commissioners to join us and celebrate with you. Anybody here as well, please join us.”
She noted that the shelter will host an event on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., including a proclamation by Mayor Mickey Baldwin and small tours of the facility with refreshments.
“We looked at some stats, and it looks like last year, we served about 180 people in our county, and about 40 of those were children under the age of 18,” Lynch added. “So we’ve helped a lot of people get on their feet, and we couldn’t do it without the county being invested. And so thank you.”
Later in the meeting, Okmulgee County Emergency Management Director Jeffrey Moore provided a detailed report following the weekend’s torrential rainfall and flooding.
“The week started out really good. We got a lot done, two meetings, and then we got some cleanup done, reorganization at the office,” Moore said. “Obviously, we had some severe weather come through the county and had some widespread flooding going on.”
Moore clarified public confusion surrounding a storm shelter at the school in Morris, emphasizing that it is privately operated and not controlled by the city or county. He also addressed the continued issue of siren activation failure during storms.
“The storm sirens did not activate—again. That is an old system, as everybody knows. We are trying to get those replaced. We’re still waiting on FEMA to obligate the money for that,” Moore said. “Federal Signal has the sirens waiting at their factory to ship out as soon as the funds are released.”
He recounted his efforts to trigger the sirens remotely, explaining that multiple attempts were made both from inside Morris and while traveling on Highway 75, but the signal failed to connect.
Moore also commended first responders and road crews across the county.
“Kudos to you guys and your teams for getting out there and getting those roads blocked. We did have some water rescues that occurred – Liberty Fire [Department] responded to a family of five that drove through the water,” he said. “Again, don’t drive through any water. We’ve got signs up at every low water flood zone in this county.”
He issued a warning to those who bypass barricades.
“People are moving the barricades and going through. When barricades are in place, we take pictures of them. You can be cited and your vehicles can be towed. State statute says that,” Moore noted. “We’re going to work with OHP to see if we can work out some agreement with them.”
Moore also thanked the Okmulgee County Sheriff ’s Office for assisting with manpower and traffic enforcement throughout the storms.
In business matters, the commissioners approved the standard array of items:
• Blanket Purchase Orders: District 1 and District 2 with Cintas for $800
• Utility Permits: District 2 with RWD #6
• Surplus Declarations
• Update to Personnel Policy Handbook for County Employees
• Payment of Claims The board also voted to solicit bids under Invitation to Bid #6 to remodel the courthouse bathrooms, and there were no submissions for Bid #5 for the purchase of a 2023 or newer 1½-ton truck for the Grayson Fire Department.
The meeting concluded with brief remarks of appreciation for the continued collaboration between county departments during a challenging weekend.
