Edmond’s budget process moves forward
It is budget time in Edmond.
The job is tougher when it entails calculating a city budget with sales tax collections on the downside. Belts have to be tightened and not everyone is going to get what they want.
City staff is expected to recommend a budget for the next fiscal year figuring zero sales tax growth.
Some popular program like matching taxpayer funds for public artwork might be on the chopping block.
The staff’s proposed budget is expected to be presented to the city council April 30.…
Read the rest of Edmond’s budget process moves forward
Edmond Ranks Below National Average
Edmond’s 2009 average cost of living index ranks 11.1 percent below the national average, according to the latest Cost of Living Index by ACCRA, the association of community and economic development research professsionals.
Edmond’s 2009 average index was 88.9. The cost of living increased .2 percent from the 2008 annual average.
Janet Yowell, Edmond Economic Development Authority executive director, said, “By participating in the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, we can offer customized cost of living comparison data to assist companies in their decisions to locate here.…
Read the rest of Edmond Ranks Below National Average
Edmond Planners Divide Property
Edmond Planning Commissioners recommended Tuesday that a 5-acre track of land in the northern part of the city be divided into two lots.
The property is located east of Coltrane Road and about a half mile north of Sorghum Mill Road.
Owner Roy Cowan wants the property divided so a second home can be built there, said City Planner Bob Schiermeyer.
The exsisting home at 5724 N Coltrane Road will be on a 92,960-square-foot piece of property. The lot located to the east of the existing house will be 109,560-square-feet.…
Read the rest of Edmond Planners Divide Property
Littler Avenue Work Starts Today
Construction started today on Littler Avenue between Fifth and Sixth streets.
Work is necessary on a section of roadway up to 60 feet long because of a sewer line that was installed under the street, said Stuart Batchelor, a city engineering inspector.
The sewer line was part of the construction on a new multi-story building at the southwest corner of Littler Avenue and Fifth Street by owner Mark Neighbors. The line ran diagonally across Littler Avenue, Batchelor said.
The work was near the south parking lot behind the Jazz Lab and Hideaway Pizza.…
Read the rest of Littler Avenue Work Starts Today
Talks Continue About Horse Trailer Parking
City officials are looking for a new place to park vehicles and horse trailers belonging to riders using the equestrian trails at Arcadia Lake.
The current parking lot at the end of Air Depot Boulevard, just south of 33rd Street, is small and hard for the trailers to turn around.
Problems with the equestrian trails and the parking was brought to city officials’ attention during public hearings about the proposed Carl Reherman Park, to be located on the southern tip of the lake near the riding trails.…
Read the rest of Talks Continue About Horse Trailer Parking
Council Reappoints Board Members
Mayor Patrice Douglas made four reappointments to the Arts and Humanities Council this week.
Ines Burnham, Vicky Weaver, Nick Massey and Brad Fielding were reappointed to a terms that expires February 2013.
Ward 3 Councilman Charles Lamb recommended the reappointment of Jim Hicks to the Edmond Fish and Game Commission. His term will expire January 2014.
Council members unanimously approved the five reappointments.…
Read the rest of Council Reappoints Board Members
Weather Not Good for Covell Underpass
Contractor for the new $6.1 million Covell Road underpass is still holding on to a March completion deadline despite weekly doses of bad weather.
Of course, they don’t give that deadline without saying WEATHER PERMITTING.
City Manager Larry Stevens told city council members Monday that the contractor has moved paving equipment on-site, but the recent winter weather has not allowed the work to begin.
Preliminary surveying work needed for the paving was scheduled to begin this week, Stevens said.
Contractor asked for a 140-day extension in December. The joint state Department of Transportation and city of Edmond project was originally scheduled to be completed in mid-November.…
Read the rest of Weather Not Good for Covell Underpass
Park work continues in Edmond
Even monster-size snowflakes that fell on Edmond this morning didn’t stop work on the parks throughout the city.
Design work is moving forward for a new park at Arcadia Lake and eight new softball fields at the city’s new fourth community park at Post Road and State Highway 66.
Members of the Fish and Game Commission will talk Tuesday about the new Arcadia Lake recreation area that has been named Carl Reherman Park. Their meeting starts at 4 p.m. at the Multi-Activity Center, 2733 Marilyn Williams Dr.…
Read the rest of Park work continues in Edmond
Edmond faces budget talks
It’s time to start thinking about the city’s budget for the next fiscal year that begins July 1.
Council members will have to sharpen their pencils because sales tax revenue is down. Money from sales taxes makes up about 15 percent of the city’s budget.
This year’s budget was almost $226 million. That budget included a 3 percent growth which didn’t happen. In fact, sales tax revenue collections are down 6.5 percent for the first seven months. City officials made a $745,000 adjustment in the budget in November once they saw the money wasn’t coming in.…
Read the rest of Edmond faces budget talks
Vote on medical examiner’s move good for Edmond
Edmond city and chamber officials got good news from the State Capitol this week when a Senate subcommittee passed Senate Bill 1337 that would move the state Medical Examiner’s office from its current location near the OU Health Science Center to Edmond.
University of Central Oklahoma leaders had smiles on their faces too. The bill calls to move the medical examiner’s office on campus with the Forensic Science Institute and across the street from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Forensic Science Center.…
Read the rest of Vote on medical examiner’s move good for Edmond
