Purcell’s City Council is in the process of formulating a committee to review and recommend a dedicated complex for city departments and future needs.

That motion passed at Monday night’s regular monthly council meeting at the Community Room of the Police Service Building.

The committee will be comprised of two council members, department heads, the city manager and a community member to be appointed by the mayor.

The committee is a result of the council not getting the amount of money they were expecting for the old Purcell Municipal Hospital property.

Mayor Graham Fishburn said the council really doesn’t know what it is going to do with the property at the southeast corner of Grant and Green Avenue.

That’s why the committee and the subsequent study is in the works.

Fishburn did say the nearly 10 acres of land at the site will not be used for the “city yard.”

“We could use the property for offices or maybe even a public library,” Fishburn told The Purcell Register. We could even sell it, but at this point we really don’t know what we’re going to do.

In the measure that was passed Monday night the committee will be tasked with size, cost estimates, building structure and projected staffing.

The council also passed a motion to put out to bid, the demolition of the 61,000 sq. ft. building at 1500 N. Green Avenue.

The council will seek two separate bids, one to take the building down to the slab and the other to take it down to dirt.

The council also voted 5-0 to award a contract for improvements to Sharp Memorial Park, the Splash Pad on Red Hill, to C4L for $56,965.

The goal is to replace the water pump and put controls in boxes so they cannot be vandalized. The completion date for the project has been set at April 15.

In the Purcell Public Works Authority portion of the meeting, board members heard reports from Kenny Sullivan of Sullivan and Associates about repair work to two water wells, No. 5 and No. 17. The rehab for No. 5 will cost up to $30,000 while the change order for No. 17 will have a price tag of $75,120.

The council also was informed of a Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality construction permit for new well 17 and a 12” collector line.

The trustees also heard quarterly reports from PMH and Wadley’s EMS.

The trustees approved the right off of $45,785.14 in bad debt for unpaid utility bills. That number was down from around $60,000 last year, according to city treasurer Victor Lohn.

The trustees also voted while in executive session to post the treasurer’s position open for the replacement of Lohn, who will be retiring in October.