Commissioners consider Election Board locations

Feb. 9—Pittsburg County commissioners are trying to decide the best option for temporarily housing the County Election Board, while they pursue plans to construct the Election Board an entirely new building.

Election Board offices are currently in a temporary location on the second floor of the Southeast Expo Center — but they're not expected to remain in that location for long.

That's because the second floor of the Expo Center had previously been rented out to Epic Charter Schools beginning March 16 for testing, commissioners said — which means the Election Board will have to vacate the premises.

Pittsburg County Election Board Secretary Tonya Barnes said Thursday she still does not know where county commissioners plan to move the temporary Election Board offices.

"I have no idea," Barnes said.

Election Board offices remained in place at the Expo Center for early in-person absentee ballot voting on Thursday, Feb. 8, and Friday, Feb. 9, in advance of the Feb. 13 election.

Commissioners initially put out a request for bids and held a pre-bid conference regarding the costs of constructing an entirely new election board office. When several bidders had questions, commissioners approved Addendum #1 with additional information, during their regular Monday meeting.

If a new County Election Board building is constructed, it would likely be on county property behind the current Oklahoma State University Extension Center, said County Commission Chairman/District 3 Commissioner Ross Selman and District 1 Commissioner Charlie Rogers.

That's also in the vicinity of the Pittsburg County Animal Shelter and the McAlester/Pittsburg County Office of Emergency Management.

During the commissioners' meeting, Barnes asked Selman about possible sites for the Election Board's next temporary location, after having to move from the Expo Center.

"We have elections coming up, one after the other," Barnes said.

"We have an election two weeks after the next election," she added, referring to the upcoming Feb. 13 election in the city McAlester, along with the Krebs and Frink-Chambers School Districts.

That election will be followed by the March 5 Super Tuesday Presidential Preferential Primary in Oklahoma and other participating states.

Selman mentioned the Pittsburg County Cattlemen's Association building near the Expo Center as a possibility for s temporary location.

"That Cattleman's Association Building won't work," Barnes said.

When the News-Capital later asked Selman about the concern, Selman said "We can make it work." Other possible sites remained under consideration at the time.

County Election Board offices were relocated to the second floor of the Southeast Expo Center last September following continued flooding problems in the board's office at 109 E. Carl Albert Parkway, where water came from under the walls and spread across the floor during periodic rainfalls.

Commissioners said the idea was to temporarily relocate the Election Board to the Expo Center while the Election Board office was repaired and a solution found to stop the flooding.

However, when Josh Rhodes with Garland/DBS addressed county commissioners in October regarding his take on what is causing the Election Board water issues and what it will cost to solve them, District 2 Commissioner Kevin Smith interjected a comment.

"This half-million budget is way out of line," Smith said. "Half-a-million dollars is a lot of money for something we don't know if it's going to work."

Rhodes replied with "I would love to have come in here and told you something that is less than that."

He indicated he didn't want to underestimate the costs.

"I don't want to have to come in here and tell you I was wrong," Rhodes said.

Flooding is occurring because of several issues, including damaged scuppers, defined as devices that allow water to flow down and away from a flat roof, Rhodes told commissioners.

Other issues include problems with a cold joint, where the foundation and wall come together, he said.

Rhodes' plans included addressing those issues, as well as waterproofing the Election Board office, sealing the building's back exterior wall and other improvements.

Commissioners ultimately opted to see if it would be less costly to construct a brand new building, as opposed to repairing the original one, along with the work required to stop the flooding issues.