By Conrad Dudderar
Associate Editor
Current Yukon utility customers who consistently pay their monthly bills on time will be able to have their deposit returned.
The Yukon City Council, at its Dec. 17th meeting, unanimously approved ordinance 1397 designed to allow utility customers to ask for a refund of their utility deposit under certain circumstances.
“If they have a good payment history for 12 (continuous) months, they can ask and get their deposit back,” City Manager Jim Crosby said.
If approved, the “refund” will be credited as a payment to the customer’s utility account.
For existing Yukon utility customers, the 12-month time period will begin Jan. 1, 2020.
Utility deposits are $85 for residential accounts and $150 for commercial accounts (these rates were increased in November from $40 for residential and $50 for commercial).
Currently, the city’s utility billing department applies a customer’s utility deposit to their final bill as required by city ordinance.
At Crosby’s request, Yukon utility billing supervisor Terri Peak reviewed the possibility of refunding deposits to customers while their accounts are still active.
“There are no apparent issues with making a change,” Peak wrote in a Dec. 12 memo to the city manager. “The deposit policies of other municipalities were reviewed. Those who refund deposits have certain criteria the customer’s account must meet.”
Based on these findings, Peak recommended active Yukon utility customers with 12 consecutive months of good pay history be eligible for the deposit refund.
The customer’s account must reflect timely payments, no late fees, cut-off notices or dishonored payments, according to the new city ordinance.
“Under this new policy, if a deposit is refunded and the customer’s ‘good pay history’ declines, then we would require the customer to pay another deposit,” Peak said in her memo. “A new 12-month ‘good pay history’ period would begin.”
BREWER EARNS NEW CONTRACT
In other business at its Dec. 17th meeting, the council awarded a contract to Brewer Construction Oklahoma LLC for Yukon’s 2020 concrete and asphalt paving, drainage, water, and sewer project.
Brewer Construction submitted a $1,265,288.05 bid, a 2.07 percent increase over its current contract amount.
City engineer Robbie Williams, who recommended Brewer continue its contract with the City of Yukon, said five contractors attended a mandatory pre-bid conference but only Brewer submitted a bid.
Also at Tuesday night’s meeting, the council approved paying Brewer Construction $28,839.09 for street and storm sewer repairs on West End Pointe Drive at Garth Brooks Boulevard.
Yukon Development Services Director Mitch Hort explained the repairs are needed with plans to install left turn lanes and new traffic signal poles at the West End Pointe Drive / Health Center Parkway intersection.
“We’re going to do this at the same time that we do the traffic light construction,” Hort told council members. “This is a normal maintenance function and it’s bigger that what we can handle so that’s why we’re asking for Brewer to do it.
“We’ll do it all at one time; we’re in and out while we’re doing the traffic light installation and left turns.”
The council in November awarded Brewer Construction a $293,572.55 contract to install the left-turn lanes and signals at this busy intersection south of Interstate 40.
