Council clarifies permit fee language after school request

Council members discussed whether the city could waive fees for Guymon Public Schools and clarified how the ordinance treats the charges.

Councilman Aldegris said he had placed the item on the agenda to clear up language after the council's prior denial of a waiver. "When somebody goes and several entities are included in this, mostly government entity schools, when they go forth and ask for a permit, and they pay, they're not actually paying for the permit," Aldegris said. "The permit is included, but what's actually being paid for in advance according to our schedule of payments is the inspection fee." He added that the inspection fee is charged at "20'2 cents per square foot up to a certain amount, and then 24 cents a square foot after that."

City Manager Shannon and other members said staff had consulted with other municipalities, including the Edmond Public School System, to understand how other cities handle school permits. Shannon indicated the city's ordinance language was a matter of semantics and recommended clarifying the code so the distinction between permit and prepaid inspection fees is explicit. Councilman Regis thanked Aldegris for following up and emphasized continuing open communication with the school district.

No formal motion to waive fees was adopted during the discussion. Council members said they plan to pursue minor ordinance edits and continue conversations with the superintendent and school staff to avoid confusion in future permit requests.

Clarifying details: the council discussed a rate described in the meeting as "20'2 cents per square foot up to a certain amount, and then 24 cents a square foot after that" for prepayment of inspection fees; the name of the school superintendent referenced in the discussion is "Watson," per the transcript. The council characterized the issue as procedural and legal clarification rather than a request for new financial support.

Next steps: staff will draft ordinance language changes and continue coordinating with Guymon Public Schools; no deadline for the revisions was provided in the meeting.