Council approves senior-center solar contract and two police vehicles; hears first readings on Lake Forest subdivision

At its June 16 meeting Oxford City Council approved a package of smaller capital items and heard first readings on a large subdivision.

Solar at senior center: Council adopted a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign a design-build contract with Yellow Light, Inc. to install an approximately 30 kW DC rooftop solar PV system at the senior center at a not-to-exceed cost of $66,336 (including 10% contingency). Staff said the system is expected to offset about 68% of the center’s electricity usage with an estimated payback of roughly 8.3 years; the final system is smaller than the original $150,000 estimate because staff selected the most cost-effective size and used price-per-watt scoring to choose the vendor. No public opposition was recorded.

Police vehicles: Council approved an agreement to purchase two 2026 Ford Interceptor utility vehicles via state contract at a combined not-to-exceed price of $87,364 to replace older units. Chief Jones said the purchase is funded in the 2026 CIP and that the vehicles will require standard upfitting.

Lake Forest subdivision (first readings): The council held first readings for two related plats for the Lake Forest development (an overall 97-acre plat and a 36-lot Section 1 on ~17.46 acres). Planner Mr. Perry presented slides and background information. Public commenters raised traffic concerns on Route 27 and asked about sewer access; Mr. Perry said previous traffic analyses and installed deceleration lanes address some impacts and that gravity sewer access influenced the developer’s sequencing of lots. Council made no final decision — both items will return for additional readings and votes in a subsequent meeting.

These items cleared the agenda with voice votes and procedural approvals reported in the meeting minutes.