At Monday's Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting, District Two Commissioner Kevin Pasley mentioned that utility companies are violating permit applications in his district. As a result, he wants to do something about it.
For each permit violation a company commits, it costs $10,000 plus attorney fees. Pasley says he has caught the City of Skiatook violating the permit application twice this year. Pasley said they were installing a several thousand volt electric line under a road. Director of Planning and Zoning, Jake Bruno, explains just how dangerous violating these applications can be. Pasley would like to make the utility companies dig each line up so that they know each specification is right. If it isn't the county could be held liable for damages. The city of Pawhuska owns a property in downtown Pawhuska and now they are looking to sell it to someone who could house even more people in Pawhuska. City Manager Dave Neely says someone in the hotel industry is coming to look at this tract of land to start the new year.
Neely first announced that the city would be trying to attract a brand name hotel to town at a city council meeting in September. We will have updates on this story as they become available. As winter begins, the Pawhuska Emergency Management Services wants to remind you how important it is to have a carbon monoxide detector inside your home.
If you, or someone you know, heats their home in an abnormal way, make sure they have one of these detectors, as they can save your life. You are unable to smell or taste carbon monoxide. Signs of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches, nausea, a loss of breath, dizziness and loss of consciousness. The Pawhuska Emergency Management Services adds that you should double-check the batteries in your home. The Board of Osage County Commissioners ordered Terry Loftis to send an engineer to the Bighill Furniture Store so that they could determine how structurally sound the building is. After inspecting the building thoroughly, Loftis reported to the commissioners that the engineer believed some parts of the building were better off than others.
This leads Loftis to believes that the west side of the building is the part that is in the most danger of collapsing. The west wall faces main street. The engineer gave an estimate that it would cost $600,000 to stabilize the building and get a new roof put on it. The engineer did go on to say that he wasn't a contractor and it is tough to determine just how badly damaged the building could be. The commissioners will continue to weigh options on what to do with the Bighill Furniture Store. The Board of Osage County Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting at the courthouse in Pawhuska Monday morning to make a lot of important decisions.
Terry Loftis of J&L Associates LLC was at the meeting letting the commissioners what the engineers found when they searched through the Bighill Furniture Store last week. Loftis told them that the south retaining wall was working well, but the western wall was in the quickest need of repair. Loftis also said the engineer told Loftis it would cost an estimated $600,000 to stabilize the building. That would come with a new roof. District Two Commissioner Kevin Pasley stressed his desire to pursue action against companies violating Osage County utility permit applications. He said these companies are putting cables right next to highways and are tearing roads up to do so without the county's permission. The Vice-Mayor for Prue, Don Perryman, was at the meeting looking for a sense of direction to go so that he could make improvements to his roads. Perryman said the town has applied for grants, but has been unsuccessful in getting them. FEMA hasn't been of any help either. District Three Commissioner Darren McKinney told Perryman they could possibly get an interlocal agreement worked up. The commissioners approved more than $5,000 to be paid out of the deductible fund in order to pay for damages to a sheriff's vehicle. Terry Shreve was also re-appointed to serve a six year term on the floodplain board. One utility permit was signed in district three. Pawhuska Code Enforcer Steve Hughes was the 2019 Officer of the year and it shows in the work he is doing for the city. City Manager Dave Neely is impressed with the amount of work Hughes has put into cleaning up the town.
Neely says this is all in an effort to make the city look more appealing to out of town visitors. Neely added that there are many downtown beautification projects beginning to take place. The Board of Osage County Commissioners will meet Monday morning at the courthouse in Pawhuska to discuss a wide array of topics.
The commissioners will consider taking action to pursue AT&T, ONG, The City of Skiatook and all other companies that have violated Osage County utility permit applications. There will be continued discussion regarding the handling of the Bighill Furniture Store in Fairfax. Terry Loftis of J&L Associates LLC will present a supplemental engineering report that a firm completed this week. This will let the commissioners know how structurally sound the building is. The Vice-Mayor of Prue, Don Perryman, will be on hand talking to the commissioners about funding for road improvements across the city. The meeting begins at 10 o’ clock in the morning for those interested in attending. As 2019 begins to wind down and 2020 approaches, the city of Pawhuska has many exciting projects going on throughout town. City Manager Dave Neely says these projects will improve a city that is already thriving.
Tour buses continue to flock to Pawhuska on a daily basis and because of this, Neely says Pawhuska is doing very well financially. Bids for a water line project along Kihekah Ave. in downtown Pawhuska will also be opened at the next city council meeting. The Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority met for a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday afternoon at City Hall to get a few things accomplished before the Christmas holiday.
The Board was presented with an audit for the 2019 fiscal year and Executive Director Chris Wilson reported that things came back clean. Wilson also announced that the review process is under way to see if Hotel Phillips will be on the register for National Historic Preservation. Financials for the months of October and November were also approved at the meeting. The Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority will meet for a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday afternoon at City Hall where they will accept the financial report for October and November.
The BRTA will consider approving the 2019 fiscal year audit. That audit will be presented by Christie Littlefield. There will also be discussion about real property located at 109 SE Frank Phillips Blvd. This is located in TIF one. Executive Director Chris Wilson will also give an update on what is going on in TIF's one and two. The meeting begins at 3:30 p.m. for those interested in attending. |
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