 The Osage County Courthouse Building Review Committee is holding a series of public meetings in order to receive recommendations and input from the public. The Committee has several options they have been discussing regarding the renovation, building, or moving of the Osage County Courthouse in Pawhuska. Each of the events will take place at 6:30pm at the following location and dates.
April 18 at the McCord Sr. Citizens Center, 115 Mary Rd, Ponca City April 20 at the Osage County Interlocal Coop, 207 E Main, Hominy April 25 at the Osage County Fairgrounds Ag. Building, Pawhuska April 27 at Gilcrease Homeowners Association, 1919 W Seminole St, Tulsa May 2 at the Fairfax Sr. Citizens Center, 600 W Taft, Fairfax May 4 at the Skiatook Board Meeting Room, 110 n Broadway, Skiatook May 11 at the Osage County Interlocal Coop, 207 E Main, Hominy We spoke with Committee Co-Chair and Osage County District Judge John Kane this week for Talk of the Town on KPGM AM1500 and FM99.1 and discussed the importance of public input. Judge Kane said he was surprised with the response from the public at the Tuesday night meeting in Pawhuska. The results from the poll at the Tuesday night meeting in Pawhuska was almost unanimously in favor of building the new annex to the north of the existing courthouse. Judge Kane also encouraged everyone to try and attend at least one of the meetings, however if they had any questions they could contact him at the Osage County Courthouse. You can listen to the replay of this week's Talk of the Town Saturday Morning at 7:40 on KPGM AM 1500, FM 99.1. For additional information regarding the upcoming meetings you may contact Kandy Jump at (918) 287-3334  Before the meeting Monday morning, District #3 Commissioner Darren McKinney addressed the public in attendance, along with fellow elected officials to apologize. McKinney was arrested Friday evening for driving under the influence, he wished to make that information known to the public from his own mouth, he stated he “knows better” and needed to “own up to his mistakes.”
During the meeting of Osage County Commissioners, Mark Anthony discussed the possibility of starting a community wide paramedic program, to teach citizens and first responders the proper techniques to care for an individual in an emergency, and know when EMS serviced need to be called. The Commissioners wished to further review the information and allow the District Attorney’s Office to review before taking any action. Also during the meeting the Commissioners approved to surplus numerous items on the Sheriff Department’s Inventory, all of which were no longer needed, several items have not been with the department for many years. Lastly, District #1 Commissioner Jerry Howerton announced his first and second deputy. Leona Taylor will serve as his first and Jay Taylor his second. The next meeting of the Osage County Board of County Commissioners will be next Monday at the Osage County Courthouse in Pawhuska.  At the first April meeting of the Barnsdall Chamber of Commerce, the chamber welcomed the Students of the Month from Barnsdall Junior and Sernior High School, discussed this weekends Easter Egg Hunt, and continued discussion regarding next month's Big Heart Day.
Students of the Month James Cole, Junior at Barnsdall High School, James Allen, 8th grad, and Grace Howell 7th grade were welcomed at the Tuesday meeting, students this month were being recognized for their leadership skills. The Chamber also welcomed one of Barnsdall High School's five Valedictorians for the Graduating 2017 Class Ethan McGill. He was going to be at the state capitol at the next meeting when Barnsdall's Valedictorians were to be honored, therefore McGill stopped by this week to discuss his future plans including attending Oklahoma State University majoring in Agricultural Economics and minoring in Philosophy. McGill is also serving as the Barnsdall Nation Honor Society President and Student Council President. Chamber Vice-President Calud Rosendale announced that the canopy and electrical work has been completed at the new stage in front of the Community Center. He also stated that the Chamber has already received 18 paid sponsors and 17 paid vendors for Big Heart Day, scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend, and are in good shape for the event. This Saturday the Barnsdall Chamber, along with American Heritage Bank and the Assembly of God Church will be hosting their annual Easter Egg Hunt. The hunt begins at 10am on Saturday, April 15, at the Barnsdall City Park. Participants will be broken up into two grounds ages 5 and under, and ages 6 to 12. Eggs will be filled with everything from candy to cash prizes up to $20. All participants need to bring is baskets, buckets, or bags for the hunt. The next meeting of the Barnsdall Chamber of Commerce will be April 25, when the Chamber will welcome the other 4 Valedictorians from Barnsdall High School.  The Osage County Board of County Commissioners started Monday off by welcoming newly elected District #1 Commissioner Jerry Howerton. Howerton was swore in as Commissioner at 9am by District Court Judge John Kane. Commissioner Howerton was met by elected officials, family and friends for his swearing in ceremony. At 10am the Commissioners met for their regularly scheduled meeting. During the meeting the Commissioners appoints Candy Thomas to serve on the INCOG Economic Development District Board, discussed and selected engineering firms to solicit for work on the Bird Creek Bridge in Pawhuska, and approved the digitization of court records and county school enumeration records for the genealogy organization FamilySearch International, the County will also receive digital copies of the records at no cost. During the citizens input portion of the meeting Commissioner's Assistant Kandy Jump announced that Brett Brady has been hired for the full-time position at the Osage County Fairgrounds and started working last Thursday. Commissioner Darren McKinney said he had received news from Hominy that they will not need the County's assistance this month to finance their ambulance service as they were able to meet their collection quota, and the new Osage County website should go live this week, it will be available through osage.okcounties.org. The Next meeting of the Osage County Board of County Commissioners will be next Monday at 10am at the Osage County Courthouse in Pawhuska.   Osage News reports that Osage Active Duty service members and Veterans will soon be able to receive Osage Nation vehicle tags at a reduced rate. On March 31, the Osage Nation Congress unanimously approved bill ONCA 17-38 which amends the Nation’s Revenue and Taxation Act “to allow active duty personnel of the military to obtain vehicle plates at a reduced rate of $15.”
To qualify for the reduced tag rate, active duty service members must possess valid military identification, and veterans must be able to provide a copy of their DD 214 form, or Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty with an honorable discharge rating. The Tax Commission, which issues the Osage Nation vehicle tags, will be able to issue vehicle tags at the request of an Osage military veteran or active duty service member. The bill is now subject to consideration of action by Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. To read the complete story visit Osage News at http://osagenews.org/en/article/2017/04/05/congress-passes-bill-active-military-duty-personnel-receive-vehicle-tags-reduced-rate/ Osage County voters chose to keep Democratic Candidate Jerry Howerton in place Tuesday night during the Osage County District #1 Commissioner race with 59 percent of the vote. Howerton was running against Republican Candidate Will Cubbage for the vacant seat in District #1, left when Commissioner Bob Jackson retired last July. The special election for the Commissioner seat was just one of several elections taking place Tuesday, the majority of the other races across the County were for City Council positions, but all eyes were on the Commissioner race. This was the first election for the 32 year veteran of County service. Howerton, took the seat on the Board of County Commissioners following Jackson retirement and has held the Deputy position for the past 9 months. Howerton was excited to finally earn the title of Commissioner Tuesday, and thanked his colleagues, County staff, and the community for all their support.
Howerton will swear in and take the Commissioner title at the next meeting of the Osage County Board of County Commissioners on Monday. In other races, the communities of Barnsdall, Hominy, Fairfax, Skiatook, and Sperry held City Council races. In Skiatook Herb Forbes won over Cody Fuentes. Boa Cox and Charles Cartwright were elected to the Fairfax Board of Trustees, Cartwright winning with four votes over Greg Daley. Ronald Reed won against Emma Pitts with 61 percent of the vote in Hominy, and Betty Fowler won against JD Cole with 62 percent of the vote in Barnsdall.  Tuesday evening the Pawhuska City Council met for their monthly regularly scheduled meeting. During which the Council approved the first business for the newly established Master Tax Incentive District. The Incentive will provide the approved business a delay on their ad valorem tax increases for a five year period. Meaning as tax rates would traditionally increase as a business becomes more established and successful, with the newly established Incentive, the rate will remain the same from the time they are approved. This will provide an opportunity for the business to grow and succeed in Pawhuska's downtown district. The first business the apply is Addie Roanhorse's Roanhorse Gallery and Little Rain Song Loft, which will be located at 617 Kihekah.
The Council also took action to select a project for the CDBG Application for 2017. It is no secret that the water treatment facility in Pawhuska is in need of repairs, and this year the city will be applying for the CDBG Engineering Grant for $450,000 in order to begin repairing or replacing portions of the water treatment facility including the two million gallon water tank. Rural Development Coordinator Barbara Albritton from INCOG recommended the city apply for the Engineering Grant over the Construction Grant as it could save the city money in the long term. Lastly, before adjourning, Council member Cindy Tillman wished to thank the City and the Council, as Tuesday meeting would be her last. Tillman said it has been an absolute pleasure to serve on the city council and serve the community of Pawhuska for the past six years. Tillman will be replaced by Roger Milleson who defeated Tillman in the February City Council election.  The Osage County Board of County Commissioners held a lengthy executive session Monday in order to interview possible candidates for a new full-time position at the Osage County Fairgrounds. The Commissioners were in executive session for nearly 2 hours during the 10 o'clock meeting to interview the five prospective candidates for the position. Following executive session Jerry Howerton for District #1 said that it was a difficult decision, and all five of the candidates were exceptional, choosing one was a challenge. However, a prospective candidate was chosen, but the name of the individual will not be released until they pass the County mandated drug screening and officially accept the position.
Also during the meeting of the Osage County Board of County Commissioners, Oakridge Builders provided an update for the ongoing OSU Extension Office building at the fairgrounds. Charles Hogan of Oakridge said they are ahead of schedule even with 2 days of rain delay and 5 days from wind. Hogan said the building in 95 percent complete and crews are currently working on installing interior walls and awaiting ONG to install natural gas meters. Brett Selvidge of Samaritan EMS also provided a retort at the Monday meeting. Selvidge said for the month of February Samaritan averaged a call per day with a total of 28, the majority once again were medical calls rather than trauma, with Wednesday continuing to be their highest volume day of the week, and predominately female patients. The next meeting of the Osage County Board of County Commissioners will be next Monday at 10am at the Osage County Courthouse in Pawhuska. |
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