The Pawhuska School Board met for a regularly scheduled meeting Monday evening in the administration building.
Pawhuska Superintendent David Cash said a survey is available for parents to take regarding what direction they think the school should take in terms of opening school in the fall. Cash said there have been around 170 people respond thus far. He says a recommendation on how to proceed will be presented to the board in July. Cash wanted to assure the board that the school is doing just fine financially despite not being able to finish the calendar year. Cash said some staff and faculty have expressed some concern, but he noted that they have enough money put back to absorb a financial hit for at least two or three years. Assistant Superintendent Beverly Moore was appointed to serve on the Osage County Interlocal Cooperative Board of Directors for the 2020-2021 school year. The board also selected the Oklahoma School Assurance Group to provide worker’s compensation insurance for the 2020-2021 school year. The commissioners renewed a contract with OSIG to continue serving the district for property, liability and auto insurance for just over $134,000. The next regularly scheduled Pawhuska school board meeting will take place Monday, July 13th at 5:30 in the evening at the administration building. The Osage Hills State Park is one off 22 state parks across Oklahoma that is beginning to charge an entrance fee to get into the park. The cost will be $10 for a single-vehicle entering the park for one day. Those with an Oklahoma or tribal license plate will receive a 20 percent discount. Those aged 62 and veterans can still get in free.
The money raised will allow the Oklahoma State Parks system to get park infrastructure and park facilities back to an acceptable standard. Executive Director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, Jerry Winchester released this statement: “It is deeply important to all of us to keep Oklahoma State Parks affordable while providing the best possible experience for our visitors. The need to implement this parking pass program was not made light lightly, but it was a necessary step to help slow the deferred maintenance trend.” Three-day, one-week and yearly passes will also be available. The Board of Osage County Commissioners discussed further amendment procedures for public admittance to the Osage County Courthouse on Monday morning. The commissioners believe they should leave the current guidelines in place.
Here is District Three Commissioner Darren McKinney discussing the guidelines, The Board of Osage County Commissioners are continuing to monitor the COVID-19 case numbers each day. As of now there are only eight deaths across Osage County, but there has not been a death reported in the county in nine weeks. In an effort to make the most of their tourism dollars to attract people to Osage County, the tourism board approved $45,000 to go toward advertising in a slightly different way. This is something the Board of Osage County Commissioners would first have to approve, but Executive Director for Osage County Tourism, Kelly Bland, put it up for discussion at Monday's meeting.
If the commissioners were to approve this, that would end the grant system where events come to the tourism board requesting money to help advertise their given event. The commissioners will continue discussion on this topic next week. The Board of Osage County Commissioners held a regularly scheduled meeting at the fairgrounds on Monday morning and got a number of things accomplished.
Executive Director for Osage County Tourism, Kelly Bland, said the tourism board had approved $45,000 to be used to better market Osage County through the web hosting service they use. This is something the county commissioners would have to approve and she only brought it up for discussion at Monday's meeting. Questions were raised as to how effective the tool would be and how much financial assistance the tourism board had received this year compared to last year. This is something the commissioners will re-visit at next weeks meeting. The board also approved $500 to be used toward advertising for the Cowboys of Oklahoma art show at the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum in July. District one commissioner Randal Jones said that 121 county employees took the antibody test last week and all results were negative. Jones also said that the free dump day on Saturday was a major success. The commissioners opted to keep procedures for those entering the courthouse the same. District three commissioner Darren McKinney said it was important to stay status quo because if they were to loosen up the restrictions, they might put themselves in a bad situation by having to tighten them later. The commissioners signed a work and processing order with Datascout, LLC to help the assessors office with professional mapping services and geo-spatial consulting services at a rate of $11,500 a year. There were no utility permits signed at the meeting. The next regularly board of Osage county commissioners meeting will be next Monday at 10 o' clock in the morning. The Senior Class of Copan High School received their diplomas Friday evening and it was a night filled with laughter, tears, memories and talk of good times that are yet to come. Antonia Stewart gave the Valedictorian Address and spoke on the challenges that her senior class has been through.
District 10 Representative for the State of Oklahoma, Judd Strom was the evening's guest speaker and he encouraged the seniors to search for what they truly want to do in life. The Copan Class of 2020's senior song is, “Laughed Until We Cried,” by Jason Aldean, while the class colors are navy blue and blush and the class flower is a carnation. The Class motto is, “It's Just starting to get western around here.” There will be a replay of this graduation on Monday evening that you can hear on KWON AM 1400, FM 93.3 this Monday at 6:06 p.m. Congratulations to the Copan Class of 2020. The Pawhuska School Board will meet at the administration building Monday evening for the fiscal-year close out meeting.
At Monday's regularly scheduled meeting, the board will vote to approve an amendment, which will renew the fixed price food service management contract with OPAA for the 2020-2021 school year. At the school board meeting, the board will vote to approve worker's compensation insurance for the 2020-2021 school year through the Oklahoma Assurance Group. The board will also vote to appoint Assistant Superintendent Beverly More to serve on the Osage County Interlocal Cooperative Board of Directors for the 2020-2021 school year. Superintendent David Cash will give a report and personnel matters will also be discussed. The meeting begins at 5:30 for those interested in attending. During the past few weeks, Osage County Deputies have been policing the area of North 52nd and West Avenue just south of Skiatook. In doing so, deputies have made several speed-related traffic stops and officers have seen speeds as high as 94 miles per hour. The speed limit in this area is 50 miles per hour.
On Saturday, May 30th an officer was contacted by two citizens in reference to an individual driving a vehicle erratically in the above mentioned area. Upon making contact with the vehicle, the deputy saw the individual make several traffic violations. The individual was placed into custody for driving under the influence of drugs. While searching the car, officers found 15 balloons containing what they believed to be heroin, along with two clear plastic baggies, also believed to be heroin. Four baggies containing suspected methamphetamine was also found. As summer rolls in, the Osage County Sheriff's Office reminds everyone that traffic in this area is picking up and increased speeds only heightens the possibility of a traffic collision. The Grow, Gather and Hunt Youth Camp that the Osage Nation puts on will be held virtually this year. Any Native American child aged 8-14 in Osage County can participate and any Osage youth living out of the area can sign-up as well. Registration is limited to 125 children.
Those who register by Friday, June 26th will get their activity packages through the mail. There will also be instructional videos on the Osage Nation Facebook Page. It is a two-week camp lasting from Monday, July 6th through Friday, July 17th. All activities are free. You may obtain a registration form on the Osage Nation website and search under the Public Health Nursing tab. You can also contact Jamie Clark at 918-287-5482 for more information. To receive a camp T-shirt and backpack, fill out and return a survey after the camp is over. The Board of Osage County Commissioners will meet at the fairgrounds in Pawhuska this Monday for a regularly scheduled meeting.
The commissioners will get an update regarding tourism from Osage County Executive Director Kelly Bland. Bland will also be requesting $500 in advertisement for an art show taking place at the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum in July. The commissioners will also talk about the possibility of making any further amendments to entering the Osage County Courthouse and other county-owned property. This is an agenda item the commissioners have visited on a weekly basis since they decided to open these buildings in May. The commissioners will consider signing a contract with AF3 Technical Solutions to provide website hosting and e-mail services to the Osage County Assessors Office. They will also consider signing a work and pricing order with Datascout, LLC to help the Assessors Office with professional mapping and geospatial consulting services. The meeting begins at 10 o’ clock in the morning for those interested in attending. |
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