The Board of Osage County Commissioners will meet Monday morning and they have a lot to discuss.
There will be a public hearing to discuss the proposed establishment of a county fire department. This would be known as the Green Country Fire District. There will be a portion of the meeting designated for businesses to get their Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Certificates of Compliance signed. The commissioners will also discuss a more efficient way to sign these Certificates moving forward. The commissioners will look to sign interlocal agreements with the city of Tulsa, Skiatook and Sperry. They will also consider signing interlocal agreements with the Skiatook and Sperry School Systems. The commissioners will also enter into executive session to interview applicants for the Fairgrounds Caretaker position. The meeting begins at 10 o’clock for those interested in attending. Mike Jackson with Upstairs Downtown of Springfield, Illinois gave a residential feasibility study to show how realistic it would be for people to live in lofts downtown in Bartlesville. Jackson feels like that potential is there.
Jackson said he has seen the desire for downtown housing in cities across the country, but the key is finding people willing to invest. The downstairs business owners must be on board with having the upstairs lofts. Director of the Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority, Chris Wilson, talked about one of the interactions he had with an owner. Six of these seven lofts are in the historic district of downtown Bartlesville. Four suspects have been arrested on recommended charges of second degree burglary and conspiracy, which occurred between the dates of September 3rd through the 13th.
The victim stated that Sara Nichols, Tyson Keen, Cole Youngblood and Wendy Hill allegedly stole approximately $75,000 from his home. They also took an electric guitar, golden Rolex watch, sunglasses and an unknown amount of change. Nichols was a contract employee with the victim. Nichols had a key to the residence and police attempted to reach out to Nichols several times before finally going by her house and taking her to the police station for an interview. During the recorded interview, Nichols stated that since she had a key to the victim's house, she burglarized the home on two separate occasions by herself and took approximately $1,000. Nichols went on to say that she lived with Keen, Hill, Youngblood and Michael Saxton when she burglarized the home. Nichols went on to say that she and her roommates developed a plan to burglarize the home again. Nichols stated that the five of them went back to the house and took approximately $31,500 along with the guitar and other items. She was unsure of what exactly was taken due to each person searching in different areas of the home. After searching the house, they divided the money five ways. All four defendants will be seen at the Washington County Courthouse Friday afternoon at 1:15 where they will learn their formal charges. After close wins a week ago, Barnsdall and Pawhuska enter this Friday's contest undefeated for the annual Osage County Clash. The Panthers had to fight their way back from a 19-point halftime deficit to defeat Hominy 36-33 a week ago and Tre Harper got a late interception to preserve Pawhuska's 20-12 victory at Morrison.
The Panthers have 14 seniors on their roster and nine of those players have been starting since they were freshman. Pawhuska coach Matt Hennesy knows that experience will benefit them, but he hopes Pawhuska's tempo will wear the Panthers down as the game wears on. Barnsdall coach Kylee Sweeney believes the Hominy win was a major confidence booster for his team and adds that the Panthers are confident they can go take care of business on Friday night. With the many connections the two towns share, Sweeney knows both teams will be well-prepared for Friday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Ormond-Beach Memorial Stadium in Pawhuska. Coverage can be heard on Sportstalk KPGM FM 99.1. The Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority met Wednesday afternoon and have decided to assist Cooper and Mill Brewing Company with financing assistance. The Brewing Company will be located at 200 South Dewey Ave. and they hope to be open in late April. John Kane has had a vision to start up a brewery for the last five years. Kane explains how he hopes the company will look when they first open.
With the equipment they are currently buying, the company could currently make up to 10,000 barrels of beer before having to get more. Kane said the company had trouble finding a name, but explains on how they settled with Cooper and Mill Brewing Company. Cooper and Mill Brewing Company hopes to have 10 beers on tap. They plan on having an area for pool tables along with a corn hole set. Their plan is to start selling locally at area restaurants in Bartlesville before reaching out to Tulsa, Stillwater and Oklahoma City. While they don't plan on serving food, Cooper and Mill Brewing Company does plan on reaching out to area restaurants and have “runners” who would bring food back to the brewery where the patrons could eat inside the brewery. The Osage Nation 5K Buffalo Run will take place Saturday, October 5th at the Osage Hills State Park. Registration starts at 6:45 a.m. and the race starts at 8.
There will be medals handed out for runners who finish in the top three of each age group. The overall top male and female finisher will receive a $100 gift card. Second place finishers will receive a $75 gift card. T-shirts will be available while supplies last. To sign up ahead of time, go to runsignup.com/osagenation5kbuffalorun. The pre-registration deadline is October 1. For more information, call 918-287-5525. Oklahoma is a state that has one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers across the country. To combat this problem, cameras are being installed on roadways to find these uninsured drivers. Osage County District Attorney Mike Fisher says permanent cameras have been installed in Tulsa and Oklahoma City since May, but rural parts of Oklahoma will soon see the effects of this new policy.
Fisher says the county commissioners don't have to sign off on this and that they plan on starting in Osage County in the next month. Fisher went on to explain how the program works. Fisher said he has already seen positive effects from when the program first started four months ago. Fisher brought this to the attention of the Board of Osage County Commissioners on Monday. The Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority will meet at City Hall Wednesday afternoon for a regularly scheduled meeting.
Mike Jackson will give a report dealing with the residential feasibility studies for the possibility of adding residential housing in downtown buildings. There are three business items on the agenda, including the possibility of filling a position on the BRTA Board of Trustees. The board will also look to accept the 2019 financial report from the month of August. The meeting begins at 3:30 for those interested in attending. More and more security cameras are beginning to fail at the Osage County Jail. That is why Jail Lieutenant Gil DuPont was at Monday's Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting asking for funding to address those needs.
To make these repairs, the company is charging them a state contract bid price of $24,862.67. DuPont informed the commissioners it would be well worth the money though. The commissioners agreed to fund the department with the needed money to get new cameras at the jail. Osage County Tourism Director Kelly Bland was at Monday morning's Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting and she had a lot of positive things to say. Bland started by talking about a podcast she has started to promote Osage County.
Skiatook's Pioneer Days and Pawhuska's Ride the Osage took place over the weekend. Despite the rain, Bland said both events were well-attended and everyone had a good time. Bland went on to say that she hopes to plan a fashion show of some sort in the spring for the city of Pawhuska. Bland added that Pawhuska was featured in Destinations Magazine. |
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