Kelly Bland was at Tuesday's Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting giving an update on how things have been going across the county as well as requesting funding for upcoming events.
Bland first let the commissioners know that the “Visit the Osage” website has been revamped and is up and running. Bland also talked about an event coming up at the Constantine Theater in December, as two individuals are trying to bring excitement to the Theater. She requested $500 to assist them in the endeavor. The commissioners approved that request. They also approved $1,000 to be used for advertising the Postoak Challenge in February and approved $1,000 to put a half page ad in the Kaw Lake Association Magazine. The citizens of Pawhuska passed a bond allowing for the school district to spend $250,000 on transportation equipment. The school board recently sent out bids to Blue Sky Bank and Bank of Oklahoma. School Superintendent David Cash said those two local businesses gave the school great rates and now it is just a matter of getting the buses to Pawhuska.
Cash did say that it is important to make the right decision when purchasing the new buses. Cash plans to surplus the old fleet of buses. A few months ago, the Grand Lake Mental Health Center agreed to assist the Pawhuska Police Department in getting local residents experiencing mental or psychological illness the quickest help possible. They are now doing the same with the Pawhuska School District. Superintendent David Cash is very excited about the inter-agency agreement they recently signed.
Cash says there is a clause in the agreement that if the school isn't satisfied with how things are going, they can opt out of the agreement at any time. Grand Lake Mental Health Center does this for many other schools as well. The Board of Osage County Commissioners met for a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning and several items were discussed.
The Executive Director for Osage County Tourism, Kelly Bland let the commissioners know that the “Visit the Osage” website has been refurbished and is now up and running. The commissioners also approved three funding requests from Bland. These include an ad to be put in the Kaw Lake Association Magazine, a production event taking place at the Constantine Theater and money to assist with the Postoak Challenge. The commissioners signed a resolution allowing for the public to come recognize Judge M. John Kane at the courthouse in Pawhuska next Thursday for being nominated to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. There will be a meeting on Tuesday, October 29th from 1-4 at the Osage County Fairgrounds and Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts is encouraging department heads in the county to come so that they can learn more about the medical marijuana laws. One Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Certificate of Compliance affidavit was signed and two utility permits were signed. Also at the meeting, District Two Commissioner Kevin Pasley announced that he will be running for re-election in 2020. The next regularly scheduled Board of Osage County Commissioners meeting will be next Monday at 10 o' clock in the morning. Pawhuska Public Schools, in conjunction with Tri County Technology Center and P.E.O., hosted a career fair for students in grades 8-12. Students were able to visit with many different businesses in the community. Football coach Matt Hennesy says the purpose of the event was for students to better understand different job opportunities once they graduate.
Bartlesville Radio's own Evan Fahrbach was on hand letting students know what he does on a daily basis. The Pawhuska School Board met for a regularly scheduled meeting Monday and got a lot accomplished in a short amount of time.
Superintendent David Cash reported that when looking at financial statements, the yearly revenue is where it needs to be for the school. The school board approved pre-kindergarten students to go on two separate field trips in the coming weeks. One will be to the Garrett Pumpkin Patch in Ralston. The other will be to the Bird Creek Farms STEAM Camp. The school board approved an inter-agency agreement between Grand Lake Mental Health Center Inc. and the school district. This will allow for the Center to talk to students at school who feel as though they need help. The 2020 school board meeting dates were also announced. The board will meet for regularly scheduled meeting the second Monday of each month except for June. In June, they will meet the third Monday of the month. Dale Christenson and Jerry Werts were also hired on as teachers at Pawhuska. Halloween will be here in two and a half weeks. Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joni Nash explains that kids will have an opportunity to do some trick-or-treating downtown that evening.
Halloween will be on Thursday, October 31st. The 2020 United States Census will begin in March and Kathy Tippen with the Census Bureau explains how important it is for people in Osage County to participate in the program.
Tippen says that there have been some changes to how this year's census will be distributed. Tippen said that their main objective will be to go out to determine how many people live in each home. Tippen added that she is actively looking for volunteers. If you are interested in applying, go to 2020census.gov/jobs. The Pawhuska School Board will meet for a regularly scheduled meeting Monday evening at the Administration Building to cover a wide array of issues.
The school board will look to approve an inter-agency agreement between the Grand Lake Mental Health Center Inc. and the Pawhuska School System. The board will vote to approve the district to use ACT Testing for all 11th grade students. They will also consider taking action on allowing pre-school students to attend two separate field trips. One would be to a pumpkin patch in Ralston and the other would be to the Bird Creek Farms STEAM Camp. Superintendent David Cash will give a report and personnel matters will also be discussed. The meeting begins at 5:30 in the evening for those interested in attending. The water reservoir at Lake Pawhuska is operating at 50 percent right now and city council members are looking for a way to fix it. Utilities Director for the city, Bill Bruce, recently met with engineers and said they are looking at a way to examine what kind of shape the reservoir is in.
Bruce says once they begin working on this project, it is important that they finish it quickly. The city will be applying for a grant to help pay for the reservoir repairs, but even with that grant, Bruce knows the repairs will be expensive. Bruce added that the city will have to make repairs on the reservoir every 15 years or so. |
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