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The Dewey City Council members breezed through their agenda Monday evening, but it was the public who wanted their voices to be heard during citizen's input that made Monday night's meeting so contentious. The city of Dewey has a volunteer fire department and after a few changes had to be made, Dewey Mayor Tom Hays notes that it has been a difficult process getting the department back where it needs to be. After a Nov. 6 structure fire that left one woman dead, concerned residents are tired of excuses. Thomas Mills is a Bartlesville Fireman and former volunteer firefighter for the city of Dewey. Mills says there is no way it should have taken 40 minutes to pull the body out of the house and therefore he believes the procedure needs to change. Another former volunteer firefighter at Dewey believes a change will have to come with the fire department. The next regular scheduled city council meeting will be Monday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. at Dewey City Hall.  The Osage County Commissioners met Monday morning at the Osage County Courthouse and heard about a wide array of issues in the county. Matt Miller, of Miller EMS gave an update on how his company has been doing. Miller said there has been great cooperation with Owasso, but adds that it is difficult to get Skiatook EMS to respond outside of their city limits. Kelly Bland, the Executive Director of the Tourism oversite committee for Osage County, gave an overview of what is going on around the area in the coming weeks. The Pawhuska Christmas Parade will be on Saturday, Dec. 1 and the Constantine Theatre will play the movie, “It Happened on Fifth Avenue” after the parade. On Sunday, Santa Claus will be at the Constantine Theatre handing out gifts to kids. Fairfax will also have their Christmas parade on Saturday, Dec. 1. Skiatook and Hominy will have their Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 8. The County Commissioners also approved a $2,000 funding request from Bland for the Kaw Lake Association's Eagle Watch on Jan. 19, 2019. There was discussion on possibly changing the way county employees are being drug tested, but that was tabled to next week when Osage County Emergency Manager Jerry Roberts will be there to give more information on the subject. The next regular scheduled County Commissioner Board meeting will be next Monday at 10 o' clock in the morning. The Osage County Commissioners will meet Monday morning at the courthouse and discuss a number of items. Matt Miller, of Miller EMS will give an update on how the EMS system is doing. There will also be discussion and possible action taken on a number of sales tax property issues. Kelly Bland, Executive Director of the Tourism Oversite Committee, will be there to give a report. Bland will also request $2,000 for funding the Kaw Lake Association’s Eagle Watch on Jan. 19. There will also be possible action taken regarding county employee drug testing. The meeting begins at 10 o’ clock at the Osage County Courthouse.  Kurt Bickle, of the Indian Nations Council of Government, came to Tuesday's County Commissioner meeting in Pawhuska to discuss how the mapping system for E911 works and how it would work if Osage County decided to adopt the policy. There are many things Bickle and his team are responsible for. One includes maintaining E911 streets and keeping those addresses up to date. They are also responsible for keeping land-line telephone numbers up to date so that it will show the callers name and location. If the caller uses a cell phone, the location will be shown as well. Bickle and his team also create boundaries for EMS crews throughout a given county to lessen confusion. Kay Kelley, Director of the Osage County E911 doesn't believe Bickle and INCOG will do enough to help the county. Bickle is surprised to see Osage County already working on mapping streets. Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden says the county has had trouble with the mapping for the last two years, but Bickle said things can be improved. There was no action taken on the item.  The Barnsdall Chamber of Commerce held a meeting Tuesday evening at the City Hall office. The water line to the old gym sprinkler system has been completed and final construction drawings for the gym are expected to be completed soon. The bid packet will be posted on the school web page when made available. The contract should be awarded no later than the January board meeting. Chamber merchants are providing tickets for the “Christmas in Barnsdall” event and will total $3,550. Linda Snyder will announce the parade and Chance McGill will sing the National Anthem. The American Legion will provide the National Guard. The First Christian Church will provide hot dogs and hot chocolate. The Christmas in Barnsdall Parade will be Dec. 8 from 6 to 7:30 along Main Street by the Community Center. The Chamber has sent a letter to Dollar General Headquarters in Tennessee, asking them to consider a Dollar General Market Store in the city. The next regular scheduled meeting for the Barnsdall Chamber of Commerce will be Dec. 11 at 12 noon.  It was a short and uneventful city council meeting Tuesday evening at Pawhuska’s City Hall. The Commissioners made it possible for Mayor Roger Taylor to submit an application to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for use of funds for phase two of the Street Scape Project. Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce Director Joni Nash gave a report on what is going on around the city. Nash added that there are some exciting things happening that willhopefully attract more tourists to the area. The boards next regular scheduled meeting will be Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at Pawhuska City Hall.  At Tuesday's County Commissioner meeting, the board also heard from Marilyn Cooper, a citizen concerned about how the health department is being ran. Larry Bergner, Regional Director for the Osage County Health Department, believes he is doing all he can to spread the word to get people and vaccinated and inform them about the health department. Bergner adds that if you want to know more about the health department, come ask him personally. A Fairfax resident disagreed with Bergner to an extent. Bergner will be expected to give monthly reports on how the health department is doing to the County Commissioners via e-mail.  It was a busy day at Tuesday's County Commissioner meeting at the Osage County Courthouse in Pawhuska and it started with discussion in regards to the financial situation of the Country Corner EMS System. Country Corner EMS is currently undergoing an audit. District Attorney Rex Duncan was the first to weigh in on the situation. Resident Ronnie Wilson asked one of the EMS representatives who was on hand Tuesday morning how the funds were handled. County Commissioner Darren McKinney says they had beenrequesting reports from the board. All three members of the EMS board assured the County Commissioners that they would keep them up to date as to how things were going in regards to their financial records. They hope to have the audit complete by January.  The Pawhuska School Board met Monday evening for a regular scheduled meeting. Superintendent David Cash gave a report in regards to how the students are enjoying school. Preston Birk of Sanders, Bledsoe and Hewitt took a look at last yearsfinancial audit for Pawhuska Public Schools. High School Principal Lauri Lee gave a presentation on how fewer students are dropping out from previous years. Lee added that more students are aiming to go to college. Lastly, the school board approved online concurrent enrollment courses withTEL. The board’s next regular scheduled meeting is Monday, Dec. 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.  On Sunday afternoon, the Osage Veterans Memorial Commission unveiled a memorial honoring Veterans past and present. With more than 200 people in attendance, various speakers spoke on how important the Osage Nation has played in our military heritage. The monument had been in the works for more than two years, but everyone at the event agrees that it was much needed. The memorial consists of a tall feather sculpture in the middle with running water and names of Osage Native Americans who have fought and died for our country.  |
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