P&Z OK's Walgreen's Site for Re-Zoning

The Grove Planning & Zoning Board voted 4-1 to approve re-zoning at the northwest corner of 13th and Hazel Streets, paving the way for a Walgreen's store which will occupy the entire corner fronting on Main.
Lone dissenter was Judith Read, who said she liked Walgreen's but thought this was the wrong location for them.
Entrances to Walgreen's will be on 13th Street and Main (Highway 59) but not on Hazel.
Widening of the intersection of 13th and Main is already funded and would have been completed by now except for re-location by PSO of some utility poles, delayed due to staff working on hurricane Katrina relief in Louisiana, City Manager Bill Galletly said in response to concerns from the audience. This widening will provide additional turn lanes at the intersection and into the parking lot of the future Walgreen's.
The building will have nearly 15,000 square feet of shopping area plus two drive-in windows for pharmacy pickup.
The rezoning, from R-1 Single Family to C-3 Highway Commercial and Recreation, affects Lots 9,10 and 11 of the Teel Addition. It must now go before the Grove City Council for action.

In other action, the board approved a request by the Grand Lake Family Fellowship to renovate the building they purchased downtown at 6 W Third Street, to use for administrative offices. The GLFF is using an alternate location at the former Kountry Kousins Theatre on Highway 59 for worship services. The P&Z Board had previously turned down their request to use the Third street location for worship services due to lack of parking.

Todd Kolczun, attorney for GLFF agreed to provide, in writing, a guarantee that the church would not oppose any application for a liquor license in Downtown Grove coming from a restaurant in any nearby building.

The board also rejected a request by Tera Miranda to amend the site plan for Tera Miranda Boat Sales on Highway 59 from Hardy plank siding, to lap metal siding, by a vote of 5-0.
"We don't want Highway 59 to look like a West Texas metal building town," Bill Miller, board member said.

Tabled was a request from Rick Miller for sign alteration for Grove Dental Associates, which would have increased the sign height from 13 feet to 18 feet. Current regulations require a 10 foot height.
Also approved was lot split plat for the Cedar Oaks Shopping Center on Highway 59.

Shero Denied Sealed Minutes

Grove area resident Earl Shero this week requested that minutes of two Executive Sessions of the City Council in 2003 and 2004 be unsealed, a request that should be decided by City Council, according to the interim City Attorney.

"Mr. Shero came into our office late Monday afternoon and requested copies of executive session minutes and I did not have the authority to open or make copies of them," Bonnie Buzzard, City Clerk said. Sealed minutes of executive sessions are to be opened only by a court order or action of the Board relating to the minutes, she added. Shero again appeared at city hall on Thursday to request the minutes. Bill Galletly, City Manager, said he asked Shero "are you aware of the city attorney's opinion on this matter" and Shero was not, Galletly said.

The minutes requested are for City Council Executive Sessions held on Feb. 3, 2004, and Sept. 2, 2003, according to Buzzard. Shero maintains that the city did not post executive sessions properly on the agendas for the two meetings.

Attorney Larry Steidley, Jr. of Claremore said Shero "has made such request based on what he claims to be deficiencies in the language of the agendas corresponding such executive session minutes."

In a letter to City Manager Bill Galletly, Steidley said "it is my opinion that neither you nor I have the authority to unseal executive session minutes by making a decision as to whether certain events rise to the level of 'willful.' Such authority is reserved to the City Council or a court of competent jurisdiction. In my opinion, there is no other avenue but to deny Mr. Shero's request due to the privileged nature of the executive session minutes with no determination of any "willful violation" being heretofore made," the letter continued.

Since the minutes remain sealed, it is unknown as to the content or subject matter. However, the Agenda from the Council meeting of Feb. 3, 2004, item 12 states "Executive Session: Discussion Regarding Possible Pending Litigation as Authorized by 25 O.S. 307 B (4)."
Item 11, same agenda, is "Discussion and/or action regarding setting procedures to handle offers for the sale of the Civic Center." A hand written notation on that item states "should hand to GIDA--they hold title."
Council members at that time were Randy Jobe, Charles Rowe, Bob Nold, Dave Helms and Carolyn Nuckolls.

For the Sept 2, 2003 Council meeting, item D was: "Executive Session: Discussion regarding possible pending litigation as authorized by Title 25 O.S. and 307 B (4). Council members at that time were the same as noted above.

In his letter dated Nov. 7, 2005, Steidley said Title 25 O.S. 307 (E) states that executive sessions may not be held unless: 1. The proposed executive session is noted on the agenda as provided by Title 25 O.S. 311; 2. The executive session is authorized by a majority vote of a quorum of the members present and the vote is a recorded vote; and 3…any vote or action on any item of business considered in an executive session shall be taken in public meeting with the vote of each member publicly cast and recorded."
"Subsection F of Section 30-7 goes on to state "[a] willful violation of the provisions of this section shall: 1. Subject each member of the public body to criminal sanctions as provided in Section 314 of this title; and 2. Cause the minutes and all other records of the executive session, including tape recordings, to be immediately made public."

"The real issue, as in the other instance, is the determination of just who has the authority to declare a "willful violation". As I have stated before, in my opinion the decision certainly does not rest with you or I, and I feel cautioned to rule that the minutes should be unsealed absent legal authority. Certainly the judge of a district court could do so."

Steidley went on to say in his letter, that "one way of resolving this issue would be to present the issue to the City Council and let it vote on whether or not the minutes should be unsealed. If it does, the issue becomes moot."

Steidley said that he had received a call from Ben Loring, First Assistant District Attorney in Eddie Wyant's office, inquiring about Shero's request. "Mr. Loring indicated that he would be monitoring the Shero request on behalf of Mr. Wyant's office," Steidley said. "However, right is right, and wrong is wrong. Sometimes difficult calls have to be made." He went on to say that the City Council should make the decision, since they were the board that went into Executive Session.

Galletly said Shero has a remedy through "discovery" if the requested minutes are related to his current lawsuits with the city, available through his attorney.

Efforts to reach Earl Shero for comment were not successful. At publishing time, no additional lawsuits had been filed in District Court by Shero against the city, although he had lodged a complaint early in the week with the Grove Police Department.

Grand Lake Family YMCA Gets $12,850

Grand Lake Casino presented a check for $12,850 this week to Bill Skea of the Grand Lake Family YMCA as a result of a recent golf tournament at Patricia Island Golf Club.
Some 144 players participated in the event, benefitting the YMCA.
Shown left to right are Andy Stewart, Marketing Director at Patricia Island Golf Club; Billie Sly, Casino Floor Manager, and Bill Skea.

Flu Vaccine is Late in Coming

Flu vaccine for Grove physicians is late in coming, and short in quantity. Several physicians report they are just now receiving their allocation and in some cases it is a lot less than what they had requested.
Integris Grove Hospital officials said more was on the way and advised residents to be patient. "We are at the mercy of the manufacturers," one said.
In the meantime, the advice is to wash your hands at every opportunity, and carry a bottle of hand wash solution or handiwipes with you after touching areas frequented by others.
The Delaware County Health Department in Jay has been giving flu shots as an alternate source, officials said.

Veterans to be Honored Friday

Grove area veterans, their friends, families and the entire community are being asked to attend a special commemorative event Friday where veterans will be honored for their military service.
State Representative Cox will be a featured speaker at the event which is scheduled for Friday, November 11 at 7 pm at First Christian Church in Grove.
The tribute will recognize veterans from all branches of service. Afton’s John Short will present a tribute to the American flag and the Cookson Hills Elementary Choir will entertain guests.
There is no admission charge for this important event and the entire community is invited.
First Christian Church is located on 4th Street between Broadway and Grand in downtown Grove.

The Canine Corner...by Missy MacTavish

Wasn't it a good week? Neither the Dallas Cowboys or the OU team played, so I put that down as a "win."
But I was watching a football game on the Fox Sports Network. Imagine, a network owned by foxes. Do they have a Dog Network? Yes, it's called ABC.
Anyway I digress. They have found a new way to sell advertising during these football games.
They have a first down line in yellow, sponsored by such and such.
Taking this one step further, why not a commercial break for each of the yard markers...
"This play at the 35 yard line is brought to you by PetSmart" for example. As the ball reaches each line they break for a commercial, which will mean that instead of games running four hours, they could run six hours. You may remember that they used to be over in three hours. The NFL games are so long on Sunday's they push the 9 p.m. shows into midnight. 60 Minutes is now 35 minutes.
Well, enough of that. I hope you have a great weekend and may all your friends be dogs....Miss Missy.

Sailboat Bridge Ornaments Available

The Delaware County Genealogical Society is again making it possible for area residents to add some Grove nostalgia to their Christmas decor. The group has re-ordered the "Old Sailboat Bridge" ornaments for its 2005 fund-raiser. The ornament is a genuine 24K gold-flashed brass and will be available for holiday gift-giving.
Linda McDonald from the society will be available at the Grove Public Library on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon for those wanting to buy. Linda also can be called at 786-9367.The ornaments are oval, three inches by 2.5 inches, with a 3-d effect. Cost per ornament is still $10 each.
The ornaments come in a red box bearing the history of the Old Sailboat Bridge. Construction of the new Sailboat Bridge began in 2000 and was completed in 2001. Sixteen piers of the original bridge remain as part of the new bridge which continues as a breathtaking gateway to Grove.
...from correspondent Linda McDonald

The Golden Age of Newspapers

The media loves nothing better than stories about itself, so there is much handwringing in the media about the drop in newspaper circulation. I predicted this in 1994 at a meeting of newspaper folk who came to Blacksburg to hear about the newfangled Blacksburg Electronic Village thing.
What I told them then has not changed--newspapers have a golden future ahead of them if they would only stop thinking their job is to print the news on paper and toss those clumps of paper in people's driveways.
What papers have is an organization designed to edit and filter the news, and that is what is valuable, not the fact that they have a big machine designed to spread ink onto dead trees; the printing press is a byproduct of the news process, not the news process itself. But newspapers have trouble seeing that.
I talked to a newspaper person recently who asked, "How do we get young people to read the paper?" The short answer is, "You can't." They expect to get their news online, and so newspapers have to abandon paper and move to a new model of news distribution, using the Internet. And the paper has to do more than just stick articles designed for paper on the Web.
Why is it the golden age of newspapers? Because in a world awash in information, most of it suspect, an organization that does a good job of telling what the most important stuff is has nothing but opportunities ahead of it. But newspapers have to let go of paper, and dropping the word "paper" from their name would be a start.
By Andrew Cohill, Design Nine

This Week's Restaurant Review

By Sam L. Smithers
Chief Restaurant Reviewer

This week we took off for the cosmopolitan city of Miami for what is reputed to be the city's finest steakhouse, Montana Mike's. If my steak was any indication, this is the finest. I had a 16 ounce Ribeye that was just delicious and I also ordered the onion rings.
The steak came with a nice salad and a huge home baked roll. For $17.95 this was a good value.
My dinner companion ordered Chicken Strips Salad which she said was excellent. It came with a dinner roll and was only $6.75.
Service was pretty bad. Our teenybopper server was slow to get our meal served, never could pour ice tea with ice, and in the middle of our meal plopped down the bill in a leather case, standing up as in a military pose. The steak sauce we had requested at the beginning never appeared. Why doesn't someone take these servers aside and train them?
But if you want a great steak at a reasonable price, the drive to Miami and Montana Mike's is well worth it.

An Editorial---Lack of Fire Hydrants in Grove

Is the lack of fire hydrants in some parts of Grove a safety issue?
Fire Chief Lee Dollarhide says no…"we have plenty of water to fight fires."
An entirely new subdivision, Lighthouse Springs, is without a single fire hydrant.
Patricia Island, nearby, has only three hydrants for 100 homes, some as far apart as 2880 feet.
Hydrants cost $2200 apiece and if these two areas were not in a rural water district, they would be required to have hydrants no more than 400 feet from homes per city code.
The lack of enough hydrants at Patricia Island was caused by lack of money from Rural Water District #9 and the developer never saw fit to install them as houses were built.
We don't know what the excuse is at Lighthouse Springs but heaven help the residents there if a fire occurs. The nearest hydrant is several blocks away.
The lack of fire hydrants effects insurance ratings for both the city and individual residents. Many homeowner policies ask how many feet there are between the home and the hydrant, while others don't care, instead they use the city's overall rating. But this too is affected by hydrant issues and fire department equipment.
Within the county, hydrants are not required in new subdivisions. It is left entirely up to the developer.
The other day we had occasion to call the Grove Fire Department to put out a builder-built fire next door; it took the truck 35 minutes to arrive, including 10 extra minutes for the pumper to go to a hydrant and fill the tanks. This would not be acceptable in the case of a house fire, as the house would burn to the ground in that time.
Somebody needs to take a look at the hydrant situation both within the city and the county. Homeowners should not be put at risk by developers and rural water districts, or lack of regulations in the county.