Observations...

Last November Sand Springs voters approved a $4.2 million bond issue for a new community center, but only this week did city leaders get around to discussing the type of facility and size. Floor plans were revealed from 25,400 to 31,130 square feet and leaders are seeking public input as to what kind of facilities should be built. In the meantime, costs of concrete and all kinds of materials have increased, some as much as 40%. Seems to us they got it backwards. This city of 17,500 people, three times the size of Grove, is thinking about a new building of only 31,130 square feet at the max, passed a bond issue without knowing any of the details, and now faces rising costs.Maybe Grove should take a lesson here, deciding what size, type and location, the project the amount and get construction underway shortly after passage (if it does pass)...The Tulsa School Superintendent search committee failed to turn up anything negative regarding the final two candidates, but a Nashua, N.H. newspaper did. It found that Julia Earl had some expensive out of state trips that were not maybe all business, and owed the IRS $147,000 in back taxes plus $8000 owed to the county for back property taxes. The Grove City Manager search committee could learn a thing here as well, newspapers almost always ferret out previously undiscovered information…...The Grove Planning and Zoning Board this week approved an amendment pertaining to off street parking requirements, parking spaces, and storage and parking of trailers and commercial vehicles in residential areas. The item now goes to the City Council for approval May 20...Asphalt will be laid on 18th Street in the next two weeks, say city officials, and on the portion from 13th to 18th on Shundi Road. Hopefully this will all be accomplished in time for the city's annual fireworks show July 3…This weekend features the 19th Annual GroveFest with lots of neat things to do downtown, including a karoke contest, barbecue tasting, carnival and more...Entertainer Roy Clark has purchased a lakefront home at Patricia Island Estates, we hear. Wait until he finds out he can't even get decent internet service, like a lot of others have. Maybe he'll write a country/western tune about it, like "My Internet Service is Broke, and so is my Pickup Truck."