Help Wanted: City Manager

At a special council meeting last Friday the requirements were outlined for the now open position of Grove City Manager. Deadline is Aug. 31 for application.

Qualifications:
A master's degree in public administration with a minimum of five years experience in city government is required.
Strong experience in capital improvement projects, public utilities management and union negotiations is a must.
Candidate shall be a member of International City/County Management Association (ICMA).
Candidates must be of good character and reputation and consent to pre-employment screening including prior employment, criminal/civil and credit history.

We should add:
Should be able to bail out in case of voter approval of change of form of government to strong mayor/council.
Thick skin, probably Teflon coated Titanium, recommended.
Ability to read minds a plus.

This Week's City Meeting Highlights...

Grove Industrial Development Authority: Approved the '06-'07 budget of $235,980, nearly half of which goes to the Grove Civic Center, and tabled action on transferring Tract #19 in the Grove Industrial Park from the airport trust authority to GIDA. The airport authority had previously voted to not transfer the land, about four acres, and there is still some question as to whether or not this tract was purchased with FAA grant money. The city is researching what happened to an $118,000 grant from the FAA in 1998. Records are missing as to whether or not the city ever disbursed the funds to the airport or GIDA.

Grove Municipal Services Authority: Councilman Larry Parham brought up the error in the GMSA budget estimate which had projected a 15% increase in gas rates which in fact were 10% on the markup only, which would have resulted in excess collections from users of $189,720. The net change is a $50,580 increase which includes gas wheeling fees not included in the original budget work.
City Manager Bill Galletly reported that GMSA is still not in the black "but we will get there this year" and will no longer subsidize neighboring towns such as Afton, Jay or Fairland.

The board voted to approve purchase of a Hydrogen Sulfide Odor Control System for the old sewer plant, which will eliminate the septic odor coming from the old unused pipes, at a cost of $22,880; the original estimate was $65,000 to fix the problem, Galletly reported. Also approved was purchase of a new tractor for $25,000.

The GMSA board voted to accept a bid of $2,500 for cleanup of the old sewer plant, and approved construction of new water, sewer and gas lines to serve Grove Municipal Airport and Grove Industrial Park, acknowledging receipt of approval of plans from DEQ.

Grove City Council:
--Voted 5-0 to authorize the Grove Municipal Airport Managing Authority to purchase approximately 33 acres of land on the airport's west side, from Mike Prather. City city's portion of the cost would be less than $6,000, after Realtor Chuck Perry announced that he would donate his commission. There are still issues to be resolved regarding the paperwork and grant application to meet the July 1 deadline.
--Accepted bids for asphalt for the first half of the fiscal year of $39.50 per ton for Type A and $42.50 per ton for Type B; last year the city paid $24.80 and $35.00 or an increase of 37%. Bid was from Longan Construction Co. in Grove.
--Denied a Tort Claim from Jana Jae's Gallery Southwest upon the recommendation of the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group (OMAG). GMSA workers were attempting to change out a water meter when deposits on the inside of the steel service line broke loose and clogged up the water line to the business. OMAG stated "this would not be considered a negligent act by the workers."
--Sent to the Planning & Zoning Board amendments to Parking Spaces requirements, off-street parking, and storage and parking of trailers and commercial vehicles in the city.
--Dropped an amendment pertaining to city street and driveway standards including updated versions until final specifications can be submitted. Several changes were recommended by developers which are being incorporated in the new standards.
--Took no action in Executive Session regarding negotiations with the Grand Lake Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #171.
(see related stories on Council Meeting)

City Budget Tops $25 Million for '06-'07

The annual budget process for the city and the trust authorities has been completed with next year's budget topping $25 million, according to City Treasurer Lisa Allred. Total, not including the Grove Municipal Airport budget, was $25,674,097 and breaks out as follows:
City General Fund…$5,138,054
Street/Alley Fund…$39,500
City Capital Fund…$4,266,558
Library Fund…$8765
Cemetery Fund…$7285
Special Fire Fund…$3790
Animal Control…$5037
GMSA General Fund…$7,372,420
GMSA Capital Fund…$7,278,081
GMSA Debt Service…$1,318,627
GIDA…$235,980

Revenues projected for the city Capital Budget are $4,266,558; revenues for GMSA Capital are forecast at $7,278,081, both a break-even on expenditures. The GMSA Capital Projects budget at $1,352,588 has most of it going to the Highway 59 widening project and associated work.

Several projects were left unfunded, including $400,000 for remodeling the current YMCA building to accommodate the Police Department; $450,000 to construct Shundi from 9th to 3rd street; $45,000 for engineering State Park Road; and $15,000 for engineering at Harber and Leisure road intersection; $150,000 for a Splashpad at Centennial Park; and $300,000 for a new Civic Center roof.

18th Street Project to Open Soon

The 18th street extension and Shundi Road project should be completed on time and within the bid amount, according to City Project Inspector Jim Heard.
"We hope to open the road to traffic in about 10 days; the sod work adjacent to the roadway should be completed shortly after that," Heard said Wednesday.

The original bid was $2,062,274.35; spent to date is $1,472,698.68 leaving $589,575.67 remaining. The project is 1.270 miles in length including a three-lane Shundi section of .603 miles, built to 1999 ODOT standards with a 10 inch aggregate base, four inches of Type A asphalt, plus 2 and a half inches of Type B asphalt. The 18th street portion is 24 feet in width with no shoulders.

Some $771,255 of the money spent is on underground work that cannot be seen---storm drains, concrete boxes, and $93,000 worth of curbs and gutters. The first layer of asphalt has been applied to the 18th street portion, with another two and a half inch topcoat to follow.
The above numbers do not include engineering fees.

The project has been a source of great interest and confrontation since the decision was made by Council to build 18th street instead of improve 13th street. Cited as reasons were the need for another outlet to the East to serve the new hospital building, and extensive utility relocation costs for 13th street.
"We have taken great care to see that the project is finished on time and within the bid," Heard said.

In Bartlesville, a nearly one mile extension of Silver Lake Road was completed recently, with a 24 foot roadway and eight feet of shoulder on both sides, for a total of 40 feet. The project used 16 inches of base plus 8 inches of asphalt and included a bridge, but no storm drainage or curbing/guttering. Cost was $1.5 million including engineering fees and was built by M.J. Lee Construction of Tulsa, according to Terry Lauritsen, Bartlesville City Engineer.

Top 100 Elite Bassmasters to Return to Grove '07

For the first time ever, the Top 100 Elite Bassmasters Series will return to a site two years in a row, with June 21-24, 2007 being announced as the date by Deb Wolek, Executive Director of the Grand Lake Association.

Wolek told City Council Tuesday night that she would return about half of the $75,000 given by the city to the Association to help host the event, and then announced that she had just received word that the event would be repeated next year. She said the Bass organization was so pleased with the way Grove responded, with security, volunteers, city staff, the lake itself, the fans and of course the fishing, they wanted to return next year.

The site will be at North Beach, which in another year should have more facilities, streets and parking available.

"The participants said they had never had security at this level before, with help from the Grove Police, Delaware County Sheriff's office, Cherokee Nation Police, EMS services, and volunteers. One of the participants said he had 40 boats following him one day but they all kept a good distance away so as to not interfere with the fishing," Wolek said.
An estimated 20,000 people attended the four-day event, she said, beyond expectations.

Wolek said she was looking forward to the sales tax figures for June, which should be released in August, to compare with the previous year. She also told Council that BASS had agreed to a $10,000 sponsor fee for 2007 compared with $50,000 this year.
Councilors congratulated Wolek and the GLA for their hard work in putting on this year's event with a packed room responding with applause.

Council Approves Funding for City Chamber

Grove Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lisa Friden appealed to Council to restore last year's funding to $27,000, which had been cut to $10,000 in the proposed budget for '06-'07. Council voted 3-2 to keep it at $10,000 which was greeted with boos and chamber supporters walking out of the meeting Tuesday night.
Immediately after, councilman Terry Ryan made a motion to put $18,000 in the budget for Chamber work which passed 5-0. Those who left the meeting after the 3-2 vote were not apprised of the increase from the proposed budget. The Chamber had requested $38,000 for next year.
This year the Chamber board voted to move its offices from a building shared with the Grand Lake Association on Highway 59, to a downtown office provided by PSO where parking is limited, rather than share the rent with the GLA. City officials have perceived some Chamber officials as being anti-council, anti-city manager.

Editorial...The Wright Amendment May Be Modified

Congress has before it a measure which will continue to restrict flights from Love Field for the next eight years; after that, Southwest Airlines or any other can fly to whatever city it wishes, unless another restriction is place on the airport at that time.
OU President David Boren is all excited about this, as is American Airlines, chief opponent of relaxation of rules or repealing the Wright Amendment. Boren serves on the Board of Directors of AA.
While the rest of the country was de-regulated in 1979, politicians tacked on the Wright Amendment requiring Southwest to fly only to the five adjoining states, supposedly to protect DFW from competition.
Since then poor little DFW has managed quite well, dominated by American Airlines.
American says that if the Wright Amendment were repealed Tulsa would suffer with reduced flights.
So why is AA continuing to downsize its aircraft flying from Tulsa, while Southwest continues to fly 737's? Why does AA operate 16 flights a day from Tulsa compared with 20 on Southwest?
AA also says thousands of jobs are being preserved in Oklahoma as a result of the Wright Amendment being kept in place. We see no relationship between aircraft maintenance in Tulsa and Southwest's ability to fly from Love Field to Chicago.
The big results would be that AA would have to reduce its airfares from DFW on routes where it competes with Southwest and the traveler would be the beneficiary.
In another eight years Southwest can fly anywhere it wants but in the meantime, the current nine states rule remains in effect. If the legislation passes, Southwest could issue one ticket from Love Field to the final destination, rather than two separate tickets as currently.
Senator Jim Inhofe has introduced a bill to close Love Field completely, backed by Boren.
We wonder what Inhofe would say if a Texas senator introduced a bill to close Tulsa International.
It is amazing what a pile of lobby money will do to politicians' brains. We continue to believe that de-regulation means all airlines, rather than all but one. Inhofe and Boren should stay out of this issue.

Cajun Festival is July 1

Grand Lake Festivals will host its 12th annual Arts, Crafts, Music and Cajun Festival in the air-conditioned comfort of the Grove Civic Center on Saturday, July 1. Doors open at 9 a.m. for a fun-filled day of wonderful arts and crafts booths, delicious Cajun food and entertainment throughout the day, complete with Mardi Gras beads and atmosphere.

Admission is free to the public. The food court will offer tasty Cajun food at affordable prices—come early and spend the day enjoying the delicious food, wonderful entertainment and shopping with talented arts & crafts vendors.

Rick Sprague will return this year with his band, “New Cajun,” Louisiana’s hottest Cajun band. This group has managed to stay loyal to the traditions of the genre of Cajun music, while infusing their own styles of Swamp Pop, Blues, Rock, Zydeco and Country into the mix. Their song list has helped to define their unique “Zyde-Cajun-Country” sound while conveying images of “life in South Louisiana” through great music.

The group, all natives of Louisiana, consists of Rick Sprague on the fiddle, Aaron Istre & Lolo Boudouin playing accordion and bass and leading the group in vocals. Ronnie Foutenot plays guitar and Brandon Boudouin is the drummer. It will be hard to sit still when New Cajun breaks out in favorite Cajun rhythms, so wear your dancing shoes and come prepared to enjoy the day.

Jana Jae, international touring star and founder of Grand Lake Festivals, Inc. and her own exciting band, Hotwire, will also go CAJUN. Their diverse musical style blends country fiddling, western swing, pop and the classics, producing exciting entertainment for audiences of all ages. They will alternate with New Cajun and others who will be performing on Saturday July 1 from 10 to 5.

Arts, crafts and food vendors will be participating, assuring everyone of a choice that will suit them, from beautifully hand-crafted jewelry to Native American art to a wide variety of foods. As always, the Cajun food is authentic and delicious. This year, shrimp and ham jambalaya, crawfish gumbo with rice, Cajun corn on a stick, and requested alligator on a stick will be available. More traditional foods will also be available.

The Arts, Crafts, Music & Cajun Festival has proven to be very successful each year and all are invited to enjoy this unique event in the Grand Lake area. This event devoted to good family entertainment is hosted by the non-profit organization, Grand Lake Festivals, Inc. with the assistance of the Oklahoma Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Local and area sponsors of this event include: Conoco Phillips, Thompson & Associates, Air Power Systems, Grand Savings Bank, Dairy Queen, First National Bank, Wal-Mart, Grand Bank, Bank of Grove, Best Western Timber Ridge Inn, Arvest Bank, Stonebrook Inn, Jan Galbraith, Gallery Southwest, Snider’s Camp, Drake’s Restaurant, Lungren Chevrolet, Cherokee Queen Motel, Grand River Abstract, Prairie Breeze, Ltd, Worley Luginbuel, Grand Rental Station, KGVE, The Chronicle of Grand Lake, The Grove Sun and the Grove Observer.

Finger Licken' Barbecue is Saturday

Wrap your chops around the area's best barbecue at Saturday's 8th Annual Luau at the Monkey Island Fire Department. Danny Head of Head Country Barbecue will again cook up the vittles for this benefit event, sponsored by the Monkey Island Fire Auxiliary, from 4 to 7 p.m.
Tickets are $7 in advance, $8 at the door with kids under 10 years of age $5. Call 257-5615 or 257-5881. The annual Queen Coronation event will be held as well.

A Conversation With Cassandra...

This week for the 197th time our wireless internet service went down with Green Country Internet. So this is how the conversation went with our local office, staffed by Cassandra:

"Our wireless service is down again."
"Yes, you are not pinging. The problem is you have the old 2.4 system which doesn't work."
"That's why I called."
"You own that system, you bought it from Merl. If you want a new system you'll have to sign a new contract for two years. The new system is the 900 system. And if Merl still owned Green Country you wouldn't have the new 900 system."
"Fine, bring me the new radios and contract, and decent service."
"We would need an AP out there. We don't have an AP."
"Well, put one up on the clubhouse roof like the 2.4 one."
"We don't have them. The man from Phoenix has them, at Jetstream Wireless."
"Well, I am the customer and the customer is always right and I want the new system."
"Wrong, the customer is not always right."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Well when will the man from Phoenix be here?"
"Don't know, he's not up yet."
"I think I'll sue you for business interruption and loss of service which I am paying for."
"OK."
"I may have to discontinue The Grove Observer because of no broadband service."
Silence.
"People are putting up all kinds of satellite systems here and replacing Green Country Wireless."
"So?" They will still have to pay us because they signed a two year contract."
"Why would we have to pay for something we are not getting?"
"Because, you signed a contract."
Dial tone.

Deadline Near for Voter Registration

Friday, June 30, 2006, is the last day to apply for voter registration in order to be eligible to vote in the July 25 Primary Election, Delaware County Election Board Secretary Earlene Bradford said today.

Bradford said that persons who are United States citizens, residents of Oklahoma, and at least 18 years old may apply to become registered voters.

Persons who have never been registered to vote before or who are not currently registered in the county of their residence and persons who are registered but who need to change their registration information may apply to register or to change name and/or address by filling out and mailing an Oklahoma Voter Registration Application form in time for it to be postmarked no later than Friday, June 30, 2006.

Bradford said that applications postmarked after that time still will be accepted and processed, but the applications will not be approved until after
July 25, 2006.

The County Election Board responds in writing to every person who submits an application for voter registration. The response is a Voter Identification Card listing the new voter’s precinct number and polling place location or a letter that explains the reason or reasons the application for voter registration was not approved. Bradford said that any person who has submitted a voter registration application and who has not received a response with 30 days should contact the County Election Board office.

Oklahoma Voter Registration Application forms are available at the County Election board office located at 225 South 5th Street in Jay, and at all tag agencies, post offices and public libraries in the county.

Spring Book Sale is Saturday

The Friends of the Grove Library Big Spring Book Sale, postponed because of rain last Saturday, is now set for this coming Saturday, June 24. The sale will open at 8 a.m. and close at 2 p.m. The sale will be in the parking lot of Grand Savings Bank at Main and 11th
Streets.
"We were very sorry to disappoint the many people who were planning on coming to the sale last Saturday," said Marsha Tackkett, Friends president, "but we had rain and a very unsettled forecast. We just had to call it for the day."
"We have a large amount of books, tapes, videos, and audio books
for sale, and we hope everyone turns out to pick the ones they want." All items will be priced for sale. Friends of the Grove Public Library support various library programs. The spring and fall book sales are the major source of income for Friends.

Uncle Remus Due at Library

John Hinkle, storyteller and puppeteer, will bring Puppet Alley to present Brer' Rabbit and the Uncle Remus stories to the Grove Public Library Monday, June 26, at 2 p.m. Children of all ages are welcome to this presentation of the Summer Reading Program.
Please note that the date is Monday, June 26, which is a change from the original schedule. Hinkle's Puppet Alley will bring both hand and shadow puppets to help a modern day grandfather tell his grandson the Uncle Remus tales he himself heard as a youth. "People always tell me what a good storyteller I am," Hinkle said. "And I always have the same reply for them. If you chose a story that's been around for a hundred to a thousand years, it should be good for another 45 minutes."
When Hinkle was asked what is in store for his future, the retired librarian said, "Next year will be 50 years of puppets, so I'm going to hang up touring with all the stages and equipment. With the Oklahoma Centennial upon us I thought a rousing puppet melodrama would be good to close with in 2007, so I'm doing "How Straight Shooter Saved Sweet Sal, and the Oklahoma Seal from the Vilest Villain in the Whole Wild West."
Three more summer reading programs are on the library schedule:
June 29, Thursday, at 2 p.m. Kevin Wade and Wild Safari Magic
July 12, Wednesday, at 1 p.m. Mark Ogle, The Dog Creek Stage Coach Robbery
July 18, Tuesday, at 1 p.m. Paul Pharris, juggler.