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Wednesday, 21 December 2011 19:08 |
HUGO –– The Hugo City Council met in executive session Tuesday evening to discuss the final payment settlement for Granite Re/Lakecon for the Boys and Girls Club rehabilitation.
After a 19-minute stint in executive session, council members agreed to approve the settlement agreement and mutual release for $72,321.80 to Granite Re/Lakecon.
Code enforcement officer, Ricky Britt addressed the council regarding time changes for the meetings of the Planning and Zoning Board. Britt told the council the board would like to keep the meetings on every third Thursday of the month, but change the time from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The request was approved upon a motion by councilman Bart Tedder.
Invoice No. 4024 in the amount of $7,844.49 to Farris Electric was also approved by the council. The invoice was submitted on Aug. 24 and was declined by the council due to the amount of work required not completed. The work has since been completed, therefore payment was approved.
According to the council, the balance remaining for Farris Electric at this time is close to $30,000.
The minutes dated Dec. 6, as well as purchase orders and financial statements were also approved by the council.
All council members were present. |
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Thursday, 15 December 2011 22:51 |
HUGO — Drug enforcement officers from numerous jurisdictions fanned out across Hugo and Choctaw County this week to make numerous drug-related arrests.
Working in concert with the District Attorney Mark Matloff and the 17th Judicial District Drug Task Force, were officers with the DEA, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, Choctaw County Sheriff’s Department, City of Hugo and U.S. Marshal’s Service.
Arrested were:
• Davius Lana Freeman, Cts. 1&2: Distribution of controlled dangerous substance. (Bond: $75,000).
• Rashonda Lorene Scales-Wortham, Ct. 1: Possession of controlled dangerous substance. (Bond: $75,000).
• Chadley Demond Wortham, Ct. 1: Possession of controlled dangerous substance. Ct. 2: Maintaining place for keepingg/selling controlled substance. Ct. 3,4,5,6, Distribution of controlled dangerous substance including possession with intent to distribute. (Bond: $75,000).
• Karen Sue Freeman, Ct. 1,2, 4: Distribution of controlled dangerous substance including possession with intent to distribute; Ct. 3: Maintaining place for keeping/selling controlled substance. (Bond: $75,000).
• Lewis Freeman, Ct 1: Distribution of controlled dangerous substance. (Bond: $15,000).
• Ladale Freeman, Cts. 1,2,3: Distribution of controlled dangerous substance. (Bond $75,000).
• Jerry Lana Freeman, Ct. 1: Distribution of controlled dangerous substance. (Bond: $75,000).
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Friday, 16 December 2011 18:16 |
OKLAHOMA CITY –– A state agency approved a grant Tuesday that will enable a Choctaw County community to upgrade its sanitary sewer system.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) awarded a $99,000 Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) grant to Fort Towson, announced J.D. Strong, executive director of the state agency.
The town has about 330 sewer customers whose service is provided two separate ways. According to consulting engineer Clay McAlpine, 148 customers are connected to a conventional gravity-flow sewage collection system. The other 182 customers have individual pump stations that send their wastewater to the sewage treatment lagoons via a series of small-diameter force mains.
The individual grinder pump stations were installed in 2000-2001, records show. “These pumps have been in service for approximately 10 years,” McAlpine noted. The average service life of such a pump is 10 to 15 years, depending upon its use, he informed the OWRB.
The town already has had to replace some of the pumps, and the need to replace others “will accelerate over the next few years,” McAlpine predicted. “It is estimated that approximately 30 percent of these pumps will need to be replaced within the next 12 to 18 months,” he advised the OWRB in a letter dated Aug. 5.
With the REAP grant the Fort Towson Public Works Authority can afford to buy 55 grinder pumps at a cost of $1,800 each, with city workers “providing the labor to remove and replace these pumps as they fail,” McAlpine wrote.
All of the town’s wastewater is pumped by three sewage lift stations to a total-retention lagoon system that consists of two primary cells and three secondary treatment cells, McAlpine related.
Joe Freeman, chief of the Water Board’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the REAP grant will save Fort Towson utility customers $178,000 in principal and interest payments by not having to borrow the money.
The Water Resources Board has awarded about $49.8 million in REAP grants over the past 14 years, Freeman said. “We are grateful to state Sen. Jerry Ellis and state Rep. R.C. Pruett for their support of this program,” Strong added.
The OWRB was created in 1957 to manage, protect and improve Oklahoma’s water resources and plan for the state’s long-range water needs in a responsive, innovative and professional manner. Since 1983, the agency has funded $2.6 billion in loans and grants designed to improve and enhance the water and wastewater infrastructure needs of communities across Oklahoma. For more information, visit www.owrb.ok.gov/.
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Monday, 12 December 2011 22:28 |
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By Stan Stamper
Publisher
HUGO — Rural volunteer firefighters from across Choctaw County were treated to an old fashioned barbeque dinner Saturday night at the Kiamichi Technology Center.
The meal was simply a way for numerous businesses and individuals across the county to express their appreciation to the men and women who give much of their time and resources to protect other peoples’ property.
The event was coordinated by Choctaw County Emergency Management Director, Pat Collins, and her husband, Sheriff Lewis Collins.
Speaking to the large gathering of firefighters, Sheriff Collins said he had never undertaken a fundraising effort that was “so easy.”
“Virtually everywhere I have gone, people were very willing to contribute to this appreciation dinner. It’s an honor for us to be able to honor you.”
At the conclusion of the event, each county firefighter family was given a Christmas ham, and Sheriff Collins said that State Representative R.C. Pruett had been very generous in making the ham gift possible.
Several dignitaries spoke brief words of support for the dedicated group of firefighters. State Sen. Jerry Ellis said he was proud of the fact that Oklahoma was the number three state in the nation in the number of volunteer firefighters. “For saving lives and protecting property... thank you,” Ellis said.
St. Representative R.C. Pruett echoed Ellis’ remarks. “When other people run from danger, you run to danger, rising your lives. God bless you for what you do.”
KEDDO Representative Larry Morgan also addressed the group, calling them “a band of brothers.” Morgan said KEDDO would continue to emphasize training “to keep members of this strong brotherhood safe.”
One of the highlights of the banquet event was a video presentation that included a collection of county firefighters hard at work putting out fires and protecting property. The presentation was created and presented by Shane Miller, who drew praise from Sheriff Collins for his contribution to the event.
A number of volunteers also devoted a lot of time to make the event a success including John Allen Mitchell, who prepared the barbecue, Terry Park, Todd Ruffin, Jimmy Brandon, Ed and Patricia Bernard, Harold and Shelly Chamberlain, Shonda Johnson, Matt Cathey, Veronica Chamberlain and Ray Noble.
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