(Cushing, Okla.) The City of Cushing’s Board of Commissioners’ monthly meeting started off on a high note with six city employees being honored for their 25 years of service. Chairman of the Board Joe Manning presented five of the six with a certificate and pen, along with a thank you for their service to the city. Those honored were: Deborah Farley, Glen Cates, Jack Ford, Herman Schroeder, Timothy McMahon and Yvonne Williams. Williams was not in attendance.
In appearances from the audience, Sara Payne Keyes and Valerie Branyan were there to speak to the commission regarding a grant being pursued by local volunteers headed up by Branyan for Cushing Memorial Park improvements. Keyes told commissioners the Recreational Trail Program Grant from the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreational Department, State Parks division, has been obtained in the past by Perkins and Stillwater. Other cities receiving the grant include Oklahoma City, Yukon, Fairview, Pawhuska and Claremore.
“It is our desire to see our beloved Cushing Memorial Park transformed into a safe place for children and adults to walk, jog or ride bikes, as well as making it more accessible to the handicapped and our senior citizens,” Keyes continued.
Keyes concluded by saying it is the desire of Branyan and the volunteers, for a meeting to be held to receive input from those interested in the possible project.
A tentative date of January 26, 2015 was briefly discussed before Chairman Manning thanked them saying, “We’ll move in that direction.” Any plans linked to the possible grant would have to be approved by city leaders.
In other city business, representatives of Gold Star Services were in attendance to answer questions about a planned 3-D geophysical survey on city/authorities owned property. Ted Peterson, Gold Star, told commissioners the number of acres originally planned for the survey has been scaled back dramatically from 880 acres to 160 acres. The revision was made primarily due to the number of tank batteries in the original 880. The 160 acres are located near the airport, a quarter section formerly known as the “Murphy farm.”
Peterson went on to explain the process and likened the results to a sonogram. After answering several questions, including whether or not there’s a possibility of creating “earthquake-like” results, commissioners seemed satisfied there would be no ill-effects from the testing. Recording is expected to take 7 – 12 days and the final process will take approximately one half day. The first step – mapping of hazards (structures and pipelines), is expected to start some time in February. The entire process should be completed by April, or possibly May at the latest.
Commissioners also approved a resolution declaring several lots in the Washington Heights Addition surplus property and authorizing the City Manager to advertise and sell such property to the highest bidder.
City Manager Steve Spears explained there had been a request made by the members of Mount Olive Baptist Church of Cushing to acquire the land and building adjacent to their property. This property owned by the City is currently leased to the Silver Star Lodge for use as a public meeting hall, and has been since the early 90s. Because the expense of maintaining the building has become quite burdensome on the lodge, they do not object to the sale, but would like to continue using it if it is sold.
In a letter to the City the members of Mount Olive Baptist Church stated, “As our church grows, we would like to grow our community reach ministries as well; as a result, our current location does not accommodate our desired community outreach. Should the City of Cushing allow us to purchase the building, it’s our church’s desire for the building to continue being a valued resource for the Cushing community; therefore, all walks of life, faiths, individuals, civic groups, etc., are free to use as they need.”
It went on to say the ministry will not only use the building for community outreach activities, but that they have a vision of using it for “after-school tutoring for youth and adults,” as a “community learning center with computers to enchance the learning experience, peer to peer mentoring, monthly/quarterly community meals, and art projects where youth can create for community members in surrounding area nursing homes and living centers, etc.”
In a separate letter from the membership, they also agreed the building can continue to be the central location for the Masons and Eastern Star meetings.
Mount Olive Baptist Church’s pastor Rev. Lewis Robinson spoke briefly, reiterating the church’s understanding that should commissioners approve the sale of the property, it would be open to all bidders and not exclusively to Mount Olive Baptist Church.
The final agenda item approved by commissioners was a resolution appropriating $23,250.00 of the “unobligated General Fund balance” to increase the Fire Department building maintenance expense line item.
Prior to the vote, Spears explained Fire Department maintenance expenses were higher than anticipated when setting up the budget. He said the reason is two-fold: no history on expenses for maintaining and operating the new public safety center and the unforeseen repairs required in their radio and alarm systems due to lightning damage.
In Cushing Municipal Authority business, a resolution was approved authorizing the purchase of transformers from the lowest bidder, B&B Transformer, for the Electric Department.
Cushing Board of Commissioners regular meetings are held the third Monday of each month. This month’s meeting was early due to the observance of Martin Luther King Day, January 19th. City offices will be closed that day. Meetings are open to the public.
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