Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
It's time now for City matters. If it matters to you, it matters
to the city today it matters a lot. We got a mix of dan
faces and move faces in here today. This is going to be great.
And how are we doing, young Land? How was vacation? It was
fabulous? How fabulous is fabulous? Oh? It was wonderful. The weather
was perfect, the beach was wonderful. We went to Golf Shores and spent
the full week last week there and it was fun. Now you know what
Mike Bailey does every other week. No, I'm only getting more. We've
got We've got a lot of folks in here today. What are we doing
today? So today we've got some familiar faces and then we also have some
new faces. So I wanted to introduce our crew. And we've got Shelley
McGill here Library and History Museum director, and she's going to be with us
one more time before she retires. I think her last day is on Friday,
last working days Friday, so she's got the final countdown going, I'm
sure. So. A fun fact about Shelley is that she hired me back
in twenty fifteen to be the HR manager and so it's yeah, been wonderful
working with Shelley. And So, Shelley, how long have you worked with
the city. I started with the city in nineteen eighty nine, nineteen eighty
nine, So, and what positions have you helped with the city? Oh?
Man, I started in accounts payable as my entry level position, and
then I went to engineering and I was the secretary in Engineering and learned how
to do specs and stuff. And then I went to it and I helped
with some transitions they were doing with some software programs, and transitioned to the
water utilities, building manager the supervisor down there, and then I decided I
wanted to try some HR, so I started entry level there and went all
the way to HR director and now I'm at the library and the History Museum.
Great, that's a lot of institutional knowledge. It is so much.
So out of all the positions that you've held, what has been your favorite
position, either the one I have now or HR. I really enjoyed meeting
all the new employees and getting to know them personally, and just knowing a
lot of the people that we're working for the city and the library has been
a unique blessing because people don't really realize what all we do there, and
so it's been a great opportunity to kind of bring it forward and to update
it and make it make sure it's relevant with today's times. Right. So,
and this may be kind of a weird question to ask, but what
was one of the what is the worst day ever at the city? Look
like? What was a chaotic day or a crazy day for you and all
of your tenure? Oh? Man, I wasn't prepared for that question.
I know these are supposed to be softball questions, maybe not just some of
the worst days of the days when something goes wrong and you've got to make
that person who is very furious in front of you leave with each with at
least the feeling of being heard. And so I love the ability to take
a problem or a situation that someone is just having their worst day and kind
of be able to help them and turn them around. So there has been
so many of those, and some of them I can't tell, but it
has been a blessing, m all right. And so, who were your
biggest influences and mentors at the city. Oh, I've got to say my
biggest influencer was Ed Brdon. He was a truly great supervisor, miss and
Miss I think everybody has an Ed's story. Yep. So let's see.
Is there anything else that you want to share, any parting words for maybe
some of our newer faces at the city. Oh, just this. The
city is a great place and it is a job of whatever you make it.
And I love the ability for the leadership to allow us just to grow
in our job and to do the things we see that we think we need
to do. They're not micromanagers and you have to you have to check on
everything, and you know, it's one of those things where it's your job
is what you make it, and it can be so awesomely wonderful. Absolutely,
there's a lot of job satisfaction that comes with being a public servant and
being able to help others. And so, Shelley, we appreciate everything that
you've done for the city. We appreciate I see the value that you've brought
to the city, and I'm so sorry to do this to you on the
radio, but we really do appreciate you and recognize the value that you bring
to the city and what you're leaving means So with that, is there anything
that's going on at the library that you want to talk to us about?
Like, of course, of course a couple of things. I wanted to
give my last shout out for the new LED signboard because that was it's fifty
thousand dollars and it was one of those things where you know, we maybe
not have been able to replace it without the line foundation and without appso and
with the rotary. All the people who initially helped us buy that twelve fifteen
years ago put back in money and let us buy it again and replace it,
and it is wonderful. And it's one of those pieces of communication that
you kind of take for granted, but it's very important. So I want
to take this opportunity to think those organizations one more time. And I wanted
to also tell you that Summer Reading is ending this week as well, and
we have mister Stinky Feet will be at the library on the twenty fourth,
and he will be there at two pm. And he's a great performer.
He I don't think he shows his feet, but that's what he calls his
act and it's hilarious. And so then our closing for Summer Reading is Friday,
having a grand finale pool party at Frontier Pool from six thirty to eight
thirty, and so we would love everyone to come out and help us celebrate
the end of Summer Reading. We had a record number of people enter this
year, and it's kind of evolved to now we have adults as well as
kids, and so love that it's all ages. So what is the what's
the goal of the Summer Reading program. Well, it kind of starts evolved
too because it started as that bridge between school so the kids didn't lose their
the progress they'd made during the school year and they kept up with their reading
and their comprehension and all that. And so now it's evolved into helping everybody
in that area. And you know, we give little prizes. They'll never
you'll never write home about them, but you know you'll get the little prizes
and it's some contests and so we just want to help that. Okay,
Well, awesome, Thank you, Shelly, and thank you for your service
and thank you. We appreciate you coming one life time to the radio.
Well and Laura, you have been a blessing to the city in your many
years now as well. I appreciate that. Thank you, Thank you.
So next up we have HC. Call. He's our new fire chief.
I think he started in May, was it, yes, the very end
of May. So can you tell us a little bit about your background and
what maybe inspired you to be a firefighter. So this is my twenty fifth
year in the fire service. Started off as a volunteer with Cope Ann and
then started my career service in Cleveland, Oklahoma, before I got hired on
at Bartsville and then spent sixteen years with the city of Barnesville before I took
a little seven year break to go be the fire chief for Collinsville and then
came back in May. So I didn't originally start off wanting to be a
firefighter. I actually went to college to be a teacher. Had some family
members in the fire service, and after hanging out at the fire station with
them for a little bit, I decided that was the way to go.
Been doing it ever since, right, So what inspired you to be a
fire chief? Then? After getting into firefighting? I just like the ability
to help make progress, help things change. Just try to make the department
wherever I'm at the best that I can help it be awesome. So who
would you say your biggest influences and mentors in the fire industry are a word.
Oh that's a tough one. There's been so many throughout the years.
Early on, my two earliest fire chiefs at cope Ann and then also here
at Bartsville were big helps. They were real supportive in my endeavors to go
get training, go outside and get extra certifications and that type of things.
Okay, so what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment as fire chief?
The greatest accomplishment is fire chief. Well, i haven't been here very
long, but so I'll go back to Collinsville on that. Just helping the
department advanced lower in the is O rating, getting new equipment, safer equipment,
and just just throughout my time at Collinsville, it was it was just
real blessing to be there and to be able to help the community. Awesome,
and we're happy that you're here now helping our I am excited to be
back. This is this is home. I've always considered Barnsville home. Born
and raised in Washington County, so spent my entire life here. So what
do you do in your free time to relax or to unwind? Free time?
So married, to a local hometown girl and we have four beautiful daughters,
so they keep me busy chasing sporting events. They're involved in the community
in the several different ways, so they keep us busy. Keep you busy,
yet those kids will keep you hopping for sure. So what's going on
in the fire department? Do you have any updates for us be training?
Sure? So we've been doing some training out at Tri County Tech. We
had a ropes course, we have a flammable Liquids and gas course coming up.
We work real closely with Tri County Tech in their new training center.
We have some joint training that we conducted with Phillips Research Center that we've conducted,
and then just some on shift training has been going on. We've got
a new truck that we almost have in service. The last tools are getting
mounted on it. Hopefully it'll be in service this week, and just trying
to stay busy keeping up with the call volume, which is really high.
It's on pace for record gear again, so it's outside of the normal for
it to be this high this time. It's been the trend the last few
years for the call volume to be increasing and this year doesn't seem to be
any difference, So we're staying busy with that. The heat the last few
weeks has been difficult on people. So it's just that time of year.
With that, all right, well, thank you Chief Call for joining us
this morning. Thank you, it's great to be back. All right,
next step, we have a new face. We have Jason dot Meek.
He is our interim golf director and we've got lots of things going on at
the golf course right now. It seems to be the hot topic and it
seems to take a lot of my time. I don't know. We're constantly
as we're working through this transition. There's a lot to be done. And
so with that was when Jerry has decided to retire. And with Jerry's retirement
comes and things that we have to do, and one of the things was
finding somebody it would run the ship while we're trying to figure out what to
do with the golf course because we're still in the middle of our comprehensive review
and so hopefully we'll have the results back on that sometime in August, and
so we're close on that, but Jason has agreed to help us out and
so tell us a little bit about yourself, sure, Lauris, So thank
you very much. I appreciate your confidence and the city's confidence and my ability
to help out with the transition period. So what was your question again,
I forgot tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit about myself.
Well, hopefully my wife Chassie is listening. And our daughter Kara is
up in Kansas right now. She's getting ready to go to Kansas University,
enrolled in the honors program, going to go pursue her dreams. Chastey and
I have been married for nearly thirty years, and we were married here in
Bartlesville. Chassi's from Coffeeville, so I was. I'm from Bartlesville, originally
moved here when I was twelve, and interesting enough, I never imagined myself
in this chair, but nearly thirty eight years ago I started my first role
in the golf industry, cleaning the restrooms and vacuuming the golf shop at Adams
Golf Course. So we've kind of come fust for gold, so to speak.
So you have a Class A certification, So what does it take to
become a Class A pro? Sure, So, to become a Class A
PGA professional, you got to accomplish a couple of things. One is,
and I started my journey back in nineteen ninety four, and being a golf
professional is so much fun. I decided to do it twice. I'll explain.
But you start out by determining do you want to be a golf professional?
Yes or no? And if you decide that that's the past, then
a player's ability to a test. Playing a test is administered within the one
of the forty one PGA sections and individuals are required to pass the playing ability
tests. Then once that's accomplished, you enter into coursework. Now a lot
of universities offer professional golf management degrees. When I was starting, there were
about thirteen universities who did. Now the offering is much more diverse, and
there are even one university in Oklahoma who offers the program. So opportunity to
draw from talent here locally. So yeah. So once you go through the
schooling, now the programs are different. I had three different levels. I
went to Portland, Oregon, went to Coastamasa, California, Houston, Texas,
and graduated my final experience in Columbus, Ohio. Now everything is more
online, right, Things are made easier by way of technology, and the
PGA of America has constructed a new home for the pg of America in Frisco,
Texas, where a lot of that testing takes place now, So that
pathway for golf professionals are different. But yeah, so that was that's pretty
much the pathway for golf professionals. One. You have to find a good
mentor within the industry, that's for certain. And if you're fortunate to work
for some great golf facilities and mentors along the way, you know you're able
to gather the experience required very good. So can you talk to us about
the golf course? I know that this is the busy season, so what
keeps you busy there during the season. Absolutely, So this morning there's a
regular maintenance mowing schedule. So this morning, like yesterday evening, we closed
the practice facility just a little bit early to clear the right side of the
range, which is also the left side of number one rough so that we
could have maintenance performed mowing this morning. So a lot of preventative type maintenance,
protecting city assets, picking up balls to make sure they don't get damaged
in the mowing process, so things like that. This morning, also we
set the t sheet for the month of August, and we'll be populating events
that we'll be hosting, senior men's groups, women's groups, et cetera,
and the outside events that are there. So those are the types of things
that are keeping us busy. And yeah, just welcoming any patrons who find
the time to come play. So if somebody was new starting out and they
wanted to start golfing, what advice would you give them or how does one
get started if they decide they want to take up golfing. Sure, one
don't feel overwhelmed by golf. It can be overwhelming, it can be time
consuming. So there's a big movement in golf right now. Everybody views golf
as eighteen holes, right and that consumes such a considerable amount of time.
But somebody being new into golf, don't be off put by the time that
might be necessary to be invested in it. Have fun, come out and
put and ship again. I'll be at the golf shop more often than not,
so I'm always welcome and available to help anybody new to the game.
But first and foremost, just don't feel like you don't belong pretty much,
Yeah, we want the golf course to be a welking environment. I was
a beginner at the age of twelve. I knew nothing, and now I'm
a golf professional and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. Yeah, you know,
as a brand new golfer, I can say that it can be a
little bit intimidating when you walk onto the course as a new bee and not
knowing all the rules and the unspoken rules or unposted rules, all of those
things, and so and thank goodness. Right, we evolve and the golf,
the game of golf has evolved, and some of the rules have evolved
as far as rest codes. We're a relaxed facility, so we welcome most
anybody. And I can attest to that because as a new bee, I
was a little bit intimidated to go out there. Everybody. Everybody's been friendly
and welcoming and given their pointers, and I've appreciated that. Exactly where are
your shorts, where your t shirts? Be comfortable? Come out and enjoy
golf. Yep. All right, So thank you, Jason. I appreciate
you taking time to come talk to us about golf s. Thank you.
So next step we have Terry Lourdson, our water utilities director, and he's
going to talk a little bit about water. What's going on. We're going
to talk a little bit about water. So we have started a temporary chlorine
conversion. So if you've been keeping tabs on City Beat or listening to some
of the announcements, that we started last week a chlorine conversion in our water
distribution system. So we normally use what's called the chloramine for a disinfectant,
So this is a combination of coin and ammonia that is a residual we keep
in the pipe for safety of the water, to ensure that it's it's where
it needs to be all the way up to your house or your final destination
through there. And in conjunction with that water project or just our water monitoring,
we check on a daily basis the water and it's quality throughout the system.
But primarily we're looking at the very extreme parts of the system because if
there is an issue, that's typically where we see it first. And so
here about a month and a half ago, we noticed on the line that
goes down to the Walmart distribution center, which also serves the communities of Ocelida
and Ramona, that the chlorine residuals were dropping more than what is normal,
and so that typically suggests some biological activity or some things going on in the
pipes that we do not want in the water system. So in order to
combat that, we did this chlorine conversion, which will last about six weeks.
We started again last week and that's really to target some of the issues
that we saw down toward the Walmart distribution center. And so some people will
not notice anything different about the water. It will remain safe to consume and
to use as normal throughout this whole process, but it's just a different disinfectant
that we can use that's a little bit more aggressive and that it will take
care of that activity that we have noticed down on the south part of the
system. So people memories might serve them, right. We did this back
in October where we did the conversion, and so it was really for the
same reason and on the same portion of the line that we saw some activity
in the system. So this conversion is being done again, but we are
in October, if you might recall, we were still in the throes of
a drought and so water supply was limited and we were not able to flush
as we normally would like to. With this type of conversion this time around.
Our water supply has been fully restored and actually above normal levels for this
time of year, so we will conduct the flush as it should be done.
But then we are also making sure that these communities in Ocelida and Ramona
are conducting flushing as well, which we believe is going to be very effective
and productive for this chlorine conversion there. So we're right now we are flushing
up around the Sooner Park area, and so we will be on the east
side of town working our way south for the next week. So if you
do notice a drop of water pressure, just be patient. That will be
short lived, probably about thirty minutes. There may be some discoloration in your
water just because when we are doing the flushing, we are really increasing the
velost in the pipe, which will scour the pipe and get rid of any
kind of biofilm that's developed on that pipe. And so if you use water
while we're flushing, that may get some dirty water into your tap or into
your system, but just continue to run water at your home. It should
clear up pretty quickly. But if it doesn't, give us a call at
nine one eight three three eight four to one zero four and we will send
somebody out to take a look at it, or if your water pressure drops
more than an hour, then call us as well again nine one eight three
three eight four to one zero four and we will send somebody out to see
what's going on to make sure that the line has not broken or something else
has occurred that may be affecting that type of performance there. So anyways,
the water is safe, so we want to make sure that's first and foremost,
it's safe to use and will be safe to use continuously through the system.
The coin conversion is really being done because of that connection with those rural
water districts, not really with the water quality that's in town or even with
our wholesale customers that we serve on the north and east side of town.
So we're doing it as a preventative maintenance or a preventative item just to make
sure that water quality is good for our customers and Ocelated Ramona, because we
want their water to be as clean and fresh as we have here in town,
and so that's really going to be needed with this conversion to ensure that
activity for them moving forward. Right awesome. So, as I'm looking at
open positions, it looks like you have an open position in your water department.
We do, so if anybody is looking for a job, we've got
some jobs for you, and we have excellent benefits and competitive pay. So
I would welcome everybody to check out our jobs tab on the City of Bartleswell
dot org to see what positions we have available, because I think we probably
have something for just about everybody. We've got library positions out there, we've
got maintenance worker positions for street and water, and parks is usually always hiring
as well. We've even got some temporary positions for those that are just looking
for a summer job. Even as we're winding down to the end of summer,
we still have a little bit of time left for those seventeen and above
year olds to come see what it's like to work at the city. Yeah.
So there's like, we have several positions ones at the water plant,
so if you want to be a part of treating the water and making it
safe, there's positions avail for you, air for you there, and then
at the water distribution if you want to see what it takes to get the
water from the plant to the home. That will be a front row seat
for all of those activities. So I do you want to go off script
if we can, Shelley, We've served together for a number of years and
it's just been a pleasure to work with you and especially your many different capacities.
I was hopeful when she asked what your favorite job, that she'd say
engineering, but maybe I knew that next time. Yeah, yeah, engineers
are a special breed in and you have been fabulous to work with, Darry.
I've enjoyed it so much. Thanks, thank you, Shelly. All
right, so I do want to give one in our city beat. We
had a public service announcement that city business license our renewals go through July thirty
first, so if anybody needs to renew their business license, now's the time
to do it. You have until the thirty first of July and you can
contact the Community Development Department at nine one eight three three eight four two four
four. And I think that's all the updates we have today. Well that's
darn good. I want to thank everybody for being here. Silly. You're
going to come back and visit me, aren't you. Okay, good good?
I can't. I am counting on that. Chief. Good seeing you
and Terry and Jason back there, Laura Pleasure. We've got more coming up
right here on K one, the one you trust, THEE too. We
got a check of the weather and then on top of that, we got
some news on the way. So there you go. It is nine fifty
seven. Thanks for listening to Long on one the profession I Paid presentation as
Team K one