WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:04.440 And good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome and 2 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:08.800 welcome. Guess what, folks, idiots, time now for our city matters 3 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:13.839 right here on K one, the one you trust. Boy, I can 4 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:16.359 just get the TV to work here. There we go. It's so much 5 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.079 easier when this is radio. Said, I don't know what happened. Well, 6 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:26.760 what multi multimedia, multi platform information service, that's what the deal is. 7 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.079 Okay, there you go, there you go. It's a changing world. 8 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:33.159 You're changing with it, all righty. You didn't even know. I've 9 00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:35.200 seen fire, but I've not seen a whole lot of rain. I hope 10 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:38.280 we get a little bit of rain. In fact, we're gonna talk about 11 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.039 both of those, but first we're gonna talk about free leaf collection. Let's 12 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:43.520 do that. There will be less things to catch on fire the next time. 13 00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:47.520 Right, free leaf collection, you bet, well, that's coming up. 14 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:52.359 We might first mention the operation Cleanhouse was last weekend. Heard there was 15 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.840 a good participation on that, so we hope everyone got out and took advantage 16 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:59.840 of that. Had the setup down at the Phillips parking lot and the one 17 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:03.920 up at the Worceston County barn and Dewey and again I from what I've heard 18 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:06.760 so far, it was a good turnout and we're glad people took an advantage 19 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:11.560 of that. It's a once a year opportunity that's local partners here in town 20 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:17.760 support it and gives the citizens a way to dispose of unwanted chemicals and items 21 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:21.200 around the house that there's not other methods to dispose of them. This gives 22 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:23.599 them that opportunity to get out there and get rid of that stuff. So 23 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:30.040 that was a successful program, and look forward to it next year. And 24 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:34.239 so we got the leaf and grass collection coming up. It's scheduled for the 25 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:38.840 week of maybe eight through the twelve, so that's a couple of weeks out. 26 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:41.120 Yet they'll give you time to get out there in the yard and do 27 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:45.000 a little yard work. Gather up to your leaves and plan ahead, plan 28 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:48.640 ahead that yer get that thatch off your yard, and if you will, 29 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:53.439 gather that material up and bag it up and put it out with your polycart 30 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:55.719 within about five feet of it, give us a little room where we can 31 00:01:55.719 --> 00:02:00.200 still pick up your polycart, not too close. Stack those bags up there 32 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:04.680 beside the curb. Again on your normal collection day of the week of mayby 33 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:09.120 eight through the twelfth and again we take leaves grass. It is yard collection, 34 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:13.360 it's not refuge collection. So we're not taking extra trash. We're taking 35 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:16.560 yard waste. We will take sticks and limbs. So if you bundle that 36 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:21.560 material up to sticks and limbs, cut them in links of four foot, 37 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.800 bundle them up in a little bunnles no more than fifty pounds, and you 38 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:28.639 can stick those out there again on the curb and there will be another truck 39 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:30.800 come by and he'll collect that material for you and gives you a good opportunity 40 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:35.599 to get rid of those things good. And we certainly appreciate you guys doing 41 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.759 this. I know that as we switched over to a polycart system, yardwaste 42 00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:40.879 is one of the biggest challenges. What are we gonna do with yard waste? 43 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:44.520 What we're gonna do with it? So we decided that a couple of 44 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:46.840 times a year we would swing around and pick up yardwaste at no cost. 45 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:53.120 And so I know it's certainly an extra load on all of our sanitation guys 46 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:57.319 and perhaps some other departments if you don't have enough sanitation guys, but appreciate 47 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.759 them going out and doing that help help clean up our community. Yet we 48 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.439 offer that program a couple of times a year, spring and fall, so 49 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:07.840 there's a couple opportunities there for citizens to take advantage of that. Along with 50 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:10.719 that, we do have the coupon that you get annually. It comes in 51 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:15.319 your water bill. You could also use that for yard disposal. But again 52 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:17.599 that cupon comes in your water bill once a year. You can take that 53 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:23.360 cupon along with some identification and a current water bill out to the Osage Landfield 54 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:27.759 and they will recognize that and let you come in there with a load of 55 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:31.199 debris and you can take trash to that pick up or trailer load. It's 56 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:35.120 not for commercial use. It's not to tear down the house and take the 57 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:38.199 whole house out there. It is to clean up your yard, get rid 58 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:39.280 of that old couch, you get rid of the old hot water tank, 59 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:43.879 clean up the debris around your property, and you can take that out there. 60 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:46.400 So again, if you haven't got that in the mail, everyone should 61 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:49.439 have received that by now, and if you haven't, you can contact my 62 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.319 office or down at the building office and we can help you find out what 63 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:54.280 happened or get you another one because we do track those so we'll know if 64 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:58.520 you've used it. Or not. And along with that, you know, 65 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.199 it's the time of year when we're out in one. So with a lack 66 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:03.879 of rain this year, are mowing has been relatively slow. We did we 67 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:09.919 didn't kick off the program right normally by now lose the dust we are, 68 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.759 So we made a round or two and actually pulled off and went to do 69 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.680 some other work that we had still pending from the fall. So the crews 70 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:20.560 are out again mowing today, but on the right of ways. We anticipate 71 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:24.439 the rain and things will change, we hope. But the guys are out 72 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.680 mowing, that's right. We hope this week praying for rain. Absolutely. 73 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:30.920 We might also mention, which we've talked about it a little, with the 74 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:32.720 water issues we're having to drought, but we are prepping for the pools. 75 00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:35.759 The decision hasn't actually been made yet. We'll wait and see what the water 76 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:40.319 does. But we're hopeful that the pools are open this year and we are 77 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:44.519 prepping those. The guys are working on those and hopefully it'll rain and things 78 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:46.480 will change and we'll it'll get those pools up and operating. We do have 79 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:48.879 the new water slides out there, so I know there's a lot of people 80 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:53.839 very exciting, excited to get out there and use those who are actually testing 81 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:56.120 one, you know, to make sure everything's you're ready to go. And 82 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:00.600 again we anticipate that hopefully we will get to open those and to everybody will 83 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:02.240 get to take advantage of that this year. Now, am I the only 84 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.000 person in this room that has actually gone down the water slides? I have 85 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:08.800 not been down the water slide? Terry, Nope, you're a bunch of 86 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:11.839 funny duddies. So you need to go down the steep one. It has 87 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:14.600 a little bit of freefall right in the middle, and if you're like me, 88 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:16.439 it takes everything you can do not to squeal like a little girl as 89 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:20.199 you can. You lease contact with slide for a second, feel like get 90 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:26.879 evil, awesome, absolutely fantasting, but they're great. So I'm with you, 91 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:30.839 Keith. I hope we're able to get that open and we certainly decision 92 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:32.959 hasn't been made yet at this point in time, we're proceeding with plans to 93 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:38.519 open it and if we get a little rain maybe we can do that. 94 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:42.439 We're hoping. Here's hoping that's right, So all right, Keith, anything 95 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:45.120 else, I think that kind of wraps it up for us. So again, 96 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:47.839 be ready for that leaf and grass collection, and we'll be by to 97 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:50.800 help you out. No special bags or anything, right, can no special 98 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:55.800 bags, just a regular refuge bagle work again, don't want it over fifty 99 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:59.079 pounds when you fill it up. But if you be any baggle or none 100 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.560 of them what they used to call bodybacks and then put them putting two hundred 101 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:05.560 pounds of shredded leaves in one of them. Those those you'll find still sitting 102 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:11.839 there when you come home, you probably will, all right, Keith, 103 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.800 I appreciate it, thank you. So we had invited the fire chief to 104 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:21.600 come and join us today, and as all good chiefs did, he delegated 105 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:28.399 this to his deputy chief. Welcome, well, thank you. I'm happy 106 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:30.480 to be here. And I don't know have we actually had you on the 107 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:32.560 radio yet, Oh sir, that's just my first. So this is your 108 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:36.959 official introduction to our radio listeners. So I want you to tell everybody a 109 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.759 little bit about yourself, name, how long you've been here, and what 110 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:43.759 your position is. By. My name is Jerry Barry. I'm the deputy 111 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:48.720 fire chief. I promoted in January of twenty twenty two. If I've been 112 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:53.879 with the fire department for twenty three years, so I'm not new to the 113 00:06:53.879 --> 00:06:56.639 fire department, just new to the office. Yeah, that's right. So 114 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.480 so a new deputy chief. That's certainly not a new fire fighter. And 115 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:02.920 you spend here the whole fire career in Bartlesville, Yes, sir, yea. 116 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.920 That is not as not uncommon. It's one of the few professions that 117 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:12.079 that happens. Yeah, and it's a good place to work. I've enjoyed 118 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:15.759 my twenty three years. Well, we appreciate having you in that position. 119 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:19.480 I know that for a while, Chief Topping was a one man show. 120 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:21.959 He was I don't know how he did it, the chief, the deputy 121 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.279 chief of the firebarshals. So he appreciates having his full staff now, I 122 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:30.560 don't know how he did it. Well you, I think you and the 123 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:35.079 Chief got to ride around recently and helped to fight wildfires up. You've been 124 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:40.079 busy. I have been very busy. So, like Terry, the lack 125 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:45.079 of water has frustrated you as well. Yes, yeah, And I think 126 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:48.720 about Terry when we're spraying. You know, it's one hundreds of thousand gallons 127 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:53.199 of water, and he watches that. He watches the take levels drop and 128 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.920 I gotta get that from the lake to put it back in. So, 129 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:01.120 but the wildfires were I guess they were about three weeks sco Now. Yeah, 130 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:05.720 the worstman was March thirty first, and that was up kind oft to 131 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:11.920 the west of Circle Mountain, Gap Road, Hawking Road out there. It 132 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:16.040 covered covered quite a bit of space and we had what old departments were involved 133 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:20.800 in fighting those fires. We had eight of the local fire departments on the 134 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:28.199 Gap Road, h and Circle Mountain fire, Dewey and Copan had their own 135 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:35.559 fires going. You're right, so I think the uh hus see. I 136 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:41.799 brought some figures with me here. The the Gap Road fire and Circle Mountain 137 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:48.919 covered forty five hundred acres I think, and uh the North of Town Virginia 138 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:56.240 fire was fifteen hundred acres, Cotton Creek fire was four hundred and fifty acres, 139 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.840 and then Smith fireing Copan was two hundred and forty acres. Man, 140 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:07.679 we lost five hundred thousand dollars worth property, but we saved twenty two million 141 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:11.399 dollars. Yeah, and that's the exciting part. It is well and it 142 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:15.639 was so there was quite a few structures lost and they were actually quite a 143 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:18.320 few homes lost, but most of the homes were outside of town. Was 144 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:22.679 it was it ten homes, I think tens the count that I got, 145 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:26.240 And how many of those were actually inside city limits? Well, eight of 146 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:31.679 them were in the Gap Road Hawkins Road area, and then one up on 147 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.159 Circle Mountain, and then there was one in Copan Copan area. So we 148 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:39.440 actually had we'd lost nine right here in our area, but only one of 149 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:43.799 them was in city limits, right And honestly, there's a reason that only 150 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:46.879 one only lost one house at city limits, and it was due to a 151 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:52.480 program that the part of the Washing County Emergency Management, Barston Fire Department, 152 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:56.799 and I think it was the State of Oklahoma park In the Forestry had implemented, 153 00:09:56.279 --> 00:10:00.879 yes, just probably six months before this while finished it. Yeah, 154 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:05.399 so the timing was great, but it essentially it was a type of mitigation. 155 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:07.240 You'd tell everybody a little bit about what they did up there, and 156 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:11.200 well, what good for us? The chief Chief Topping had been working with 157 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:18.039 the Forestry Department for several years and had made a deal with them where they 158 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:22.519 came in and thinned that brush and trees back like three hundred feet away from 159 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:26.399 any structure, so that when the fire got to it, it just kind 160 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:30.039 of went out. And if it didn't go out, it was easy to 161 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.960 put out. You could drive to it, you know, instead of being 162 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.519 an a tangled mass of black jacks and brush ground up everything. So, 163 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:41.360 yeah, all the fuel that would have existed in there, it went in 164 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:45.240 and ground all that up into the dirt essentially. Yep. It left most 165 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:48.360 of the trees, the larger trees. Yeah, it took out the small 166 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.120 ones, took up the red cedars, ground up a bunch of the stuff 167 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:54.519 that would have allowed the fire to climb and to spread. All right, 168 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.679 that's correct. All the ladder fuels, all the heavy ground fuels, they 169 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.279 took those out of there. And I think I know that the chief believes 170 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:05.559 that that probably saved about ten houses up on. Yeah, I think the 171 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:11.080 uh, I don't think there's any argument over that. Of course, there's 172 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:16.240 other agencies there that got between the houses and the fire, but yeah, 173 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:20.200 it took button. Yeah. Without Yeah, without that, it would have 174 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.279 been a mess. We probably would have certainly lost more houses. And you 175 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:26.879 would have even had I drove out and looked at this, you would have 176 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:30.639 even had an issue getting back there to be able to stop the five. 177 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:33.720 Yes, because without having that it cut a road in and did a bunch 178 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:37.240 of work back there. Yes, you guys could actually access it too. 179 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:41.080 Yeah, and you know, we've had several I mean, we have fires 180 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:45.399 out there quite often, it's a wild land area, but none like that 181 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:50.600 day, None that I can remember. And yeah, that's definitely while an 182 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.039 hour wind didn't help any Yeah, we Yeah, we had a sustained forty 183 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:58.000 mile an hour win and ten percent humidity and some wind gusts up in the 184 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:03.720 sixties. That's crazy, perfect conditions for a really bad fire day. Yes, 185 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:07.519 so it no loss of life, in my correct chief, no loss 186 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:09.799 of life. That was so that was important. There was some structures loss, 187 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:13.720 and you always have to see somebody lose their home, but ultimately but 188 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.559 they can be rebuilt. That's right. Ultimately there was no loss of life, 189 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.480 and it certainly could have been a lot worse and would have been I 190 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:24.200 think if we hadn't if we hadn't worked with forestry on that. Yeah, 191 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:28.120 so what forestry did. The Chief and I as we drove around a couple 192 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.080 of weeks ago looking at all of this, one of the comments he made 193 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.519 is is that a lot of the houses that didn't burn that were in those 194 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:37.679 hot areas, it's because they've done a lot of the same things that forestry 195 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:41.799 had done. So yes, sir. For homeowners, especially those along I 196 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:46.240 think the term is the wild land urban fire interface or whatever. There's something 197 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:52.080 some term to that, But basically, if if you're adjacent to a wild 198 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:56.000 land that is subject to fire, what should you be doing on your property 199 00:12:56.039 --> 00:13:00.440 to help ensure that your house isn't one of these casualties. Well, if 200 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:07.240 you will create that green space between your structures and those wild lands, just 201 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:13.759 mitigating those ladder fuels and the ground fuels that spread it and making it available 202 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:20.559 for trucks to get into because in those areas it's hard for us to get 203 00:13:20.600 --> 00:13:24.200 trucks in there, especially pumper trucks, because you know a lot of those 204 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:28.679 roads are one lane roads and there's no place to turn around. And so 205 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:35.799 it's just really important that they do all that firewise prep on their structures and 206 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:41.559 get the fuels back so that we've got time and just mowing the yard and 207 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:45.159 keeping it green. It makes a big difference, makes a huge difference. 208 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:48.200 And that doesn't mean you can't have any trees, no, I mean we 209 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:50.879 didn't. Honestly, there wasn't that many trees that burned in this It really 210 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:54.600 was mostly the brush and the grass. Well, And if you remove the 211 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:58.240 brush and the grass, that removes the fuels that will get the trees. 212 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.840 Are you going? And so as long as you keep that stuff down, 213 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:03.879 you can you can have trees, get rid of the sick trees, the 214 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:07.879 healthy trees. It takes a lot more heat to get those going. And 215 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:13.080 our red cedar population. Would you prefer to see them gone? I wish 216 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.879 they were all gone. They go up like a body out they do. 217 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:22.159 In fact, I've been a fireman for twenty three years and I stopped to 218 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:26.960 take some video and some cedars burning because it was that impressed it is. 219 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:30.559 It's incredible. They turned into a column of flame. Oh, it's it's 220 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:33.840 just crazy. So those certainly removing those and removing all of all of those 221 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:37.759 fuels trying to push it back. Don't have don't have dead brush and landscaping 222 00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:41.600 up against the house. Right. It looks nice, you know, and 223 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:45.240 when the weather's right for it, right, But in the fire season, 224 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:48.559 why it's burn your house. You're gonna want to cut it and move it 225 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:52.960 back. Yes, firewood, split stacked, don't stack stacking against the house 226 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.320 now, and you can go as far as you want to go. There 227 00:14:56.440 --> 00:15:01.360 is a Firewise program where they recommend and like a lot of gravel. If 228 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:05.679 you've got gardening, you know, on flower beds and things, to fill 229 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:09.240 that with gravel, you know, the decorative gravel. You can use and 230 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:15.679 stay away from the house. But it puts that barrier in there. And 231 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.360 then like we were saying, you know, keep your yard mode, get 232 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:22.279 rid of the dead stuff, don't stack firewood against the house, don't stack 233 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:26.639 trash against the house. A lot of it's just kind of common sense. 234 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:28.279 It's common sense. One of the things you said was interesting to me. 235 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:31.759 I hadn't really thought about it. Make sure that you all can get a 236 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:35.519 fire trunk basically that they can drive around your house and a place to turn 237 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:39.120 it around. Yeah, because if we can't get in there and turn it 238 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:41.960 around, we'll go in. We're not gonna go you don't you know a 239 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:46.480 little backup upper around quarters? Yeah? Yeah, those takes time. Confers 240 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:52.559 are expensive and the men that operate them, they're invaluable, it's right, 241 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:56.759 So we're not going to lose those people. And they have no time to 242 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:58.799 waste in those situations. Yeah, and when it fills with smoke and you 243 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:04.960 can't see, it's pretty scary. I had a minor experience of that myself. 244 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.200 It was during that fire. I was up driving around and I was 245 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:11.639 I was just looking for the fire, and it turns out I found that. 246 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.879 What happened, it got And you're right, it's a little scary. 247 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:18.600 It kind of blacks out. It's hard to see exactly what's going on and 248 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:22.679 see down the road, and you can't see rock schools. I can't see 249 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:27.000 the road all. Yeah. So and that's another thing people don't realize, 250 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:30.519 you know. They think they're going to run through that. And if you 251 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.399 get a good kit of that hot smoke in your eyes, they all shut 252 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.559 and they won't open back up. So I certainly don't envy your guys when 253 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:41.480 they're out there doing that kind of stuff. But I truly do appreciate them, 254 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:45.240 and I appreciate all of them. And this was different for me because 255 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.519 I was sitting instead of being out there fighting fire, I was sitting managing. 256 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:53.519 And I'm worried about those guys, right because you weren't there. Yeah, 257 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.720 I wasn't there to be able. You know, when I had a 258 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.960 crew and I could take care of me and my crew, I felt confident 259 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.799 you were in control. Hitting in that command van. Sitting up there and 260 00:17:03.839 --> 00:17:07.480 I can't see what they're doing, I worried about It was a new experience. 261 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:11.440 It was a new experience. Well, I have a radio, and 262 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.720 so when things are like that are going on. I listened, and I'm 263 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:18.160 certainly not an expert, but I can tell you that it was the radio 264 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:23.960 traffic and the way that all of the firefighters and the command staff responded very 265 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.039 professional. It was very well organized. I realized it was probably did not 266 00:17:29.079 --> 00:17:33.000 feel that way if you were on site, But to a observer who was 267 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:37.680 sitting on his patio not fearing fire, you guys were doing all of the 268 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.839 job so well. And I tell you, without the fire departments, we 269 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:44.720 would have lost a lot of houses on Circle Mountain. I mean that the 270 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:48.960 stuff that the forestry did defend those feels. It was key that because we 271 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.480 were just running out of resources. But those guys, every one of them, 272 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.720 all the departments that were there, they worked hard. Those guys were 273 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:59.799 tired. I talked to the chief at night, I said, is there 274 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:02.119 any thing I can do for you. Is there anything else I can get? 275 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.079 And he says, I have everything that's available. We are out of 276 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:07.720 resources. So thanks, but there's nothing you can do. And that is 277 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.000 a strange feeling. I bet a couple of our guys that I know really 278 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:15.680 well. We're up on Circle Mountain and they said, Jerry Hawk, can 279 00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:18.160 you send me? And I said nothing. And that's a terrible feeling. 280 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.960 That's a bad feeling. Yeah. So, by the way, a good 281 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:25.680 job of continue that thing out west yesterday. That that was a smoky thing. 282 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:29.319 Yeah, I didn't have to get too involved in that. It was 283 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:33.039 mostly in the trees, and our battalion chief pretty well handled that. And 284 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:37.839 I know he relied heavily on Osa Hills Fire Department and the Bureau of Indian 285 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:42.400 Affairs came out. They had a bulldozer or two and they had some airplanes 286 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:47.079 dropping some retardant. That's all the planes. That was cool. Yeah, 287 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:51.160 that's cool. But they kept it mostly in the wild land. They did 288 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:56.240 good. Wow, well, chief, thank you. I've expressed my thanks 289 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.799 to everybody who was involved in that. I said, it wasn't just us. 290 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:03.160 There's a lot of fire departments, and I'm truly appreciate of them. 291 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:08.039 And so now if a homeowner has any questions about what they could do to 292 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:14.039 improve their their fire safety, what numbers should they call to you? They 293 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:18.359 could call the office. Just call our office PHONUS nine eight three three eight 294 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:22.039 four O nine eight. Okay, all right, well, I'm happy to 295 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:26.839 help them. I appreciate that. And unlike Terry lawds and you didn't give 296 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:30.160 my cell phone number to everybody to tell them to call me. He was 297 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:34.759 popular. I'm afraid to ask Terry that question because he doesn't always answer truthfully. 298 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.920 Chief. I don't know anything about fire protections, so I hope they 299 00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:42.960 call the office, you know, call Yeah, I know, call the 300 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:48.960 chief. All right, well, thanks Chief, I appreciate it, and 301 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:52.559 hopefully thank you. Hopefully we will have to have you back in to talk 302 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:57.200 about wildfire. Next we're gonna talk about water and rain and praying for rain. 303 00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:00.119 At this point in time, I thinks what we're really bad. Let 304 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:03.599 me let me slide over end over TV actually be in the TV screen. 305 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:07.519 You usually sit over there so they can't see him. I'm kind of I'm 306 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.319 a little concerned. What are you playing to fight for that spot? Yeah? 307 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:15.160 Yeah, it's husy race. Michael usually wins it too, he does. 308 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:19.279 He's bigger than you. Yeah, and fast, and there's no doubt 309 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:22.839 about bigger, faster, tougher, meaner. I mean, he's kind of 310 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:26.799 got everything on you. Thanks for starting my day out so great. You're 311 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:30.200 welcome. I'm sure, we're sure we'll end it by you giving myself phone. 312 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:33.720 Yeah, I was gonna say which Pike's number. Yeah, we'll get 313 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:36.799 to that. I had to get my shots at. Let's say that for 314 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:41.799 the end, all right, Terry, let's talk Let's talk water or black 315 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:47.240 water. Yes, Well, as of today, we are fifty seven percent 316 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:51.759 of the water remaining um, which is kind of the bad news, not 317 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:59.240 unexpected, but our weekly average consumption daily consumption did drop last week to four 318 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:02.119 point seven one in many gallons a day, so the good news. Week 319 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:04.720 prior we went up to five point three three, so it was a reduction. 320 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:11.119 So I'm I'm hopeful that people are taking this more seriously as far as 321 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.119 where we're at and kind of doing their part to restrict and conserved water. 322 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:18.640 Win win possible. And it's it is interesting because we've talked about it for 323 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:22.680 quite a while and we've asked for voluntary conservation, but they're you know, 324 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.680 one of the questions that I had on here is why would we increase water 325 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:32.720 rates? And it really is somewhat symbolic. It's not a huge amount of 326 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:36.079 money for anybody, but it is interesting when you increase water rates what the 327 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:40.880 consumption does. And once again we've seen that it is probably our most effective 328 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:47.480 method for reducing consumption. It is and it gets people's attention, like it 329 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:51.000 or not, and then people will become more aware of what they're doing and 330 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:55.880 how they're using water, and hopefully that correlates into a reduction of usage so 331 00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:00.319 that we can conserve what we have. Because really you've got your us their 332 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:06.079 voluntary voluntary conservation was it. Did we see significant decreases? In fact, 333 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:10.559 did we see any decreases? We honestly saw none. It was less than 334 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:14.759 one percent, I think overall. Once we were doing the voluntary So then 335 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:22.079 we did move to a more restrictive state in the sense where it wasn't just 336 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:26.559 a voluntary conservation. We did restrict the outdoor uses of it to twice a 337 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:30.799 week's which this week we're starting phase three, which will go to once a 338 00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:37.920 week outdoor water use. And then we did. Council adopted the emergency water 339 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:42.119 rates, which helped further, I guess, get people's attention to let them 340 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:45.920 know that this is a serious thing that we all have to really do do 341 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:51.960 our part to manage through it. But so starting this week, what bays 342 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.319 somebody wants. So if you are an even number house, then that's the 343 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.519 last number of your property address. You can water on Thursdays. Odd number 344 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:04.400 of properties can water on Friday. So just once a week, just once 345 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:10.519 a week. There's really no provisions for if someone's put in sod or anything 346 00:23:10.519 --> 00:23:12.960 of that nature, and really it's simple. So we're hopeful that you can 347 00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:18.759 keep your SAD alive with one day's watering if you plan to have sod put 348 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:21.920 in, which I would like to insert areas in my yard, but I'm 349 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:23.519 not going to at this point because I wouldn't be able to waters. Yeah, 350 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:29.039 it's it's probably not a good time to be aggressively putting in new landscaping 351 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:32.759 at this time, a SOD or anything that requires water and right as you 352 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:34.880 are going to be limited. Yeah, So the city follows these rules as 353 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:40.240 well as far as our crews and our projects, and we have shared that 354 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:45.880 with the state who is doing the bridge over the Kenny River there on Tuxedo, 355 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:52.160 to let them be aware of the outdoor water restrictions. Now, it 356 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:59.000 doesn't fall to if they're using water to wet down rock or different amenities that 357 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:02.359 they're using in the course construction. That's part of their job, and so 358 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:06.720 we don't we're not considering that an outdoor water use, even though it kind 359 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:10.400 of is is in the course of their their their work or their pointmage. 360 00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:15.720 Yeah, but that's really the outdoor water use is really limited to your irrigation 361 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:18.799 of landscaping, gardens, lawns, those sorts of things. It's typically a 362 00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:22.559 voluntary thing that we enter into because we want or hard to be green, 363 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:25.920 or we want to put in new sod and so there are it is possible 364 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:30.839 to reduce the amount that we use out there without huge repercussions. So we 365 00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:36.480 talked about the restrictions outdoor watering. There's there's some degree of confusion in fact 366 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:40.240 in city Beat, the Kelly has attempted to clarify what that is. So 367 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:45.240 for outdoor watering, we're really talking about running an irrigation system. Doesn't matter 368 00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:48.519 whether it's just a sprinkler or if it's an end ground system. How about 369 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:52.599 a hose If somebody's run a hose out and there they just got water running 370 00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:55.400 on our trees out outdoor water and that's outdoor water. Is only once a 371 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:00.039 week that you could do that? Yeah, what about if some filled a 372 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:04.240 watering can while they were in their shower taking a shower and then took it 373 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.880 out and water their plants. Well, I think technically you would be okay 374 00:25:08.920 --> 00:25:12.640 to do that. I would probably try to limit it to the day that 375 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:18.279 you're able to water outdoors or use water outdoors. But the truth is is 376 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:22.200 that we have to someonet catch you in the act of doing that, so 377 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:26.400 complaint or get a complaint, and it's unlikely that we're gonna catch you using 378 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:30.400 a water can with two or three plants outside that it's just kind of used 379 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:34.759 some common sense. So the intended is to prevent the thousand gallons per hour 380 00:25:34.839 --> 00:25:41.160 of water use. If you have a water can and you're using sink water 381 00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:45.960 that you say from doing dishes and to water your plants outdoors, rainbarrels have 382 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:49.000 at it. People that have rain barrels. Obviously that is not a use 383 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:52.720 of potable water. And we're not gonna. We're not going to regulate that. 384 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:55.960 So so those things we will have common sense as we do this. 385 00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:59.440 I'm not aware of any widespread ticket writing. I don't know that we've written 386 00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:02.519 any at this one time. But I'm just thankful you're not going into people's 387 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:07.119 showers. You and I boats. Not that I mind a company, but 388 00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:14.799 I do mind the laughing. We're not ever gonna What happens in there stays 389 00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:18.039 in there. Yeah, So if you want to do a rain barrel, 390 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:22.759 there is no restrictions against that. You just knock yourself out. We are 391 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:26.039 forecasted for rain this week, so it may be a good opportunity, a 392 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:30.960 good week to put one in. Yeah. So as and that's it that 393 00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:33.920 this question came up about rain barrels, and actually was talking to the mayor 394 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:37.880 about it this morning. So that is that helps to gather water, It 395 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:41.079 helps to reduce the amount of water that you consume off the system, but 396 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.920 it also helps to reduce runoff, which ultimately typically gathers pollution and runs into 397 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:48.880 the stream. So there's a lot of advantages if you want to install a 398 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:53.279 rain barrel, the city would certainly encourage that. Yeah, absolutely would appreciate 399 00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:57.400 your efforts. So we talked about our overall status, which was about fifty 400 00:26:57.400 --> 00:27:00.640 seven Is that what you said? Seven percent? So that's all of our 401 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:04.680 water that we have available, what we started, what we would be if 402 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:07.839 it was awful. We are fifty seven percent of that, so we're almost 403 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:12.039 a half. Yep. That's why we're talking about this so much because and 404 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:17.599 there is also some misconception that people think of when we say fifty seven percent, 405 00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:19.799 we're just talking about Hula. This is all of our water, which 406 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:25.119 includes Hula, Copan, our lake which is Hudson Lake, and then what 407 00:27:25.240 --> 00:27:27.799 we have available on the Candy River as well. Yep. And I did 408 00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:32.440 a quick check this morning and hopefully I got the numbers right. But Hula's 409 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:37.079 at forty three percent. UH is Copan full? No Copans in fifty six, 410 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:45.119 I believe, so it doesn't. I realized we talk a lot about 411 00:27:45.160 --> 00:27:48.440 diverse fire or water suppli so that way have Hula and Copan and all of 412 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:52.440 those things, and those are important for long term water security. But ultimately 413 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:56.559 Copan is they it can suffer from a drought as well. So when you 414 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:00.839 have a widespread drought, it's going to affect both lakes. There is no 415 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:06.640 silver bullet here, which is why we're asking for conservation. How long assuming 416 00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:08.720 we don't get ranked let's hope we get rained. But if we don't get 417 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:15.079 rain, about how long until we ask under fifty percent, which which basically 418 00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:18.920 creates a state of emergency. Yeah, we anticipate that sometime in either late 419 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:22.880 May or early June with no rain. With no rain, it's coming. 420 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:27.200 It's coming fairly quickly. Yeah. When we talk about outdoor water and why 421 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:32.319 is that so important? What is our use in say the winter, versus 422 00:28:32.359 --> 00:28:34.039 what we could expect to see during summer when people are doing a lot of 423 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:38.200 watering. Yeah, so we in the wintertime will use anywhere between four and 424 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:45.279 five million gallons a day. When we are using our irrigation systems or outdoor 425 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:48.599 watering, that will jump up to nine to twelve million gallons a day. 426 00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:52.599 So we double, sometimes triple the amount of water that we consume with two 427 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:56.920 thirds of that going outside. So it's five to eight million gallons a date 428 00:28:57.000 --> 00:29:02.519 difference. Yea, So it is a huge amount of water that's used for 429 00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:06.519 irrigation. And again, normally we don't mind when we have plenty of water, 430 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:10.519 but in this instance, we are we are trying to reduce that so 431 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:14.000 Canny River pump station. We got a little bit of good news. We 432 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:17.160 got it, finally got a part. We didn't get the part we ordered, 433 00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:18.559 but we made them go find a part that would work and wire it 434 00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:22.559 in. Yeah, and so that's up and running. Yes, does that 435 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:26.039 change our available water supply? No, it doesn't change the overall percentages. 436 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:30.519 But what it does is that we can serve the entire need that we have 437 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:36.839 currently from the river. So we can turn off the lakes and run just 438 00:29:36.920 --> 00:29:41.640 off the river and preserve those just as long as possible. But at some 439 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:47.720 point with the area lakes, if everything continues no rain, and then that 440 00:29:47.960 --> 00:29:51.880 river wall will be unable to sustain our needs with it, so we would 441 00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:53.880 have to turn to the lakes. But for now it can and so we'll 442 00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:57.000 ride it as long as we can use it, as often as we can. 443 00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:02.519 And if people aren't wa then we believe that we can serve all of 444 00:30:02.519 --> 00:30:06.599 the domestic needs off of the river for the foreseeable future. Yes, that's 445 00:30:06.680 --> 00:30:08.920 great news. All right, pray for rain. I don't know what else 446 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:11.279 to say. Tom, All right, thank you very much for joining us. 447 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:12.480 For city matters,