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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.

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<v Speaker 1>It is time now for city matters right here on

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<v Speaker 1>K one, the one you trust. If it matters to you,

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<v Speaker 1>it matters to the city, have city councilor Aaron Kirkpatrick

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<v Speaker 1>here with is. And of course we're recapping last night's

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<v Speaker 1>city council I mean, first of all, welcome aboard today.

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<v Speaker 2>Good morning, Tom, Good morning Bartlesville. It is always a

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<v Speaker 2>pleasure to be back with you, and this is my

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<v Speaker 2>first time doing it in this format. Been on citizens

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<v Speaker 2>to be heard a few times, but it's the first

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<v Speaker 2>time you get to sit down as a city council

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<v Speaker 2>member who you're kind of by myself and recap in

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<v Speaker 2>the meetings.

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<v Speaker 1>We're gonna take it nice and slow. We're gonna start

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<v Speaker 1>off with the library grant. This the first vote took

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<v Speaker 1>place when you were absent. Yes, and tell us a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit about what's going on here. This is the

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<v Speaker 1>one that also allows people to take courses to become

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<v Speaker 1>United States citizens.

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<v Speaker 3>Yes.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So in January's meeting, my family and I had

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<v Speaker 2>had a trip planned kind of a Christmas trip with

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<v Speaker 2>the kids for months before, so it was unavoidably absent

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<v Speaker 2>and unexpectedly, the library grant became kind of a flashpoint

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<v Speaker 2>of contention. And basically there's a grant that comes from

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<v Speaker 2>the federal government through the Oklahoma Department of Libraries that

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<v Speaker 2>that essentially pays for us to have a program that's

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<v Speaker 2>English English second language training, literacy, and ultimately training people

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<v Speaker 2>for citizenship tests.

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<v Speaker 3>It's been going for.

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<v Speaker 2>Eleven years and it's had you know, lots of people

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<v Speaker 2>have used it over the years. You know, it's pretty

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<v Speaker 2>pretty common for our you know, our local employers to

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<v Speaker 2>bring in people from out of the country and then

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<v Speaker 2>very spouses come with them, and so then it's been

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<v Speaker 2>just this great opportunity for people to learn English, learn

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<v Speaker 2>our culture, and ultimately for some of them become citizens.

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<v Speaker 2>So back in January it was time to vote on

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<v Speaker 2>that budget, everybody kind of thought it was gonna be

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<v Speaker 2>just a you know, a simple thing turned into not

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<v Speaker 2>a simple thing.

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<v Speaker 3>And as everybody knows, we don't have to rehash all that.

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<v Speaker 3>But I got back. I guess we came.

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<v Speaker 2>We landed on Wednesday morning and my phone was just

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<v Speaker 2>blown up from people all over time.

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<v Speaker 3>What just happened? Have you seen the meeting? What are

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<v Speaker 3>we gonna do? About this, and I.

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<v Speaker 2>Kind of looked into it and said, listen, I will

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<v Speaker 2>do whatever I can do to help get this thing fixed.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a two to two vote, and fortunately, I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>our whole community spoke up on this, right, I mean

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<v Speaker 2>dozens and dozens of emails and calls and text messages

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<v Speaker 2>and then you know, conversations with people all over the community,

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<v Speaker 2>and so thank you Bartlesville for speaking up. And everybody said,

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<v Speaker 2>like our library, A lady said last night, wonderful phrase

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<v Speaker 2>is like the crown jewel of our public services here.

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<v Speaker 3>Please save this program.

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<v Speaker 2>And my fellow counselman heard that as well, and so

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<v Speaker 2>last night we reconsidered it. It took a little bit

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<v Speaker 2>of procedural stuff to be able to, but we reconsidered

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<v Speaker 2>that grant.

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<v Speaker 3>We accepted it as is.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm proud to be able to say that our library

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<v Speaker 2>has been fully compliant with every federal statute mandate that

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<v Speaker 2>has been expected of it.

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<v Speaker 3>They've reported every year, like you know, whatever.

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<v Speaker 2>Concerns they may have been were laid to rest because

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<v Speaker 2>as expected, our library has just been doing good work

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<v Speaker 2>for the past eleven years.

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<v Speaker 1>And I understand this helped about what roughly ninety people

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<v Speaker 1>who were in the midst of trying to get.

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<v Speaker 2>Through the Yeah, well just last year, I mean there

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<v Speaker 2>were I think at any given time is what it

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<v Speaker 2>sounded like. There's about one hundred people in the program,

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<v Speaker 2>so it's been extremely well used. And actually one of

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<v Speaker 2>the coolest things about last night's meeting was we did

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of citizens to be heard and we invited

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<v Speaker 2>people to give public comment on these issues, and we

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<v Speaker 2>had four ladies come and speak to us who had

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<v Speaker 2>gone through that program, at one of whom was now

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<v Speaker 2>a teacher, A couple who had gotten their citizenship or

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<v Speaker 2>were working on had gotten driver's license, like they had

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<v Speaker 2>learned to do all this.

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<v Speaker 3>Because of this library program.

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<v Speaker 2>And then now some of them are like mentors giving

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<v Speaker 2>back and volunteering and helping others.

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<v Speaker 3>So, I mean, the.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not easy, you know this because you communicate all

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<v Speaker 2>the time. Like there's a lot of people that are

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<v Speaker 2>very uncomfortable speaking in front of anybody, right, I understand

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<v Speaker 2>that there were one hundred people in that room last night,

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<v Speaker 2>and these ladies got up not only and shared in

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<v Speaker 2>front of one hundred people, which takes courage, but did

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<v Speaker 2>it in their second or third or fourth language. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>oh man, it was I personally was just extremely moved.

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<v Speaker 2>I appreciate everybody who came and talked about the library,

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<v Speaker 2>but especially for those four ladies. It was just it

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<v Speaker 2>was very moving to me to hear their stories. And

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<v Speaker 2>so we voted. It was unanimous. We accepted that grant.

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<v Speaker 2>Everything's going to keep trucking right along at the library,

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<v Speaker 2>business as usual. We you know, we had a bit

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<v Speaker 2>of a hiccup, but we're good.

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<v Speaker 1>All right. It's also trees along seventy five. We had

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<v Speaker 1>that tornado back of May six. Boy, I remember that

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<v Speaker 1>because we were right in the middle of it here

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<v Speaker 1>at the radio station and it whacked a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>those trees there. In the media. Yeah, and I understand

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<v Speaker 1>that there was a situation there similarly with trying to

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<v Speaker 1>understand the whord to fores and who's the wats and

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<v Speaker 1>buy the wits and the party of the first part

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<v Speaker 1>on that thing too.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>There, once again there was another one of those January

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<v Speaker 2>issues that got had an unexpected outcome. So last night

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<v Speaker 2>again we kind of went back to that vote again.

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<v Speaker 2>We look at it a second time. Tyler Vacklaw, who

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<v Speaker 2>is the chair of the Keith Bartlesville beautiful committee which

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<v Speaker 2>I have the pleasure of serving on, got up and

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<v Speaker 2>spoke and told us about the trees, and you know,

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<v Speaker 2>essentially Phillip sixty six graciously offered to pay to replace

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<v Speaker 2>the trees that have been destroyed, plus adding some more

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<v Speaker 2>in some other It's just to beautify that intersection sure.

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<v Speaker 3>And and also it has a very practical perspective.

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<v Speaker 2>I've I've had constituents reach out from that neighborhood just

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<v Speaker 2>west of Highway seventy five, who because of the commercial

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<v Speaker 2>you know, there's commercial buildings over there, and that.

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<v Speaker 3>Light comes through.

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<v Speaker 2>So those trees have been helpful in the past to

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<v Speaker 2>kind of block some of those lights and just make

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<v Speaker 2>it a little bit less bright at night in their houses.

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<v Speaker 2>So I mean, this not only is it beautiful, but

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<v Speaker 2>has our realactical impact for some of our neighbors. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 2>Tyler got up and explained all of that, and and.

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<v Speaker 3>This was a partnership with Up with Trees.

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<v Speaker 2>So they've got professional you know, horticulturists and arborists, and

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<v Speaker 2>you know, everything I touch whatever the opposite of a

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<v Speaker 2>green thumb, brown thumb, I guess that's what I have.

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<v Speaker 3>If I touch it, it dies.

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<v Speaker 2>My wife stopped asking me to trim the hedges because

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<v Speaker 2>I kept killing them. So like, that's not my nothing,

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<v Speaker 2>my area of expertise, but it is theirs. And when

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<v Speaker 2>they recommend, hey, these are good trees here, like, I

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<v Speaker 2>just trust them. So we revisited that, uh and and

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<v Speaker 2>again it passed unanimously. So we accepted that grants those

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<v Speaker 2>trees will be planted here. It should be over the

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<v Speaker 2>next couple of months, sure, and then we'll be re

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<v Speaker 2>beautifying that part of Bartlesville.

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<v Speaker 1>Cool water is a big deal around here. It always says, now,

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<v Speaker 1>we might see some water fall from the sky today, tonight,

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<v Speaker 1>and tomorrow, and we might not. And that is usually

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<v Speaker 1>the case here in this part of Oklahoma. We either

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<v Speaker 1>get a whole lot of water at one time, we

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<v Speaker 1>don't get any water at all. Water resources is a

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<v Speaker 1>big deal. What's going on there?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So one of the one of the committees that

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<v Speaker 2>I'm now on is the Water Resource Committee. So I

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<v Speaker 2>get to sit in with some people who've been doing this,

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<v Speaker 2>say very long time, and know their stuff, and we

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<v Speaker 2>have good news on that front. I don't know about you.

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<v Speaker 2>I get really stressed when it gets really dry. It

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<v Speaker 2>makes me a weird thing for me, but if I

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<v Speaker 2>can't walk out and see water somewhere, my blood pressure

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<v Speaker 2>goes up. So in these really dry times, we had

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<v Speaker 2>the second worst draft that we've ever had over the

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<v Speaker 2>last two years. And I think the first worst draft,

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<v Speaker 2>they said was like the two thousand and one time

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<v Speaker 2>when they got really dire around here. That was before

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<v Speaker 2>my time, but I know everybody who lived here at

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<v Speaker 2>the time remembers basically being able to walk across Hula Lake.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>So that Water Resources Committee's been going for over twenty

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<v Speaker 2>years now, been working on how do we secure Bartlesville's

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<v Speaker 2>water future for the next seventy five to one hundred years.

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<v Speaker 3>That's their goal.

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<v Speaker 2>And what Terry Lawrence came and showed us last night

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<v Speaker 2>was the kind of the fully updated here's where we are,

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<v Speaker 2>and then kind of made the Water Resources Committee's recommendations

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<v Speaker 2>to the Council for what to do next. Essentially, the

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<v Speaker 2>suggestions that that committee has made is to ask the

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<v Speaker 2>core of engineers to raise Cula Lake by ten percent,

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<v Speaker 2>basically reallocating some more flood control, which is a significant

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, it's an enormous amount of water. And then

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<v Speaker 2>we have now developed this emergency reuse process. So once

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<v Speaker 2>the once the water treatment plant is updated, then hopefully

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<v Speaker 2>by twenty thirty we'll have the ability to turn that on.

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<v Speaker 2>We could turn it on today, but you have to

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<v Speaker 2>you know, ODEQ has some things to say about that.

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<v Speaker 3>So basically they've proven the concept PAP.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there's still a few more steps to take, but

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<v Speaker 2>once that's done, that'll be another four million gallons a

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<v Speaker 2>day of water that we're already using that is cleaner

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<v Speaker 2>when we put it back in the river than it

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<v Speaker 2>was when we pulled it out. And then the real

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<v Speaker 2>big movement was what just happened at the federal level.

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<v Speaker 2>So there's a water resources bill that comes up every

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<v Speaker 2>two years, and for our city to really be water secure,

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<v Speaker 2>one of the missing pieces that we needed was the

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<v Speaker 2>option to hopefully begin to use water that comes out

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<v Speaker 2>of Copan. So two years ago, Congress passed a law

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<v Speaker 2>that said that we could do that, and then it

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<v Speaker 2>kind of set a price range. Then we had to

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<v Speaker 2>work with the Army Corps of Engineers, and when it

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<v Speaker 2>was all said and done, it was just it was

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<v Speaker 2>like over seven million dollars to secure those water rights.

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<v Speaker 2>So our congressional delegates and people who have been working

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<v Speaker 2>on this a long time went back and then this

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<v Speaker 2>water bill they changed the language to lower that price.

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<v Speaker 2>So now instead of having to pay like seven seven

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<v Speaker 2>and a half million dollars for that storage, we're not

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<v Speaker 2>going to pay like half a million dollars, and so

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<v Speaker 2>the impact on all of our water rates will be

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<v Speaker 2>basically nothing.

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<v Speaker 3>Because they got that price down.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, there are still some things tend to go, but

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<v Speaker 2>it's just that that's what we can by the rates with.

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<v Speaker 3>So now we're doing some negotiating with COPAN.

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<v Speaker 2>There's already a memorandum of understanding with them, so it's

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<v Speaker 2>just you know, working through these final steps. The really

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<v Speaker 2>encouraging thing about that is where we are right now.

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<v Speaker 2>It gives us, in our projections at least another thirty

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<v Speaker 2>years of water security. If the if the Army Corps

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<v Speaker 2>of Engineers decides to approve that flood allocation again to

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<v Speaker 2>raise HUEA by ten percent, then we will be water

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<v Speaker 2>secure for over one hundred years. It's important to know

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<v Speaker 2>that in the last drought, that second worst drought, we

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<v Speaker 2>just went through our water source out at Hula never

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<v Speaker 2>dip below it was like sixty percent or so.

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<v Speaker 3>Terry Lawrence shouldell you exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>But we really, even as severe as that drought was,

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<v Speaker 2>because we already being good stewards of the water that

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<v Speaker 2>we have, we didn't really dip deeply into kind of

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<v Speaker 2>our primary water source.

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<v Speaker 3>But we essentially drop from three sources.

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<v Speaker 2>So we have the Caney River, we have Heula Lake,

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<v Speaker 2>and then we have or we will hopefully have Copan

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<v Speaker 2>Lake once that process is done. Congress has approved it,

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<v Speaker 2>just have to finish negotiations. So the way that the way.

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<v Speaker 3>It's been helpful for me to kind of learn how

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<v Speaker 3>this works.

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<v Speaker 2>I kind of have compared it to coffee shops, so

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<v Speaker 2>that because people confused, well, we've got this lake, why

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<v Speaker 2>it's got water in it, Why are we struggling, Why

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<v Speaker 2>are we saying we're in a dire drought or whatever.

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<v Speaker 2>So we don't get to control how much water comes

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<v Speaker 2>out of lake or goes into it. Right, So it's

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<v Speaker 2>like you buy a coffee shop franchise, but your franchise

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<v Speaker 2>e tells you, hey, here's how much coffee you're going

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<v Speaker 2>to get, and you don't control it. Okay, So, uh,

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<v Speaker 2>the Army Corps would be the franchise. You know, the

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<v Speaker 2>franchise owners at this point, God would be the one

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<v Speaker 2>who sends the rain, so he kind of gives a

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<v Speaker 2>supply right. So what we have done is basically we've said, okay,

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<v Speaker 2>we want to buy the franchise from Hula. We bought

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<v Speaker 2>every single gallon of water that we can buy out

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<v Speaker 2>of hell just to store it. We say like, we've

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<v Speaker 2>got this where this is ours. Nobody else can pull

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<v Speaker 2>water out of Hula Lake except for us. How much

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<v Speaker 2>water is in there, like they're going to release it,

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<v Speaker 2>and we are paying every single year to have access

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<v Speaker 2>to all of that water we can pull out of

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<v Speaker 2>the Cane River for basically for free. We've had those

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<v Speaker 2>water rights forever. So that's like making coffee at home, right,

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<v Speaker 2>that's free for us. When we to have water rights

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<v Speaker 2>out at HeLa Lake, we pay a little bit, not

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<v Speaker 2>as cheap as drinking it for free, but it's worth

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<v Speaker 2>having because you know, you got more access. And then

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<v Speaker 2>what we're trying to do out at Copan now is

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<v Speaker 2>basically saying, hey, can we purchase part of your franchise

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<v Speaker 2>because the town of Copan has, you know, the water

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<v Speaker 2>rights that they need, and then access to water rights

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<v Speaker 2>that are so much larger than they can than they

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<v Speaker 2>would ever.

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<v Speaker 3>Be able to use.

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<v Speaker 2>So what we basically said is, hey, can we invest

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<v Speaker 2>in your coffee shop? And then we had to agree

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<v Speaker 2>on the price, and really it was it was it

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<v Speaker 2>was the core who had to decide. So what they

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<v Speaker 2>did in that last water bill was to get that

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<v Speaker 2>price so low that it was a basically it was

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<v Speaker 2>like the water that would have come out of there

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<v Speaker 2>was about five times more expensive than what we were paying.

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<v Speaker 3>Now it's almost the same price. Oh wow, Like.

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<v Speaker 2>What this group has done, and we cannot thank our

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<v Speaker 2>state reps, our Congression reps all the way up to

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<v Speaker 2>the federal level, as well as people who have been

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<v Speaker 2>on that Water Resource Committee.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean there are folks.

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<v Speaker 2>Like State Center Julie Daniels, Tom Gorman I know has

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<v Speaker 2>been a part of this, of course.

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<v Speaker 3>Mike Bailey, and you know a lot of those folks.

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<v Speaker 2>And then we've got people all the way up to

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<v Speaker 2>the federal government who've been working on this for over

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<v Speaker 2>twenty years and that Water Resource build going through Congress

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<v Speaker 2>and then being signed by President Biden. It put us

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<v Speaker 2>where we needed to be to be able to secure

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<v Speaker 2>a future where we can all breathe a lot easier

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<v Speaker 2>about water. Now, we'll still conserve, right, but we now

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<v Speaker 2>have access to every single water source that we can

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<v Speaker 2>get access to. And then we're and then we have

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<v Speaker 2>suggested to then make an emergency plan where we can

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<v Speaker 2>if we have to run, you know, run a pipe

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<v Speaker 2>down to you know, place south of us, in a

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<v Speaker 2>pen in a dire critical emergency. I can't imagine at

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<v Speaker 2>this point how it can get to that stage, especially

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<v Speaker 2>once the water reuse process can get turned on. But

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<v Speaker 2>we have developed and are developing lots of options. So

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<v Speaker 2>the good news for Bartlesville is that the things that

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<v Speaker 2>have been stressing us out for twenty years, twenty plus

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<v Speaker 2>year's worth of work has come to fruition and is

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<v Speaker 2>in the process. And then the people who have been

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<v Speaker 2>leading that process are already now turning their attention to

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<v Speaker 2>the next ten or fifteen years and what has to

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<v Speaker 2>get done to secure our future for a century.

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<v Speaker 1>Wow, that's amazing that And you encapsulate did that so well.

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<v Speaker 1>People want to be heard, so when they show up

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<v Speaker 1>at the city council meetings, deserves opportunity. But how much opportunity,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess would be the question.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, you know, we've had the city council meetings, but

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<v Speaker 2>we also had in the last month, we had the

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<v Speaker 2>Flock Safety Forum that that the police hosted for us,

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<v Speaker 2>and then we had a workshop on adult entertainment, so

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<v Speaker 2>that was that was an open workshop.

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<v Speaker 3>We probably had another one hundred one hundred and thirty.

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<v Speaker 2>People show up for that, and thus far, as far

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<v Speaker 2>as I'm aware, we've not told anybody they can't speak

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<v Speaker 2>for three minutes, so we sat through. We were there

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<v Speaker 2>for probably an hour and a half at the at

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<v Speaker 2>the adult entertainment workshop, hearing people's stories and perspectives and passion,

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<v Speaker 2>and then at the flock we had questions that went

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<v Speaker 2>on for probably another thirty or forty five minutes. And

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<v Speaker 2>then last night we listened i think to two two

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<v Speaker 2>and a half hours of people's comments and it was

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<v Speaker 2>so good. Like those are honestly my favorite parts of

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<v Speaker 2>those meetings. Even when people disagree or disagree with me,

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<v Speaker 2>it is so so healthy to have a community that

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<v Speaker 2>shows up and says we care about what's going on.

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<v Speaker 2>Here's our perspective on it. Now, even that communication is

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<v Speaker 2>the tip of the iceberg. I think I told you

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<v Speaker 2>that last month. I'm pretty sure I've met one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and fifty new people just from going and visiting with

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<v Speaker 2>different groups and organizations around the city to do Q

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<v Speaker 2>and as so, and I'll make an appeal or just

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<v Speaker 2>an offer to anybody who's watching this if you have

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<v Speaker 2>a group that gets together like that, doesn't matter what

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<v Speaker 2>the group is, I'm happy to come and visit with you.

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<v Speaker 2>I love doing Q and A's where I get to

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<v Speaker 2>hear what's important to you. And every time there's been

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<v Speaker 2>things I've walked away with saying, oh, nobody, I've not

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<v Speaker 2>heard anybody share that concern before.

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<v Speaker 3>That's worth looking into and see if there's a way

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<v Speaker 3>that we can help.

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<v Speaker 2>So if you're looking for an opportunity to speak to

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<v Speaker 2>someone on the city council, I'm happy to come.

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<v Speaker 3>But the thing that I want to say the most is.

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<v Speaker 1>Just how.

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<v Speaker 2>How encouraging it is to see the level of engagement

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<v Speaker 2>that we have and yes and to come. I mean,

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<v Speaker 2>a healthy community is not a community devoid of conflict.

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<v Speaker 2>A healthy community will have disagreements and conflict, but healthy

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<v Speaker 2>communities work through it intentionally and listen to each other

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<v Speaker 2>and then find a path forward together. And we've seen

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of that over the last month or more

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<v Speaker 2>and it's been really, really a fun part of being

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<v Speaker 2>on the council.

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<v Speaker 1>Great Aaron Kirkpatrick, thank you for being with us today.

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<v Speaker 1>It's my pleasure and you know we look forward to

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<v Speaker 1>seeing you again here real soon. Thanks folks, you've been

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<v Speaker 1>watching and listening to