Chamber of Commerce -- Tulsa County Commissioner -- Nov. 5, 2009 -- Collinsville, OK -- www.cvilleok.com

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call Ted Wright (918) 371-1901 or send email to wrightted@aol.com.

2009 Chamber Officers

Pres: Ernie Davis
VP: Jin Dolton
Sec/Tres: Billie Francis
Pres. Elect: (TBA)

Directors (2009-2011):
Nichole Landrum
Ted Wright
Bill Johnston

Directors (2008-2010):
Christine Wilson
Kelly Hamlin

President-Appointed
1-Year Directors:
Rusty Poindexter
Kelvin Limbocker
Robin Lansaw
Daniel Boggs
Mickie Dessiatova
Don Hutchinson
Stacy Brown

After providing status on two specific Collinsville projects, Tulsa County Commissioner John Smaligo discussed a few of the lesser known county services at the Collinsville Chamber luncheon meeting Thursday.

Collinsville S-Curve Re-Alignment / 4-Laning: The project has been delayed somewhat by ODOT re-prioritization dealing with many federal stimulus dollar driven projects with short timelines. Tulsa County engineers and workers will build the Collinsville project but have just received ODOT design work and are still waiting on ODOT utility relocation plans and a schedule. Smaligo could not give a specific schedule for bids and construction pending more ODOT direction.

Collinsville Asphalt Overlays (relating to City Sales Tax Increase for Improvements): Tulsa County will provide the equipment and labor for ~54 blocks of improvements in Collinsville ... after completion of county work at 186 St. N and then 101st & Memorial ... and then with workable weather condition.

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in part by:

We are an active part of the communities we serve because they are the places we call home. The members we serve live, work and play in the lush rolling hills of northeastern Oklahoma.

Headquartered in Collinsville, Oklahoma, VVEC is a distribution electric cooperative. We provide electric service to residential, commercial and industrial consumers through more than 32,000 meters and more than 4,500 miles of electric line in portions of Nowata, Osage, Rogers, Tulsa and Washington counties.

Among the 26 electric cooperatives operating in Oklahoma, VVEC is the third largest based on the number of meters served by the co-op. Ninety-two employees cover the Cooperative’s more than 3,200-square mile service territory daily maintaining the electric system and providing consumer-oriented service.

www.vvec.com

Lesser Known Tulsa County Services:

Social Services Emergency Shelter ... tries to keep family together ,,, as long as they are seeking work

Indigent burials/cremations ... ~65-80 per year

Recycled medications -- nationally recognized program has recycled over $5 million in medications for indigent use at no/low cost to users and only $1400 cost to county.

Court Services Division -- the county works with district judges to keep some non-violent prisoners out of prison via alternative sentencing ,,, lowering tax payer expense ... using ankle monitors and alcohol detection devices (via phone lines).

S-Curve Followup

Pam, I meant to follow-up with Commissioner Smaligo today but forgot during the question session. He mentioned the S-Curve work going past CHS. I hope that means that extra funding has been secured for that extension (beyond the original nursing home end)? I had never heard that funding committed ... just everyone hoping it would be possible. -- Ted Wright

Pam Polk: We have been working on the extra funding, but have been told that they weren't sure if we would get it. Maybe since the costs of materials and labor have come down they are going to be able to go farther. We have not been given anything in writing however as official word. We certainly hope that is the case. We have worked hard to extend the improvements past the high school. (11/5/2009)

Commission Smaligo also spoke with obvious pride about the Tulsa County A+ rating for transparencey in government from the National Sunshine Review Organization. (see the links above left). Tulsa County (mostly via info on the Tulsa County web site) has the only County A+ rating in Oklahoma and there are only a few nationally.

In answer to a question on County impact due to the downturn in sales tax collections, Smaligo indicated Tulsa County is OK in the short term (with cost cutting by the Sheriff's office and jail operations) but would be more impacted if the downturn were prolonged.