For the first time last year, the Times and Free Press abandoned its traditional Year-In-Review and instead asked local leaders to share their expectations for the coming year. That same forward-facing perspective seems particularly relevant for a series of articles at the dawn of a new decade.

Everything old is new again, might be the perfect theme as 2020 dawns in Kingfi sher County.

And that’s true both in the fi gurative sense that familiar trends are rolling back around and in the literal sense of new public and private buildings, new roads, new parks and even new taxes replacing their older counterparts.

Two long-awaited projects were fi nally open for business at the end of 2019 – road construction on U.S. 81 south of Kingfisher and the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Kingfi sher’s first full-service hotel franchise.

After being hemmed in by road construction projects at nearly every entry point, Kingfi sher traffic is fl owing largely unimpeded for the first time in more than two years.

The hotel opened just in time for Kingfisher’s annual Christmas parade and fireworks, an event that in recent years has drawn more than 10,000 visitors to the city’s downtown.

While some of the hotel’s amenities, including the indoor swimming pool, are not yet completed, the facility is expected to generate hotel/ motel taxes for the city well in excess of the incentive package approved by the city to entice its construction.

And the new Kingfisher County Criminal Justice Center west of Mercy Hospital Kingfisher is slated to open in the spring, replacing the more than 80-year-old Kingfi sher County Jail currently adjacent to the courthouse.

Slower Progress

While the county and state will take a hit from the energy industry slowdown (a topic for the next installment in this series), area leaders still expect growth and progress in the coming year.

Learning from its counterparts in Williston, N.D., Cimarron Electric Cooperative has been taking a long-range approach with the buildup and slowdown in the latest energy boom cycle.

CEO Mark Snow-den said 2019 was the cooperative’s best financial year to date, with a growth rate of just over 35%, margins exceeding $8 million and equity hovering at 38%, an all-time high.

That major jump has allowed the cooerative to double in size in just three years, he said.

“Unlike most utilities who see 100% growth span over several decades, we have accomplished this milestone in three years,” Snowden said. “As a result, Cimarron has moved from a medium to larger sized electric cooperative.”

While the 2019 pace has already slowed, Snowden said he still expects Cimarron’s growth to continue.

“As we look to 2020, we see strong growth for our electric cooperative, but at a slower pace of around 10%,” he said. “This is a result of the oil and gas companies in the STACK play shifting to a ‘slower but longer’ growth strategy for our service territory.”

As part of the cooperative’s ongoing strategic plan to have all its old copper lines replaced by 2024, Cimarron will be replacing about 50 miles of these lines this year in the Cashion/Reeding/Guthrie area.

A total of 200 miles of old lines remain systemwide, Snowden said.

Other goals for the year include evaluating work fl ow processes and internal controls, he said.

“By making small changes to these and our organizational chart every couple of years, we are able to get new lines and services built as fast as possible,” Snowden said. “We can also add or change our internal controls to make sure we hold each other accountable as we serve our members each day.”

Cimarron plans a voltage conversion and upgrade in the Okarche area and again retire capital credits, the amount of which will be announced at the annual meeting in September.

“Thanks to careful planning by the employees and a very engaged board of directors, we are confi dent we will meet our fi nancial needs for several years to come,” he said.

Next in 2020 Vision: What’s coming up for local municipalities, state government, quality of life improvements, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, schools and more.