New radio systems in all three county commission districts, which were installed last week, are still in limbo because of a pending decision between Pioneer Telephone and Verizon.

County Commission Chairman Heath Dobrovolny said Pioneer had provided the county a “free ride” for radio service on its tower east of Kingfisher in years past.

However, with the purchase of Pioneer’s cell phone business, there is a question whether the free service will continue.

“There is a chance the county may have to build its own tower to facilitate improved communication between the districts,” Dobrovolny said in conversation following the meeting. “That could turn into a large expense,” The business portion of the county meeting lasted only 10 minutes.

A major action came with the agreement proposal from Kirkham, Michael and Associates, engineers, to assist with the Wagon Wheel Wind Farm, which will primarily involve District 2 in the Northeast part of the county and District 1 to a lesser degree.

The agreement states that the engineering firm will draft a county road use agreement between the company and landowners, attend meetings to draft road use agreements, evaluate drainage structures, evaluate load structures for bridges, except pipe structures, provide daily on-site engineering services on behalf of owners during construction, act as liaison between the owners and the company.

District 1 Commissioner Ray Alan Shimanek previously instructed the company and received approval for the size of crushed rock to be placed on roads leading to windmill sites.

Construction on the project is expected to begin around Jan. 1, an engineering company representative advised commissioners at a prior meeting.

Commissioners approved an invoice from Circuit Engineering District 8 of $1,586 for routine inspections of 20 county bridges, payment of $3,600 to Pinnacle Consulting Management Group for services on the Kingfisher Creek bridge on EW 760 Road (Lemon Road), which is scheduled for replacement, a payment of $508.56 for rightof- way on the Dover-Crescent Road, a scheduled three-mile paving project beginning three miles east of U.S. 81.

Five right-of-way permits for county road crossings for pipelines received approval:

• Three 60-day permits for K&J Construction to lay 12-inch and three-inch water lines in District 2, including one three miles south and five miles east of Dover, three miles south and four miles east of Hennessey, and six miles south and four miles east of Hennessey.

• One 90-day permit for BM Power UP, Inc. to lay an eight inch line one mile east and three miles south of Omega in District 3, and,

• A permanent 10-inch poly line for BCE Mach II Midstream Holdings three miles south and seven miles east of Hennessey.

District 1 Commissioner Jeff Moss joined Dobrovolny and Shimanek in approving the actions.

Also present were County Clerk Jeannie Boevers as official minute clerk and County Engineer Nik Smith.