District 2 County Commissioner Mike Sparks attended this month’s meeting of the Hennessey Board of Trustees about the town giving “a few more acres” to the county.

Sparks said that would allow the county to have room to “stockpile supplies,” especially for emergencies.

Mayor Harold Shaw told Sparks he “believed the board agreed (last month) to give you whatever you wanted.”

Shaw said at the March 11 meeting that he understood that he, Sparks and Town Attorney Jared Harrison were supposed to meet and come up with a contract for the board to approve.

Harrison said he hadn’t had a chance to “dig in to what is necessary” for the two public entities to make that happen.

Sparks said if he needed to get with the assistant district attorney to help, “just let me know.”

When asked, Sparks said the plan is to keep the existing county shop and tear down the Cow Palace.

“Right now there is mold in the walls,” Sparks said, “and you can’t do anything with that.

“It acutely belongs to us,” he said. “We’re still keeping up the water and heating...we couldn’t just let it freeze up and we’re going out for bids right now and we’re going to have a contractor come in there and tear that down.

“We’re going to try to look at putting up a 90 by 200 foot new shop and some new offices,” Sparks said.

“I think the building we’re in right now was built in the 1940s. It’s kind of hazardous for someone to walk into our shop. If somebody comes in to make a complaint about the road, then they have to walk right in to the work area.”

Town Administrator Tiffany Rowen asked if there was some way “in the future that we would be able to use land for the rodeos that happen once a year?”

Sparks said that was something they needed to look at.

“I mean, if you wanted to come north I don’t know,” Sparks said. “My building is just right up against that fence that borders our county property.”

Shaw asked about using Second Street.

“Yes, that would just be directly west of where the rodeo is,” said Sparks, “and we might be able to assist you guys into there to level that ground if you think that would help.”

Sparks said his “area right now is so small. What I’m looking for is to have like stockpiles of materials. That’s in case we have a disaster. Roads get deteriorated in the middle of the night. Things happen. We need emergency supplies of rock.”

He also said, “Let me know if there is anything we can do. I want to have a good relationship, so let me know if it’s night or day... Whether it’s what we just talked about, or where the grass is coming up over the curbs south of town.”

Sparks comment about the grass brought applause.

Painting the Pool

Trustees accepted the lowest bid of $56,822 from Carruthers Construction (the original builder of the pool) to resurface and repaint the pool in the fall.

Public Works Director Alyssa Kubat will also get costs for three coats instead of two coats of paint and costs for repainting the slide.

Kubat told the board the PVC in the pump area is exposed to sun damage and she plans to install a shade structure to protect it.

The other bidder was Paddock Enterprise of Oklahoma City for $65,838.

Fire Department Gear

A request from the fire department to fund bunker gear for six new firefighters for $28,905 was appropriated.

The state will later reimburse the town $26,340.

Monthly Admin Report

Instead of a written report to the board this month, Rowen made oral reports: The state’s forensic audit is 70% complete, Rowen said she found out after contacting State Representative Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, for information. That audit started in October 2023. Costs to the town so far are $25,100 and the last bill from the state was in September for $2,031.50, she said.

Storm Siren Issues – There have been problems with the south storm siren not triggering prompts due to radio transmission problems. Technicians have been working on the sirens for three weeks and there are plans to upgrade the system which would allow it to be activated by cell phone.

Debit Cards – Rowen said she wanted to put the question to rest: the town does not have debit or credit cards, but charge accounts exist with vendors such as Lowe’s and Sam’s Club.

She said a credit card was issued in 2021 for a conference, but was used only once and then returned to InterBank before she resigned (in February 2023). Rowen handed board members copies from the two local banks that says the town has no debit or credit cards associated with their banks. InterBank and Community State Bank each listed four account numbers for the town.

Open Record Requests received this month were: Dates served by previous board members, and IT master agreement details.

No treasurer’s report was available and Rowen said it would be emailed to members.

No new hires – But a police officer candidate would have a physical soon and Rowen said she could announce his hiring next month.

Weekly updates will replace monthly department reports to the board, Rowen said.

At the Meeting

All four trustees were present: Mayor Harold Shaw, Bert Gritz, David Jones and Randy Bohnstedt.

Other town officials at the meeting were Town Treasurer Shelley Burch (who is also the Town Hall office manager) and Town Clerk Kelley Vaverka.

Staff at the meeting were Rowen and Alyssa Kubat, public works director.

In the audience were Sparks, and town board candidates Frank Patton and Evelyn Ramirez.