Avard Rail Park Authority serious about finding turkey hunt leads
January 19, 2020
The Avard Rail Park Authority convened briefly last Tuesday evening for their monthly meeting. Members Todd Holder, Ed Sutter and Stan Bixler were without the presence of Allan Poe and Bob Firth but with a quorum, and kicked off the meeting with the approval of the last meeting's minutes.
The board members decided there was no reason to enter into executive session and moved on to hear Sonja Williams' Woods County Economic Development Committee's (WCEDC) report. Williams, who serves as WCEDC's executive director, said the only thing she had to relay was that some water permits (for groundwater and stream) had been filed for with the Oklahoma Water Resource Board. The legal notices for these permits have already been published in Woods and Alfalfa county newspapers she said, and estimated their issuance sometime in February. Once the permits are in, they'll be able to proceed on a groundwater source.
Finance Report
The finance report was pretty self-explanatory, Holder said. Liabilities have been decreasing, while equity continues to increase. Pasture rent had been received but not deposited at that time and there was nothing out of the ordinary, he said. Total liabilities stand at $173,895.
Williams said she spoke to her contact at Martin-Marietta and their rent payment (just over $2,000) should be in that week. She also mentioned that a couple of bills that were out of the ordinary had arrived and explained they were from Martin Broadcasting and Cherokee Publishing for the water permit legal notices.
Holder spoke up, saying it was worth mentioning they've made application back for their insurance for this new year. That insurance policy gets canceled every year he said and emphasized that it was not a lapse, but a cancellation followed by renewal. "It's been that way ever since we started, so that's in the process."
Williams then added to Holder's statement that they can expect the amount to be about $25,000. Sutter made a motion to approve the finance report and it so moved.
WCEDC Report
Williams was up next in her report and said she received a notice from a public service company of Oklahoma regarding the wind power project. She said she had been to the State Chamber in Oklahoma City, as well as the Commerce office and lieutenant governor's office earlier in the day and the conversation was that things were moving favorably forward. She said that initially, the Freedom and Waynoka wind projects were "kind of together" but the project had moved. "Some of the leases have been released," she said, "but we still have the project."
The FAA had an issue with one wind turbine, but it was thought to have been addressed and corrected. Landowners will be receiving letters from Invenergy in the next week or so, Williams said before moving the conversation to the upcoming turkey hunt.
A contact that used to give leads for connections across the state was no longer available. She said there were maybe 10 leads to be spread out across the state and emphasized the importance of networking. She said she is open for leads and doesn't want to just host entertainment, but wanted real leads. Industrial hemp business scouting hasn't panned out yet but Williams has hopes to find the right company. The Lt. Governor's Annual Turkey Hunt is scheduled for Apr. 8-10.
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