Alva Review-Courier -

Stan Bixler, Todd Holder and Allan Poe, members of the Avard Regional Rail Park Authority, conferenced with Woods County commissioner Randy McMurphy, county clerk Shelley Reed, WCEDC executive director Jeremy Zeller, and former WCEDC executive director Sonja Williams last Tuesday. (Ed Sutter had yet to make it by the time the group convened in the executive session.) Emblem Strategies' Jill Shero teleconferenced in.

Meetings from the last meeting received approval, and Holder said there was nothing new or different on the finance reports. In checking/savings, the balance sheet showed $347,544.39 and total assets of $4,861,821.66.

After approving it, a lengthy discussion ensued about water issues. Infrastructure is problematic, and the water itself is also hard to locate. Poe said it comes down to finding a way to improve the water quality or boost its quantity. Finding a solution for either is tricky, Bixler said, reminding the group of impending deadlines for grant paperwork.

The chairman said an inter-collaboration meeting (with Avard Regional Rail Park Authority at the helm) is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 13. The mayors of Alva and Waynoka will be attending, along with the Rural Water District, Commissioner McMurphy, and others involved in the water system.

The board found no reason to convene in an executive session and took no action on Avard Rail Park's signs and fencing.