City Beat August 24, 2021

City Beat

Your city, your news

August 24, 2021

Welcome to City Beat, a free weekly e-newsletter containing the latest news and information about the City of Bartlesville and related topics. Get yours delivered each week! http://bit.ly/2eaFETx

City Spotlight

COVID-19 survivor regrets skipping vaccine

Water Supervisor James Cutler: Having COVID 'woke me up'

When the pandemic broke out in the spring of 2020, City employee James Cutler wasn't worried about it.

Only older people and those with underlying medical issues were suffering serious consequences from the virus, he reasoned, and Cutler was a healthy, fit, 48-year-old at the top of his game.

It was for these reasons that he decided to not get vaccinated for the virus — a decision he would later regret.

Cutler, who serves as senior supervisor with the City's Water Distribution/Wastewater Departments, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in July after contracting it from his son, who had recently attended a camping event.

Within days, his son was fine, but Cutler, who developed pneumonia caused by the virus, was left unable to work for a month or perform even the most rudimentary of tasks.

"(My son) lost his taste and smell and kind of felt bad, but within two or three days he's running up and down the stairs and he's fine," Cutler said. "But what he gave me, it knocked me down hard."

Cutler shared the story of his recent bout with the virus during a COVID Safety Training held for City employees earlier this month.

The event, which focused on educating employees about what COVID is and how to reduce the chances of contracting and spreading it to others, also included featured speaker Dr. Joshua Gentges, D.O., MPH, who explained how the virus has changed since the pandemic began early last year and advocated for vaccination as the single most effective protection available to date. (See below for more information.)

Cutler couldn't agree more. He says his decision to forego the vaccines when they first became available was a mistake he has wished many times he hadn't made.

"I felt foolish," he told employees last week. "I'm bull-headed. I'm a mule. You know, I am. I don't want to do anything I don't want to do. But (having COVID) woke me up."

The Bartlesville Community Center auditorium, where the training was held, fell silent as Cutler emotionally recounted his worst days with the virus, when he was so sick that he and his wife were planning his funeral services.

"I would get up to try to go to the bathroom or downstairs to eat ... and I would have to yell at my wife because I can't breathe. You guys know, man, if you can't breathe, that's a scary place to be in."

City of Bartlesville - Covid Safety with James Cutler

Click here to view Cutler's presentation in its entirety.

He said his wife, who works in the medical industry, would have to calm him down and urge him to breathe to "stay here."

"She said, 'Babe, don't leave me. Keep fighting.' When you look," Cutler said, pausing to regain composure, "at your wife and know all I had to do was do something for myself and know that I'm leaving — because that's where I was going, we were (making) funeral plans — that's hard for me to handle. I'm supposed to be here to protect her and my family.

"I was ignorant enough that I about lost everything, and they about lost everything. Man, it woke me up. I wished I had studied it more, I wished I had gotten the vaccine. I wished I had done something to protect myself."

Cutler said his wife and daughter, who is attending nursing school, opted to receive the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and did not contract the virus despite their close proximity to him during his illness.

"Neither one of them got sick," he said, noting that his mother-in-law, who is vaccinated, got COVID-19 but recovered quickly. "She got it, and she got a little sick. The second day, she's out there mowing."

But for the unvaccinated, Cutler said, he has seen first-hand how devastating the virus — and in particular the Delta variant — can be.

"We've got a family member that just lost their 25-year-old boy," he said. "And we've got (a friend) in Weatherford, Oklahoma — he's a coach, he's 35, and, now, he's in great shape. He runs, lean body mass, he was the same way (regarding vaccination): 'I'm not going to get it.' He just passed away.

"So this is different now, and this is different from what we heard in the beginning. It is different for me now, because I'm not going to make that mistake again."

Cutler said he is sharing his story in hopes that it will encourage his fellow employees to take steps to protect themselves and others against COVID-19.

"If there's just one of you that makes a change and decides to do something — wear that mask more often or go get vaccinated to protect you and to protect your family — then it's worth me getting up here and being nervous and talking about this," he said. "I've seen it first-hand — not on Facebook, not from somebody telling me. It got me down ... I don't want to see you guys like that, with your loved ones and your family coming in and you've got to sit there and talk about your funeral. It's a scary thing."

Cutler says he plans to get vaccinated as soon as he is able.

"Probably everybody's going to get sick — how bad, who knows," he said. "But man, I would not gamble on it. I guarantee you, I fought it (getting vaccinated). I thought, 'No, I'll fight through it and be fine.' And that wasn't the case with me."

COVID-19 vaccinations are available at several locations throughout Washington County. Contact your local health care provider, health department, Tribe or pharmacy for more information.

City of Bartlesville Covid Safety - Dr. Joshua Gentges

COVID update

Featured speaker Dr. Joshua Gentges, D.O., M.P.H., updated City employees on the Delta variant and other COVID-related information during the City's COVID Safety Training held Aug. 18. Gentges is the research director and an associate professor of Emergency Medicine for the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa School of Community Medicine.

News & Updates

Hillcrest: 3-week closure to start August 30

Closure to extend west of roundabout to detour at Shawnee

Hillcrest Drive will be closed beginning Monday, Aug. 30, for a period of three weeks to facilitate the ongoing Hillcrest Drive Rehabilitation Project, Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said Friday.

The closure will extend from just west of the round-a-bout at Silver Lake Road and Price Road to the current Hillcrest detour at Shawnee Avenue just south of the high school.

“So essentially the entire length of the roadway that is adjacent to the construction that has been accessible via detour will no longer be accessible during this period of time,” Siemers said. “This closure is necessary to construct the connection between the new roadway alignment and the existing alignment just north of the Caney River. Closing the road completely will expedite the work and avoid having the road narrowed to one lane of traffic with temporary traffic signals and long delays for a longer duration of up to eight weeks.”

The $2.2 million project, approved by voters in the 2013 Half-cent Capital Improvement Projects Election, involves reconstructing Hillcrest Drive from the Caney River to just north of 20th Street. The new roadway will consist of two 12-foot-wide drive lanes with six-foot-wide asphalt shoulders. Turn lanes will be provided at Shawnee Avenue and 20th Street, and a pedestrian path in the area will be provided by maintaining some of the existing roadway.

You might also like:

Hillcrest Drive rehab project ahead of schedule

City permit required for door-to-door sales

Door-to-door solicitation is legal in Bartlesville, but solicitors are required to obtain a temporary permit from the City before knocking your door — and you have a right to see it, Community Development Director Lisa Beeman said this week.

"We have received several complaints and inquiries lately from residents about door-to-door solicitation," Beeman said. "People want to know if it's legal and what they can do to stop it.

"The answer to that is that it is legal as long as the company has obtained a temporary permit from the Community Development Department. Residents can ask to see that permit and, if the solicitor can't produce one, the City can take further action at that point, either by suspending the company's permit, if it has one, or requiring that solicitation be stopped."

Additionally, she said, in residential areas, door-to-door soliciting can only occur between the hours of 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on any day except Sunday, when the hours are further restricted to noon to 6 p.m.

Beeman said another option is to place a sign on the property stating that soliciting is not permitted.

"If a resident has a 'No Solicitors', 'No Soliciting', 'No Trespassing' or similar type sign on their property that can be easily seen by anyone approaching the door, solicitors are prohibited from attempting a sale at that residence," she said.

Be aware, though, that just because a solicitor has been issued a City permit, it is still a "buyer beware" system.

"While we do verify the company exists in the state of Oklahoma, we have no way of verifying the legitimacy of the company or the product being sold," Beeman said.

Also, “pushy” sales people don’t have to be tolerated, she said.

"We sometimes hear reports that solicitors are pushy or obnoxious. In these cases, residents can contact the police department and ask for assistance," Beeman said. "The resident will need to be able to identify the sales person so the officer can locate them and inquire further. Excessive complaints about a company can result in that company having their permit revoked, which means they can no longer solicit within the city limits."

Lanes closures planned on Burch Avenue

Burch Avenue just north of Frank Phillips Boulevard will see lane closures over the next few weeks to facilitate the Frank Phillips Water Line Project currently underway in the area.

Contract crews are installing new water lines along Frank Phillips Boulevard and will close the middle turning lane of Burch Avenue near the hospital beginning Monday. Ultimately, only traffic turning northbound onto Burch from Frank Phillips Boulevard will be permitted. It is anticipated the lanes will be reopened in a few weeks.

The project, which got underway in February and expected to be complete around the end of the year, consists of replacing two older water lines with a new 20-inch diameter water line. The majority of the alignment is on the north side of Frank Phillips from just east of Silver Lake Road to just west of U.S. Highway 75.

Quapaw Avenue closed between Tuxedo and Hensley

Quapaw Avenue is closed between Hensley Boulevard and Tuxedo Boulevard to facilitate the concrete joint replacement project underway in the area on Tuxedo Boulevard. No through-traffic will be permitted on Quapaw Avenue until this portion of the project is complete, which is anticipated to be one to two weeks, pending weather conditions.

The Tuxedo Boulevard concrete replacement project is expected to wrap up in the next two weeks as well.

Your Questions

Quail Place Tributary Drainage project taking longer than expected

By Kelli Williams

The drainage project on Cherokee Hills Drive is taking forever. What is the status of that project and the expected date of completion?

Initially targeted for completion in March, the Quail Place Tributary Drainage Project, approved by voters in the 2018 General Obligation Bond Election, consists of improvements to the drainage system in the Woodland Park area. The project got underway in November 2020. While not quite forever, it has taken an excessively long time due to multiple issues experienced at the site. In short, little has gone right on this project from the beginning, according to Director of Engineering Micah Siemers.

"Pretty early into this project we realized why the channel wasn’t constructed deeper in the first place," Siemers said. "Rain was the biggest problem when the project began — then, once it started to dry up, we hit rock. They have had to hammer it all out as they go, which has really slowed the progress. Also, there are several (non-City) service lines that were not located on the original survey that have had to be relocated. This has also delayed work at the site."

How much longer will it take? It's hard to say, Siemers says, but he's guessing approximately four months.

"Unfortunately, due to these hurdles we don’t have a good target date for completion, but if I had to guess, I'd say we are likely looking at another four months or so," he said.

Mark Your Calendar

Unity Square: BCC's 'Party in the Park' set for September 3

Bartlesville Community Center is gearing up for one last "Party in the Park" with a DJ Dance Party followed by an evening of jazz at Unity Square’s Sizzlin’ Summer Series finale set for 6-9 p.m. Sept. 3.

Kids of all ages can enjoy free events until 7:30 p.m. on the green. Tulsa Balloons will demonstrate bubble tricks and let the kids get hands-on with making giant bubbles themselves. Award-winning face painters and balloon artists will also be on-site.

Local DJ Thomas Bridges will spin tunes from the mainstage and BCC staff will give away glow-in-the-dark freebies while supplies last. Ashlee Elmore Jazz Quintet takes to the Unity Square stage at 7 p.m. to finish out the evening. Food will be available to purchase at the on-site trucks and at Price Tower Plaza.

This event is free to the public and is family friendly. For more information visit unitysquarebville.com or call 918.337.2787.

OCH set for September 18

Operation Clean House will be held this year on Sept. 18. Items will be accepted between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at two drop-off locations:

Phillips Parking lot

Located on Adams Boulevard just west of the railroad tracks

Items accepted at this location include electronics and hazardous household waste such as cleaners, yard care products, oil- and aerosol-based paints, pharmaceuticals and fluorescent bulbs.

Washington County District 2 barn

Located on Ninth Street in Dewey, 2 miles east of U.S. Highway 75

Items accepted at this location include motor oil, antifreeze, automotive batteries, tires and appliances.

For more information about the event, contact the Washington County Commissioners at 918.534.1170 or email OCH.BVILLE@gmail.com.

COVID Assistance

COVID relief funds available

If you need help with rent or utility costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, call Concern at 918.214.8945 to apply for COVID relief funds.

To qualify for rent assistance:

You must be a Bartlesville resident.
You must be renting your home.
You must be requesting assistance for bills dated no earlier than Jan. 21, 2020.
You must have a total household income in the low to moderate range, per HUD guidelines.
Your inability to pay rent must have been due to COVID-19.
You must not claim the same assistance from any other source.

To qualify for utility assistance:

You must be a Bartlesville resident.
You must be requesting assistance for bills dated no earlier than Jan. 21, 2020.
You must have a total household income in the low to moderate range, per HUD guidelines (see below).
Your inability to pay utilities must have been due to COVID-19.
You must not claim the same assistance from any other source.

Volunteer Opportunities

Board, Committee & Commission Openings

The City of Bartlesville has numerous boards, committees and commissions that are driven by citizen volunteers. All citizens are encouraged and welcome to apply.

Board applications are located online and in the city manager’s office, located on the second floor of City Hall, 401 S. Johnstone Ave. Applications are kept on file for two years. To view a complete list, see Boards, Committees & Commissions.

The City currently has the following committee/board openings: