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City Beat
Your city, your news
November 24, 2020
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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
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Masks now required at City-owned facilities
Exceptions include Children under 10, City parks, Pathfinder
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To help combat rising numbers of Covid-19 infections in Bartlesville, the City Council on Monday voted unanimously to approve a resolution requiring everyone to wear a mask or face covering in all City-owned facilities. The move comes after several weeks of escalating Covid-19 infections have been reported across the country — including more than 100 in Bartlesville over the weekend alone and a record high for the state of more than 3,000 on Monday.
The mask requirement approved by the council applies only to City-owned facilities. It is not a citywide mask mandate, City Manager Mike Bailey said.
"This is not a mask mandate applicable to the entire city. It applies only to enclosed City-owned facilities," Bailey said.
Enclosed City facilities include:
- City Hall
- Bartlesville Public Library
- Bartlesville Area History Museum
- Adams Golf Course (pro shop)
- Public Works
- Ted D. Lockin Water Treatment Plant
- Bartlesville Police Department
- Bartlesville Fire Department (all four stations and fire administration)
The requirement, which goes into effect at midnight tonight, does not apply to children under 10, outdoor facilities such as parks and Pathfinder trails, or to employees who work in an office or vehicle that is not occupied by other people.
Virus impact to City employees, services
Bailey said the request for council consideration of the measure came as Covid-19 infections continue to soar across the county, including Bartlesville — and within the City employee base.
"It's important to look at how Covid-19 has impacted City operations since the pandemic began, and that has not been insignificant," he said. "As of today, we have had 39 employees contract the virus —12 have it currently."
Bailey said while that number is high enough, the real impact to City operations comes as the number of exposures continue to rise, which, operationally, are treated in a similar manner.
"In addition to those 39 employees who have had the virus, we've had 192 employees off work because they were exposed to it and could potentially infect other employees or the public," he said. "That's a total of 234 employees (including three who were off work for child care quarantine) — of a total employee base of about 350 — who have been off work for an average of 10 days either because they had Covid-19, had been exposed to someone who had Covid-19 or because they were caring for a child in quarantine.
"In light of these numbers, we realized we needed to do something — not only to protect our employees and the public, but also to ensure that we can maintain continuity of City services. These include such services as trash collection, water and waste water production and, of course, police and fire services."
Hospital CEO updates council
Ascension St. John Jane Phillips CEO Mike Moore also addressed the council Monday, reporting that the hospital currently has 108 beds, of which anywhere from 70 to "as high as 93" have stayed consistently filled in recent weeks. He said the hospital recently opened additional beds for Covid patients, bringing its capacity to around 60 percent full.
"We're running at about 60 percent — it's up a bit over the past week," he said
Moore said the hospital can currently accommodate up to 43 Covid patients at one time, with a capacity to add 16 more beds in the event of a future surge.
"We are preparing, if we have to surge up one more stage (to Stage 3), we would open up another 16 beds," he said.
He said 26 Covid-19 patients are currently admitted to the hospital, up from zero just a few weeks ago.
Asked about Critical Care, or Intensive Care, Unit beds, Moore said the local hospital capacity "stays full 90 percent of the time."
"That's one of the most critical needs in northeastern Oklahoma," he said.
Moore did not comment on the mask requirement for City facilities but said masks are required for everyone, including patients, visitors and staff, at the hospital.
"We know (wearing a mask) curbs the virus," he said.
Around the state
Action is beginning to ramp up across the state as well. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-Oklahoma) announced last week that all State employees and visitors at State facilities are required to wear a mask, and Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas (R-District 3), on Monday dialed in support for a statewide mask mandate.
"With more than 1,500 Oklahomans now hospitalized and new positive cases averaging more than 2,600 per day, it’s time for Oklahoma to act," Lucas said.
The resolution passed by the council on Monday also gives the city manager authority to close facilities, permit employees to work off-site as necessary, as well as take other actions aimed at protecting City employees and customers. Bailey said no changes are currently planned but ensures that provisions are in place if needed in the future.
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City Council approves Covid-19 campaign
Public messaging effort aimed at slowing local spread of virus
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During a special meeting held Monday, the Bartlesville City Council voted 5-0 to approve several items related to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the appropriation of leftover CARES Act funds for a public messaging campaign aimed at slowing the spread of the virus locally.
The council voted in support of a resolution stating the importance of following CDC guidelines to help protect the community from spread of the disease, which is currently occurring at an accelerated rate locally and across most of the country. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, as of today 1,891 people in Washington County have had Covid-19 and 46 county residents have died from the disease.
The council on Monday was asked to consider appropriating $23,380 in CARES Act funding for an informational campaign educating the community about the disease and encouraging adherence with CDC guidelines to help mitigate spread of the virus.
"Our intent is to promote adherence to CDC's guidelines but specifically to emphasize the importance of the 'three Ws': Wear a mask, Watch your distance, and Wash your hands," Bailey said. "We know these practices work. We all just have to do a better job of incorporating them consistently, both in the workplace and outside of it. This campaign will be a targeted effort to increase compliance in these areas.
The campaign will include social media messaging, community partnerships and citizen participation, information sharing and content support.
Bailey said work on the campaign is underway and that details will be announced soon.
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Most City offices to close for Thanksgiving
Thursday trash routes amended, no change for Friday routes
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Most City of Bartlesville offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 26, and Friday, Nov. 27, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Thursday trash routes will be serviced on Wednesday, Nov. 25, this week instead of Thursday. Trash must be placed at the curb by 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25, for collection. Friday routes will be collected on Friday, as normally scheduled. The Recycle Center, located at 10th Street and Virginia Avenue, will be closed Thursday, Nov. 26, and will re-open as normally scheduled on Friday, Nov. 27.
Police and fire services will continue as normally scheduled with no interruption. City offices will re-open as normally scheduled on Monday, Nov. 30.
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BDA leases Siemens facility for film production
Project to bring estimated $27 million in economic impact
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A lease agreement approved last Wednesday by the Bartlesville Development Authority will help facilitate the filming of a major motion picture in neighboring Osage County — and bring an estimated $27 million in economic impact to Bartlesville, officials say.
The BDA approved a nine-month lease of office space with Apple Studios LLC for use as their production office during filming of a major motion picture in Osage County. Under the working title “Gray Horse,” Apple Studios will occupy the vacant three-story office building adjacent to the former Siemens facility.
“We had no immediate prospects for the office tower, so this was a perfect opportunity to utilize the space for the benefit of the community,” said BDA President David Wood. “As a result, we’ll have far more production personnel based in Bartlesville filling our hotels, eating in our restaurants and shopping in our stores.”
Under the terms of the lease, Apple Studios will have exclusive use of the 45,000-square-foot office building and approximately 10,000 square feet of the manufacturing area.
According to Visit Bartlesville Executive Director Maria Gus, the film production could mean an economic impact to Bartlesville of nearly $27 million to the community over the nine-month period.
“The production plan is to occupy 55,000 room nights in Bartlesville hotels over the next nine months,” Gus said. “That would mean we’re looking at a ‘visitor spend’ of around $11.7 million with estimated sales tax collected to be a little over $450,000 and lodging tax at $197,000. That is an estimated economic impact of $26.9 million.”
BDA acquired the near-dormant 160,000-square-foot facility last month for $1.75 million, leasing 20,000 square feet back to Siemens and retaining 18 Research & Development employees, as well as leasing an additional 30,000 square feet of manufacturing space to Tritanium Labs, which is expected to create 100 jobs producing hand sanitizer and related products and pumps.
The projected economic impact will bring a welcome boost to the local economy, but the lease arrangement itself won’t result in much, if any, revenue, Wood said.
“For BDA, it really wasn’t about the rent revenue,” he said. “We now need to fix the elevators immediately, and that’s probably going to cost about what we’ll receive in rent. But we captured a huge economic boost for the community and, at the close of this lease, we’ll have an office building mechanically ready for a new, permanent tenant.”
Information and photo provided by the Bartlesville Development Authority
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Leaf, grass collection set for December 7-11 |
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The City of Bartlesville’s Solid Waste Department will conduct the next free leaf and grass collection for Bartlesville residents the week of December 7-11.
- Leaves and grass must be bagged and placed at the curb on your normal trash collection day
- No limit on number of bags permitted
- Yard waste stickers not required during event
- Clear or colored bags may be used
- For private residences only — no commercial collections permitted
- Limbs collected if cut into four-foot lengths and bundled
- Bundles may not exceed 50 pounds
- Trash and other items not permitted
- Extra bags or items of household refuse outside the cart must have the red refuse sticker attached
For more information, call 918.338.4130.
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Quail Place drainage project to start after Thanksgiving
The Quail Place Tributary Drainage Project is set to get underway on Nov. 30. The project, approved by voters in the 2018 General Obligation Bond Election, consists of improvements to the drainage system in the Woodland Park area, which has experienced flooding issues in recent years.
Work is set to begin on the west end of the project at Cherokee Hills Drive, in the area between 1331 Cherokee Hills Drive and 1361 Evergreen Drive.
The project will increase the size and capacity of the existing concrete-lined drainage channel and the box culvert under Cherokee Hills Drive.
Completion is targeted for April, pending any major weather delays.
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Lights installed at Cooper Dog Park
Lights were recently installed at Cooper Dog Park, a leash-free park located in the Lee Lake Complex on Adams Boulevard near Silver Lake Road. The park property is owned by the City of Bartlesville but the park is managed by the non-profit group Bark Park Buddies.
BPB President Bill Buckles said recently that with daylight savings time many of the dog park users found it difficult to take advantage of the park during evening hours.
"Many park users work until 5 p.m. and miss the daylight hours," Buckles said. "Thanks to the generosity of Bartlesville citizens and four local businesses, the dog park now has solar lights that turn on at dusk. This will allow the park to be utilized during the regular city park hours."
Closing time for all City-owned parks is 11 p.m.
Buckles said the Cooper Dog Park fundraising group Bark Park Buddies is grateful for the donations that made the light installation possible.
"We wish to thank the following businesses for their willingness to contribute to the installation of the solar lights: Keleher Outdoor Advertising for donating the use of their auger truck, Jesse Cramer Concrete, for the installation of pole base supports, Bartlesville Redi-Mix for the concrete and Cornerstone Electric for the light pole installation and setup. Our thanks, also, goes to City Parks Superintendent Bobby Robinson for his help with the coordination of engineering and utility requirements. Once again, several corporate businesses and the City of Bartlesville have joined forces to provide additional quality of life for our citizens."
Information and photo courtesy of Bark Park Buddies
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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:
- One opening on the Construction and Fire Code Appeals Board
- Four openings on the History Museum Trust Authority
- One opening on the Park Board
- One opening on the Sewer System Improvements Oversight Committee
- One opening on the White Rose Cemetery Board
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Job Listing
The City of Bartlesville is currently accepting applications for the following positions:
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Kelli Williams, Editor
401 S. Johnstone Ave.
Bartlesville, OK 74003
918-338-4132
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