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In an effort to communicate with the people of District 2, Commissioner Pearson sends out updates about issues in the District.

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Logan County Commission District 2 Updates From The Commissioner

Commissioner Pearson writes updates on the matters he believes are important to Logan County residents such as news concerning road funding or construction updates. Here are some of his past updates.

In the future, if you would like to have these updates sent to you please complete the form on the left hand side of this page.

Extraordinary Times
Oct. 30, 2009
According to mesonet.org, the record for the most rainfall since 1921 for the months of Aug., Sept. and Oct. in central Oklahoma was 20.76 inches in 1923. From July 28-Oct. 27 some of our area was drenched by 19.9 inches of rain. This has caused much havoc for our county roads. We have done what we could to keep the rain flowing off of the roads, but at times it seemed like a losing battle.

Thankfully the weather forecasters are predicting sunshine for the next several days. This will give us a chance to get all of our graders back on the roads repairing the damage. We have arranged for some grading to be done over this weekend.

While the rainfall has been up, funding for Logan County has been down. Statistics show that this year’s income since February has been less than anytime over the last four years. The Maintenance and Operation fund income for some months of this year has been less than half of what it was four years ago, and we are expecting November and December to be slim months. (We have posted financial graphs on our website at: commissiondistrict2.com as a District 2 Special Report.) We want you to know that this lack of funding will not decrease our maintenance of county roads. Our priority will be to have graders on dirt roads and eroding asphalt roads repaired.

I want to encourage everyone to stay in touch with us as we work our way out of these extraordinarily difficult times.

Road Conditions
Oct. 13, 2009
The rainy weather of the last several months has caused serious damage to county roads. There have only been a few days dry enough for grading roads, so we have been bringing in gravel from the rock pit near Cushing and hauling it to those areas most affected by the rain in order to keep them passable.

The rain has also accelerated the pothole problem. Winter will soon be here which will further erode asphalt roads. So as much as the rainy weather is allowing we are focusing on repairing the potholes and preparing the roads for winter. The smaller potholes will be filled with cold-patch asphalt and the larger ones with reground asphalt.

Reminder: State Representative Jason Murphey is bringing a town hall meeting to Logan Co., District 2. The forum will be held at the Woodcrest Fire Department, 11975 S. Douglas, on October 27, 7:00 p.m. I have been invited to attend and speak about current and future county issues. I hope to see you there.

Pine/Camp Project Starting
Sept. 2, 2009
Major work will start tomorrow, Sept. 3, on Pine/Camp. This project entails a new asphalt surface on Pine St. from Seward Road to Camp Rd. and on Camp Rd. from Pine St. to I-35. The first phase to be accomplished is to remove trees from the right-of-way, reestablish ditches and replace tinhorns.

It will take a substantial length of time to complete this project and we apologize for the inconvenience it will cause local residents. Signs will be posted when work is in progress so you will be alerted and everyone can stay safe.

Should you have any questions, please contact my office.

Commissioner Michael Pearson

County Excise Board Meeting
Aug. 26, 2009
In an update on August 20 we informed you that the Logan County Excise Board would be meeting on August 21. One of the purposes of the meeting was to consider the commissioners’ request to put 50% of new growth property tax towards county roads. The board met as scheduled and the recently hired county accountant explained he had discovered a possible error in the budgets of the past. The accountant requested permission to further investigate the issue and find a solution. The meeting adjourned without any additional business being considered.

We will be sure to let you know when another meeting date has been set.

From Commissioner Michael Pearson
Aug. 20, 2009
The unexpected rains during a month noted for being hot and dry are a serious challenge to our district. Though drainage has been much improved in the last 7 months, there are a number of people who are having difficulty getting across muddy roads and washouts. As soon as the weather clears our road graders and gravel trucks will be out in force across the district repairing damage the rains have caused.

The disruption of work being done on Pottawatomie Road from SH 105 to CR 75 is a major problem. More than 2,200 tons of dirt were trucked in to this stretch of road over the last several weeks to build it up. The rains have come before gravel could be hauled in to cap it and make it stable in bad weather. The work on Roller Coaster Road of preparing it for paving has also come to a screeching halt, but will resume as soon as possible.

In the meantime, our district workers have been out unstopping tinhorns, re-establishing drainage ditches, repairing and doing maintenance on equipment and replacing street signs.

I have been working hard to repair and stabilize our roads so that rain and snow will not be as much of a factor. Replacing or cleaning out existing tinhorns, cleaning ditches when grading roads and using shale and gravel to cap the particularly bad areas insure higher quality roads. This hard work is paying off. The overall ability of our district’s roads to withstand bad weather has improved.

My plans include paving many roads. The rains have slowed our progress, but not our resolve, on paving/repaving a total of 2 3/4 miles before the end of the year. I am also in negotiations with the Iowa Nation to help finance the replacement of five bridges and pave 3 miles of road on the east side of our district. I have secured the funding to pave 5 miles of road in the south part of the district and am working on funding for 6 miles in the north part of the district.

In an effort to get more funding for all three districts I have succeeded in passing a resolution through our board of commissioners requesting the use of 50% of new growth property tax for the maintenance of county roads. The Logan County Excise Board will meet Friday, August 21, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. in the conference room of the courthouse annex building with the county accountant. Hopefully a part of the meeting will be to consider this request. This is an open meeting and I encourage people to attend. Those who can’t make it will be able to read the minutes from the meeting on the website, commissiondistrict2.com under “District 2 Special Reports.”

I greatly appreciate everyone who has reported problems caused by the recent rains, and am very enthusiastic about our future growth.

Roller Coaster Road Project
June 9, 2009
Beginning Monday, June 15, Roller Coaster Road will be closed to through traffic. This will allow us to begin the process of clearing the right-of-ways, removing the existing asphalt, replacing tinhorns, re-establishing the roadbed and resurfacing it with asphalt. This is a major project and could take up to eight weeks to accomplish.

If you live on the road and have to go across it during the time work is being done, be extra watchful for workers and machinery so everyone can stay safe. If there are flagmen, be sure to follow their directions.

I appreciate everyone’s patience during this time of inconvenience.

Commissioner Michael Pearson

We're Coming
May 6, 2009
No one is pulling for the sun to shine more than the county workers in district 2. The recent rains have deteriorated the roads to the point that some of them are almost impassable.

During this rainy weather when it is counterproductive to get trucks and road graders on dirt roads, and it is too wet to fill potholes, we have been repairing equipment, opening up tin horns, digging drainage ditches, etc. We have also been hauling ground-up concrete and rock to our yard in preparation to repair roads.

So as soon as it dries up enough, you will be seeing dump trucks with aggregate, road graders and a crew with asphalt for potholes coming to your area.

I want to thank those who have called our office, or reported a road problem on our website, to let us know where the most critical areas are at.

Work in Progress
April 6, 09
Other than the regular schedule of grading roads, replacing road signs, etc., there are two projects in progress this week of which we would like to make you aware.

The mile section of Pine between Roller Coaster Rd. and Camp Rd. was closed this morning to through traffic to allow National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to place rip rap on Bear Creek. NRCS is paying for the rock while we are providing a bulldozer and front end loader to place it. This project will most likely take the rest of the week to complete.

We are also still working on Midwest Blvd. between University St and Browne St. The Holiday Inn Express is building a new hotel at the I-35 and SH 33 interchange, and has graciously donated some of the excavation dirt to District #2. We are having the dirt placed on Midwest Blvd. As of this morning there has been approximately 78 dump truck loads of dirt spread on this section of road. This dirt contains some large rocks which will have to either be picked up or crushed, and the road surface capped with shale and gravel. The donation of this dirt is a great example of business and county working together.

Road Update
April 1, 09
The recent rain and snow has left the district's dirt roads in dire need of being graded. However, due to the forecast of more rain in the next several days we are grading on a limited basis. Rain will wash away freshly graded dirt and the roads in District #2 have little road base to spare.

What we have been doing the last couple of days is replacing tin horns and cleaning drainage ditches. It is a slow process, but we are committed to improving road drainage in order to lessen the damage caused by rain.

In addition to repairing drainage areas, in the next couple of days we will be hauling shale to Luther Rd. going north from Waterloo Rd.

I want to reiterate that we appreciate all of you who are our eyes and ears. Please keep calling us about the problems as they develop on the roads, and feel free to fill out a “work order” on our website.

Dirt Work on Midwest Blvd.
March 23, 09
Last week work was started on a section of Midwest Blvd. One thousand, three hundred and seventy tons of dirt was hauled in and spread to build the road base and shape the ditches. This work extends from Seward Rd. north for approximately 1/8 of a mile.

The predicted rain for tonight and tomorrow is requiring a change in the work plans. Although the dirt which has been hauled in has been packed, a significant amount of rain will make that part of the road into an impassable bog. So today, rather than continuing with hauling dirt, the workers will be hauling gravel to cover the fresh dirt and assure the road stays passable. Although it may require some of the workers to work overtime, the road should be passable for tomorrow morning's rush hour traffic.