After teasing Facebook followers with updated profile and cover photos last week, the Great Raft Race officially announced its return at a press conference Monday afternoon at the Gathering Place.
Read MoreCar shows, professional wrestling, cornhole tournaments, fishing derbies, live music and more awaits visits to Sand Springs on the weekend of June 9-11.
Read MoreThe Green Country loop of Keystone State Park is one of the favorite destinations for members of the Wheeler Dealers Camping Club. This third campout of the season was hosted by Lee and Ellen Cobb and Terry and Vicki Blevins, Ponca City.
Read MoreWheeler Dealers Camping Club members began the camping season with a March campout at Hulah Lake between Pawhuska and Bartlesville.
Read MoreThe first weekend of November was the final campout for 2021 for the Wheeler Dealers Camping Club held at Big Hill Lake near Cherryvale, KS.
Read MoreA beautiful weekend at Canton Lake was the perfect setting for the October Wheeler Dealers Camping Club monthly campout hosted by Ponca City members Charley and Vie Bottger, assisted by Lowry and Rebecca Blakeburn and Jon and Kathy Tippin. The group camped in the Canadian Recreation Area on the west side of the lake near the dam.
Read MoreMystery meals, Flights over Topeka, and supper in a Magical Forest were the highlights of the September Wheeler Dealers Camping Club monthly campout at Melvern Lake, KS hosted by Cecil and Linda Sparks.
Read MoreWheeler Dealers Camping Club members met for lunch recently optimistic that they will be able to camp together this year. Last year, campouts scheduled for the first half of the year were often cancelled or had minimal participation due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but members are hopeful they can gather carefully and still enjoy the outdoors together this year.
Read MoreWheeler Dealers Camping Club members gather for the traditional campout group photo at Hulah Lake. SUBMITTED.
“An Oklahoma Thanksgiving” was the theme for the final Wheeler Dealers Camping Club campout of 2020 held the second weekend of November at Hulah Lake Wah-Sha-She campground near Bowring, OK.
Hosts for the November campout were Bartlesville members Joe and Pat Brown and Ponca City members Lowry and Rebecca Blakeburn. Members were glad to once again greet each other including new members this year Bill and Pam Doyle, Sand Springs and Vie and Charley Bottger, Ponca City.
Everyone attending gathered on Thursday and enjoyed a blazing campfire that evening. Carrying on with the Oklahoma Thanksgiving theme Friday afternoon members made pine cone turkeys to use in Thanksgiving decorations. That evening the group met up with three other Bartlesville members who weren’t camping this time, but joined the others for steak dinners at Buck’s BBQ in Sedan, KS. While there the group celebrated Bill Doyle’s birthday.
Saturday members began working on their special dishes for that evening’s Oklahoma Thanksgiving dinner served pot luck style. The menu included ham, turkey and dressing, mashed and sweet potatoes, and a variety of other sides and desserts. That afternoon members sampled various Oklahoma brewed beers provided by the hosts and voted on their favorite. Also drawings were held for door prizes provided by Bell Camper Sales, Bartlesville.
Bill Doyle, Sand Springs, celebrated his birthday over dinner at Buck's BBQ in Sedan, KS during the Wheeler Dealers November campout. SUBMITTED.
Sunday morning following a potluck breakfast, the business meeting was held with Lowry Blakeburn, president, presiding. He shared information from Gary and Nancy Shepard about the annual Christmas Party to be held at the McCord Senior Center in Ponca City. Since that time the group, concerned about rising Covid rates, has decided to postpone the party this December and look at gathering again in February.
Wheeler Dealers monthly campouts usually are held weekends from March to August with a lunch or breakfast gathering in February and a special Christmas Party in December. Members can make their own reservations at many of the Corps lakes through recreation.gov, the Corps of Engineers reservation service.
Current members are from Bartlesville, Ponca City, Sand Springs and Norman. However, anyone from northern Oklahoma or southern Kansas is invited to join.
Persons interested in joining or knowing more about the Wheeler Dealers Camping Club should contact Lowry, president, at 580-304-5445 in Ponca City or Joe, secretary, at 918-977-0805 in Bartlesville.
Sand Springs, OK - The City of Sand Springs announces the latest Community Survey, now being made available for residents of Sand Springs. The 2020 survey is an update of a previous survey completed five years ago which identified citizen feedback on items ranging from public safety to park priorities. City officials experienced a strong response from the public then, and incorporated those survey results into the City’s comprehensive plan- a major planning tool which aides in policy and decision making for the city.
“The community survey is an important tool for engaging our citizens. It provides vital feedback on the wants, desires and preferences of the community. Results from this survey will be used to help create long term goals and actions plans that will improve the city in the future”, stated the City’s Planning Director Brad Bates.
The Community Survey can be accessed in several ways for citizens to participate. The survey can be found online at: www.sandspringsok.org/556/community-survey-2020 A link to the survey will also be shown on the City’s Facebook page. Citizens can also request a printed hard copy M-F at the office of the City Planner at 100 E. Broadway in downtown Sand Springs, and simply return the completed survey to that office.
“Information gathered from this important survey will be incorporated into our comprehensive plan by creating priorities and action plans that can be carried out by staff and council to improve our entire community”, added Bates.
To add interest, the City will be conducting door prize drawings from survey respondents. Three randomly selected winners will receive prizes including a Canyons at Blackjack Ridge golf experience and gift cards in the Sand Springs community for great food and shopping.
The deadline to submit your Community Survey is Monday, November 23, 2020.
The Sand Springs City Council held a lunchtime meeting Wednesday to hear updates regarding ongoing and upcoming projects in the public works and parks departments.
Council held a Zoom call with representatives from the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Quality Communities on ways to improve the City’s downtown streetscape. The IQC is a program within the University’s Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture that partners with local communities to create concepts and suggestions for helping cities reach goals like improving safety, aesthetic, and economic development.
The IQC has previously worked with the towns of Pryor, Luther, Hooker, Waurika, Chickasha, Altus, Wewoka, and Oklahoma City. They also hold a biennial Placemaking Conference with students, advocates, and civic leaders to learn from leading experts. Councilman Beau Wilson was appointed to be the Council’s representative at the November conference, along with City Planner Brad Bates, and Community Development Director Grant Gerondale. Participation in the conference is free to the city.
Representatives from the University will study downtown Sand Springs and take input from City and community leaders on ways to improve the community space, including landscaping, and improving safety on sidewalks and crosswalks.
Wilson expressed a desire to try and create a downtown atmosphere where people will shop, eat, and actually spend time hanging out. He cited Broken Arrow’s success in the Rose District as an inspiration.
Councilman Mike Burdge expressed a desire to look at more than just the downtown area and to try and tie downtown into River West and the areas beyond. An ongoing Main Street expansion project will connect the downtown and River West areas to Sheffield Crossing and Case Community Park when it is complete. “Let the landscape show that’s the future… we need to do something to direct growth,” said Burdge. “We need to do something that will help everybody know we’re going that direction.”
“More than anything, we’ve got to make our sidewalks walkable,” added Councilwoman Nancy Riley. “We can’t do anything with our downtown if people are not able to walk on our sidewalks without falling over.” Councilman Brian Jackson wants the City to make safety upgrades to crosswalks across heavy traffic areas like the intersection of Morrow Road and Highway 97.
According to Bates, the City has a sidewalk inventory list that includes current sidewalk conditions across the city and prioritizes them. Bates also talked about the different sidewalk possibilities that Council could consider when it comes time to improve or replace downtown paths. Decorative, stamped, sidewalks offer aesthetic appeal, but can be difficult for disabled citizens to navigate.
Bates also talked about the possibility of creating gateway entry points to the Triangle District, with signage and maps located along Katy Trail, historical markers, and other ways to push people towards downtown. Gerondale challenged the IQC to create a design that would tie in River West with downtown so the two districts feed off each other.
According to Bates, next summer the City will be looking into shaving down road levels that have grown too high from past overlays. “If you look at the street levels right now, they’ve kind of been built up and built up in their arch, and kind of created slopes everywhere in downtown. So a lot of that’s going to get milled out and they’re going to try and lower that base level back down to a useable level that doesn’t have a crown to it.”
Public Works Projects Administrator T.J. Davis gave an update on long term project plans to improve downtown drainage. According to Davis, a 2009 study on the City drainage systems identified 55 needed projects that need to be completed at at an estimated cost of $78 million, and the top ten most-needed projects totaled $39 million.
The City recently began a project to address downtown flooding issues that have affected many businesses. Phase 1A was tied into the ongoing Main Street renovation project, and is replacing a 1920s-era 48-inch storm sewer from Highway 412 south to the Arkansas River, and 80% of it is being funded by federal grants. That drain pipe is being replaced by a new 96-inch pipe and levee penetration. The $8.5 million Main Street project is expected to be completed several months ahead of schedule by the Spring of 2020.
Phase 1B will add additional piping improvements on First Street from Garfield to Main, and northbound on Garfield. That project will cost an additional $1 million to complete, and that area is not eligible for federal grants, meaning the City will have to come up with local funding.
Phase Two would create a second trunk line on the eastern half of downtown that would add an additional levee penetration at an estimated cost of $7.5 million.
One of the recurring themes of the meeting was how to fund the various projects that the City is interested in, and how to balance growth improvements with standard maintenance and repairs. Drainage improvements are typically funded via storm-water utility fees, which generate about $1 million per year for construction revenue. Compare that $1 million in annual revenue to the $78 million needed to complete the 2009 project list, which doesn’t even account for unforeseen issues like the section of 10th Street that collapsed during a July flash flood.
Any downtown beautification/safety/economic development projects that the City chooses to take on based on the IQC’s recommendations would likely need to be funded by a General Obligation Bond election, but the City has committed to capping their millage rate at 13 and voters already passed more than $18 million in bond measures less than three years ago.
Gerondale gave a presentation on the Keystone Ancient Forest tower project. The City plans to purchase and relocate a disused 100-foot 1950s-era fire lookout tower from the Oklahoma Forestry Service that is currently located in Cookson. The tower will eventually be erected on the KAF hiking trails and will have a new observation platform at the top.
The City currently has $118,000 available for the tower project, and needs an additional $54,000 to move the tower. They need an additional $330,117 to fully fund the project, which would pay for the relocation, painting, new wooden planks, concrete footing, and hand railing, as well as design and construction of a new observation deck.
The Keystone Ancient Forest is already a popular tourist destination that attracts hundreds of visitors every weekend it is open. A visitor center is currently under construction, and when the center and the tower are open to the public, the City will begin branding and marketing the park.
Four new couples at the Wheeler Dealers Camping Club October campout were from left Bill and Pam Doyle, Sand Springs; Larry and Elaine Stevens, Bartlesville; Mark and Donna Metevia, Norman; and Charley and Vie Bottger, Ponca City.
Wheeler Dealers Camping Club members created gnomes during their craft time at the monthly campout. Pictured from left are Ellen Cobb, Ponca City; Pam Doyle, Sand Springs and Linda Long, Ponca City.
Sand Springs residents Bill and Pam Doyle enjoy a pot luck dinner during the Wheeler Dealers Camping Club campout at El Dorado State Park in October.
Story and photos submitted by Kathy Tippin.
Sand Springs residents Bill and Pam Doyle joined the Wheeler Dealers Camping Club at the El Dorado State Park in Kansas this month.
Hosts for the October campout were Bartlesville members Clarence and Karla Hill and Gary and Charlotte Piersall. The campout had an Oktoberfest theme. Fifteen couples from Ponca City, Norman, Sand Springs, Wichita and Bartlesville pulled into the campground including three new couples, Bill and Pam Doyle, Sand Springs; Mark and Donna Metevia, Norman; and Larry and Elaine Stevens, Bartlesville. Also joining was Charlotte Piersall’s brother from Wichita.
Some members arrived on Wednesday with the majority arriving on Thursday and the rest on Friday. Thursday evening the group feasted on Mexican food served pot luck style with more than enough food for everyone from tamales and enchiladas to taco’s and queso.
Friday morning some of the Wheeler Dealers visited the Kansas Oil Museum in El Dorado while others participated in making gnomes. The Kansas Oil Museum is one of the state’s largest museums focusing on the history of the early 20th century oil industry. The history of Butler County KS is preserved from the earliest days of Native American tribes and pioneers, to small-town and ranch life. The group enjoyed exhibits both inside and outside.
Gnomes were the craft project for others organized by Karla Hill and Charlotte Piersall. A Styrofoam cone wound with yarn placed on top of a wine bottle formed the hat with a beard of fur placed below covering the bottle topped off with a small wood nose. Inside each gnome was placed a string of lights that when turned on shines through the beard making a festive fall German style gnome.
Friday afternoon members challenged each other with games of Corn Hole and Horse Shoes. Saturday evening prizes were awarded to Ellen Cobb, Women’s Corn Hole champion and Joe Brown, Men’s Corn Hole Champion.
Friday evening the Hills and Piersalls continued with the Oktoberfest theme with a German Oktoberfeast preceded by sampling of various German beers. On the menu were various sausages grilled by Gary Piersall. Also featured were German potato salad, red cabbage, and a cucumber salad. Members enjoyed sitting around the campfire that evening getting to know the newer members.
Saturday Wheeler Dealers spent the day in nearby Wichita. First stop was the Nifty Nut House, established in 1937. Known for its vast assortment of nuts and candies, members shopped for various specialty nuts and candies to take home. From there some of the members ate lunch in Wichita’s Old Town and met up with the rest of the group at the Old Cowtown Museum. There they toured this version of early day Wichita from 1865-1880 including houses to churches to various businesses. The 54 historic and recreated buildings tell the story of Wichita’s early days. Wheeler Dealer member Nancy Murdock Shepard enjoyed reading about her relative Marshall M. Murdock, the founder and editor of the Wichita Eagle in the Wichita City Eagle Print Shop.
Saturday night each couple prepared a soup, salad or dessert to be served to the group pot luck style. This was followed by three tables playing Mexican Train.
Sunday morning following a potluck breakfast, the business meeting was held with Lowry Blakeburn, president, presiding. Joe Brown told about the upcoming November Wheeler Dealers campout at Wa Sha She, Hulah Lake’s campground hosted by Joe and Pat Brown and Lowry and Rebecca Blakeburn. The group will eat at Buck’s Steakhouse in Sedan, KS Friday night. The campout theme will be Oklahoma Thanksgiving with a Saturday night pot luck dinner featuring various traditional Thanksgiving dinner foods.
Wheeler Dealers monthly campouts usually are held weekends from March to August with a lunch or breakfast gathering in February and a special Christmas Party in December. Members can make their own reservations at many of the Corps lakes through recreation.gov, the Corps of Engineers reservation service.
Current members are from Bartlesville, Ponca City, Sand Springs and Norman. However, anyone from northern Oklahoma or southern Kansas is invited to join.
Persons interested in joining or knowing more about the Wheeler Dealers Camping Club should contact Lowry, president, at 580-304-5445 in Ponca City or Joe, secretary, at 918-977-0805 in Bartlesville.
The City of Sand Springs held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at its newest park Thursday morning. City employees, elected officials, and family and friends of Bessie Crawford Zackery gathered to celebrate the commemorative park. Mayor Jim Spoon proclaimed August 13th as Bessie Crawford Zackery Day in honor of the late Sand Springs teacher.
Located at 100 West Alexander Boulevard, Zackery Park will serve as a reminder of the historic black neighborhood that once stood in what is now the River West shopping district. The small park is named for the Zackery family who lived in the area when it was still residential, and in particular for Bessie Crawford Zackery, who was a teacher in Sand Springs.
Bessie Zackery was class valedictorian at the Sand Springs Booker T. Washington High School in 1934, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Langston University. She returned to Sand Springs and taught Art and Elementary Education at Booker T. Washington. Zackery reportedly spent summers at Colorado State Teachers College, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Tulsa taking graduate courses to keep Washington on the cutting edge. Zackery earned a Master’s of Teaching Arts from TU in 1959.
After 28 years at Washington, Zackery transferred to Limestone Elementary for the remainder of her career. She was named the Sand Springs Education Association 1978 Teacher of the Year, the Booker T. Washington Alumni Association 1981 Outstanding Alumnus, and the 1996 Sand Springs Hometown Hero. The Sand Springs Retired Educators Association and Oklahoma Retired Educators Association named her a Very Important Member, and in 1999 she was awarded the Ageless Hero Award by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma.
Zackery Park is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Alexander Boulevard and Booker T. Washington Avenue. The pedestrian sidewalk within the area has been named “Rambler Way” in honor of the Washington High School mascot.
There is a large detention pond adjacent to the park, and staff recently installed a fountain in the middle. A steel trellis was installed, along with a seat wall made from brick pavers that were salvaged from the old Booker T. Washington High School. There is also a concrete plaza and decorative plants, and informational signage will soon be installed.
The River West area is part of a revitalization effort by the City and was formerly one of the oldest and poorest residential neighborhoods in Sand Springs. The primarily African American district was demolished in the late 2000s, with the former Booker T. Washington High School coming down in 2010. Centennial Baptist Church is the last remnant of the historic community.
Since then, the district has added a new hotel, a minor emergency clinic, a TTCU branch, restaurants, a pharmacy, a grocery store, and a Starbucks. There is also a small strip center being constructed, and only a few plots of land are still available.
The community has already been memorialized in the naming of its two arterial streets. Booker T. Washington Avenue was named for the high school, while Alexander Boulevard was named for Albert Alexander. Alexander reportedly immigrated to Sand Springs following the 1921 massacre of black citizens in Tulsa. His obituary reads that Alexander was “the unofficial mayor of the black section of segregated Sand Springs because of the respect that both sides of the railroad tracks had for him.”
The Sand Springs Parks Department has several other projects underway around the city. The disc golf course in Case Community Park is getting a redesign by 2009 PDGA World Champion Avery Jenkins. The Canyons at Blackjack Ridge golf course is getting a major clubhouse remodel. There is a visitors’ center being constructed at the Keystone Ancient Forest, and an observation tower will be installed in the near future.
City of Sand Springs employees, elected officials, and guests will gather August 13th at 10:00 a.m. to cut the ribbon on the city’s newest park.
Located at 100 West Alexander Boulevard, Zackery Park will serve as a reminder of the historic black neighborhood that once stood in what is now the River West shopping district. The small park is named for the Zackery family who lived in the area when it was still residential, and in particular for Bessie Crawford Zackery, who was a teacher in Sand Springs. Mayor Jim Spoon will also read a mayoral proclamation recognizing the day as Bessie Crawford Zackery Day.
Bessie Zackery was class valedictorian at the Sand Springs Booker T. Washington High School in 1934, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Langston University. She returned to Sand Springs and taught Art and Elementary Education at Booker T. Washington. Zackery reportedly spent summers at Colorado State Teachers College, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Tulsa taking graduate courses to keep Washington on the cutting edge. Zackery earned a Master’s of Teaching Arts from TU in 1959.
After 28 years at Washington, Zackery transferred to Limestone Elementary for the remainder of her career. She was named the Sand Springs Education Association 1978 Teacher of the Year, the Booker T. Washington Alumni Association 1981 Outstanding Alumnus, and the 1996 Sand Springs Hometown Hero. The Sand Springs Retired Educators Association and Oklahoma Retired Educators Association named her a Very Important Member, and in 1999 she was awarded the Ageless Hero Award by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma.
Zackery Park is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Alexander Boulevard and Booker T. Washington Avenue. The pedestrian sidewalk within the area will also be named “Rambler Way” in honor of the Washington High School mascot.
There is currently a large detention pond adjacent to the park, and staff recently installed a fountain in the middle. A steel trellis was recently installed, along with a seat wall made from brick pavers that were salvaged from the old Booker T. Washington High School. There will also be a concrete plaza, informational signage, and decorative plants.
The River West area is part of a revitalization effort by the City and was formerly one of the oldest and poorest residential neighborhoods in Sand Springs. The primarily African American district was demolished in the late 2000s, with the former Booker T. Washington High School coming down in 2010. Centennial Baptist Church is the last remnant of the historic community.
Since then, the district has added a new hotel, a minor emergency clinic, a TTCU branch, restaurants, a pharmacy, a grocery store, and a Starbucks. There is also a small strip center being constructed, and only a few plots of land are still available.
The community has already been memorialized in the naming of its two arterial streets. Booker T. Washington Avenue was named for the high school, while Alexander Boulevard was named for Albert Alexander. Alexander reportedly immigrated to Sand Springs following the 1921 massacre of black citizens in Tulsa. His obituary reads that Alexander was “the unofficial mayor of the black section of segregated Sand Springs because of the respect that both sides of the railroad tracks had for him.”
The Sand Springs Parks Department has several other projects underway around the city. The disc golf course in Case Community Park is getting a redesign by 2009 PDGA World Champion Avery Jenkins. The Canyons at Blackjack Ridge golf course is getting a major clubhouse remodel. There is a visitors’ center being constructed at the Keystone Ancient Forest, and an observation tower will be installed in the near future.
A partnership between the Sand Springs Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the City of Sand Springs Parks Department now allows residents of all ages to experience the joy of reading at five new Little Red Library sites throughout the City of Sand Springs.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, July 24 at 9am, at the first Little Red Library installed on the grounds of the City of Sand Springs Case Community Park Splash Pad.
“We are so happy to support literacy and nurture the love of reading in this practical way,” says Teresa Smith, Sand Springs Women’s Chamber President.
Each Little Red Library will be filled with books for all ages. Take a book…return a book…leave a book, all a community effort to promote literacy in Sand Springs.
The Sand Springs Women’s Chamber is organized for the purpose of advancing literacy through charitable, civic and literacy programs in Sand Springs.
This is the first of five little red libraries to be placed throughout the Sand Springs community. Sites scheduled for library boxes are Sand Springs Case Community Park Splash Pad, Sand Springs Lake Park, Pratt Civitan Park, Sand Springs Inez Kirk Park and the Garfield Elementary neighborhood.
HillSpring Church held its sixth annual Serve Day Saturday in Sand Springs. Approximately 200 volunteers dispersed around the city to assist in 26 community service projects.
Some of the projects were held at the church campus, like installing a new volleyball court for the youth. They also cooked more than 50 meals for Kirkwood Senior Complex.
One crew built a new wheelchair ramp at an elderly woman’s new home, and helped her paint several rooms inside the home. Another elderly woman needed help clearing out a dilapidated shed that had to be removed.
A massive dead tree was removed from one yard, and the church stopped and volunteered to help another family trim up a tree that had been growing over the sidewalk.
HillSpring partnered with A-1 Rental & Supply to rent equipment for their many projects, and partnered with Sandite Nutrition to provide meal shakes for their volunteers. They also partnered with Sand Springs Community Services to provide the food for Kirkwoods, and helped out at Sand Springs Care Closet.
At the Salvation Army workers cleaned up an overgrown section of fencing behind the facility. They had a similar project at Charles Page High School along the fence on 10th Street near the high school track. At Limestone Elementary they painted the basketball goals to bring them into the black and gold “Sandite” color scheme.
A team of youth volunteers partnered with the American Legion to clean up the headstones of veterans at Woodland Memorial Park Cemetery and also decorated the community in chalk art.
One crew painted office space at the Sand Springs Chamber of Commerce business incubator downtown, and another cleared out overgrowth in Case Community Park to improve the river view along the walking trail.
Several local government officials helped out with the projects, including Sand Springs City Council members Brian Jackson, Mike Burdge, and Phil Nollan, State Representative Jadine Nollan, and Sand Springs Superintendent of Education Sherry Durkee.
In addition to their big annual event, HillSpring continues working in the community throughout the year with smaller serve days, youth events, and free meals for the needy.
HillSpring meets Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. with youth services on Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. The church is located at 8801 West 41st Street South. For more information, visit them online at http://www.hillspring.tv/
The Great Tulsa Raft Race, scheduled for Labor Day, has been canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race ran from 1973 to 1991 before being canceled, then was resurrected in 2015 by the Tulsa Young Professional Foundation.
“Due to public health concerns, the Board of Directors for Tulsa’s Great Raft Race, Inc. made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Labor Day event,” reads a Thursday press release. “The safety of all participants and attendees is our top priority, and as COVID-19 cases have risen, we do not feel we can produce an event that properly adheres to social distancing recommendations.”
“We were hoping to get everyone back outside to enjoy the recreational opportunities of the Arkansas River, while also highlighting STEM education principles, but we feel at this time it is best to focus our efforts on 2021 event planning.”
“The Great Raft Race brings thousands of people to the banks of the river every year on Labor Day starting in Sand Springs Case Community Park, floating 8 miles downriver, and ending at River Parks West Festival Park. The event was originally started in 1973 and ended in 1991 before its current revival in 2015. Tulsa’s Great Raft Race, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit organization, and could not be produced annually without the generous support of our sponsors, corporate and non-profit partners, and hundreds of volunteers that make this Labor Day tradition a reality. We look forward to seeing you on the river in 2021!”
Sand Springs Parks staff have been hard at work on a new park in the RiverWest Shopping Center. Zackery Park will be named for the Zachery family who lived in the area when it was still residential, and in particular for Bessie Zackery, who was a teacher in Sand Springs.
Bessie Zackery was class valedictorian at the Sand Springs Booker T. Washington High School in 1934, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Langston University. She returned to Sand Springs and taught Art and Elementary Education at Booker T. Washington. Zackery reportedly spent summers at Colorado State Teachers College, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Tulsa taking graduate courses to keep Washington on the cutting edge. Zackery earned a Master’s of Teaching Arts from TU in 1959.
After 28 years at Washington, Zackery transferred to Limestone Elementary for the remainder of her career. She was named the Sand Springs Education Association 1978 Teacher of the Year, the Booker T. Washington Alumni Association 1981 Outstanding Alumnus, and the 1996 Sand Springs Hometown Hero. The Sand Springs Retired Educators Association and Oklahoma Retired Educators Association named her a Very Important Member, and in 1999 she was awarded the Ageless Hero Award by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma.
Zackery Park is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Alexander Boulevard and Booker T. Washington Avenue. The pedestrian sidewalk within the area will also be named “Rambler Way” in honor of the Washington High School mascot.
There is currently a large detention pond adjacent to the park, and staff recently installed a fountain in the middle that will soon be activated. There will also be floating LED lights around the fountain. A steel trellis was recently installed, along with a seat wall made from brick pavers that were salvaged from the old Booker T. Washington High School. There will also be a concrete plaza, informational signage, and decorative plants.
The RiverWest area is part of a revitalization effort by the City and was formerly one of the oldest and poorest residential neighborhoods in Sand Springs. The primarily African American district was demolished in the late 2000s, with the former Booker T. Washington High School coming down in 2010. Centennial Baptist Church is the last remnant of the historic community.
Since then, the district has added a new hotel, a minor emergency clinic, a TTCU branch, restaurants, a pharmacy, a grocery store, and a Starbucks. There is also a small strip center being constructed, and only a few plots of land are still available.
The community has already been memorialized in the naming of its two arterial streets. Booker T. Washington Avenue was named for the high school, while Alexander Boulevard was named for Albert Alexander. Alexander reportedly immigrated to Sand Springs following the 1921 massacre of black citizens in Tulsa. His obituary reads that Alexander was “the unofficial mayor of the black section of segregated Sand Springs because of the respect that both sides of the railroad tracks had for him.”
The Sand Springs Parks Department has several other projects underway around the city. The disc golf course in Case Community Park is getting a redesign by 2009 PDGA World Champion Avery Jenkins. The Canyons at Blackjack Ridge golf course is getting a major clubhouse remodel. There is a visitors’ center being constructed at the Keystone Ancient Forest, and an observation tower will be installed in the near future. New sidewalks are being poured in Case Community Park, and the parking lot at the park’s largest playground is being improved.
Sand Springs Police Chief Mike Carter presents the 2020 Policing Plan to City Council.
The Sand Springs City Council denied a Specific Use Permit for a controversial proposed medical marijuana growing and processing facility at a Monday evening meeting at the Case Community Center. Several Sand Springs residents turned out to speak against the facility, and some spoke in favor of it.
The facility would have been located at 801 Long Street in the Hall’s Garden subdivision west of Walmart. The building formerly housed a daycare, and is owned by the Hacker Corporation. Most of the neighborhood around the building is residential, and located outside of City limits in Tulsa County.
The building sits at the corner of Long Street and Broad Street, and Broad Street has several differently-zoned properties. Two properties, including the former daycare, are zoned Commercial. Several lots are zoned Heavy Industrial, there are two churches, and one residential home. The two blocks west of Broad Street are all residential.
Barbara Shockley, who lives across the street from the building and who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, was concerned about traffic, crime, and deteriorating property values. “This is a neighborhood. A place like this should be in an industrial area.” Earl Shockley also expressed concerns about property value.
Mark Massey, who owns a house on Broad Street that is currently zoned for commercial use, was also opposed, as was Reverend Cliff Hewitt, representing Free Holiness Church. Hewitt found it disrespectful to open a marijuana facility three doors down from a church, and feared that it would bring criminals to the neighborhood who would break into his church and steal equipment to fund their marijuana addiction.
John Fothergill spoke on behalf of the Hacker family. Fothergill previously worked as Chief Deputy under County Commissioner Karen Keith, and said that the Hackers previously allowed the County to place multiple dumpsters on their land to help clean up the neighborhood. He pointed out that the facility would likely have private security, making the neighborhood safer, not more dangerous, and that it would bring jobs to the community.
Attorneys for the Hacker Corporation addressed several concerns of the neighbors. According to the Stephanie Sinclair, there would be less traffic at the facility than it had while it was a daycare, and there would be no signage identifying it as a grow operation. There would also be no marijuana smell due to the instillation of carbon scrubbers. They also addressed concerns of property value, pointing to their next-door neighbor, the Green Barn resale facility, which is frequently overgrown and has suffered multiple fires.
Keri Fothergill, the current Chief Deputy to Karen Keith, responded to their comments on Green Barn by informing Council that the County is planning to clean up the Green Barn property next fiscal year.
Vice Mayor Patty Dixon said she visited every grow operation in Sand Springs Monday and couldn’t smell marijuana at any of them, and said that many weren’t even recognizable as marijuana facilities. However, she said she saw this as a unique situation due to its proximity to a neighborhood.
Ultimately, the Council voted 6-1 to deny the permit, with Councilman Brian Jackson casting the lone vote in favor. The Hacker Corporation never actually had a lessee lined up for the property, but were attempting to be proactive in recruiting one. The Hackers always have the option to reapply at a later date and re-argue their case.
Two other marijuana businesses had their permits approved.
Council unanimously approved a Specific Use Permit for a medical marijuana processing facility at 3417 South 113th West Avenue. Patricia Goins already operates The Herbin Joint dispensary at that location. She also spoke on behalf of the Hacker Corporation in favor of their attempt to open a grow facility.
Council unanimously approved a Specific Use Permit for a medical marijuana dispensary at 3 East 41st Street. The location is a storefront formerly occupied by Plum Crazy Nutrition, next door to Cheezie’s Pizza. Applicants are Ryan Reece and Patrick Leonard, on behalf of OHG, LLC.
In other news:
Council unanimously voted to approve a resolution concerning a Tax Increment Finance District. Council previously passed a TIF in partnership with Webco Industries for a property adjacent to their existing Star Center. Webco purchased 48 acres from the City of Sand Springs in January, and intends to construct a leadership campus on the former site of the Rader Juvenile Detention Center. A small portion of the land was inadvertently left off of the initial resolution. Resolution No. 20-35 declares the Council’s intent to consider approval of an amendment, and authorizes a reconvening of the Review Committee to assess the issue.
Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the refinancing and refunding of $25,645,000 in outstanding bonds to attain a lower interest rate and save approximately $267,000 per year. That money will be invested in water and wastewater capital projects.
Council held a public hearing in regard to the 2020 Community Policing Plan, and Chief Mike Carter addressed several department policies that have been enacted to reduce negative community impact and use of force. This is the fifth year that the department has created a Policing Plan, and the public is invited to reach out with suggestions.
Council unanimously approved a resolution for final acceptance of the City Hall Remodel Project. Total construction cost for the project was $1,000,476.63.
Council unanimously approved a contract with the Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority for July 1st, 2020 through June 30th, 2021 at a cost not to exceed $57,020.
Council unanimously approved final acceptance of a contract with Crossland Construction regarding the Water Treatment Plant Wall Beautification Project. Council originally awarded the contract in the amount of $1,113,807.60 but a change order decreased the contract by $26,8884.80.
Council unanimously approved a Professional Service Agreement with Craig and Keithline, Inc. for planning the Shops at Sheffield Crossing commercial development. The city-owned development currently holds a recently-opened Chick-Fil-A, but the City hopes to attract a large hardware/lumber store and other shops/restaurants. The project will focus on construction plans for water/sanitary sewer, entryway construction and interior roadway extension. Council approved up to $92,526.00 for conceptional plans and report for Phase One of the project.
Council unanimously approved a Professional Service Agreement with Keithline Engineering Group for preliminary design of the 41st Street Surface Improvement Project. The City plans on applying for Surface Transportation Program (STP) Urbanized Area funds, and wants to have plans for the project ready for the grant application. The City plans to do an asphalt overlay of 41st Street from 129th West Avenue to 69th West Avenue, with a center rumble strip and improvements to access ramps.
Council unanimously approved a preliminary plan to place a commemorative sign on City-owned property recognizing Sand Springs as the home of Colonel William R. Pogue. The exact design and location of the sign have not yet been determined. Pogue graduated from Sand Springs High School in 1947 and was a member of the NASA Apollo missions, piloting Skylab 4.
Council approved several Board and Committee appointments:
Mike Burdge, Nancy Riley, and Patty Dixon were appointed to serve one-year terms on the Council Appointment Committee.
Burdge, Dixon, and Jim Spoon were appointed to serve one-year terms on the Council Finance and Development Committee.
Dixon, Riley, and Brian Jackson were appointed to serve one-year terms on the Council Legislative Committee.
Spoon, Beau Wilson, and Phil Nollan were appointed to serve one-year terms on the Council Public Works Advisory Committee.
Burdge was appointed to a one-year term on the Indian Nations Council on Government (INCOG) Board of Directors. Spoon was appointed to serve as alternate.
Spoon was appointed to a one-year term in the INCOG General Assembly. The City Manager was appointed as an alternate. The City of Sand Springs currently does not have a City Manager, but former Assistant City Manager Daniel Bradley is serving in an interim role until one is hired.
Burdge was appointed to a one-year term on the INCOG Legislative Consortium, and Spoon was appointed as an alternate.
Derek Campbell was appointed to a one-year term in the INCOG Tulsa Metropolitan Area Transportation Policy Committee, and T.J. Davis was appointed as an alternate.
Cathy Burdge was appointed to a three-year term on the Parks Advisory Board. There is currently another opening on the Board. Sand Springs residents interested in serving on the board should fill out this form and submit it to the city at the following address:
City of Sand Springs
P.O. Box 338
100 East Broadway Street
Sand Springs, OK 74063
Mike King was appointed to a two-year term as Municipal Judge.
R. Jay McAtee was appointed to a two-year term as Assistant Municipal Judge.
Tom Askew was appointed to a two-year term as Assistant Municipal Judge.
Council unanimously approved a $36,150.03 contract with A-Max Sign for design, construction, and installation of signage for the River West commercial development at its Highway 97 entrance.
Council unanimously approved an ordinance requiring Sand Springs businesses operating out of a physical location to register with the City. Police Chief Mike Carter called for the ordinance after having difficulties in establishing contact with businesses during the Great Flood of 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic this spring. The ordinance will require businesses to register contact information with the City annually, and will not charge a licensing fee.
Council unanimously approved a resolution concerning the hiring process for the new City Manager. An application deadline has been set for August 17, 2020. Council aims to have a unanimous selection by October 31, 2020. A proposed advertisement reads as follows:
City of Sand Springs, Oklahoma (population 20,000) is accepting applications for the position of City Manager. Staff includes approximately 200 full time employees, 2 bargaining units, and a $26.5M budget. Seeking applicants with proven record of success in Municipal Administration. Ideal candidate will have college degree, preferably Master’s, in Public Administration, Business Administration, or related discipline, and minimum 7-10 years progressive management experience in municipal government. Previous experience in re-development of urban or blighted areas, or economic development initiatives a plus. Position reports directly to the City Council and is accountable for the effective management of all City departments. Candidates must have demonstrated effective leadership skills, high ethical standards, strong written and verbal communication skills, and be able to relate to diverse constituencies. We offer an attractive compensation package, commensurate with experience and qualifications. Those with serious interest should submit a cover letter, resume with salary history, and three business references on or before August 17, 2020, to Amy Fairchild, Human Resources, City of Sand Springs, P. O. Box 338, Sand Springs, OK 74063; e-mail ajfairc@sandspringsok.org; fax to (918) 246-2507. Any interest will be held in confidence at the discretion of the applicant.
Following the City Council meeting, the Municipal Authority meeting convened.
Trustees unanimously approved an agreement with the Metropolitan Environmental Trust for operating the Sand Springs Recycling Program for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 in the amount of $34,382.00.
Trustees unanimously approved an agreement for engineering services with Tetra Tech for operation and maintenance of the Skiatook Raw Water Conveyance System for Fiscal Year 2021 in the amount of $312,600.00 The Sand Springs Municipal Authority’s share is $187,560.00 and Sapulpa will cover the remainder.
Trustees unanimously approved a $40,000 contract renewal with Talley Golf to provide Golf Management Services at the Canyons at Blackjack Ridge for Fiscal Year 2021. The contract additionally includes 5% of gross revenue of greens fees and carts, all range revenues, and an incentive fee of 15% of the net savings of the total budgeted expenditures.
A Black Lives Matter rally is being planned for Tuesday, June 16, at 5:00 p.m. in Case Community Park in Sand Springs. The gathering will take place on the Great Lawn, and is being organized by Charles Page High School alumni Imani Jennings and Travis Allen.
Speakers who are scheduled to speak at the event include State Representative Regina Goodwin, Mary I. Williams, Nia MaRae Byrd, April Ghahagan, Pastor Robert Turner, Alyxandria Fredieu, Reverend Mareo Johnson, Imani Jennings, Tykebrean Chesier, and Sand Springs Police Chief Mike Carter.
Organizers have requested that attendees wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Water and food will be provided.
There will be a candlelight vigil after dark to commemorate victims of police brutality.
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Sandite Pride is the only locally owned and operated news source for Sand Springs, Oklahoma. Sandite Pride News was founded in 2014 by Scott Emigh. The site is primarily focused on Sandite sports, Sand Springs city development, events, and community news.
