District 1 Update: Road updates, promotions and addition of solid waste collection site

This week we continued to evaluate our district road maintenance requirements.  We decided to make some changes and have organized two new road maintenance crews to better support our mission of road and right of way maintenance.  The Road Maintenance crew will be responsible for asphalt road maintenance and patching, while the Right of Way crew will focus on everything from the edge of the road to the edge of the road right of way.  In concert with this reorganization we are proud to announce the promotion of two members of the District 1 road crews.  Robert Jasper is our new road maintenance crew chief and Zach Smith is our new Right of Way crew chief.  Congratulations Robert and Zach! We expect great things from them.

We are still accepting applications and conducting interviews for our Road Superintendent.  Interviews should wrap up next week.  We expect to fill this position no later than March 1st, 2015.

One new program we just implemented is our solid waste collection site at the District 1 offices, 2315 SW 19th St., Guthrie, OK. The collection site is for solid waste only. We cannot accept garbage of any kind, food or vegetation, hazardous materials, appliances containing Freon, rubber tires, paint or liquids.  The dumpster is available to the public from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Mon. through Fri., except for holidays.  We ask that you check in at the office before dumping. Please help us keep our roads and highways clean and safe.

Concerning the paving of Coltrane:  Right of way preparation is beginning in full force.  Starting February 7th, 2015, Rural Water District 1 will be relocating utilities between Waterloo and Seward roads.  This relocation will continue until no later than August 6th, 2015.

W. Forrest Hills correction and update from last week:  On December 31, 2014, purchase orders were initiated to pave Forrest Hills from Broadway to Coltrane.  Although the purchase orders were issued to Atlas Paving Company to put asphalt on Forrest Hills from Broadway to Coltrane, the second mile which is from just east of Maple Ridge Lane to Coltrane was not properly prepared and consequently will be delayed.  We will begin the first mile going east from Broadway as soon as the ground temperature is warm enough to permit it. The actual process of laying the asphalt shouldn’t take longer than one or two days.

We had a bridge close this week located 1/4 mile north of the intersection of Prairie Grove and MacArthur (Cashion, OK 73016 35.846574, -97.620900).  A pipeline construction crew was working around the bridge when it was damaged due to a non-injury accident with heavy equipment. This bridge now is temporarily closed because the damage was great enough to significantly impact the safety of drivers.  We should have it repaired and back open shortly.

As always, feel free to come by the shop or call if you have any questions, recommendations or concerns.

Have a great week!