Wildfires continue to be of major concern to our citizens here in east Logan County. To hear the radio traffic of our fire fighting Logan County forces, you can be personally aware of the status of a fire in your area, by loading any of several free Police Scanner apps on your smart phone and tuning to “Logan County Fire and EMS”. That is what I use when scouting for new spot fires and warning residents ahead of the wildfires.
Logan County Commissioner Mike Pearson
Most of our area is quite wooded with challenging terrain and with a large infestation of Red Cedar trees and underbrush. Our District 2 workers are persistantly widening and clearing our easements. To aid in this endeavor, we are aggressively working on an offender program called PASS, Positive Alternative Sentencing Service, that will use community service adjudicated and county supervised “volunteer offenders” to help in eradicating this menace throughout the county.
Additionally, around late February, digital aerial photography for Logan County will occur as part of the COAGA 2015 project. This project that was budgeted as part of our 9-1-1 membership at $16,398.01 (but with no additional cost to our county) is to assist with addressing and fire fighting ability.
“Drizzle storms”, like the 1/2″ drizzle expected all day Saturday, are the worst type of rain possible for our county dirt/gravel roads. The hard cap we strive to achieve is softened by this soaking moisture and can become a serious challenge to drivers. Fortunately, the heavy garbage trucks and school buses do not run on weekends and the roads may not be as problematic this weekend as they would be if this drizzle occurred on a week day.
Our striping was completed this week! Yes, it might have been a bit rushed with this short window of opportunity, but it is already being effective at directing traffic into their proper lanes.
Our asphalt paving contractor was not able to get it together to pave 1 1/4 miles of north Midwest during last week’s warmup. The Green Oaks and Cedar Ln project has been set back a few days by illness of three of our employees. New culverts and tree removal may begin next week.
The gravel project on Simmons from Douglas to Westminster has concluded. Several side roads off this part of Simmons will be targeted this next month. The project on Luther north of Hwy 105 should not take much more than one day next week. The huge shale/gravel project on Charter Oak east of Douglas to Westminster and Post from Charter Oak to Forrest Hill will begin this month as we mine our shale pit for a week in Kingfisher Co. We hope to get another mile of Luther south of Hwy 105 in late February though it may be March and Douglas going north of Hwy 33. A short portion of County Rd 76 between Hiwassee and Henney is also in dire need.
As you can see, we are very busy and are achieving a lot. But it is still just the tip of the iceberg when compared to the huge amount of work needing to be done. We appreciate your patience, understanding and courtesy as our people work to fulfill your needs.
Many times I have wondered how Blind Lemon Rd seen on our road plats (now Forrest Hill Rd) obtained that name. “Blind” Lemon Jefferson was an American blues singer and guitarist from Texas. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and has been titled “Father of the Texas Blues”. Many former slaves had settled around Guthrie, O.T. What is now Forrest Hill deadended at Midwest where a small saloon named “Blind Lemon” was located. ODOT started naming section line roads in the early 20s.
Our next update will address our bridges that are in the works and other issues.
As always, please do not hesitate to make us aware of road conditions and problems by reporting these on our website http://commissiondistrict2.com or e-mail at commissiondistrict2@gmail.com. Please do not hesitate to text or call my personal cell phone as well at 405-650-0384.
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