Published: May 20, 2008 09:41 am            

‘Strang bridge is open!’

“Strang bridge is open!” announced District 1 Commissioner Alva Martin at the Mayes County Commissioners meeting Monday.

The new bridge opened Saturday. Martin said the ribbon cutting will be held May 27 at 2 p.m.

Commissioners approved a bid from R.A.W. Enterprises for Strang Fire Department’s set of extrication tools. The Genesis rescue tools cost $22,877.

Strang Fire Chief Travis Fleming said the spreader has approximately 45,000 pounds of spreading force. The cutter carries approximately 2,000 more pounds of cutting force than the cutter of the low bidder. The pump weighs 67 pounds. The Genesis set features an overdrive which allows the operator to run one tool at twice the speed with no loss of cutting or spreading force.

Chouteau Fire Department used their set of Genesis Tools 22 times in 2007.

Mayes County Emergency Management Director Johnny Janzen recommended Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) cards for the county’s emergency personnel. GETS is a federal program for people needing to make high priority calls. GETS boots other callers off the network to allow high priority calls to go through.

Janzen, who worked in the Picher recovery efforts last weekend, said the biggest problem was the inability to communicate.

The National Communications Services covers the cost for hard lines. Wireless Priority Service provides priority status for cell phones. Janzen said WPS charges a one-time fee of $10 per phone and a monthly fee of $4.50.

Janzen requested a list of phone lines needing GETS.

District 1 received emergency funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The funding will be used to remove debris from the Salt Branch of Pryor Creek. The accumulation of debris is threatening Maple Street Bridge.

The commissioners approved a service agreement with Trane for another year. Trane maintains the heating and air system for the Mayes County Jail. Inspections and service repairs cost $688.58 a month.

“They’ve had to replace more than what we’ve spent,” said Mayes County Sheriff Frank Cantey.

The commissioners approved a plat on Summerfield IV housing contract. The approval was for recording purposes only. The county will not be responsible for maintaining the right-of-way.

Commissioners signed a release form for removing the old membrane on the Mayes County Jail roof. The form stated no insurance claim will be filed on the old material.

        

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