Latest news with #SteveHendrix
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Commissioners approve enterprise zone resolution, defer bid package
The Rogers County Commissioners passed a joint resolution Wednesday that would provide economic incentives to the Inola area, if ultimately approved. The resolution, a request from Inola's town government, seeks for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to classify the town and surrounding areas as an enterprise zone. These are U.S. Census tracts the commerce department designates "economically distressed areas." The commissioners first discussed the resolution at their Monday meeting. Andrew Ralston, director of economic development for Tulsa Ports, presented the resolution and said passing it would stimulate business growth in Inola. District 1 Commissioner Dan DeLozier said Monday he needed more time to read the resolution thoroughly before he could vote for it. District 2 Commissioner and Chairman Steve Hendrix seconded his motion to table until Wednesday. "I'm pretty sure I'm able to support this," Hendrix told Ralston. "Your endorsement carries a lot of weight with me." At Wednesday's special meeting, the commissioners passed the resolution. The Delaware County Commissioners passed their version of the resolution when they met Tuesday; the Mayes County Commissioners elected Monday to revisit it at their May 12 meeting. All three counties must sign off on the resolution for Inola to submit an application for the Department of Commerce to consider. Ralston said Inola wants to become an enterprise zone because doing so opens up incentive dollars from the Department of Commerce to stimulate development. "Everything related to it is related to enticing and improving business conditions within the county and hopefully getting it out of an enterprise zone eventually," Ralston said. "You do want the data to eventually show that you don't need enterprise zones to attract business." According to the 1983 Enterprise Zones Act, these incentives include low-interest loans and additional investment tax credits. The joint resolution requests establishing an enterprise zone across seven census tracts in Rogers, Mayes and Delaware counties. These tracts run along U.S. Highway 412 from Inola to West Siloam Springs on the Arkansas border, and they encompass economic engines such as the Port of Inola, MidAmerica Industrial Park and Google's Mayes County data center. Ralston said a big reason why Inola wants to establish an enterprise zone is to capitalize on U.S. 412 soon becoming an interstate highway. The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required the Oklahoma and Arkansas departments of transportation to study turning this corridor into an interstate, to be designated Interstate 42. Hendrix asked if there would be any downsides to establishing an enterprise zone; Ralston said there were none. In Rogers County, high-poverty parts of Chelsea, Claremore and Catoosa already fall under enterprise zones. Also Monday, the commissioners tabled action until May 12 on a bid package for Rogers County's maintenance building project. The county is refurbishing an old auto repair shop on Cherokee Street to house the Rogers County Maintenance Department, which is vacating the Rogers County Courthouse as part of that building's remodel. The county received 30 bids for the project in March but cut about $115,000 from the package March 17. Lyle Building Group, the project's construction manager, determined the cuts altered the bid's scope sufficiently to require a rebid. The rebid package the commissioners approved April 8 contained bids for glass and glazing, appliances, plumbing and HVAC. The commissioners received one bid for appliances, one for plumbing and two for HVAC. One bid came in for glass and glazing, but Samantha Sherman of the county's purchasing department said it was invalid because a required affidavit lacked a notary's signature. Justin Sessions of Lyle said he would prepare a package of the received bids for the commissioners to consider May 12. Sessions said the cost of the glass and glazing work would likely come out low enough that it could be added to the package after it receives approval.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County makes offer to purchase Department of Human Services building
Rogers County is seeking to purchase what was previously the Oklahoma Department of Human Services' Claremore office. District 2 Commissioner and Chairman Steve Hendrix said during the commissioners' Monday meeting that the county has made an offer to buy the parcel that contains the building, located at 2020 Holly Road. Hendrix said he could not say how much the county is offering or what the timeline on a possible deal would be. "Should we be able to close that deal and purchase that property, the plan at this time is to incorporate that facility into the [county's] general remodeling and expansion plans," Hendrix said. According to county land records, the 1.49 acres are zoned urban commercial. H&P Construction, Inc. owns the land. Hendrix said the Oklahoma Department of Human Services occupied the building for years. The department vacated the Holly Road building and moved into a new facility on Blue Starr Drive last July. Also at Monday's meeting, the commissioners: — Received 30 bid offers for the Rogers County maintenance building expansion project Rogers County purchased a former auto repair shop at 327 S. Cherokee Ave. last year to accommodate the Rogers County Maintenance Department. This department and two others will vacate the Rogers County Courthouse in the next year or so as the county performs renovations to the courthouse. In January, the commissioners chose Lyle Building Group as construction manager for the renovation project. The 30 bids the commissioners received Monday encompassed dirt work, masonry and other tasks needed to retrofit the building for the maintenance department's purposes. The commissioners voted to award the bid for this project at their next Monday meeting. — Chose Brazeal Masonry, Inc. to replace a door at the Rogers County jail A door is rotting at the Amos G. Ward Detention Center, and the Rogers County Sheriff's Office has been seeking a contractor to perform masonry and painting work for this project since last November. The sheriff's office had already hired contractors to demolish the door, replace it and install electric infrastructure. Jay Yoder, the sheriff's office's maintenance director, provided the commissioners documentation for three masonry bids he'd received over the phone; he said he hadn't obtained three painting bids yet. Brazeal Masonry, based in Tulsa, offered the low bid of $9,050. — Purchased right-of-way for two parcels needed to remedy low water crossing The commissioners approved the two purchases, which total $63,951.80, through a right-of-way company GAMA Adventures, LLC. This allows crews to replace utilities that run by the low water crossing, located on the Rogers-Craig county line just north of the intersection of South 4310 and East 330 roads. The county plans to replace this crossing with a 140-foot bridge, funded jointly by the federal government and Oklahoma's County Improvement for Roads and Bridges fund. "We've only got three to buy," said District 1 Commissioner Dan DeLozier. "We've got two on [the agenda], and we still have one we're working on." The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will begin replacing the bridge this summer. — Reimbursed General Fund District 1 Cemetery Part Time Salaries fund for storm damage DeLozier said this reimbursement of $3,162 is the first of a series the county will make in coming months as the Federal Emergency Management Agency reimburses the county for its expenses related to the May tornado.
