STWOK News

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / Aug. 27, 2010) — So you brought your pet from home to live with you while you are attending college. With the breaks between classes, you may spend more one-on-one time with your pet than you were able to at home.

To help you and your pet enjoy Stillwater, the Animal Welfare Division of Stillwater Police Department would like to share some information new residents may not be aware of.

Stillwater has a leash law for dogs. This requires dogs to be under restraint at all times—on or off their property, by a fence, a chain or a hand-held leash. The leash law is enforced in the parks as well.

Stillwater doesn’t have a city license; however, dogs and cats are required to wear their current rabies tag. The rabies vaccination must have been performed by a licensed veterinarian. An owner must be able to produce the documentation of the rabies vaccination at any time.

There is not a leash law for cats, but owners are responsible for the actions of their cat. A cat found to be a nuisance under city ordinance must be controlled.

Your dog or cat may be intact (not spayed or neutered), but they may not be kept outside or in a fence when in season. Public breeding is prohibited.

Wolf hybrids and dangerous animals are not permitted in the city limits of Stillwater.

To see the rest of the animal related ordinances which are located in chapter six of city code, view them on-line at stillwater.org.

Animal Welfare has pets available for adoption at their animal shelter located at 1710 S. Main. If you have lost your pet, contact the animal welfare shelter immediately. Adoptable pets can be viewed on-line on www.petfinder.com.

Stillwater has a unique relationship with the private organization the Humane Society of Stillwater by providing space for them in the same complex. This mainly volunteer organization also has pets for adoption as well as volunteer opportunities. If you miss your family pet that you left at home, come to the Karen Kay Mullendore Municipal Animal Complex to visit the animals.

For more information about the City of Stillwater Animal Welfare Division, visit stillwater.org/police/aw.php or call (405) 372-0334.

About Stillwater Animal Welfare Division:
Our animal shelter is unique in that there are two shelters located in the same complex. The Karen Kay Mullendore Municipal Animal Complex also houses the private organization, the Humane Society of Stillwater, giving Stillwatercitizens two places to adopt pets in the same location.

Policy and Mission Statement:
It is the policy of the Stillwater Police Department, through the Animal Welfare Division, to provide immediate response to emergencies concerning animals within the city limits to attempt apprehension, in a safe, humane manner, of any dog, cat or other domestic animal or fowl that has become a nuisance, or is a threat or danger to any citizen in Stillwater. Stillwater Animal Welfare officers are also charged with the protection of animals from inhumane treatment in the City of Stillwater, Oklahoma.

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / Aug. 26, 2010) — The City of Stillwater announced today that a broken oil pipeline causing an oil leak at Stillwater Creek, near 13th Avenue and Knoblock Street, has been shut off and the discharge has been stopped.

The leak, which caused a sheen and pools of oil, was reported to the Stillwater Fire Department after a resident noticed odor and oil deposits near her home late last night. The leak was identified by city staff and local oil company representatives.

To control the leak, a boom was placed downstream and a sand dike with an under-drain system was installed to collect oil and control the issue until clean-up can be completed by crews.

According to Cody Whittenburg, Stormwater Programs Manager, “The source of the leak has been found and stopped to prevent any additional volume of oil from being discharged into the creek. Clean-up and repairs are to follow.”

The owner of the pipeline is Heritage Petroleum, Inc.

City Manager Dan Galloway said all responsible parties are involved in correcting the problem.

Residents who notice poor air quality, oil in streams or odors in the vicinity of S. Duck St. between 12th and 19th should contact the City of Stillwater at (405) 742-8362 or news@stillwater.org.

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / Aug. 19, 2010) — Labor Day weekend will kick off with a boom! The City of Stillwater will shoot off its annual fireworks show Friday, Sept. 3 at dusk. The show will take place at Boomer Lake Park at the Washington and Lakeview. City crews will be on hand to direct parking at no cost to guests.

The annual fireworks show was postponed July 4, due to rain and wind.

For more information, call (405) 742-8362 or visit the City of Stillwater web site at stillwater.org.

Update: Due to rain, the City of Stillwater cancels the annual Boomer Blast fireworks show scheduled for July 4.

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / July 4, 2010) — Due to the extensive rainfall yesterday, crews are unable to park cars safely in the rain-saturated grass lots at Boomer Lake Park. To do so would cause significant long term damage to the grass areas of Boomer Park and potential damage to vehicles. Given this situation, along with the high winds and significant chances of additional rain today, the City of Stillwater has made the difficult decision to postpone the 4th of July fireworks until Labor Day weekend.

Wakeboard competition to continue as weather permits.

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / May 20, 2010) — The City of Stillwater is in a restoration and recovery mode for two major events from yesterday: One caused by the storm and one unrelated. First, a tornado caused tree and power line damage, and, second, a break in the 16-inch water transmission main that feeds the 19th and Range water tower.

Powerline
The city’s Electric Utilities Department had 30 employees working through the evening to restore power. All customers within the city, who did not have damage to their service drop were restored by midnight. The customers located outside of the city along McElroy west of the city were restored by approximately 2 a.m.

According to Stillwater Utilities Authority Director Dan Blankenship, “The west end of the tornado damage area within city limits started at Lincoln Street, and it followed a path from west to east along the approximate alignment of Eskridge Avenue. The east end of the damage area stops approximately at N. Star Street, one block west of Perkins Road. The damage area is approximately 2.5 to 3 blocks wide.” Read the rest of this entry →

Park it, Point it, Space it from City of Stillwater, OK on Vimeo.

Blue Carts being delivered for most of Stillwater during April; Phase 2 to be implemented in July

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / April 6, 2010) — Stillwater residents will begin receiving their Blue Carts this week.

David Higgins, head of Waste Management, said, “As soon as your Blue Cart is delivered, you may begin using it your next collection day, and we will collect yard waste on the same day.”

Residents’ new once-per-week collection day is printed on the brochure that is attached to the cart. Higgins pointed out that instructions for using the cart are printed on the brochure as well. “It’s really simple: Park It. Point It. Space It.”

• PARK IT with the wheels to the curb
• POINT IT with the lid’s arrow pointing to the center of the road
• SPACE IT with five feet from any obstacle including parked cars, mailboxes, poles, etc.

Higgins added, “There are residents who will receive their Blue Carts in July. This includes neighborhoods around the OSU campus and a few other areas. Phase 2 households may select their cart size until July 1.”

Forms are available at stillwater.org and at the following locations.

• In person: Customer Service Window at the Stillwater Municipal Building (723 S. Lewis)
• In person: Convenience Collection Center (807 S. Perkins Rd.)
• By phone: Waste Management Operations at (405) 742-8269.

For more information contact Waste Management Operations at (405) 742-8269 or e-mail at wastemanagement@stillwater.org.

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / March 18, 2010) — You’re invited to learn about a variety of environmental topics that have an impact in Stillwater during three Earth Day 2010 seminars to be held at the Stillwater Public Library, 1107 S. Duck, and led by the City of Stillwater Environmental Programs Manager Lou Ann Snoddy.

“We will have a panel of experts discussing recycling, rainfall recovery and disposing of household hazardous waste,” said Snoddy.

Attend one of three sessions, which are free and open to the public. Registration is not require, and all topics will be covered in each session:

• Saturday, April 17 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
• Tuesday, April 20 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
• Thursday, April 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Snoddy explained, “These sessions are geared for the general public and will include practical and useful information.”

Topics to be covered include:

• “Cross Contamination in Recycling: How to recycle in Stillwater”
  • Stillwater’s recycling capabilities
  • What is cross contamination?
  • Affect of cross contamination on items intended for recycling
• “Computer Recycling: The new Oklahoma Computer Recovery Act”
  • What is the new Oklahoma Computer Recovery Act and how does it apply to me?
  • Which electronics does the new act cover?
  • How can my household use the OCRA to get rid of unwanted electronics?
• “Rainfall Recovery: Rain gardens and rain barrel”
  • Reasons to harvest rain water
  • Principles of Low-Impact Design (LID)
  • Basic design concepts and resources for rain gardens and rain barrels
• “Household Hazardous Waste: Identifying it and getting rid of it”
  • Discussion about the difference between hazardous and non-hazardous waste
  • What items can be brought to the HHW collection event
  • What to do with unwanted items when I am not sure where they go

For more information contact the City of Stillwater Environmental Programs at (405) 533-8484 or by e-mail atlasnoddy@stillwater.org.

Photo by Zack Ahern

View Zack Ahern’s photos of these projects on Flickr

STILLWATER, OKLA. / March 5, 2010) — The City of Stillwater will receive two gold and one silver awards from the Oklahoma/Arkansas Chapter of the American Concrete Paving Association (ACPA) at a ceremony on March 23. The gold awards will be awarded to the Transportation Department for the 12th Avenue and University Avenue reconstruction projects, and the silver award will go to the Stillwater Regional Airport’s Runway 17-35 paving projects, all of which were completed in 2009.

The ACPA awards program honors excellence, encourages high-quality workmanship in concrete pavement and recognizes contractors, engineers, and project owners who completed outstanding projects.

City Manager Dan Galloway said, “These projects represent an effective collaboration of many public and private organizations, and the support from the public can’t be overstated. These finished projects will benefit Stillwater for many years.” Read the rest of this entry →

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / March 8, 2010) — The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, March 12 at 9:30 a.m. at the northwest corner of Lakeview and Husband to officially open the intersection signalization project.

This $397,000 project was funded by the Half-Cent Transportation Sales Tax.

The intersection improvements included the following:

• Installation of a new traffic signal
• Left turn lanes on north and south Husband
• Right turn lane on south bound Husband from east bound Lakeview
• Two ADA compliant pedestrian crosswalks for access to Boomer Lake
• Utility improvements for water and sewer
• Reconstruction of the overhead utilities

This heavily traveled intersection experiences an average volume of over 12,000 vehicles per day and 1,245 vehicles between 4:45 and 5:45 p.m. Signalization will enhance traffic flow and safety for the pedestrians and drivers..

Speakers at the ribbon cutting will include Mayor Nathan Bates and City Manager Galloway.

For more information, call (405) 742-8362 or e-mail news@stillwater.org.

(STILLWATER, OKLA. / March 1, 2010 / Analysis by Dan Galloway, Stillwater City Manager) — A recent paid advertisement in the NewsPress presented some information about Stillwater Utilities Authority (SUA) rates and City of Stillwater budget conditions that are not entirely accurate.

We feel that some Stillwater citizens may have developed some misconceptions about their city water and electric rates and about the financial condition of the City that should be corrected. It is important for people to know how water, sewer and electric rates compare to other communities or to the rest of the country.

• Water: In 2008-09 the average water and sewer bill in [Broken Arrow, Moore, Bartlesville, Muskogee, Edmond, and Shawnee] was $41.04.  [While] the average Stillwaterbill was $36.36, which was about 11 percent below the average.
• Electric: The national average residential rate in this report was 11.26 cents per kilowatt hour; Stillwater’s rate for the same period was 8.96 cents, which was more than 20 percent below the national average electric rate.

Read the rest of this entry →