Vote: School, fire district bonds on Tuesday ballot

Oct. 7—Tuesday is a voting day for around 10,000 Rogers County registered voters.

Polls open 7 a.m. and close 7 p.m. in precincts serving Catoosa and Chouteau-Mazie Public Schools and the Verdigris Fire Protection District.

Not all Rogers County voters are involved in Tuesday votes and not all precincts will be open. Those open are 5, 10, 19, 20, 21, 200, 29, 30, 110, 120, 128, 131, 200 and 203.

On the ballot are these propositions: — a $9 million bond for Catoosa School District 2 for the construction of an Early Learning Center; — a $12,720,000 bond for Chouteau-Maizie School District 32 for the remodeling and furnishing of existing school facilities, Chouteau, Mayes County; and — a $13,500,000 for the Verdigris Fire Protection District (the Verdigris Fire Department)for purchase of land and construction of a second firefighting facility, including acquiring the necessary firefighting apparatus and equipment.

Bond issues provide public funding for projects deemed of general public benefit by a vote of the people. These funds are repaid through the collection of a temporary annual property tax that is paid down over a set period of years. Once the bond issue is paid off, the tax is no longer collected.

Low voter turnout for local elections is not uncommon.

"The question is this, are you letting the 10% of registered voters determine what you want to have done in regard to your property and your community?" Election Secretary Julie Dermody said.

"People need to realize these smaller elections also affect your pocketbook, whether you vote or not," she said.

Combined registration numbers, according to the Rogers County Election Board, show close to 10,000 citizens are eligible to vote in these elections. The estimated numbers released show: — 4,875 eligible voters in the Catoosa School District, — between 3,500 to 4,500 eligible voters in the Verdigris Fire Districts, — only 57 eligible voters in the Chouteau-Mazie School District.

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The Verdigris vote addresses need for expanded fire protection in a high growth area in Rogers County

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Verdigris Fire Chief Mike Shaffer hopes voters in his fire district understand a "yes" vote on Tuesday is actually a "yes" vote to keeping lives safe, protecting property and keeping insurance premium costs down.

This is only the second bond the VFPD has ever requested since the public approved the district's formation in the late 1970s.

And, Shaffer agrees with Dermody's call for voter participation.

"I implore people to exercise their rights ... we just need people to show up and vote," Shaffer said.

The Verdigris Fire District was established in 1977 and covers an approximate 36-square-mile area in the south, southwest portion of Rogers County. Shaffer joined the department in 1993.

Many residents may not understand the fire protection district is larger than the "Town of Verdigris," Chief Shaffer said. The town covers about six square miles with a population of around 5,500 and is served by the fire district.

The call for a second fire station, to be strategically located to serve future growth, is based on the area's growth which calls for reinvestment in equipment and expansion of facilities.

Right now, the entire Verdigris Fire District is served by a single fire station, located on the east side of Highway 66, between the 266-66 highway interchange and the Verdigris Town Hall. It is staffed by a fire crew of around 20 including a fire chief, deputy chief and fire marshal. Firefighters staff three daily shifts, 24/7, serving, "roughly, a 10,000 population," Shaffer explained.

"This bond issue gives us the space to grow. There will not be any need for additional assessments to pay additional staff," Shaffer said. The District's daily operational costs are already paid by a voter-approved fire district fee.

"Our fire station, a single fire station, is the single busiest fire station dispatched by the Rogers County 911. We ran numbers in July prior to going public [with the bond issue request], and we learned 25% of our emergency calls overlapped. That means one in every four times people called in, our single fire station was already busy managing another emergency.

"We've been seeing that percentage increasing and increasing. As a district, that is unacceptable," Shaffer said.

Overlaps in calls leads to delays in response time and even questions as to whether the first responders are able to cut loose or have to call for mutual aid.

"Delays in response times are not good for saving lives, nor is it good for property insurance rates," Shaffer said.

After looking at a decline in response time, aging and failing fire engines and growth in both population and the density of that population, Shaffer said, "We knew the time was now. Our people need to understand we are a population center that is booming."

After having conversations with area rural water districts within the fire protection district, Shaffer said he also learned that around 1,000 water connections have been tapped for the district, and these are primarily residential.

"Looking at the numbers, even if we use the 2.58 national average of people per household that means around 2,500 to 3,000 more people in the district in the next three years. We know we are looking at more because the average households in the area run slightly higher. With that growth that number of overlapping calls, 1 in 4 is going to increase dramatically," he said.

More homes and businesses in the area means "we need to expand our firefighting capacity to keep up," Shaffer said.

"We've stitched things together until we absolutely had to go to the people. We put the leg work in first," he said.

Right now, "we have the ISO rating. Out of 47,500 departments nationwide, we are in the top 3%, top 1,243 fire departments nationwide with our ISO score," he said. "ISO" stands for Insurance Services Office.

The ISO rating is a grading scale that insurance companies use to determine insurance premiums in the area (fire stations placed at three road miles intervals maximizes deployment calculations, the time for "boots on the ground," and leads to more positive insurance ratings and lifesaving outcomes).

Shaffer said they have taken their time putting this bond issue together and hope the voters will appreciate the need for its passage.

What will $13.5 million buy for the Verdigris Fire Protection District? — property and construction of a second fire station, training classroom and equipment storage building to provide increase fire protection coverage, bring training inhouse while serving surrounding districts; provide indoors storage for equipment — two new Class A engines (fire trucks) to replace aging engines to provide greater water capacity, more resources for big fires and reduce response times — necessary equipment and apparatus for operation of the new facilities and engines

"As the district grows so do we, and the great thing about the station we are building, it can be expanded in the future ... this station will grow with the community," he said.