The police officer, Tyler Stroup, stood in front of the Trustees of Kellyville and said,” I always wanted to be a K-9 Officer!” Then Officer Stroup explained the program as pens scratched from The Sapulpa Times, and cameras rolled from News on 6 from Tulsa. Mike Tanner, a representative from WEBCO (a large company in Kellyville) was there discussing matching the $5,000 which Kellyville has donated to the K-9 program.
To train the dog for Drug Detection, it costs from $5,5000 to $9,500, depending on the “drive and motivation” of the dog. Torchlight Training is the place where that dollar figure came from, so Officer Stroup is looking into other programs as well.
Further, he stated that there is insurance for a K-9 program already, and there is no current K-9 policy (since this is the first of its kind here). He is looking at other towns around Kellyville to see what policies they have in place.
The frisky, 5-month-old German Shepherd puppy named “Lead,” will begin her training in September. It will take about 4 or 5 months to get fully trained to sniff out narcotics and perform search and rescue functions, ready for the “street.” Lead, which is short for Leady, is a “non-bite” dog, great for interactions with school children.
Dr. Dan Denham of Kellyville has donated his veterinary services for the dog, and will charge only for actual medicine and shots, for instance $10 for shots).
Officer Stroup is going to be the day-to-day handler, and will be training her about 7-8 hours a week, and working even on his time off the keep her trained.
Trustee Marcia Jones suggested that the K-9 “officer’s” $50 a month “uniform allowance” would be used for chew toys and food.
Mayor Jim Vogt asked if training the dog was all the officer was going to do, and the officer answered that he would continue to cruise in his car, train, and other duties. The drug-dog-in- training would go with him when possible (not 8-12 hours long days.)
The Mayor asked, “The biggest question is what happens to us if you go somewhere else?”
“I’ll donate the dog to Kellyville.” The motion passed unanimously.
The canine herself was donated to the Town by the new Fire Chief Matt Staiger, the pick of the litter from his own personal dogs, Zeus and Zena.
In conjunction with the K-9 training, another current action was to purchase a 2014 Ford Police Interceptor Explorer (V-56, all-wheel drive and a 12-month limited warranty) for $15,995 and then spend around $9,000 more to outfit it with lights, siren, and K-9 equipment.
Trustee Marcia Jones said, “We have the money.” Then the Trustees, Michelle Kelly, Mayor Jim Vogt, Larry Bussett, Marcia Jones all voted to approve the purchase.
The puppy was then paraded to the front of the room and she behaved well, sitting on command, and remaining quiet.
The next item on the agenda was the use of State Aid to order new books for the Library. Again, Trustee Marcia Jones brought up that most of the books bought in the past have been
“things for kids.” She wanted the books bought to be “updated on our kind of books.” She wanted more books for adult reading. Jones asked the City Clerk what State Aid funds could be used for, and the answer was “anything except a permanent part of the building,” or books, furniture, and utility bills.The Trustees voted to approve $700 for new books, and the suggestion was to make a list of particular books requested and the Trustees would decide what books to buy.
The meeting was adjourned.
During the Public Works Authority meeting, at issue is the matter of getting water turned back on for a local resident. The amount due was not divulged, but after a past due letter was sent and ignored, and after that another letter sent and ignored, gave the customer over a month to pay his bill or make payment arrangements. The customer chose not to do anything. The water/sewer tap was turned off. Then, the customer paid his past due bill in full, and the resident asked the Trustees to turn his tap back on.
There is a $750 hook-up fee to have it turned on. The Trustees denied his request.
Once the customer left, Trustee Jones said that several people had paid the hook-up fee, and that “allowances had been made” and that he had been “forgiven a couple of times” in the past for this particular customer, but he is “chronic” and he “continued to take advantage.” Trustee Jones asked that the customer’s name not be made public because “there’s a lot of people in the same situation.”
The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. The next meeting will take place on March 12, 2019, in Kellyville Town Hall.
Trustees Jerry Bussett, Michelle Kelly, Jim Vogt are all seeking re-election in the April election. Trustee Marica Jones is retiring from the office after serving 19 years. Bobby McGarrah was elected in 2017, and was seated after months of contention. There are four other contenders for the offices: Russ Howard, John Taylor, Jerry Voss and Ed Pruitt.
