Oklahoma, Arkansas officials discuss railroad concerns

Jim Townsend, former corporation commissioner and state legislator who now enjoys retirement, made a trip last week to Arkansas with state transportation officials in hopes of establishing a working relationship with Arkansas concerning rail service.
Townsend, who also is retired from the Rock Island Railroad, accompanied state Secretary of Transportation Phil Tomlinson from Shawnee, along with Joe Kyle and John Dougherty on the Arkansas trip. Kyle is manager and Dougherty is assistant manager of the rail programs division of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Townsend has been involved in the efforts of a local rail committee seeking solutions to improve service to local industries which rely heavily on rail to bring in raw materials and ship products from Shawnee,
The group making the jaunt to Arkansas met with that state’s highway and transportation participants.
According to a report provided to me by Townsend, Tomlinson encouraged a working relationship between Oklahoma and Arkansas which are competing with sister states for federal dollars to rebuild railroads in rural areas that have experienced wholesale neglect and abandonment of rail lines.
Tomlinson reportedly talked directly about Oklahoma’s interest in the east/west old Rock Island line, inquiring what interest Arkansas might have in seeing rail service restored to the Memphis gateway which would include service from Amarillo, Texas, to Memphis, Tenn.
The railway between Howe in eastern Oklahoma and Danville, Ark., and from Little Rock to Brinkley, Ark., has been abandoned. Also, the old Rock Island line from east of Shawnee to McAlester has not been in service since the mid-80s.
That stretch and upgrading the line between here and Oklahoma City are critical to some of the local industries here, among them Shawnee Milling Co., ExxonMobil, Ball Pipe and Supply, Norwesco, TDK Ferrites and Vanguard Stimulation Services which has its facilities under construction at this time.
Townsend said there was a good discussion between Oklahoma and Arkansas officials and that the meeting laid the groundwork for future cooperation.
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The Small Business Council of the Greater Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring an identity theft seminar Sept. 11 in the chamber conference room. It is scheduled to begin at noon, with lunch provided and should last about an hour.
Cost is $10 for chamber members; $12 for non-members. RSVP by noon Sept. 9 by calling 273-6092.
Two people from Arvest Bank will present the seminar, focusing on how to prevent identity theft and what actions should be taken if it occurs. This promises to be an informative seminar for area business people.
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“A Tasty Affair,” the annual fundraising auction and dinner sponsored by the Greater Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Conference Center.
The reception and silent auction begin at 5 p.m. with dinner starting at 6 p.m. and the live auction at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 each, and corporate tables, which seat eight and include company signage, are $300.
For more information contact the chamber at 273-6092. Or, send an e-mail to pweaver@shawneechamber.com.
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The city of Norman’s revitalization director spoke to a gathering in Shawnee last week about that city’s effort to clean up Norman. Six years ago the Core Area Coalition was formed, Linda Price said. This is a citizens group that  formed the coalition and took concerns to the Norman city council.
Price’s visit was sponsored by the Past Chairman’s Council of the Greater Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce. There were about 30 people in attendance who listened to Price tell about Norman’s efforts to clean up the city, what has been done and how it led to the city’s being named by Money Magazine as the sixth best place to live in America.
Norman has 190 square miles, she said, and “our goal is to get compliance.”
That city has five code compliance officers, although they were down to three at one time because of budget cuts.
Of the 1,204 violations detected at 1,055 locations during a certain time period, Price said that 43 percent were health related. Another 27 percent were violations related to vehicles and 177 locations had vehicles in yards or on the street which were non-operating.
This summer alone, through June and July, 128 locations in Norman had been worked for high weeds and grass.
She explained that the coalition and city work together and target specific areas in Norman, and most of the complaints come from other citizens in the neighborhoods. She emphasized that many of the problems have been found in areas that are not low income and in areas many people would be surprised about.
This was a citizen-driven effort, she explained, and it was the citizens who went to the Norman council.
The effort has received strong support from the Norman city attorney’s office, but she acknowledged that the initial stumbling block was the political will of the council, though that seems to have changed.
Many of the violations which have been discovered, she said, are governed by state statutes.
This program was informative. Maybe a group of citizens from Shawnee can begin a similar approach and take their concerns to city leaders.
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A local woman wrote me last week that she is upset with what she describes as the “arrogant smart-aleck” who keeps writing letters criticizing Shawnee and its people. She says she has lived here only six years, and admits, “I am not as crazy about my situation as I’d hoped. But I sure wouldn’t have the nerve to stay here 30 years and then start criticizing and referring to the people as ignorant and small-minded.”
She said, “Actually if I’d lived here 30 years I’d be 117.”
But she insists that whoever is doing all the criticizing should go some place that person likes better, adding “as a decent person would.”
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If you have ideas or something of interest, call 214-3922 or e-mail michael.mccormick@news-star.com; include name and phone number for contact purposes.