WATONGA – The Blaine County government is looking into whether the county can proceed this year with a new jail proposal even though two of the county commissioners are retiring.
By Oklahoma statute, outgoing commissioners are limited in how they can spend county funds. That rule is designed to prevent outgoing commissioners from emptying the coffers and handicapping the incoming government; but in this case, it might delay the construction of a new jail facility the county has been investigating for nearly a year.
County Clerk Jennifer Haigler said she’s in contact with Assistant District Attorney Tommy Humphries, of Canadian County, for an opinion on whether the county can move forward now or should wait until the new commissioners are seated in January.
The revelation came up after Kris Richardson, representing general contractor Joe D Hall, passed out potential floor plans and cost estimates for a new jail to be built across the street from its current location, in the nowvacant lot to the east. Richardson said inflation will keep the final cost rising if commissioners are forced to delay.
The new jail as currently designed would include about 62 beds, up from the 37 cells in the current jail. The commissioners had aimed to finance its construction with existing funds, but may be limited in how much they can spend now that Mike Allen and Raymond Scheffler won’t be running for reelection.
Humphries told the Watonga Republican he has yet to give Haigler a formal opinion on the matter, but directed the paper to the relevant statute. It says that any county commissioner “who fails to file for reelection … shall not acquire, purchase, contract for or dispose of any machinery or equipment, or expend or approve for expenditure any monies for any purpose other than normal or routine operating expenditures except as provided in this section.”
Humphries said there are several counties facing this quandary at the moment.
Pot problems
Blaine County man Don Bomhoff was on the agenda Monday, and he asked commissioners to intervene and help clean up a former mari juana grow operation near his home.
He said the dust and sand blowing off the site is creating a nuisance and health hazard for everyone who lives nearby, and even in town. “I see this dirt blowing across the roads. Our health’s at risk,” Bomhoff said. “We’ve got horses out there with their eyes watering, cows coughing, I’m coughing.”
Bomhoff said the commissioners are “responsible for our health” and for “air quality” in the area.
The commissioners, who said they were unaware of the problem before, advised Bomhoff to speak to Sheriff Travis Daugherty. Daugherty generally attends commissioners’ meetings but has been out sick this week.
The area Bomhoff talked about is located 7 miles west of Watonga off US-281. The Watonga Republican observed rows of tarp grow houses located on the site last year; however, there hasn’t been marijuana at the location for months, Bomhoff said.
Bomhoff later told the Watonga Republican he hopes to work amicably with the county to resolve the issue, but will attend more meetings if necessary to spur action. He told the commissioners he has already reached out to organizations like the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, but feels the quickest action can be taken locally.
“My life’s miserable out there. My grandson can’t go outside and play when the wind’s out of the south,” Bomhoff said. “… It’s going to be the Gobi Desert if somebody doesn’t do something.”
The Watonga Republican reached out to the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office after the meeting, but Undersheriff Danny Aytes said the office would be unable to comment until Daugherty is back at work.