The state of the City of Cordell is forward moving, financially solid, and our future looks exceptionally promising.
There have been multiple grants, public improvements and multi- generational purchases that will make a huge difference for recreation and infrastructure services provided for our citizenry.
A summary of many of those improvements are listed below and each will go far in improving or expanding municipal services to you, our citizens.
They include:
• Continued grant awards for improvement of water and sewer lines
• Add transformer and assist with infrastructure for new ASAP C-Store completion expected spring 2027
• Purchase a multi generational 4 building municipal campus to consolidate most city functions on 1st St (formerly the CK campus)
• A roof grant to add needed improvement to one of our older campus storage building.
• Grant to eliminate and remediate asbestos on S Market site “mural/pigeon” building. So far, have eliminated 2500 nuisance birds with a small city expenditure; several months to go on contract withTravys Townsend
• Formed Cordell Arts and Humanities Council and delivered three musical programs and appointed Dr SusanAdams-Johnson as our executive director
• Formed Cordell (Adams) Lake Commission and partnered with public and private parties to cut walking and biking trails through dense woods for better access, formed a “bridge partnership” to replace the old wooden bridge to enter main lake area. Added a new sign “Cordell Lake” tree carving by Matt Giblet..some of the many other partners on the lake improvement project include Dale Selman, machinery and idea generator.Dale is the inaugural Cordell Lake board chairman; also David Gray, Washita Co Dist 2 Commissioner; Davy Sewell, Sewell Bros Construction; Lance McCuistion Construction; HS football team volunteer labor mentored by FB Coach Nick Bobeck; Caleb Greer, resident park volunteer
• New entry door to Cordell Library completed
• Various police and fire dept grants- Chief(s) Denney and Slaughterbeck assisted Vicki Hagerman as primary grant writer • Several new series of downtown banners with new wind resistant brackets are working well, “Great American Main Street banner” is next
• The city is partnering with Dale Selman, and Helios and Levon Burch Body Shop to develop dimensional highway signs for “points of interest” within the city. Target is about 20 signs in the next year.
• New Swimming Pool front door and window frame painting is complete My sincere thank you to our eight member council for their vision, open mindedness and sense of community awareness. Even though I prefer a four person council, eight people with the right chemistry and mind set has proven it can work well for our community especially in the last three years.
The hard working departmental staff(s) that can become one united force when snow, ice, freezing pipes or wind strikes unexpectedly. Thank you many times over to Cordell employees.
Tremendous thanks many times over to Vicki Hagerman, our interim city administrator, and her staff for their incredible love for this city: their endless energy, passion, forging statewide contacts and willingness to just “plain make things work right!”. Sounds corny but Vicki is absolutely the fuel additive in my tank and the positive wind beneath our council and staff’s wings! Thank you for keeping us all going in the right direction.
A big shout out to the many volunteer hours that so many of you have put in at places like the Crooked Creek Golf Course, The Washita Theatre, the Cordell Library, mowing at the Gregory Park ball fields and the aforementioned Cordell “Adams”Lake project and many more projects to come!
We have amazing resources and recreational options available for a small town. We need to plow ahead and get behind our many assets and envision what we can be beyond that. I’m a bit of a dreamer and encourage others to join me and our council in helping form the ongoing vision of a solid dynamic community.
This issue is dedicated to Piper, my fourteen year Aussie, who died in the early hours of Feb 3.