ARAPAHO — The Custer County Boar of Commissioners approved Resolution No. 2020-09-14A, opting Custer County out of the payroll tax deferral for county employees.
District 1 Commissioner Wade Anderson said the decision was made because the money “has to be paid sometime,” so the county might as well continue the payment.
The board also approved purchase orders for payment.
Interim OSU Extension Director Jordan Nel introduced the newest team member Zack Henderson, who began Monday.
Henderson is 26 and has been farming for most of his life in the Elk City/Sayre area. He graduated from OSU and has interned at the extension office in Kiowa County a couple of year ago, so he is familiar with th office and its processes.
“I have a lot of experience in agriculture and will help the county as much as I can,” Henderson said.
Henderson’s official title is agriculture educator, but he also has a 10-percent 4-H appointment, which means he will work as a chaperone for trips and the county free fair.
Nel said the 2020 Custer County Free Fair went very well, and it had about the same amount of livestock show this year as in year past. Nel also said there were a few newcomers to the horse show Saturday.
Look for fair results in an upcoming edition of the Weatherford Daily News.
County Emergency Management Director Mike Galloway said he is preparing to begin his 2020 Individual Safe Room Project. The final safe room from the 2018 project has been put into the ground and the grand is being closed out. Galloway said he had 54 participants in the 2018 project and has about 40 people on the waiting list.
For the 2020 project, he needs 75 people signed up because FEMA requires a 50- percent reserve of applicants for the hazard mitigation grant.
Galloway said he is hosting information and sign-up meetings for the application process 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. September 29 at the Custer County Fairgrounds.
Galloway said the best way to avoid delays is for participants to save up their money now to avoid waiting for the reimbursements, which have to pass through federal, state and county hands before reaching the participants.
Safe rooms must go to individual families with private property. The grant is not available to businesses and public property. The rooms must be built to withstand an F5 tornado, but Galloway said most vendors already build them to those specifications now. The rooms can be put above ground, below ground, outdoors or inside a garage.
For more information on the safe room project, contact Galloway at (580) 323-4105.