Commissioners praise fairgrounds manager

Stephens County Commissioners extended the offer of employment of fairgrounds manager Matt Byerly following an executive session Monday.

Byerly was due to a review following his first 90 days of employment.

“I appreciate what Matt has done. We have had no problems and we are heading in the right direction,” said Russell Morgan, District 3 commissioner. “I can’t praise him enough for the job he has done. Matt was on a 90-day evaluation and knew he may or may not have a job after 90 days.”

Later in the meeting, Morgan read a letter from the Marlow Agriculture Boosters thanking the county and specifically the fairground employees for their work during the Marlow Winter Classic hog show earlier this month.

The letter stated the employees' love of the facilities and willingness to help in whatever was needed was evident.

In other business, commissioners met with representatives from Midship Pipeline Company about a request to enter county easements for survey purposes to establish control of pipeline construction. Most of the pipeline will be in the northeast corner part of the county and the Velma area.

District 1 Commissioner Kreg Murphree asked about the number of trucks it would bring on the road, which the representatives were unsure of other than it would be rather significant. Murphree said he had met with ODOT last week about a problem with semi-trucks taking county roads in his district in order to avoid the construction zone on Highway 29 between Marlow and Bray.

The vote was unanimous to approve the request.