An Evening with Mayor Karl Nail planned tonight
Newcastle residents can hear and visit with their mayor at An Evening with Mayor Karl Nail from 6-8 p.m. tonight (Thursday) at Newcastle Fire Station #1, 555 S. Main Street.
Nail, who is a big proponent of open government and community involvement, said he will be giving an update on all things going on in Newcastle.
It’s a lot, he added. “I will talk about where we have been, where we are going, and plans for infrastructure that we are putting in place for the next 30-50 years,” Nail said.
The mayor said the city has a lot going on with ancillary needs of the Chickasaw Nation Newcastle Medical Center and the Toby Keith Expressway, along with the tie in of the I-44 interchange.
Another topic is the general growth trends in the area. Nail said he will be reinforcing the fact that Newcastle is a suburb to the Oklahoma City area.
There will be a time for asking questions. Nail said he encourages residents to ask about something he discussed, or things they might have seen on Facebook.
“I don’t want any unanswered questions out there,” Nail said. “I want people to feel like they can ask anything and I’ll do my best to answer those questions.”
He said if he doesn’t have the answer, he’ll work towards finding an answer for them.
“I’d like the community to feel like they have involvement in the way their city is governed,” Nail said.
Another topic will likely be how city projects are impacted when grants are used to help fund them. Those include work at the Newcastle Ball Fields, and on the Veterans Park projects. Also, tied in is the ability for the city to best utilize its resources on projects.
Nail said the city is moving forward with a grant project at the ballfields, but the federal grant being used for funding requires National Environmental Policy Act clearance. Its requirements have held up the project, and includes consultation with Native American tribes with either current or previous interests in the area. He said the city must notify archeological interests and fish and wildlife before work can be done.
Because of the holdup, and holdup associated with the COVID 19 pandemic, the City cannot fund all the original plans, however, they are doing all they can and it will be great for the facility, the mayor said.
Nail said because the street department has been working there, they have been unable to do work on the city’s Town Center Plaza property at 124 S. Main Street. He said the water crew will soon start doing work there including underground drainage, and entrances off the highway.
An Evening with Mayor Karl Nail is being hosted by the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce and the city and is sponsored by Oklahoma Natural Gas.
