Altus Times

Not just looking at saving Altus, but the total quality of life in the area.

That is the purpose of "Promote Altus," a committee identifying areas for improvement for the city and school district, councilmember Rick Steen said during the Altus City Council's regular Tuesday night meeting.

"This is a work in progress," Steen said. "If you're not going forward, you're going backwards," Steen said.

Steen, along with council members Peggy Risinger, Danny McCuisten, Jerry Don Henry, David Walker and Tom Buchanan were appointed to a committee established at the request of the school board, on April 15 for the purpose of creating and proposing city improvement ideas to the council. The recommendations could advance the quality of life in Altus and possibly keep Altus Air Force Base off the Base Closure and Realignment Commission list in 2005.

Areas recommended for enhancements in the city include: Falcon Road and airport improvements, upgrading the Southwest Sewer Treatment Plant, updating sewer, water and electric lines and the North Park Lane improvement project.

"The city has maintained that we need to make the public aware of each entity's needs and then conduct a public meeting to allow the voters of Altus to assist us with a way of financing these needs," Henry said.

Henry has said that a new committee will be formed to discuss ways of paying for improvements. Ideas include a one-cent increase on the city's sales tax.

"There is no recommendation at all right now on a sales tax," Henry said. "The school system is planning a public meeting in the next few weeks to ask for input from patrons of the Altus School District."

The committee has met three times thus far and selected Risinger and Walker as chairperson and vice-chairperson, respectively.

Risinger said all the work done by the committee has been done with the community in mind. The needs of the city and the school system have been the primary focus of each meeting.

"The school system has had an architect check their facilities and complete a list of needed improvements and costs," Henry said.

Once all recommendations and estimates are considered, the school board, the city and the community will decide together on which avenue to take.

"That way there's no surprises," Steen said. "We can all agree on what's best for the City of Altus."

During the meeting Steen also discussed the local tourism as compared to surrounding areas. His suggested the city may want to expand riding areas for all-terrain vehicles.

"There's no reason in the world why we can't draw that type of tourism in here," Steen said.

The council meeting, opened with three firefighters, Lt. Jimmy Rodgers, Tim Sullivan and Bart Halcomb, being recognized for their quick response in assisting the Altus Air Force Base Fire Department on Aug. 29 when a house on base burned.

They were presented certificates for their contribution and team work during the fire that occurred at 1026 Great

Plains.