Town Hall Meeting Gets Heated

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(Enid, OK) Last night’s town hall meeting put on by the city of Enid resulted in an airing of grievances. The Stride Bank Center saw citizens angrily address the mayor and commission about everything from outdated codes to the water supply. 

Ron Mangold, a veteran of Vietnam, started things off with informing the panel about his inability to get approved to build a shed in order to work on antique cars. Mangold stated that he had gone through the proper channels with the city but had been denied every step of the way, and even told that after all the denials, his best option was to move. After being asked by Ward 3 Commissioner Ben Ezzell what his question was, Mangold stated that he wanted the city’s codes to be updated since, according to him, they were dated back to the 1930s. Commissioners proposed a study session and a way to come to a compromise for Mangold.

Things really heated up over the topic of the aquifer that the city gets its water supply from. Milton Mitchell approached the commissioners asking for the actual price of the Kaw Lake Pipeline, accusing commissioners of hiding things from citizens. Mitchell accused Ben Ezzell specifically of not being wholly honest with citizens, saying he’s arrogant and dismisses people very quickly.

Ezzell stated that the resources from the aquifer were finite, and after looking at many options, the best choice was to build a pipeline, “We know what the aquifer has been doing. We looked at drilling wells. We looked at building a lake. It is going to cost a boatload of money, please understand no one is lying to the community.”