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During the Dewey City Council meeting on Monday night, a contract between the City of Dewey and the Washington County Historical Society was approved.

A similar contract between the City of Dewey and the Tom Mix museum for the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year was also approved by the Dewey City Council. Mayor Tom Hays said the Public Service Company of Oklahoma will collect a franchise fee in the City of Dewey like they have in years past, but the city get will the money back. He said the City of Dewey has divided that money equally between the Tom Mix Museum, and the Washington County Historical Society in the past. The WCHS primarily focuses on the Dewey Hotel in downtown Dewey.

Ward One Councilman Wayne Sell raised concern that the two entities have not complied with the contract in the past. He said if they were going to approve the contract, they need to make sure that both the Tom Mix Museum and the Washington County Historical Society honor the agreement.

The problem in the past was that the Dewey City Council never received quarterly reports from either entity. Sell said it is only appropriate that they have all parties honor the contract as written.

The contracts further state that additional reports will be presented to the City of Dewey if so requested by the city. During the Dewey City Council's first meeting in June, City Manager Kevin Trease said he requested copies of the audits from the Washington County Historical Society and the Tom Mix Museum, but neither entity could provide one.

With the money that they send to the entities, Trease said it should be accounted for on an annual or quarterly basis. You can find more on that story here.

That in mind, a member of the Washington County Historical Society did attend the Dewey City Council's next meeting on Monday, June 15th. Then, a represetative presented an audit and more before the council.

Mayor Hays said he saw no problem with making the groups honor what is in the contract. He said the Tom Mix Museum and the Washington County Historical Society are great groups to speak with and that they usually provide thorough updates when asked, so it would not hurt to ask the entities to come to a meeting every quarter.