NEWS RELEASE
IDABEL, OK.- McCurtain County Commissioners included the Hochatown Incorporation topic on Monday’s meeting agenda and then took no action before a crowd of Hochatown residents, business owners and interested citizens.
Chairman Mark Jennings said, “We’ve submitted questions to the District Attorney and received no response therefore we cannot take any action on this item.”
Dian Jordan, who is designated in the Petition filings as the initial Hochatown City Clerk, asked Jennings to be recognized to speak. Her request was denied “That topic is not up for discussion,” he replied. Jordan persisted. She again asked to be recognized to announce that citizens attending could go back to work. Jordan was allowed to make the announcement and thanked everyone for coming and encouraged them to return to work.
“Many people lost half a day of work to attend the meeting only to be denied a discussion as the agenda stated would occur.” Jordan later stated.
The legal documents announcing Hochatown’s Notice of Intent to Incorporate were delivered to the Board of County Commissioners on March 24th, 2022.
County Commissioners have thirty days from the delivery date to approve the petition.
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HOCHATOWN INCORPORATION PRESS PHOTOS
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NEWS RELEASE
HOCHATOWN PRESENTS PETITION
HOCHATOWN, OK, - Volunteers hand delivered a Notice of Intent to Incorporate Hochatown to the Board of McCurtain County Commissioners today. The documents include a petition signed by Hochatown's registered voters, maps regarding the proposed territory to be incorporated and other legal documents. The petition's signatures are notarized by a charter member of the community, Sharon Ward.
The documents have been on public display in Hochatown since February 22, 2022 for access and review by Hochatown residents and the general public. Community petition signing events were held and quickly gathered more than the one-third required number of registered voters within the proposed territory to be incorporated.
County Commissioners have thirty days to approve the petition. The goal, upon approval by commissioners, is to have the incorporation set for a vote of the people at the next eligible election, which is slated to be June of this year.
After 6 years of delay, volunteers hope the historic community can begin a process to implement municipal services and improve infrastructure that will ultimately benefit the entire county as Hochatown continues to rapidly grow.
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Photos Attached Below
FEBRUARY 22, 2022
Contact: Dian Jordan
(940) 600-2713 cell
dijordan@ymail.com
Hochatown Begins Process to Reclaim Historic Town
HOCHATOWN, OK – Volunteers are placing three copies of Notice of Intent to Incorporate in the Hochatown community for public access and review. The documents include, among other information, a detailed survey of the proposed city limits.
Documents will be available for inspection through March 24, 2022 at the following locations:
First State Bank, 129 N. Lukfata Trail, Broken Bow, OK 74728
Sovereign Title Services, 8815 N. US Highway 259, Broken Bow, OK 74728
Abendigo’s Grill and Patio, 10050 N US Highway 259, Broken Bow, OK 74728
City limit boundaries, in general, are from the old KOA/Lake Pine Retreat area on the Southside of highway 259 to Tinguely Hill on the North end. (see physical map at above locations for details.)
Community petition signing events are currently underway.
On or about March 25, 2022, the Petition for Incorporation will be presented to the McCurtain County Board of County Commissioners who will then have thirty days to hold a hearing on the petition for approval.
Hochatown attempted to incorporate in 2015 to create a process to improve and implement municipal services and infrastructure that directly serve the businesses, homeowners, and investors in Hochatown.
The City of Broken Bow, in a direct move to block these incorporation efforts, annexed a strip of land directly through the very heart of Hochatown. The citizens of Hochatown, seeking to protect their statutory right to incorporate their community, subsequently filed a lawsuit in the District Court of McCurtain County. The Judge ruled in Hochatown's favor. Broken Bow appealed the ruling. After many years of litigation the final judgement was in Hochatown's favor.
An incorporated town would have five (5) elected trustees which will be voted upon by Hochatown’s registered voters. Once the town board is formed, an experienced and professional town administrator would be hired to run the day-to-day operations of an incorporated Hochatown.
A special presentation of the Notice of Intent to Incorporate will be presented to the surviving Hochatown originals and their descendants at the Oklahoma Historical Society Historical Marker, located adjacent to the Hochatown Union Church. A date for the honorary presentation will be set soon.
If you are a registered voter within the proposed territory to be incorporated and you would like to sign the petition in support of incorporation, please contact Dian Jordan on or before March 23, 2022, at (940) 600-2713.
Photograph of children out front of a Hochatown School in 1930
October 1, 1930
This photograph is part of the collection entitled: Kenny Sivard Collection and was provided by the Oklahoma Historical Society to The Gateway to Oklahoma History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries.
Photograph of A.C. Kincaid standing in front of store in Hochatown, OK. He was the last Hochatown Postmaster.
Date Unknown
This photograph is part of the collection entitled: Kenny Sivard Collection and was provided by the Oklahoma Historical Society to The Gateway to Oklahoma History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries.