Published: April 20, 2009 11:30 pm      

Waurika City Commission rehires Brown as city manager

WAURIKA — WAURIKA — Chuck Brown knows he still has a job as city manager of Waurika. In a couple months, he’ll also know more about how he’s doing in that job and what’s expected in the future.

During a regular meeting last week of the City Commission, Brown was told he’d remain in the position he accepted in April 2007. Following an executive session, the commissioners voted unanimously to re-employ Brown, with a minor adjustment to his contract.

For a third year, Brown will receive a base salary of $52,000, along with a benefits package comparable to that of other city employees. The commissioners did agree to make one adjustment in benefits, voting to increase Brown’s mileage reimbursement from 44.5 cents per mile to 50.5 cents, which meets the minimum stipulated by the State of Oklahoma.

The executive session did not include a job review, after the commissioners agreed they could make better judgments on Brown’s performance later in the fiscal year.

“We won’t be doing Chuck’s performance evaluation until June,” Mayor Gayle Johnson noted. “This action (Monday night) was just to decide whether to rehire him or not, because his contract comes up in April.

“The commissioners felt it would be better to do the evaluation in June, because by then we’ll have more of our actual numbers for the fiscal year. When we have our (FY 2009) budget and other fiscal numbers available, we’ll be able to see if we’ve met our goals.

“Then we can see where we need to do better and if we should make some adjustments and do some things differently.”

Commissioners addressed three agenda items dealing with city ordinances and codes, including one that will lead to changes in both the code of ordinances and city charter.

Commissioner Scott Cathey recommended current ordinances and the charter be reviewed to ensure the two complement one another. City officials will study both documents, looking for areas in which they conflict or need to be updated or deleted.

The commissioners agreed the review should be completed by December.

Four of the commissioners voted to approve City of Waurika Ordinance No. 041309-1, which would amend the code of ordinances to provide additional duties for the city treasurer. Those duties would be related to the collection of outstanding and overdue debts owed for services provided by the Waurika Volunteer Ambulance Service, and additional pay would be given to the treasurer for collection of ambulance service debt.

Johnson, Cathey, Vice Mayor Jim Bernard and Commissioner Chris Watkins, who was re-elected to his position in Waurika’s municipal election on April 7, voted in favor of amending the ordinance. Commissioner Carole Eakin abstained.

In a follow-up action, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve an emergency clause to Ordinance No. 0413309-1, which put the amended ordinance into effect immediately.

City officials took care of three items relating to the ambulance service, one of which will increase rates for non-district members. They voted unanimously for a 200 percent increase on the base service fee for making runs outside the Waurika Emergency Medical Service District or to locations where there are non-tax-paying participants.

The commissioners voted against establishing a rate for “treat” or “no transport” runs by the ambulance service, and they also authorized Brown to investigate making a change in the pay scale of ambulance service employees. Brown is to consider if a pay scale change will fit into the current budget and report to the commissioners before action is taken.

The commissioners unanimously approved the following:

• Accepting a bid of $1,751 from Gerald Collier and Norman Shaffer to cut and bail foliage on 65.5 acres of city-owned property.

• Casting votes for Patti Kusel-Shelite, the city clerk and treasurer of Fort Cobb, and Walters City Manager John Sheppard as board of trustee members for the Oklahoma Municipal Insurance Group (OMAG).

• Appointing the mayor, the vice mayor and the city manager as signatories for contract aspects of the city’s Community Development Block Grant acquired from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, with the city clerk, city treasurer and mayor being the authorized signatories for fiscal actions regarding the grant.

• The following purchase orders and claims: $5,307.79 from the General Fund; $495.53 from the Rural Fire Fund; $437 from the Rock Island Depot Fund; $37.45 from the Literacy Fund; $3,480.34 from the FEMA Fund for expenses at the Waurika Golf Course; $1,059 from the Municipal Court Fund; $35,674.85 from the CDBG Grant Fund; and, $106 from the Waurika Development Trust Fund.

• Treasurer Gail Kelley’s report for March.

On the same evening his brother, Mark Bryant, was introduced as Waurika’s new city clerk, Jefferson County Sheriff Michael Bryant led a discussion concerning an enhanced 911 program for the county.

Bryant and Mike Faulkner from Ringling explained the enhanced 911 program, which is a nationwide federal program to standardize 911 emergency communications and mapping. The county sheriff said a committee is being formed to explore implementing enhanced 911 in the county, and asked that the commission appoint a representative to the committee.

City officials voted to have Watkins serve as their committee representative.

The commissioners tabled action regarding a letter of support for the Waurika Lake Master Conservancy District’s project to acquire remaining water stored in the lake. They tabled action on an agenda item concerning a no-smoking policy in city buildings or city vehicles.

Although an agenda item called for an update and possible discussion of matters dealing with the Rock Island Depot advisory board, no representative from the board was present.