Month 2009-1 January
Meeting of 2009-1-13 Regular Meeting
MINUTES
LAWTON CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
JANUARY 13, 2009 6:00 P.M.
WAYNE GILLEY CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBER
Mayor John P. Purcell, Jr. Also
Present:
Presiding Larry
Mitchell, City Manager
Frank
Jensen, City Attorney
Traci
Hushbeck, City Clerk
COL Robert Bridgford, Fort Sill Liaison
Mayor Purcell called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Notice of meeting and agenda
were posted
on the City Hall notice board as required by law. Invocation was given by Dr. David King,
Calvary Baptist Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: James
Hanna, Ward Two
Janice Drewry, Ward Three
Jay Burk, Ward Four
Robert Shanklin, Ward Five
Jeff Patton, Ward Six
Stanley
Haywood, Ward Seven
Randy
Warren, Ward Eight
ABSENT: Bill
Shoemate, Ward One
Mayor Purcell announced the program Crystal Darkness will be broadcast
on Channel 7 at
6:30 p.m.
Dr. Christie Taylor, Executive Director of Roadback, stated she is part of the Crystal
Darkness
Coalition campaign. She stated there will numerous watch parties across the county for the
broadcast. She announced those locations.
PRESENTATION OF CITIZEN OF THE MONTH FOR DECEMBER 2008 TO AWANDA
GLOVER.
Sandra Kuntz, Chairman of the Mayor s Commission on that Status of Women announced
that
Awanda Glover has been named Citizen of the Month for December 2008.
Mayor Purcell read a Certificate of Congratulations from the State of Oklahoma and
a Certificate
of Commendation from the Mayor s Office.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:
Buford Rooks, 6410 NW Compass Drive, stated that every year a lot of the holidays
fall on either
Mondays or Thursdays and half of the Lawton residents miss their trash pick up on those days.
In the last six weeks he has missed three Thursday pick ups and they pay the same rate as those
who have trash pick up on Tuesday and Friday. He would like for someone to think about this.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAWTON CITY COUNCIL REGULAR
MEETINGS OF NOVEMBER 18 AND DECEMBER 2, 2008.
MOVED by Warren, SECOND by Haywood, to approve the minutes of the Lawton City
Council regular meetings of November 18 and December 2, 2008. AYE: Hanna, Drewry, Burk,
Shanklin, Patton, Haywood, Warren. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED.
CONSENT AGENDA: The following items are considered to be routine by the City Council
and
will be enacted with one motion. Should discussion be desired on an item, that item will be
removed from the Consent Agenda prior to action and considered separately.
Mayor Purcell stated they need to strike item #20 at the request of Councilmember
Burk, and
also strike item #23 from Executive Session.
Shanklin requested items #10, #14 and #15 be considered separately.
MOVED by Shanklin, SECOND by Haywood, to approve the Consent Agenda with the
exception of items 10, 14 and 15. AYE: Drewry, Burk, Shanklin, Patton, Haywood, Warren,
Hanna. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED.
1. Consider the following damage claims recommended for approval
and consider passage
of the resolution authorizing the City Attorney to file a friendly suit for the claims
which
are over $400.00: Jevon and Fintrika Watkins in the amount of $2,082.14
(Res. 09-01), Raymond
and Pat McMurry in the amount of $4,811.00 (Res. 09-02) and Arleta Stover in the amount of
$2,560.00 (Res. 09-03). Exhibits: Legal Opinions/Recommendations, Resolution No.09-___,
Resolution No. 09- ___, Resolution No. 09-___.
2. Consider the following damage claim recommended for denial: Corey Potts in the amount of
$1,700.00. Exhibits: Legal Opinion/Recommendation.
3. Consider approving the deposit of a reimbursement check
from Thomson-West, in the
amount of Three Hundred Thirty-Four and 94/100 Dollars ($334.94) into City Attorney s 231 -
Professional Services Account. Exhibits: Thomson-West reimbursement check.
4. Consider approving the deposit of a reimbursement check
from LURA, in the amount of One
Hundred Ninety-Seven and 30/100 Dollars ($197.30) into City Attorney s 231 - Professional
Services Account. Exhibits: LURA reimbursement check on file in the City Clerk s Office.
5. Consider authorizing the City Attorney s Office to
reimburse the County Treasurer s Office
the amount of Four Hundred Thirty-Three and 00/100 Dollars ($433.00), plus interest and
penalty fees in the approximate amount of One Hundred Twenty-Six and 82/100 Dollars
($126.82). Exhibits: Promissory Note and County Treasure s Receipt.
6. Consider approving the two damage claims Karen Stanga filed
on behalf of the minor
children Gregorie Holcombe
(Res. 09-04)and Kourtnie Holcombe (Res. 09-08), DC-2008-061 &
DC-2008-062 in the reduced amount of Fifteen Hundred 00/100 Dollars ($1,500.00) each, and
consider the passage of resolutions authorizing the City Attorney to enter into a settlement
agreement and file a friendly suit. Exhibits: Resolution No. ,
Resolution No. .
7. Consider adopting a resolution ratifying the action of
the City Attorney and the City
Manager in directing our third party administrator to make payment on the judgment in the
Workers' Compensation case of Richard Taylor in the Workers' Compensation Court, Case No.
2008-03662. Exhibits:
Resolution No. 2009-05.
8. Consider accepting donation of monies contributed by the
family of Virginia Ann Carter.
Exhibits: None.
9. Consider approving
Resolution Number 2009-06 nominating Dr. Rosemary Bellino, M.D.
for the Oklahoma Community Institute s 2009 award for excellence for community leadership.
Exhibits: Resolution No. 2009-____.
10. Consider approving the construction plans for street improvements
on East Gore Boulevard
to serve the Fort Sill Apache Casino located at 2401 East Gore Boulevard. Exhibits: Site Plan
Shanklin requested an explanation of what they are proposing.
Richard Rogalski, Planning Director, stated plans have been submitted and reviewed
for
improvements to East Gore Boulevard to serve the Fort Sill Apache Casino which is a
development funded improvement. They intend to develop the casino site and they are
determining if there will be additional traffic coming in. They have elected to construct
a right-turn deceleration lane and a left-turn lane in the median of Gore Boulevard.
Mitchell stated this is for current improvements. They are not talking about
improvements to
east Gore for their proposed development of a hotel and support facilities.
Rogalski stated currently they do have a rezoning request for that area for development.
They are
building a parking lot to serve their existing casino site and their future development. The traffic
data was based on full development.
Mitchell stated when they decide to build a hotel, we would go back and revisit the
traffic issue.
Rogalski stated by the time the hotel gets there, there could be an issue of signalization.
Mayor Purcell stated currently there is an entrance and exit to the casino. Now
there will be a
right hand turn lane into the entrance.
Rogalski stated they are constructing two right turn lanes. One on the west
end of the
development and one on the east end where there is nothing now.
Mayor Purcell stated that is the problem and they need to look at that before they
get too far
along. Right now there are two entrances to the casino and another entrance into the area
they
are building which serves construction vehicles. He questioned if they are just talking about
those two entrances that currently go into the casino.
Rogalski stated the far east entrance is not constructed at this time.
Mayor Purcell stated there are vehicles going in and out of this entrance that is
not paved.
He stated the concern is that there is a line up sometimes in the main lane on Gore
going east
turning right into the casino in the entrance that is farthest to the west. When cars come out
of
the casino they generally use the entrance that is farthest to the east and they go up to the next
opening and make a u-turn. This problem is only going to get worse when the hotel is
constructed. Right now it looks like there is an entrance/exit farther east used by construction
traffic. He questioned if there will be three entrances.
Rogalski stated they are proposing to have three entrances which do meet city code. The new
entrance will be a right in and no exit at all. They will have two entrances on the west side,
but
only one of them is an exit.
Burk stated he feels they are going in the right direction. He stated there
will be a light
eventually.
Mayor Purcell stated there will be three entrances/exits in that short period with
a light in front of
one.
Rogalski stated people coming from the east will enter at the far east entrance which
is where the
signal will be so all of the left turning traffic will be entering at that location as well as the left
turning traffic exiting to go westbound. He stated they have invested a lot of time on this issue.
Burk stated they are trying to prevent people from making a U-turn in front of Sonic.
Mayor Purcell questioned if the only exit will be at the light.
Rogalski stated the far west entrance will also be an exit, but it will be a right
turn only. There is
no median opening there.
Mayor Purcell stated they are going to see people come out of one of those two exits
and turn
right and go across two lanes of traffic to go to the light to make a U-turn. This is the same
problem we had at I-44. He suggested that the only way to exit is at the light.
Haywood stated this is going to be good for the city of Lawton. He is surprised
there have not
been more accidents there.
Burk stated they are limited in space because they only own so much property. They
have been
working on this for months and he feels they have come up with the best they can do.
Mayor Purcell stated they are approving this with fourteen conditions, none of which
address the
issue of people cutting across traffic to get to the light.
Burk stated he does not see how they can change this to make it any better.
Jerry Ihler, Public Works Director, stated they really only have two exits, one at
the very west
and one at the very east of the property. The one at the west end can only turn right and
go out
and the one at the east end is where the future light will be when the hotel goes in. The traffic
volume at this time did not warrant the signal. He stated they will put the signal in when the
hotel and restaurant go in. He stated the property owner was not able to work out anything with
the property owner to the east and they could not place the traffic signal and exit on 25
th Street,
which he felt would have been the best option. He stated the spacing on the entrances are
allowed by code.
MOVED by Burk, SECOND by Shanklin, to approve the construction plans for street
improvements on East Gore Boulevard to serve the Fort Sill Apache Casino located at 2401 East
Gore Boulevard AYE: Burk, Shanklin, Patton, Haywood, Warren, Hanna, Drewry. NAY: None.
MOTION CARRIED.
11. Consider approving construction plans for water, sanitary
sewer, and deceleration lane and
drive opening and an application for Access to a Limited Access Roadway for 7502 NW Quanah
Parker Trailway. Exhibits: Location Map and Application.
12. Consider approving construction plans for water line improvements
serving the
development at 602 SW 82
nd Street. Exhibits: Location Map.
13. Consider adopting a Resolution authorizing the installation
of traffic control measures on
the east side of NW 40
th Street near W Gore Blvd. Exhibits: Traffic Commission Minutes,
Traffic Issue Request, and Resolution No. 09-07.
14. Consider denying the requests for traffic control measures
on SW Atterbury Drive, SE
Mieling Drive and SE Brighton Drive. Exhibits: Traffic Commission Minutes and Traffic Issue
Request.
Shanklin questioned why we turned these down. He has seen these in Norman.
Ihler stated there is a very limited amount of traffic that utilizes Atterbury. They
contacted
officials in Norman and received a copy of their Neighborhood Traffic Management and
Calming Program and one of the items utilized to slow down traffic are speed tables. There
is
criteria that Norman uses, such as there must be at least 500 cars a day go through the street. The
streets that were requested on this item do not even come close that number. He stated they are
utilizing the Traffic Commission to go through and add pros and cons to fit this program to the
City of Lawton. It will then go to the City Council for approval. He stated
that this does not
mean that they will not use speed table at some point.
Warren stated that police, fire and ambulance service has an issue because it does
cause their
response time to increase. He stated Norman requires developers to put traffic devices in at the
time the development is built.
Burk stated if people are complaining in these neighborhoods, maybe the police should
monitor
these locations.
MOVED by Shanklin, SECOND by Warren, to deny the requests for traffic control measures on
SW Atterbury Drive, SE Mieling Drive and SE Brighton Drive. AYE: Shanklin, Patton,
Haywood, Warren, Hanna, Drewry, Burk. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED.
15. Consider amending (RFPCL08-004) Property Insurance with
Towe, Hester & Erwin LLC
of Lawton, OK to include the addition of buildings and contents. Exhibits: City of Lawton
Property Schedule
Shanklin stated this firm has had this contract since 1994 without any competition. He has had
calls from people wanting to know why the bid was not put out. He stated it takes some time to
put this bid together and this is a lot of money to put out over fourteen years without any
competitive bids.
Rick Endicott, Finance Director, stated this was bid out in 2007.
Shanklin questioned who bid. He has heard that no one has bid on this contract
since 1994.
Endicott stated this was sent out for bid.
Shanklin stated he is just relating the stories he has heard.
MOVED by Shanklin, SECOND by Hanna, to amend (RFPCL08-004) Property Insurance with
Towe, Hester & Erwin LLC of Lawton, OK to include the addition of buildings and contents.
AYE: Patton, Haywood, Warren, Hanna, Drewry Burk, Shanklin. NAY: None. MOTION
CARRIED.
16. Consider approving appointments to boards and commissions. Exhibits: None.
17. Consider approval of payroll for the periods of December
15, 2008 January 11, 2009.
BUSINESS ITEMS:
18. Consider an ordinance amending Section 22-4-1-403, Article
22-4, Chapter 22, Lawton
City Code, 2005, by changing the time that refuse containers are to be placed at the curb,
providing for severability and declaring an emergency. Exhibits: Ordinance 09-____.
Hanna stated staff did some research for him and over the last two years 777 people
have been
issued citations. In 2007, 152 people got tickets for putting their trash out at the curb. He
questioned what those people who work at Goodyear were supposed to do when their shifts are
from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. and the ordinance restricts you from putting your trash out before
8:00 p.m. He is asking that the 8:00 p.m. time be changed to 5:00 p.m. and leave the rest
of the
code alone. He stated there are still going to be those who leave their cans out there
24/7 and
those residents should be given tickets.
Buford Rooks, 6410 NW Compass Drive, stated he agrees. Trash cans are sitting
out 24/7. He
stated he has a problem with the time they have to be off the street. Last Monday the trash men
did not get to his house until 10 p.m.
Hanna stated there has to be exceptions to the rules.
Burk stated that happened because it was the quarterly clean up and they were out
late.
Warren stated he is not going to be able to support this because he has never had
a complaint.
Patton questioned the criteria for house side pickup.
Mayor Purcell stated there is no additional charge for house side pickup if you have
a note from
your doctor.
MOVED by Hanna, SECOND by Burk, to adopt Ordinance 09-01 waive the reading of the
ordinance, read the title only, and declaring an emergency. AYE: Drewry, Burk, Shanklin,
Patton, Haywood, Hanna. NAY: Warren. MOTION CARRIED
(Title read by City Attorney) Ordinance
09-01
An ordinance pertaining to refuse amending Section 22-4-1-403, Division 22-4-1, Article
22-4,
Chapter 22, Lawton City Code, 2005, by changing the time that refuse containers are to be
placed at the curb, providing for severability, declaring an emergency.
19. Consider adopting an ordinance pertaining to Buildings,
Construction, and Housing
amending Sections 6-3-1-301 and 6-3-1-302, Division 6-3-1, Article 6-3, Chapter 6, Lawton City
Code, 2005, by adopting the 2008 edition of the National Electrical Code, providing for
severability and establishing and effective date. Exhibits: Ordinance No. 09-_____.
Doug Wellhouse, License and Permit Division Supervisor, stated in July the State
of Oklahoma
adopted the 2008 National Electric Code. He stated this ordinance will bring the City of Lawton
in line with the state level.
Shanklin questioned if this has been discussed with the electrical contractors.
Wellhouse stated they have notified the supply houses regarding the products they
will have to
stock. He stated contractors will have until March 1
st to comply.
MOVED by Drewry, SECOND by Hanna, to adopt Ordinance 09-02 waive the reading of the
ordinance, read the title only. AYE: Burk, Shanklin, Patton, Haywood, Warren, Hanna, Drewry.
NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED
(Title read by City Attorney) Ordinance
09-02
An ordinance pertaining to buildings, construction, and housing amending Sections
6-3-1-301
and 6-3-1-302, Division 6-3-1, Article 6-3, Chapter 6, Lawton City Code, 2005, by adopting the
2008 edition of the national electrical code, providing for severability and establishing an
effective date of March 1, 2009.
20. Discuss and consider authorizing financial assistance
from the Hotel/Motel Tax Fund for
the Lawton Enhancement Trust Authority to utilize for the benefit of the 11
th Street Enhancement
Project and take appropriate action as deemed necessary. Exhibits: Current status of the
Hotel/Motel Fund allocations.
THIS ITEM WAS STRICKEN FROM THE AGENDA
21. Discuss, provide direction to staff or take appropriate
action on the proposed
Administrative, Supervisory and Management (ASM) Compensation and Classification plan for
all non-union city employees with an implementation date of July 1, 2009. Exhibits: None.
Mitchell stated staff has been working on this program for about four years. He
stated the
information was distributed with the agenda packets which included an overview and history of
where they have been with this plan. Four years ago they started a discussion of developing a
market based pay plan for all of the general employees, but around that time the union was
formed. It took about a year to determine who was designated under AFSCME and who was not
in the union. They ended up with 117 employees who are now non union, supervisory and
professional staff. One of the key issues is that our present personnel ordinance requires us
to
maintain a city compensation plan and we have not made any major changes to that plan since
1999. He stated this plan has eleven grades with fifteen steps which makes our compensation
competitive and attract and retain professionals, and maximize flexibility in hiring and retaining
employees. He stated the proposal tonight is a two part proposal. The
majority of the 117
employees would fall under a classification system and the other part of the plan would be a
performance based merit system for department directors with annual reviews. Department
directors would no longer be part of a pay classification system, they would be in a merit based
system with no automatic steps. The plan was presented to department directors in November.
Hanna questioned the time frame to get from step one to fifteen.
Mitchell stated it would be an annual step based on evaluations.
Hanna stated every year an employee would get a step increase. He questioned
if the cost of
living adjustment is in addition to the step.
Mitchell stated the police and fire contracts have 5% steps for the first ten years,
and they
negotiate for other wage and benefit increases whether that includes a cost of living increase or
changes in other benefits for those union groups. There are years where a firefighter or police
officer can get a 5% step increase, and based upon what the City Council decides to do with their
contract, they could also received a 2%, 3% or 4% cost of living increase (COLA). Once they
get to the end of the pay plan, after that ten year period, the firefighter or police officer is only
eligible for the cost of living increase.
Hanna stated unless they add more steps which they have done in the past.
Mitchell stated there are four department directors whose salaries are frozen and
in the 117 non
union employees there are fifteen or sixteen employees that are presently frozen and in the next
year or two there will be another fourteen or fifteen positions frozen.
Hanna stated in fifteen years a new employee can max out in the plan.
Mitchell stated that is part of the problem. Right now we have a federal civil
service pay plan.
Hanna stated with the federal civil service plan you received a step increase the
first three years,
after that it was every two years up to six years. Then it goes to every four years. By
the time
you hit your thirty years, you are at the end of the pay plan.
Mitchell stated the current pay plan is designed to provide a 2 ½ % step each
year as opposed to
fire and police who have 5% steps. The proposed plan is a graduated step where the first
three
years would be a 5% step and the next four or five years would be a 3% and then it goes down to
2 ½ % for the last five or six years. They are basically trying to combine fire
and police
benefits.
He stated the COLA increases are strictly what the City Council decides to do during
the budget
year.
Hanna questioned if this plan had an affect on the budget.
Mitchell stated yes. He stated last year the Council approved the fire
contract that includes a 2
½ % step and a 2% COLA. They will be going into AFSCME and police negotiations shortly.
All of the employee groups will be considering those wages and benefits each year as they go
through the budget process.
Mayor Purcell stated there are people in departments that are making as much and
sometimes
more than the department directors. This plan will attempt to fix that problem. He stated they
keep seeing people leave because they are getting more in other cities and the private sector.
They need to do something.
Mitchell discussed the handout. He stated in the current plan the majority
of the non-union
employees are in the last half of our pay plan. There are a lot of senior staff members
approaching the end of the pay plan and there are a number of employees that are at the end and
frozen and the only way they have been able to address that issue has been to reclassify. If you do
this long enough, the whole plan is jeopardized because you are now changing people s
compensation strictly based on individual requests and not based on a group of employees who
have similar jobs with similar responsibilities. He stated you want to design your pay plan where
there is equal distribution throughout the pay plan.
Shanklin questioned the costs.
Mitchell stated on table 3 of the proposed plan you can see the current compensation
and the
proposed when those employees are converted into the new plan. If the City Council adopts this
plan they would not penalize any individuals or any position. As you move into the new plan
you are not losing any wage or compensation. He stated as of today, they are estimating the cost
would be between $90,000 and $95,000. He stated that number will change between now and
the time the plan is implemented because people will leave or retire. They are also having some
internal discussion about a couple of the classifications but will work through those during the
budget process. He stated the change here is that they think in order to recruit people,
they need
to start them out and accelerate their compensation when they start and that levels out over time.
Both fire and police have a 5% step in their contracts and they think for the non-union
professional staff, it makes sense that they should match that compensation. The executive
compensation would be a pure merit performance based system which will allow them to have
more flexibility in hiring and compensation levels. The current pay plan is not competitive
and
they simply cannot recruit people in steps A, B or C. He stated the current pay plan
does not
recognize experience outside of the organization. If a person has twenty years of
experience
with another company, the pay plan says you hire this person in steps A, B or C.
Shanklin questioned if the City Manager has some leeway.
Mitchell stated he does, but it jeopardizes the whole system when he does this. You
would have
to make a value judgment about the importance of that position versus having a system that
groups the positions together so that those who have like experiences, responsibilities and
education are compensated the same or similar. He stated the one thing he hopes this addresses
is if someone comes to work for the City of Lawton and moves all the way through the pay plan,
when they reach the end of this pay plan there is no reclassification. This is how much they think
this position is worth in the market. He feels this is a much better plan than the current one
and it
is a big improvement and there may be minor adjustments over time as positions change and as
we change the way we are doing things.
Hanna questioned what would constitute a field supervisor. He counted six field
supervisors in
the water department. He questioned how many employees that person would supervise.
Ihler stated in water distribution there are two field supervisors, in wastewater
collection there
are two field supervisors, in sewer rehab there is one field supervisor. In water distribution
each
field supervisor has three or four crews they oversee.
Mitchell stated he has also included surveys from other cities in Oklahoma, our region
and from
the Oklahoma Municipal League. This is the area that we recruit from and some of our
professional staff relocate to some of these cities. He stated this is the final product and they
would like to implement in July. There is no cost of living included in this document and the
investment cost is in the neighborhood of about $90,000.
Shanklin questioned if Mr. Mitchell believes that we can compare wages with another
town of
our size even though their budget is $75 million and ours is $45 million.
Mitchell stated that all he can say is that is where we are recruiting from and we
are having a
very hard time filling positions.
Shanklin questioned if we were talking about professional people.
Mitchell stated yes. He is talking about engineers, planners, attorneys, accountants,
etc..
Shanklin questioned how many professional positions we have out of 880 employees.
Mitchell stated that in the supervisory and professional staff, 117 employees are
covered by this
plan.
Shanklin questioned what they were going to do when water is $75 for 2,000 gallons. It is on the
horizon.
Mitchell stated the only solution is to outsource all of these responsibilities. If you can t hire an
engineer, planner or accountant then you have to outsource those jobs.
Drewry stated she realizes that a lot of work went into this and she feels it is
a good plan.
Jensen stated that he and the City Manager have talked about minor adjustments to
the plan. He
feels their Legal Assistant II positions should not be ranked below the Administrative Assistant II
positions in other departments. He is asking the City Council to consider this change.
Mitchell stated they are considering that change and this will be subject to the
funds available
when the budget is adopted.
Burk stated you get what you pay for. If we lose people because they are tapped
out at the top
and they want to stay on for 25 plus years, we need those people to stay and we have to pay.
They need to remember that they are talking about people that just can t be replaced
by
someone off the street.
MOVED by Drewry, SECOND by Burk, to approve the proposed Administrative, Supervisory
and Management (ASM) Compensation and Classification plan for all non-union city employees
with an implementation date of July 1, 2009. AYE: Shanklin, Patton, Haywood, Warren, Hanna,
Drewry, Burk. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED.
REPORTS: MAYOR/CITY COUNCIL/CITY MANAGER
Drewry stated the Salvation Army Shelter is short 24 beds. She has located
some beds in Texas
and they are exactly what they need. She requested that the City Council approve $1,000 from
the Council Contingency Fund to buy ten beds.
Mayor Purcell stated they can direct staff.
Drewry stated she does not have time to approve this at the next meeting. They
need the beds for
the weekend since it will be cold. She has located some people who will also be helping.
Shanklin stated he would give $100 tonight.
Mayor Purcell questioned if the Council would agree to this request.
Shanklin questioned if they could legally do this.
Jensen stated he does not believe they can legally do this. It was not on the
agenda. He stated
they discussed this at directors meeting that morning and thought they had a solution.
Mitchell stated that the Parks and Recreation Director had a contact that might be
able to provide
some beds. He stated he believes that the Council can do this.
Jensen stated he does not agree.
Endicott stated he does not have a problem with this if the Council agrees.
Mayor Purcell stated they can bring an item back at the next meeting for subsequent
approval.
He questioned if Council agrees to do this.
No one objected.
Shanklin questioned if they were hiring another ten firefighters.
Mitchell stated they are interviewing for three positions.
Shanklin stated the only problem he has is that now we are about 58% living out in
the county.
Mitchell stated his preference is to hire from inside the city but the problem is
that you hire
someone from inside the city and five years later they are living in the county. He questioned
how you address that. He questioned if they can restrict where they live.
Jensen stated only for certain professions.
Shanklin stated his point is that he does not believe that those guys could be picking
and
choosing who gets the next job.
Mitchell stated they opened bids for 2
nd Street today and received two bids. Engineering is
currently evaluating those bids and will have a report at the next meeting. He stated there will
be
a special meeting next Tuesday, January 20th to receive a preliminary engineering report
from
Garver Engineering regarding Rogers Lane.
Chief Ronnie Smith, Lawton Police Department, reported the end of the year statistics.
Violent
crime went down 6.4% last year and non violent crimes went down 6.5%. Homicides were down
by 36%, rapes up 4%, robberies are up, assaults down 10%, burglaries down 7.1%, larcenies
down 9.5%, motor vehicle thefts were down 18.5%. He stated traffic accidents were down by
about 102 for the year. Citations were up by 1,000. He stated he will try to get a report out
to the
Council every three months.
Mayor Purcell suggested he send it out electronically.
Mitchell stated if the Council is interested in the statistics on certain neighborhoods,
they can get
that information.
The Mayor and Council convened in executive session at 7:46 p.m. and reconvened in
regular,
open session at 8:00 p.m. Roll call reflected all members present.
BUSINESS ITEMS: EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEMS
22. Pursuant to Section 307B.4, Title 25, Oklahoma Statutes,
consider convening in executive
session to discuss the lawsuit Stephen and Deana Carroll vs. City of Lawton, CJ-2008-088, and if
necessary, take appropriate action in open session. Exhibits: None.
Jensen read the title of item 22.
MOVED by Patton, SECOND by Warren, to approve settlement in the amount of $1,329 and
authorize the City Attorney to file a friendly suit and all necessary paperwork to effectuate
settlement. AYE: Drewry, Patton. NAY: Warren, Hanna, Burk, Shanklin, Haywood. MOTION
FAILED.
23. Pursuant to Section 307B.2, Title 25, Oklahoma Statutes,
consider convening in executive
session to discuss interest arbitration for a Collective Bargaining Agreement for FY 2009-2010
between the Police Union, IUPA, Local 24, and the City of Lawton, and take appropriate action
in open session. Exhibits: None.
THIS ITEM WAS STRICKEN FROM THE AGENDA
ADDENDUM:
EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEM
1. Pursuant to Section 307B.2, Title 25, Oklahoma Statutes,
consider convening in executive
session to discuss negotiations for a Collective Bargaining Agreement for FY 2009-2010
between the Police Union, IUPA, Local 24, and the City of Lawton, and take appropriate action
in open session. Exhibits: None.
Jensen read the title of the addendum.
MOVED by Drewry, SECOND by Burk, to appoint Larry Mitchell, Tim Wilson and Sherry
Anderson as the City s negotiating team for fiscal year 2009-2010 negotiations with IUPA Local
24 and to further appoint Larry Mitchell as Chief Negotiator to the team. AYE: Shanklin, Patton,
Haywood, Warren, Hanna, Drewry, Burk. NAY: None. MOTION CARRIED.
There being no further business to consider, the meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m. upon
motion,
second and roll call vote.
____
/s/ John P. Purcell, Jr.______________
JOHN P. PURCELL, JR., MAYOR
ATTEST:
____
Traci Hushbeck___________________
TRACI HUSHBECK, CITY CLERK