When the Watonga City Council met Tuesday in regular session, it took up multiple matters dealing with the quality of life in the community.
After recognizing several residents who had made significant contributions to a successful Cheese Festival, the council heard an update on a recent application for an urban forestry grant that would add trees to city parks, notably Huff Lorang. That grant is for $43,000 and requires no match from the city. Hopes are to use it as a stepping stone for a Tobacco Settlement Endowment grant to add other amenities to the parks such as pavilions and comfortable picnic tables.
Council then heard a proposal from City Manager Leroy Alsup to amend the city budget, adjusting for an increase in the anticipated payments to the town from CoreCivic, which operates the Diamondback Correctional Center, currently used as an ICE detention center.
“CoreCivic ramped up faster than anticipated,” Alsup said. The budget, created in June, expected $350,000 in payments, but new projections show an estimate of $686,000.
Alsup asked to change the budget to include $479,000, just to stay on the conservative side. He suggested the town use the money to recruit an economic development director. Because there is no database of recommended salary ranges for the job, Alsup came up with his own, about $70,000 annually plus benefits. That money, he said, should attract someone with a mid-level skill set and some experience. Additional costs include training and expenses associated with promotion of the town.
The move was important to rebuild Watonga into a vibrant, sustainable place, Alsup said, because there had been no economic development coordinator for several years, no Chamber of Commerce and a defunct Main Street program.
Council agreed with the suggestion. “I think we need this,” said council member Neal Riley. He was joined in support by Mayor Ryan Bruner, who said, “It’s spending money, but if we don’t (in a few years) we’ll just be sitting here.”
Another weighty matter the council sunk its teeth into was the operation of the ambulance service, which is managed by a 522 board. This was just a discussion because the city manager wanted to postpone a vote until he could ascertain the wishes of the council and bring that to the Blaine County 522 board meeting on November 9.
The question was whether to maintain the service as is – with three fulltime EMTs and eight part time – increase the man hours to two full time crews or fully man the service with two crews and backup manpower.
The discussion was significant because as it stands, it is difficult at best to accommodate transfers from the hospital to Oklahoma City facilities because the town cannot be left without EMT coverage. Those transfers are lucrative, and other area ambulance operators are happy to pick them up, improving their own bottom line.
“What we have to determine is what level of service we want and can afford,” Alsup said.
He also pointed out the service had not raised its rates in 10 years.
After lengthy discussion, council directed Alsup to create a projection and budget for the EMS service that would operate two crews 24/7, and increase rates, so that the service could not only take 9-1-1 calls and attend medical calls at the detention center, but also cover the town during hospital transfers to Oklahoma City facilities. In order to complete the changes, council will hold a special meeting for November 5 to finalize the new budget, prepare to negotiate with the county 522 board on the increases and pass a resolution raising the rates. That meeting will be at city hall and begin at 7:30 p.m.