Editor’s note: The Watonga Republican created a live stream of the city council meeting.
When the Watonga City Council met Wednesday, it was in front of a packed house with at least two live streams for those who could not attend.
While most of those there were probably on hand to see if and by whom the empty council seats would be filled, of if the city manager was replaced, those actions, or inaction, were anti climatic.
The sitting council members, Ryan Bruner, Kayla Ragsdale and Tina Willis agreed to retain City Manager Karrie Beth Little until after the April elections, which will fill the empty seats. Willis is also up for reelection but has not indicated whether she will seek to retain her chair.
The council also did not act on the letters of interest sent in for the empty seats, which are representative of Ward #4 and the at-large seat. Those seats were left empty when Mayor Bill Seitter, who was at-large, and Vice Mayor Travis Bradt resigned at the August council meeting.
Willis said she would like a longer window to review the applicants. City attorney Jared Harrison reminded her that there was only a 60-day timeline to fill the seats before an election would be called. That deadline, he said, falls on October 15, the date of the next city council meeting. The council members can select two applicants or refuse all applicants.
No matter whether the seats are filled, they will be up for election in April.
The biggest thing to come out of the meeting, which was possibly lost on those hoping for fireworks, was the approval and acceptance of two significant airport grants.
One grant, from the Federal Aviation Administration, is for $776,320 to go toward the construction of an apron and taxiway. A second is from the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics for $683,741 for the same project. The state Legislature has appropriated an additional $3.5 million for the construction of a new terminal and approach road on the west side of the airport campus. The area was formerly used as a golf course but was always part of the airport property.
Toby Baker with Parkhill Engineering laid out the timeline when asked by Bruner how long the projects would take.
The apron and taxiway should consume about 68 months, Baker said, depending on weather. He anticipated the terminal would go out to bid late in the spring of 2025, and that construction is expected to take about 9 months to one year.
Council also moved ahead on a community policing policy plan which it had tabled in August. The members had already agreed to revive the slumbering Police Review Board by filling the seats. Statute requires it be comprised of two officers, either retired or active, one attorney and one physician. All must live inside the city limits of the town, which could hinder the search for a physician. In the event no doctor can be found, a member of the city council may sit on the board. There was always the structure for a review board, but it had been unneeded for many years and went by the wayside.
The policing policy plan steps begin with the department making recommendations to the council. This is the policy development system enacted by Sand Springs Police Department based on the recommendations of the Federal Department of Justice in the wake of the Ferguson, Missouri death of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black man, who was shot by a police officer there.
The Sand Springs system has won multiple national awards from both police organizations and community development organizations.