New councilmember and attorney take seat at Kiowa City Council table
Police investigating theft at city shop, estimated at near $20,000
February 20, 2019
Kiowa's City Council table had a new look at their Feb. 11 regular monthly meeting. Longtime councilmember Bill Watson sat at the head of the table as mayor since he replaces Ron Rohr who abruptly resigned (he said due to health reasons) just days after the January meeting.
Watson asked Brent Shaffer to fulfill the remainder of his seat on the council. Grades 7-12 principal at South Barber, Shaffer took his seat at the table after taking the oath of office from City Clerk Trish Brewer.
With the passing of longtime City Attorney Laurel McClellan of Anthony the city's new attorney Brandon Ritcha was sworn in by City Clerk Trish Brewer. Ritcha is with Ricke & Ritcha Attorneys at Law in Kingman.
City Administrator Lou Leone was home sick with the flu. All other councilmembers were present including: R.L. Simpson, Tom Wells, Brian Hill and Russ Molz. Police Chief Nate Houston and City Superintendent Gary Johnson also sat at the table.
The council unanimously elected Simpson as their new board president. Watson was president. Hill is the alternate.
Kiowa man Kem Humphrey spoke on the public agenda. He was a member of the public serving on the city's committee named early last year to help plan for the renovation of the city building and expansion into the Terwort building. This area is to also house the KPD. Leone said at the January meeting they hoped to have blueprints for the February meeting but did not. Humphrey inquired if the committee members can still have some input on the plans. Nothing was presented in Leone's absence.
Loss of Water Project Grant Explained
Although Leone was absent, he had a typed administrator's report. He said the city's grant application for the major water improvement project was denied. Leone said Kiowa was successful in obtaining the 51 percent Low to Moderate Income (LMI) requirement just barely. However, Kiowa lost points due to an error by the grant writer. The grant writer was hired by BG Consultants and reportedly lost their job over the error.
Leone said he and BG are working with a representative from the USDA-RD to determine if there is a possibility to increase the federal grant allocation to offset this setback. This was a $600,000 loss for the estimated $8.2 million project. Phase I of the project replaces about 10 miles of dilapidated line along the Tri-City Road. This is from Kiowa's water wells southeast of Sharon to Hazelton. Phase II will replace about one-third of Kiowa's water distribution system. Kiowa's around 100 year-old system was described as sub-par at a previous special meeting with engineers and other experts.
Police Investigate Theft at City's Old Brick Shop Building and More
Leone's report included a theft at the city's old brick building and electric shop. This happened sometime over the weekend of February 1-4. Estimates are a loss of $15,000 to $20,000. Police Chief Houston said that valuable wire, hardware and tools were stolen.
When asked for an update Monday, Houston said they've put information on the online scrapmetaltheft.org site. This detects stolen scrap metal that is attempted to be sold within a 200 mile radius the chief said.
The council voted to purchase two 40-foot containers for the city shop.
Monday the chief commented about a car stolen from the Kiowa District Hospital parking lot at 2:45 Friday afternoon. The car is owned by employee Chris Coggins who was at work at KDH at the time. The chief said someone saw a man and a woman walking south toward the parking lot but thought nothing of it.
The owner of the 1998 white Saturn Vue said the car was unlocked and the keys were in the ignition. The vehicle was still missing Monday afternoon. Chief Houston said he's put the theft on the national data base NCIC.
Chief Houston told council he would like to discuss hiring a third full time officer which would give the KPD seven day coverage. He said Michael Simpson is part-time certified and is not a paid employee. Simpson likes to help when he can but is spread really thin and can't commit to being on the schedule. Molz said, "We (the city) can't afford 24 hour coverage."
The chief said the KPD is back-up for the county as they are short-staffed. Houston said he could potentially be out for 24 hours. The council agreed to research the subject further and put it on a future agenda.
The chief presented council with a written report of monthly activity which included 22 traffic stops; seven VIN inspections; Two burglary reports with over $1500 stolen from property (1 residential, 1 commercial); One juvenile drug case – felony multiple charges filed with county attorney; one adult drug case; possession with intent to distribute – felony – filed with county attorney; one discharge of a crossbow in the city limits with cruelty to animal (a cat) – filed municipal.
Other Kiowa City Business
A designated Burn Time for within the city limits was set for March 11-31.
As mayor, Watson was approved as the city's alternate to the EMP3 Board of Directors (for utilities).
To set a standard when allowing access to the public right-of-way, council approved Ordinance No. 18-456.
Brewer said the Redland Veterinarian Clinic at Medicine Lodge wants to set up a day in Kiowa this spring to offer a discount on vaccinations for pets. The city can issue animal tags at the same time. The date will be announced.
Johnson gave an update on ongoing street projects. He and council discussed marking the angle of parking stalls on Main Street to avoid accident risk and to meet ADA requirements.
At the end of the meeting, the council held an executive session with no action taken afterward.
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