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Waurika City Hall News

Waurika City Commissioner’s July Meeting

 The July 8th regular meeting of the Waurika City Commissioners was lightly attended. 

One of the first things decided on was the use of the future REAP Grant funds to be used to chip and seal the road that circles the Elementary School. 

According to those present, it has been awhile since the road was resurfaced. 

Next, the commissioners adopted their Five Year Plan. The plan is required in order to apply for a REAP Grant. 

The interlocal agreement with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department for Dispatch Services in the amount of $3,027.20 per month was approved. This agreement must be approved annually. 

The contract with A&A Wind Pro to lease property with Waurika was approved. 

Bids were opened for the 1983 Chevy Truck belonging to the Waurika Fire Department, which had been declared as surplus. The highest bid of $1,100.00 was accepted. 

Bids were opened for a surplus declared 2008 John Deer Mower. The bid for $300.00 was accepted. 

Bids for the unused rolls of insulation that had previously been declared as surplus by the City of Waurika were opened. The highest bid was in the amount of $750.00. It was accepted. 

The commissioners approved a new digital camera system for the new police patrol vehicle in the amount of $3,280.00. 

Claims in the amount of $32,701.79 for the City of Waurika were approved. 

It was reported that 25 loads of leftover millings from the road work on Hwy 70 east of Waurika was donated to the City of Waurika. 

Acting City Manager reported that work continues on the Presbyterian Church. 

Code enforcement continues, according to  City Clerk, Michael Bryant. Currently there are 19 properties in the process of being cleaned up. There are 25 more that will be brought into the process in the near future. 

It is a slow tedious process but it will pay off in the future says Bryant.

The City of Waurika now hired a new police officer. His name is Matt Peck. There will be an article in an upcoming issue about him and his experience. 

One of the main concerns the police department faces is the break ins and thefts that have been occurring on the north side of town.

 In other business, Commissioner Henry Lara suggested that the police officers write down the street lights they  notice out at night so PSO can be contacted about repairing them the next day. 

The Go Bonds, funds which have already been approved, the revenue of which comes in from the bond, in the amount of $40,255.31 were approved. 

The financial report by RS Meacham was accepted and approved. 

Overall it has been a good year for the city financially. One of the reasons is the revenue generated by the pipeline company temporarily operating in Waurika. 

Commissioner Bill Everett complimented acting manager Brad Scott for his management. He said he could remember the shape the city was in before Brad took back over. 

There being no new business, the Waurika City Commissioner  meeting was adjourned. 

After a short break, the commissioners reconvened to conduct the business of the Waurika Public Works Authority (WPWA).

The minutes from the previous meetings were approved. 

Bids on the John Deer D140 Mower were opened. The Mower only has 60 hours on it.  No bids were accepted.  

The city purchased a new $800.00 air compressor for the water department. 

Claims in the amount of $55,353.85 for the WPWA were approved. 

Next, the finincial report from RS Meacham was approved. 

There being no new business, the meeting was adjourned. 

Adam Brinson Reflects on His time on the City Commission

 Adam Brinson took office in April of 2019. Monday was his last official meeting as a commissioner. 

When he started one of his goals was to keep from raising water rates. During the last three years the commission has only raised water rates one time and that was to keep up with the rate of inflation. 

Since 2019 the citizens of Waurika passed a bond issue which allowed the Fire Department to purchase much needed  safety equipment along with a ladder truck which  will allow fire fighters to effectively access the roof tops of burning houses. Thankfully, their hasn’t been any house fires since the purchase of the truck.  If a house fire does occur the department has the equipment they need to put it out quickly and safely. 

Brinson says commissioners have worked hard to set aside enough money to survive emergencies.  The accepted accounting goal is to have enough unrestricted cash to survive three years without any positive revenue. The city is well on its way to meet that goal. In the past there were times when the city had a hard time keeping its head above water.

He said some have asked him about the purchase of new police and city vehicles.  He said the units purchased met state requirements and are safe. He also says the previous vehicles were costing more in repairs than they were worth, thus not being cost effective. For example, police vehicles are more expensive because of the required equipment which does not come standard.  

The hiring of Kyote Dunn has been good for Waurika. Brinson says the commissioners interviewed many qualified candidates and thoughtfully considered each one before selecting Dunn. He says he has been impressed with Dunn’s diligence and professionalism. 

Also, he says it has been encouraging to see how people have come together to improve Waurika.

A group of citizens wanted to use the Presbyterian church more often including the ministerial alliance. The problem was the lack of air conditioning. Thankfully an anonymous donations contributed to install the new units making it usable year around. Citizens can expect to see more functions take place in the beautiful Waurika landmark. 

New parks and landscaping has been incredible. Craig Williams and his crew along with countless volunteers have done a tremendous job making Waurika look incredible. There are still more improvements to come as far as parks and recreation are concerned. 

Waurika does not have a city council it has a city commission. Commissioners are not allowed to direct day to day operations. They don’t act individually, they act as one body. Brinson said he has learned much about city government while on the commission.  The members along with citizens must all work together. He says citizens are encouraged to participate in public hearings and weekly meetings. If a citizen wants they can asked to be put on the agenda for the regular meeting or they can speak up during “citizen input” during any meeting. Those who attend meetings faithfully understand why and how decisions are made for the good of the community. No decisions are made without careful consideration.

Brinson is only leaving because of time restraints. He is now the pastor of two churches, here and in Ryan. 

Brinson says it has been an honor to serve with the other commissioners. They have a great working relationship and each one is dedicated to doing what is right for Waurika. 

Kristina Torres and Jerry Wallace Face off for City Commission

Kristina Torres

Kristina Torres

 Kristina Torres is a Waurika Native who has lived here all her life and has a vested interest in the success of Waurika. She feels the city is going in a good direction and doesn’t want it to lose any momentum. She says Waurika is a beautiful town. “We have a great community that has always been supportive of one another.

Torres graduated from Waurika in 2007 as class valedictorian. 

She began her college education at the University of Oklahoma and later transferred to the University of Central Oklahoman located in Edmond. 

She began working for the Waurika Ambulance Service in 2016. Torres is a paramedic, a vocation inspired by her mom. 

Torres is very active within the community. Currently she is helping coach Girls on the Run. Recently she spoke at the Wish Task Force Career Fair held for Waurika students. As part of the task force she is very active in helping adults achieve career success.

Her goal is to do what it takes to help Waurika grow and prosper. She wants to see more activities for children, young people and senior adults. She says she is eager hear citizen’s concerns, and issues. 

Being a first responder, Torres wants to see the Fire Department and emergency services have all the resources they need to keep local citizens safe. 

She also wants to improve the cities infrastructure along with the continued efforts to improve Waurika’s parks. 

Jerry Wallace

Jerry Wallace

Jerry Wallace started life in Love county and moved to Addington when he was in the seventh grade. Wallace says he was raised by the “best mother in the world”. She raised eleven kids in her family. All six boys ended up with Master’s Degrees. Wallace graduated high school from Addington and went on the earn a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University out of Hunstville, Texas. Before that he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology from Central State University. 

“I believe I’m qualified to deal with people and listen to people. That’s what I want to do, listen to the people of this town. I’ve dedicated lots of work to the city. I’ve cleaned up the property of many of the houses they have torn down. I’ve mowed the ditches along the streets for them. I love to work and I love to help people.” 

Over the past 18 years he has been a part of the Baptist Disaster Team. They go all over the country to assist with cleaning up and helping those who have experienced a catastrophe (flood, tornado, hurricane, etc). Last year he was deployed 12 times and this year he has already been deployed twice. It’s purely a labor of love. It’s completely voluntary. He says his reward is simply helping people. 

He retired in 1980 from the Drug Enforcement Administration. He had served 12 years overseas in various countries including Iran. 

He was working in Iran when the embassy was overtaken and the hostage crisis began.  During his years of service he traveled to 45 countries. “God has really blessed me,” he says. 

Wallace says he was Mayor of Waurika for six years during the 1980s. Since then he has kept up with the goings on of Waurika. 

He currently feels Waurika is spending too much money for a small town. As an example, he states he attended a city commissioner meeting where they were wanting to buy a $54,000.00 police car. When he asked if he could address the issue he says they would only allow him to speak for three minutes (Note: All citizens allowed to address the commissioners during citizen input are only given three minutes to speak.) Wallace, said, “I think that is horrendous when they do that. I feel like the council we have today thinks this city is their’s and the money they have is their’s. I see this as the people’s money. They keep taxing us. Every six months they raise the water rates.” 

Referring back to the purchase of the police car he said he attempted to keep them from doing that because they could have purchased one $25,000.00 cheeper. He said they laughed at him. 

He also cited the purchase of the new central air unit for the Presbyterian Church, which he says is only used one time per year yet they spent $12.000.00 on the unit. “I thought that was ridiculous,” he said. 

Later, Wallace said the city “transferred a million dollars from a checking account to a CD and then raised the utility rates 2.5%. Wallace goes on to say that “the average income for the whole town is $36.000.00 per family.” He says the people in town can’t afford to pay the utility rates we have. Wallace says Waurika’s utility rates are the highest in the state according to his research. He says, “Comanche’s minimum utility bill is $36.00. Waurika’s is around $100.00.” Wallace said in Ryan the citizens get water and electric for around $100 per month. 

“We’ve got to improve. We’ve got to have people in there who care about this town. They are the ones we serve. I just feel like if I don’t stand up for what I believe I won’t have a right to complain.” 

“That’s why I am running for city council. I know I can’t do it by myself but maybe I can convince two other ones to go along with me. I just want to leave the town better than I found it.”

“The things that really get me is a year ago they bought five new pickups for the street, water and utility department. Our city limits only go a quarter mile south and a half mile east and a half mile west and people live two miles out on highway five. They sold pickups that were only 15 years old that people are still driving today hauling wood to Wichita Falls. We don’t have to have the best of everything here. It’s all about taxing the people of this town. I can’t see how anyone can pay a $130 -$140 utility bill to the city while living in the housing. That doesn’t include their electricity.”

“The City council thinks this town belongs to them and I can’t stand it. It’s not their town. We pay for everything they do.”

Wallace went on to discuss the ladder truck used by the Waurika Fire Department, “Having a ladder truck on the fire department for $200,000 that the people are having to pay for when we’ve used it two times in the last two years we’ve had it. One was to get a cat out of the tree and the other was in a parade. Do we need it? I don’t think the people need it. The only people who pay for it are property owners. It was a bond and the city council approved it. They can stop expenditures like that if they would just stop and think about the people. I feel for the poor people and feel for the people having financial trouble. I’m going to try to do something about it. I don’t know if one person can start it and get it going but we did in the 1980s. I’m still in good enough health to get in there and fight a good battle. I’ll be working for the people not for city council. I will not go along with anything that cost the people more.

Candidates File for Local Offices

 The deadline for filing for office in this year’s elections was this past Friday afternoon at 5pm. 

Four filed for seats on the Waurika City Commission. 

Two of those candidates Jacob Eck and Henry Lara are seeking re-election. Eck and Lara both drew opponents.

Also filing for a seat on the Waurika City Commission are James Terry and Rickey Porterfield.

In the race for county commissioner Rickey Martin drew two opponents. Rickey will be running for re-election against Kenneth Blevins and Macey Lovett. 

Bryce Bohot did not draw an opponent in his bid for re-election as a commissioner in District 1. 

Nobody filed to run against Sandra Watkins for the office of County Assessor. 

Emily Follis will also run unopposed for her re-election bid for the office of County Treasurer. 

Jefferson County’s Associate District Judge, Dennis Gay, did not draw an opponent. 

District Attorney, Jason Hicks, is also unopposed. 

State Rep. Marcus McEntire will return to his seat in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Dist. 50, without having to face a challenger. 

Waurika Academy Graduates

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 The Waurika Police Department and City of Waurika would like to congratulate Officer Dyer and Officer Floyd for graduating the reserve Academy. Chief Gallaher would like to thank Officer Dyer and Floyd for all the hard work and dedication they put in over the last few months to become certified officers and help better protect our community. We are proud of you!

Meet the Candidates for Waurika City Commission

This is your chance to get to know the candidates for seats on the Waurika City Commission.

We listed them in alphabetical order according to last names. However, we listed Mayor Carole Eakin first because she is the incumbent.

Each candidate was asked the same general questions. We asked them to tell us a little about themselves, why they wanted to serve (or continue to serve) on the city commission, and then lastly we let them say whatever they wanted that would help voters know them better.

Editor’s Note: Every candidate was given a chance to appear on video. However, some of them chose not to do so. We respect that. All the candidate’s profiles and interviews will appear in the upcoming week’s paper.

Note: Each candidate was allowed to say whatever he or she wanted and the length of each video was determined by the length of their answers.

Carole Eakin

Mayor Carole Eakin talks a little about where she grew up and her education at Oxford in England. She then talks about her time on the city commission and the things that have been accomplished during her twelve years serving the community. Mayor Eakin addresses the water rates and the state of the finances of the city. Lastly, she talks about what she would like to see accomplished for the city in the future.

Adam Brinson

Adam is the pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Waurika.

He was asked the same questions posed to the other candidates. He talks about his education and how he came to live in Waurika. During the interview, he talks about his views and what inspired him to become a candidate for the city commission. He simply wants to serve the needs of the people and do what is best for the city of Waurika.

Amber Delaney

Although Amber’s interview is the least lengthy of all the interviews, she is specific and to the point. Amber talks about her work at the Terral School. She discusses the importance of family, and her desires to see the city continue to prosper.

Gary “Lebo” Duncan

Gary is a native of Waurika. His family roots run deep here. In this interview, he speaks in depth about his experiences in business, his family history, and talks about things he would like to see accomplished in the city. Gary says he wants to see the city grow and he has various ideas of how that can happen. He wants to bring his business experience and leadership skills to the city commission.

As stated earlier, there will be more about the candidates in this next week’s paper.

Candidates who did not wish to participate in the video interview include:

Bobby Taylor

James Terry

Mark Lehew

Waurika Development Trust Meets to Discuss Ideas for Waurika’s Future

On Monday February 12 , The Waurika Development Trust invited a group of local residents to discuss ways we could make Waurika a more attractive place to live.  The group will take the discussion to various clubs and organizations over the next several months for input and will report back to the Trust with a recommended plan of action. Craig Williams from Williams Landscape in Lawton was invited to talk about his suggestions for some improvements the group could do now that would make an impact and also provided some ideas for longer-term and larger improvements.

Jacob Eck and Lauren Nitschke represented the Waurika Chamber of Commerce to discuss a grant application they are preparing that would bring a group of architecture students from OU to Waurika to make recommendations for longer-term improvements to Main Street.

The group is eager to meet with the community and get additional suggestions and input.

Citywide Cleanup April 21st

We need groups to volunteer their time cleaning up residential areas including limb and debris removal tree trimming, mowing, etc. Any equipment such as trailers, mowers, weed eaters, etc would be a tremendous help. We will supply work gloves, trash bags, bottled water and work vests.

Earth Day is a perfect chance to get out and put a little love into your town!

During this time residents will be able to dump limbs behind the street barn and tires in front of the street barn located in the 800 block of Meridian. 

Waurika City Wide Cleanup April 21 2018

We need groups to volunteer their time cleaning up residential areas including limb and debris removal tree trimming, mowing, etc. Any equipment such as trailers, mowers, weed eaters, etc would be a tremendous help. We will supply work gloves, trash bags, bottled water and work vests.

Earth Day is a perfect chance to get out and put a little love into your town!

During this time residents will be able to dump limbs behind the street barn and tires in front of the street barn located in the 800 block of Meridian. 

Waurika City Codes now online

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At the most recent Waurika City Commissioner meeting, it was disclosed that the Waurika’s City Codes have recently been “Codified” and the city commissioners adopted Ordinance #10142019-04 which ads the most recent codes. The city uses Sterling to keep the ordinances codified. Now that the most recent ones have been adopted they will now be online and available to anyone interested. 

The website for Waurika City codes is:

http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/waurika,ok

In other business the minutes from the September 9, 2019 meeting were approved as well as the October 1, 2019 special meeting. 

Joyce Greshem was re-appointed to the Waurika Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. 

Rex Armstrong was appointed as the new member of the Waurika Housing Authority Board of Commissioners replacing Lupe Edwards. 

The commissioners paid $17,000.00, which was the remaining balance of the 2016 Water Tower Maintenance Fee Loan. 

Justin Winslett is now the Emergency Management Director for the city of Waurika. His assistant will be Stephen Dyer. 

City Clerk, Michael Bryant reported that he has been working extensively with AT&T on updating the City’s communications, such as telephones and internet—which will be providing better services with newer technology. All departments will be tied together with newer equipment. Some locations will now have communications where they have never had it before. That being said the billing now should half of where it has been at around $3000.00.

Bryant also reported he filed several Certified Statements of Cost to be placed on the Ad Valorem Tax Rolls. 

He also filed new “Work Orders”.

He also assisted the Police Department with the documentation and issuance of five citations for “Failure to Mow/Maintain” lawn. 

City claims in the amount of $49,948.81 were approved. 

The Financial Report provided by RS Meacham was accepted. 

There being no new business, the meeting was adjourned. 

The Waurika Public Works Authority (WPWA) Meeting began following the City Commissioner’s Meeting. 

The minutes from the September 9, 2019 meeting were approved as was the minutes from the October 1, 2019 Special Meeting. 

Glen Roberts reported from the Water Department.

The crew of the department repaired 13 leaks. They also serviced the lift stations. 

They read meters and performed cut offs and turn ons on various meters. 

They are still operating the six inch pump on the sewer system from 5:30 am until 10:00 at  night. The sewer should be fixed soon. 

The Bid Specifications prepared by David Wyatt, for Automatic Meter Reading/Infrastructure and publishing after the approval from the Oklahoma Water Resource Board Engineers were approved. 

The decision to use USDA funds were used to pay the AMR loan closing costs in the amount of $20,000.00 at closing were approved. 

The Waurika Golf Course is now closing. 

Claims for the WPWA in the amount of $79,019.71 were approved.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned. 


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