City commissioners voted Monday night to hire John Gooden as the project manager for the “Harry’s Hole” wetland project that will eventually lead to an expanded airport runway.

A contract with Gooden was approved that will pay him $12,600 for a period of seven months and he’ll also receive $250 per month to manage the Kingfisher Airport Authority grant relating to the project.

To expand the airport’s runway, necessary to accommodate larger aircraft, a wetlands area north of the current runway has to be relocated. The location for that move is an area east of Atwood’s that’s known as Harry’s Hole.

Unanimously approving the move at the city’s November regular meeting were Mayor Geoff Covalt and Commissioners Dawn Taylor and Tammy Sammons.

Commissioners JeffWittrock and Kyle Mecklenburg were unable to attend the meeting.

Also present at the meeting were City Manager Jim Thomas, City Clerk Brittney Hladik, City Treasurer Anita James and City Attorney Jared Harrison.

Gooden has been active for several years in securing grants for the airport authority and Kingfisher Trails to assist the authority, headed by Bill Reitz, who was also present at the meeting.

Gooden made a presentation to those assembled to report that the Harry’s Hole project was all part of the Kingfisher Trails master plan to complete an approximate 10-mile walking trail loop around the city.

The wetlands designation was one of the final pieces of the puzzle to accomplish the goal, he said.

At the end of Gooden’s presentation, Covalt congratulated Gooden for his recent lifetime achievement award presented at the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Environmental Excellence Celebration held recently in Oklahoma City.

He also thanked Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Shauna Rupp for nominating Gooden for the award. Rupp was also in attendance at the meeting.

Gooden commented that he had been writing grants for the Trails project for many years and was pleased to announce his applications were accepted 15 times in as many attempts.

The grants for the airport and Harry’s Hole were approved for $250,000 each from the National Parks Service and Department of Environmental Quality.

Reitz commented that he was told by government regulation agency staff members that the authorization was awarded in record time for such applications. He said the total airport grant was for $2.7 million.

Taylor commented before the vote that in previous projects for the city, Gooden “had at times been difficult to tether” by city management and she wanted his assurance that would not be the case again.

Gooden responded that he wanted to make it very clear that he was there to act at the disposal of the city’s management.

He added that when he previously contracted with the city with the previous city manager, there were no real guidelines in place and as he was accustomed to getting positive results through grant writing and management. He said he proceded in a manner that successfully completed the project.

Taylor and Thomas also commented that the city’s resources and ability to mow and maintain the Trails was limited, which was a concern.

And both Gooden and Brian Walter, another Kingfi sher Trails board member present at the meeting, both affirmed that the Trails group had in the past and would in the future continue with maintenance of the Trails walkways.

In other business, the commissioners heard from Brent Kisling of Enid, who was introduced by Thomas.

Thomas commented that Kingfisher resident Mike Sanders, former state representative for this area and current executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office, had recommended Kisling as an economic development consultant.

Thomas said after visiting with Kisling recently, he enthusiastically recommended that he be hired for a total of $40,000 annually, of which the Kingfisher Economic Development board had offered to pay $10,000, as had the Francis family trust.

Thomas said the city would pay the other $20,000, with Kissling to be contracted on a year-to-year basis.

Thomas said number one on his list was to attempt to secure another supermarket to come to the city to replace the recently vacated United Supermarket.

The board unanimously approved the one-year contract.

The board also approved the purchase of an ambulance from Banner Fire Equipment, Inc. for the amount of $345,943 to replace a 2003 model, which was the oldest vehicle in the fleet of four.

Fire Chief Ryan Gibson commented that the city would contribute $136,677.50 and a grant would also fund $72,577.

Fire District 522 will provide matching contribution of $136,677.50 for the purchase, Gibson said.

Also approved was the action of Police Chief Travis Gray to sell at surplus a lot of 14 Motorola vehicle radios, as the police fleet was upgrading to other equipment.

Also approved was the repair of approximately 250 feet of sewer line, which had developed multiple leaks, for $51,712, which was the low bid by BG Pipeline and Supply.

In other business, the commissioners approved the installation of a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Analysis) equipment and software to manage the flow of Kingfisher’s water system. The installation will be performed by Mission Communications for a cost $99,234.50.

Savanah Storey, manager of the Vernie Snow Aquatic Center, reported to the commissioners that an emergency purchase and installation of a hot water tank had to be done by the Hardesty Team for the amount of $36,195. The board approved that purchase.

Storey also said she had received a quote of $150,000 to replace hot water boilers for the pool that were last replaced in 2017.

Thomas recommend to the board that because approximately $250,000 had already been spent on repairs and maintenance of the center, that the purchase should be tabled for future discussion.

Storey noted that there was also a main line gas leak at the center and Thomas directed her to get a quote for that repair.

Also discussed was possible action to approve an ordinance to amend the hotel-motel tax.

Thomas said it would take a vote of the citizens to do that and he asked the commission for permission to put it on the April ballot.

He noted that the tax should be raised to be in alignment with other cities in the area and the goal was to generate another $30,000 annually.

The commissioners agreed that he should proceed with the plan.

The next meeting is 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 8.