Kingfisher City Commissioner Geoff Covalt was appointed mayor by a vote of 3-1 at a special meeting Monday of the city commission.

Also, newly-hired City Manager Jim Thomas said he’s impressed with the dedication of department heads and the loyalty of their staffs to provide “great service to the community.”

“After seven weeks (on the job), our job is to get ahead of problems through comprehensive strategic planning, rather than simply ‘putting out fires as they arise,’” Thomas said.

“I see that as the main focus we need to approach the management of this community.”

Thomas added that he was committed to providing weekly updates to commissioners and said his philosophy of management was keeping open lines of communication to city employees and department managers as well.

“I am very encouraged by what I’ve seen over these past seven weeks. Kingfisher is a wonderful community with a lot of pride,” he said during the city manager’s report.

“The amenities in place here for a town of approximately 5,000 are wonderful. Most towns this size don’t have a movie theatre, or such an active business community. That’s great to see.”

Covalt will head the next meeting on Sept. 11 as mayor. The position opened after Roxie Alexander tendered her resignation at the conclusion of a meeting last month.

To fill the position, interested parties were to tender a letter of interest and qualifi cations to City Hall for the commissioners to review.

Joining Covalt in doing so were former commissioners Bill Tucker and Wendell Prim as well as Chris Cameron and J.J. Stitt.

At Monday’s meeting, Commissioner Kyle Mecklenburg made the motion to appoint Covalt. Debbie Burpo made the second. Covalt joined them in voting for the measure while Dawn Taylor cast the dissenting vote.

Covalt will serve as mayor at least until April 2024 when the seat will be up for election.

Now the void he left as commissioner will once again need to be filled by appointment of the commission.

Those interested will follow the same process that was just used to appoint the mayor: They’ll write a letter explaining their background and qualifications.

The appointment is expected to be made at the Sept. 11 meeting. Covalt’s vacant seat will be up for reelection in April 2025.

Covalt was elected to the commission in 2021 and took the oath of office in October of that year.

He was recently named vice mayor after Prim moved off the commission after serving two consecutive terms.

He is the transportation market leader in Oklahoma for CEC, an engineering firm with locations in both Texas and Oklahoma.

Covalt holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas Tech University.

In other actions Monday, the commission voted to approve the final plat for the new 77-lot housing addition of Hannah’s Place, located on the west side of 13th Street to the west of Lifeway Church.

The council also heard from Kingfisher Electric Department Superintendent Mark Gambill, who asked the city approve a distribution service maintenance agreement with Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority (OMPA), which would provide labor and equipment for situations in which the city’s electric crews needed help to repair and upgrade, as well as provide expense and budget plans when asked for.

Currently, 18 of the 42 communities that are members of OMPA, including Kingfisher, have signed onto the plan.

OMPA is a non-profit member-owned organization headquartered in Edmond.

The commission agreed unanimously to proceed with the agreement which will cost the city $100,000 annually.

Commissioners also authorized a payment of $23,383.09 to replace the bearings of a turbo for a generator at the power plant.

John Gooden of Kingfi sher Trails asked the commission to approve a resolution of cooperative intent for Gooden to apply for a grant through the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Fund (TSET).

The grant would assist Kingfisher Trails to continue with pavement from behind Cimarron Nursing Center west to connect with the Trails on 13th Street at Briscoe Park and then new pavement from the Trails on Overstreet east to 13th Street.

The agreement asked for permission for signage for crossings on 13th Street at both locations.

The commission approved the resolution.

In other actions, the commission voted to terminate the contract with the MA+ Architecture firm after the city approved a new expanded budget with larger facilities for the new fire station than the one originally proposed.

A new request for quotes will be sent out to begin the process over again with the new specifications.