Kingfisher County commissioners reorganized for the balance of the year 2024 at their weekly meeting due to the impending resignation of District 3 Commissioner Heath Dobrovolny effective Friday.

District 1 Commissioner Jeff Moss was elected new chairman on motion of District 2 Commissioner Ray Alan Shimanek.

Shimanek will serve as vice chairman for the county board for the balance of this year until his current term runs out. Shimanek is retiring as a commissioner. He did not file for re-election to the post. Shimanek has served in District 2 for almost 40 years. He is in his 16th year as commissioner for District 2.

Dobrovolny and family are moving to Santa Fe where Dobrovolny has accepted a position with the state government.

Anthony Schwarz, District 3 first deputy, who will serve as interim commissioner, was named requisitioning officer for District 3 succeeding Dobrovolny. He attended Monday’s meeting as a visitor.

In another revision action, County Clerk Jeannie Boevers was named to represent the county on the Oklahoma Public Employees Health and Welfare plan board of directors for the balance of this year, succeeding Dobrovolny.

(See story elsewhere in this edition on the schedule for deciding a new permanent replacement for Dobrovolny on the board of county commissioners.)

Commissioners approved a resolution authorizing Associate District Judge Lance Schneiter or his designated official to submit an application for the Oklahoma Opioid grant award to combat the opioid drug crisis. An emergency clause was added to the resolution, making it effective immediately.

Resolutions authorizing the disposal of outdated equipment took up the balance of the 16-minute meeting.

These disposal resolutions included:

• Three HP Workstation computers for the county clerk’s office;

• Three ICOM VHF mobile radios for the Okarche Fire Department;

• Four additional items for the county clerk’s offi ce, including Server HP Proliant, Savin printer, Fujitsu scanner and 24-port switch.

• A Dell computer and Steele Age counter for the county assessor’s office, and

• The following items for the assessor’s Visual Inspection service – Canon typewriter, Dell monitor, IBM typewriter, carpet, Dell computer, Dell monitor and Dell server.

Shimanek reported he would attend a meeting Wednesday of the Circuit Engineering District #8 board of directors in Alva, of which he is the commissioners’ delegate, and County Engineer Nik Smith reminded that a safety meeting for county highway department employees would be held April 25 at the fairgrounds in Kingfisher.

City-County Emergency Management Director Ryan Deatherage reported on activities of the 911 Emergency Calling service which he heads as well as possible hail storms along with potential tornadoes for the state that could affect the county.

Commissioners tabled action on a Wagon Wheel (wind farm) county road use agreement on motion of Shimanek to allow additional study.

Monthly reports of the court clerk’s office, including the preservation fund, received approval.