Officially promoting Travis Gray to police chief wasn’t the only major personnel move made last Monday by the Kingfisher City Commission.

Savannah Storey was also hired as director of the Vernie Snow Aquatic Center K-Town Kove. She replaces interim director Richard Greene who will remain on for a few weeks to continue the transition process.

Greene will return to his home in Utah soon, with the thanks of City Manager Jim Thomas, Mayor Geoff Covalt, along with Vice Mayor Jeff Wittrock and commissioners Debbie Burpo, Dawn Taylor and Kyle Mecklenburg.

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

Greene presented a brief report on activities at the aquatic center and said currently the diving pool was not open as grates had been ordered, but had yet to arrive. He said the grates would be installed soon, allowing that area of the center to be opened again.

He said Storey was well trained to start her new job and he was very complimentary of her efforts.

A 2014 graduate of Kingfisher High School, Storey is familiar with the aquatic center.

She was on Kingfisher’s swim team for four years.

Storey was also a lifeguard and assistant manager there in 2016.

“So I know that pool like the back of my hand,” she told the KT&FP.

In other business, Jon Scott of the NightHawk company, which has been hired to install and implement a cellular and fiber advanced water and electric metering infrastructure for the city, said the four-year installation project was well under way, and on budget, with the expense of approximately $250,000 per year for $1million total to be completed on time.

Thomas commented that the manpower and equipment expenses of the current metering systems was approximately $200,000 per year, so the net expense for the project was actually approximately $50,000 per year.

The commission also approved an expense of $95,217 annually to be paid to Kingfisher County Emergency 911. Thomas commented that Kingfisher County, Hennessey and Okarche also contribute an annual amount to help bridge the expense gap.

In other business, Covalt said the road surfacing on Will Rogers Avenue west of 13th Street was now basically complete. He commented that the job took a little longer than was expected, but the residents who use the road were pleased with the product.

He said work had begun on Starlite Drive, west of 13th Street, and Thomas commented that he would be in contact with Atlas Paving very soon to discuss complaints of heavy trucks using streets in the neighborhood to drive on after off-loading materials for the construction.

Atlas Paving was the the construction company contracted to complete both projects.

The commission also approved an ordinance which required entities and individuals to apply for a permit with the city before setting up on city roads to ask for donations.

Thomas commented that a “crew of very aggressive people from a Dallas church” had set up earlier this summer for a day at the intersections of U.S. Highway 81 and State Highway 33 and after several complaints had been called in to City Hall, he “respectfully but forcefully” told them that they needed to leave.

He said the ordinance would allow the city reference for future donation seekers.

During his city manager’s report, Thomas commented that Bob Bollenbach of Bollenbach Construction had done an “outstanding job” on construction of the new restroom facilities at Shaw Park.

“Bob’s a very agreeable and great person to work with,” Thomas said. “He’s done everything asked of his company and more. He’s just a pleasure to work with. He’s a wonderful asset to our community.”

Thomas also said the tennis courts at Shaw Park now had pickleball court dimensions striped in as well and the usage was up on the courts for that purpose.

He also reminded the commissioners of a “workshop” scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, to discuss the upcoming fire station construction project.

He asked the commissioners if that might be a good time to discuss September business as well and then bypass the September monthly meeting as he would be out of town for other city business on that meeting’s regularly-scheduled date.

“Typically September is not a busy month for city business, so I think that would be something we could do without any issues or problems,” Thomas said.

The commissioners agreed with the proposal.

Hladik said the September meeting had been bypassed before and doing so did not create any problems.

The commissioners also met in executive session and approved the purchase of two lots in the flood plain (Lots 18 and 19 in Block 19 of the City of Kingfisher) that had recently come up for sale for $25,000.

Currently there are unoccupied homes sitting on the lots.

Brian Walter and John Gooden of Kingfisher Trails were at the meeting and had previously negotiated the purchase price with the owners.

Preliminary plans are in place to demolish and remove the two homes and incorporate the land into the Trails project.

“I’d like to thank Jim Thomas and the commissioners for helping Kingfi sher Trails with the purchase,” Walter later told the KT&FP . “It has long been our intent to make that happen and Jim was very supportive of the plan.”

The commissioners also approved an ordinance amending zoning regulations and permitted uses in the zoning classification I-1 light industrial, providing for additional commercial uses as well as industrial in the Kingfisher Industrial Park located south of Kingfi sher on the west side of U.S. 81.

James reported that city sales taxes were still lagging behind previous years, but the finances were “healthy” with slightly more than $9 million in the banks.