City enters interlocal agreement
for emergency notification

by Dolores Hamilton
The City of Iowa Park has entered an interlocal agreement with Wichita County, the City of Electra, and the communities of Cashion and Pleasant Valley to provide for an emergency notification system.

The system is provided by Emergency Communications Network, Inc. and is referred to as “CodeRED.” It will provide notification services to the citizens of the cities and county to emergency conditions such as severe weather, terrorists, and/or other man made or natural events that may endanger their lives.

The service includes a weather warning service, but citizens will not receive this unless they sign up for it. Police Chief Robert Johnson said, “The biggest benefit of having CodeRED is the ‘Weather Warn’ because we’ve had some problems with the warning sirens.”

“Everyone is automatically signed up for CodeRED, but they must sign up for Weather Warn,” Johnson said.

Action to approve CodeRED was taken during Monday’s meeting of the city council. One other municipality has yet to sign on before the agreement goes into effect. Lee Bourgoin, Wichita County Emergency Management Coordinator said he anticipates that it will be in effect in about 30 days.

Another story in this week’s issue of the Leader will provide additional details on the purpose and operation of this service.

Two public hearings to receive input on changes to the city’s floodplain/floodway ordinance were held - one at 6 p.m. before the start of the city council meeting, and the second one at 7 p.m. Two more hearings will take place on April 27 and the council will vote on adoption of the ordinance in May.

The next four public hearings were held to determine if abandoned vehicles should be abated, with the following results:

Owner of the 1977 Ford, located at 308 N. Hawthorne, is deceased and the party responsible for the property was given 30 days to abate the vehicle;

Owner of the wrecked sport utility vehicle at 304 E. Magnolia was given 30 days, while ownership is being determined, to abate the vehicle;

Owner of the 1995 Oldsmobile at 903 S. Wall was given seven days to abate the vehicle; and

Owner of the 1982 Oldsmobile at 201 W. Diamond told the council that he has health problems and is facing additional surgery, was given 60 days to take care of the vehicle.

The public hearing on the fifth abandoned vehicle was cancelled because the owner had already taken care of the problem.

In other business, the council voted to amend the General Fund budget to cover the cost of adding the position of Director of Parks and Recreation and the purchase of a vehicle for the department head’s use.

City Manager Mike Price told the council that there had been enough savings on electricity and fuel to cover the cost.

The Director of Parks and Recreation will oversee upkeep of city parks, recreation programs, and the municipal pool and spray park.

Price also told the council members that he had hired Charles Dudley as the new plumbing inspector/code enforcement officer. The salary for this position is already in the budget.

Other action by the council included:

Passing an ordinance annexing an 0.69-acre tract of land west of Bell Rd. and north of Texas Ave., bringing it into the city limits; and

Authorized the city manager to purchase an audio/video security system for use in converting the city’s Municipal Court system over to a Court-of-Record system.

Tammy Persick and Council Woman Sherrie Williams were appointed to serve on a committee with school trustee Jeff Nolen and Wendy Meadows to establish guidelines if the school district and city develop a program to place banners around the walking track at Lake Gordon to recognize outstanding accomplishments of Iowa Park students.

The city council will hold its annual retreat on May 16 at the Iowa Park Gun Club at Lake Iowa Park.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Joe Ward recognized Fire Chief Randy Fulbright and members of the Iowa Park Volunteer Fire Department for their efforts in last Thursday’s grass fires. He also praised city employees David Bolin, Eddie Browning and Patrol Officer Liberty Merriman for their actions in recognizing a structure fire, calling the fire department, and waking up the sleeping resident inside. Bolin and Browning also assisted with fighting the grass fires. Another city employee, Freddie Smith, came upon a structure fire and reported it in time for firemen to prevent the house from being a total loss.

“I’m proud of the way our employees are aware of what’s going on around them, and I can’t say enough about the volunteer fire department,” Ward said. “I would stack them up against any paid department.” Fulbright told the council that all 18 volunteer firemen helped fight the fires Thursday, and he also mentioned the actions of private citizens in fighting the fires.