Transport mode

Use policy, vehicle purchases drive discussion at council meeting

Jeff Kaley

WAURIKA — There was a lot of talk about modes of transportation Monday night, and by the time the Waurika City Commissioners and Waurika Public Works Authority trustees were finished, most of the talk had turned into action.

Returning to a topic that has been on their plate since October, during a regular meeting at City Hall, the commissioners and trustees approved a policy concerning use of city-owned vehicles by city employees.

Coming back to reexamine a topic that came up during their December regular meeting, city administrators also gave their blessing to purchasing a new vehicle for the city police department, which Police Chief Gary Whittington felt will assist his expanding department.

The commissioners and trustees also discussed replacing a pickup truck for the Waurika Water Department, but taking action on that item was tabled until city officials hold a special meeting on Thursday, Jan. 14.

Ironically, the damaged pickup truck played into the commissioners’ desire to create a policy for employee use of city-owned vehicles.

In October, the commissioners and trustees began preliminary discussion about a written policy, but wanting more time for information-gathering, they tabled the topic. Less than 24 hours after that meeting, a city employee driving the water department pickup was involved in an accident in which he was injured and the vehicle was heavily damaged.

At a meeting in December, City Manager Chuck Brown presented a written policy he’d created by culling information from policies used by other cities. When City Attorney Jim Frieda recommended the proposed policy be reviewed by a general council of the Oklahoma Mutual Assurance Group (OMAG), the commissioners tabled taking action.

Monday night, Brown told city officials he had spoken with John Woods at OMAG to clarify some points on liability and expenses.

“His interpretation was,” Brown noted, “that if an employee is called in for an emergency, they are on the clock, and when they leave, they are no longer on the clock.”

During the discussion that followed, Vice Mayor Jim Bernard said he agreed city employees should have access to city-owned vehicles, but that a written policy was necessary.

“I want to reduce the city’s liability and I don’t think it’s right that we should pay for the gas and wear on the vehicle,” he said. “This is not personal, it’s business.

“I don’t think it’s right for everyone to take a city vehicle home.”

Under the new policy, which employees will be allowed to take home city-owned vehicles is left to the discretion of the city manager.

After reviewing Brown’s initial proposal and altering a little of the wording, the commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the policy, which the WPWA trustees later endorsed.

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This is the policy:

n City-owned vehicles may only be used for purposes which are solely for the benefit of the City. Employees who use city-owned vehicles for purposes which are not specifically for the benefit of the City shall be subject to disciplinary action up to and including discharge.

n Only City employees on official City business, and official guests of the City, may operate or be a passenger in city-owned vehicles. City employees shall not allow family members or other non-authorized, non-employees to operate or be a passenger in city-owned vehicles.

n Under certain circumstances, employees may be instructed by the appropriate official to drive a city-owned vehicle to and from the employee’s home to the employer’s regular place of work. Although, such use may be proper under the Oklahoma State Constitution (under appropriate circumstances), such use may still be considered as a taxable fringe benefit by the IRS code.

n City-owned vehicles (other than qualified non-personal use vehicles) include but are not limited to police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, hearses, school buses, tractors and special use equipment, emergency management vehicles, clearly marked city vehicles with official use only, and pickup trucks with a gross vehicle weight rate (GVWR) of less than 14,000 lbs.

These vehicles will be utilized for personal use (such as commuting to and from work) only in circumstances where the use is considered by the City Manager to be solely for the benefit of the City. If the use of a city-owned vehicle has not specifically been determined by the City Manager as solely for the benefit of the City, the employee will not utilize a city-owned vehicle.

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In December, Police Chief Whittington had presented a proposal that the city purchase a 2010 Chevrolet Tahoe for his department. The department currently has two vehicles, but Whittington noted that an Impala used by Deputy Stephen Dyer had accumulated mileage and several mechanical problems were developing.

Whittington has also been enlarging the police staff by creating positions for reserve officers.

When the topic was revisited Monday, Whittington said a new vehicle would address two concerns. It would allow the Impala to be used as a backup in case something happened to one of the two newer vehicles, and it would provide a vehicle for use by the reserve officers, who currently number five, with the chief hoping to add at least five more in the near future.

Most of the discussion among the commissioners and trustees dealt with where they could find funding for the Tahoe, which includes a police package and has a total cost of $26,170.62 spread over three years.

Ultimately, Commissioner Scott Cathey moved the city purchase the vehicle with funds from the city’s General HiFi Account. The Tahoe will be financed by Ford Motor Co., with an annual payment of $9,471.31. The financing will be reviewed annually, and the city could pay off note in full before the three-year period “if the budget allows,” Cathey said.

The commissioners unanimously approved the purchase and the WPWA trustees did the same during their meeting.

Two other agenda items involved the police department, including a request from Whittington that the city purchase three Midland Titan vehicle repeaters and radios for the department.

Brown said Whittington was making an application for a Local Law Enforcement grant, which must meet a Friday deadline. The radios are priced at $961 each and the repeaters are priced at $550 apiece, making the total purchase $4,533. The city would have to pay for the equipment up front, with the funds eventually being reimbursed by the LLE grant.

Jefferson County Sheriff Michael Bryant endorsed the Midland Titan radios and the repeater system, noting that the county has had success with the system.

The commissioners approved the purchase, specifying that it hinged on the grant application being accepted, and agreed to fund the purchase through the city’s Equipment Fund. The WPWA trustees later approved the purchase.

Returning to a subject that arose during the December meeting, the commissioners and the public works trustees approved a clarification about a Waurika Police Department Drug Fund being established.

City officials had approved creation of the cash account, which will be funded from citizen donations, with the money being used in the department’s fight against illegal drugs.

Although the commissioners okayed the fund in December, City Clerk Mark Bryant felt further clarification of a trail of accountability was needed.

Following discussion, the commissioners approved use of the fund being at the sole discretion of Whittington, but also named the city manager, city clerk and city treasurer as signatories for the account.

In addition, the fund was capped at no more than $50,000 being accumulated at one time, and the motion stipulated that any drug seizure money the department received from the District 6 District Attorney’s Office could also be placed in the fund.

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