Even though they couldn’t take any official action on the issue during Monday’s meeting, Meeker’s Town Board members discussed continuing the process toward annexing property near the town’s lake.
Mayor Jeff Wilbourn began the discussion noting, “We’ve had some issues. Do we want to continue with it, stop it or what”?
Trustee Aaron Head, who also is a former mayor, jumped right in with “I think we need to continue the process. We as the board need to get together and write up something. We need a plan,” Head noted.
He mentioned he had talked with a person in Grove, in eastern Oklahoma, and that community developed a plan when it addressed its annexation issue. He indicated Meeker could possibly pattern its plan similar to Grove’s.
It was pointed out that a lot of the blame has been put on the Town’s Attorney James Hodgens for the annexation issue not moving forward.
It was further stated that the attorney couldn’t complete it because he wasn’t getting all the information he should have been receiving.
Wilbourn said that only recently had he learned that.
“I apologize to you because I didn’t know you weren’t getting all the information you needed,” Wilbourn told Hodgens during Monday’s meeting.
Hodgens said, “I will make myself more knowledgeable of what can and can’t be done within the city limits with an annexation.”
The consensus of the board, since Trustees couldn’t take official action Monday evening, was that a special meeting of the board would be called in the future for discussion purposes only.
The purpose of the meeting would be to hold a question and answer session with the public only to discuss the annexation issue and answer some of those questions.
Wilbourn stated after the meeting that, “Personally, I’d like to see that take place within the next month or two.”
Prior to that meeting, the board hopes to develop a plan for the annexation.
The Trustees had voted three times within the past several months and set time and date to hold a required public hearing for the annexation but for various reasons, each time it was postponed. That hearing had been set for June, then July and then in August.
On another matter that was for discussion only, Trustees talked about the outcome of the recently held Review Board hearing held following an incident on Saturday evening Sep. 4.
Meeker Assistant Police Chief Scott Wilson, who chaired that hearing on Sep. 14, announced at its conclusion, “The board voted 4-1 in determining Officer Raymond Mackin was within the Police Department’s policy and procedures and CLEET standards on use of force.”
The incident involved Mackin responding to a call of a reckless driver on SH 18 and as he did was nearly struck head-on reportedly by the driver who later was identified as Charlie Green of Meeker.
Meeker Police Chief Trent Norton said during Monday night’s discussion,
“Everything he did was by policy. He didn’t violate any policy, DA Allan Grubb said there will be no charges against him and that he acted within the scope the policy.
“But the officer doesn’t feel the town is supporting him,” Norton stressed. “If he did something wrong he would have charges filed against him and he would have lost his job,” the chief said.
While Mackin is on vacation at this time, Norton said “the officer is hurting. He doesn’t think the town is behind him.”
Head asked Town Clerk Mary Conner, “We have something available to help this officer, don’t we?”
Conner nodded “yes.”
Wilson, who criticized some of the social media posts attacking the officer, emphasized, “Not one citizen got on social media and defended him.”
Norton mentioned, “We don’t want to lose the respect of the town,” noting he has been in Meeker as chief four years now and has tried to build respect.
Norton concluded by saying that “Raymond asked Trustee Billy Walker to help him. Charlie was in duress and Raymond saw that and made a split decision.”
Walker is also an auxiliary reserve police officer.
The Trustees, without going into executive session, appointed Clay Cleary as a Reserve police officer, and accepted the resignations of Brandon Garrison and Dalton Moore as Reserve police officers and Glenn Dunn from the Meeker Planning Commission.
On another item, they voted to set a $7,500 spending limit for the mayor, and $2,500 spending limits each for the Town Clerk and the Police Chief.
Meeting as the Public Works Authority, Trustees approved paying two PWA employees each seven hours of straight time for their working the Pumpkin Festival last October.
They also decided to take no action on amendment No. 2 for Cowan Engineering for professional engineering services for the sanitary sewer collection system in Meeker.
They voted to hire Orr Construction to repair the Mitchell Wyatt property up to $22,000.