Lamar City Council to Act on City Administrater/PJ Wilson Replacement

The Lamar City Council will make some decisions regarding future personnel following their 5:30pm executive session this Monday evening, March 12.

Three candidates for councilman PJ Wilson’s Ward II seat will be interviewed in executive session. The deadline for submission of names was last Wednesday, March 7. Wilson is resigning from the council as he now resides outside the city limits. Council members held an executive session that afternoon to interview several candidates for an interim city administrator, following the abrupt resignation and departure of Bill Pfeilsticker. The interim administrator will hold that position until the council has advertised for, and selected a permanent replacement from a list of candidates. The council will be asked to ratify a phone poll to hire Steve Rabe as interim administrator.

The council will also determine if The Buzzard’s Roost receives a renewal on its liquor license application, or if any other action is taken. The Lamar Police Department attached a page noting the number of police calls to the renewal application. In it are 19 notices of calls to the department since March 2011. The calls were in response to fights and disturbances including a citation of bartenders, bar managers and owners for failing to report a disturbance that took place on January 29, 2012.

Public hearings have been scheduled during the council meeting to discuss annexation requests for two properties off South 14th Street owned by the same party. The other request is for annexation of five acres of property along South Memorial Drive, near Fairmount Cemetery. Those five acres are currently vacant. The properties on South 14th Street are being developed into a residence.

Lamar Days are approaching and the council will hear requests from three parties for use of Willow Creek Park for various activities including approving an overnight parking permit for three members of the carnival crew, an overnight permit for the annual Wild West BBQ contest participants and permission to use a portion of the park for the annual Car Show.

Other actions on the council agenda will include approval of several purchases. The council will act on sub-leasing 300 shares of water from the Lamar Canal to a high bidder from earlier advertising; discuss the purchase of a replacement Thermal Imaging Camera for the Lamar Fire Department; the purchase of a new car for the Lamar Police Department; a new backhoe for the city’s Water/Wastewater Department; and the purchase of 26 acres of land through a funding grant, adjoining the City of Lamar Airport.

The council will also discuss two library issues as well as an intergovernmental agreement with Bent County regarding the State Homeland Security Grant Program.

By Russ Baldwin