City Council holds brief meeting; honors Cindy Gaddis

The Blackwell City Council met Thursday night for one of its shortest meetings on record. Code Enforcement Officer Cindy Gaddis was recognized as the city’s Employee of the Month, and Councilwoman Julie Green was appointed to the position of vice mayor alternate for representation on various boards.

The meeting began with city officials recognizing Gaddis as Employee of the Month for her work in the city’s code enforcement department, and for her work as the City of Blackwell’s Keep Oklahoma Beautiful affiliate member representative.

“I want to thank Cindy for everything she does for us,” City Manager Janet Smith said. “She keeps us moving forward, and we wanted to recognize you as well as all of your achievements tonight.”

Gaddis’ work includes securing funding for the Blackwell Community Garden, working with the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful cleanup, overseeing recycling bins at City Hall, and acting as a Census 2020 liaison for the City of Blackwell.

The Council then heard reports from various city officials, including Greg Sixkiller of the Blackwell Public Power Department. He thanked the workers in the city’s electrical department as well as the Streets and Parks Department for working together throughout the week to decorate Main Street for the holiday season. Workers put together two Christmas trees at the Top of Oklahoma Museum and the county fairgrounds. They also hung wreathes, garland and more around town.

Chuck Anderson, supervisor of the Streets and Parks Department, spoke to the Council about several street repair projects. He also spoke about cleaning up properties that were affected by the October ice storm.

Blackwell Public Library Head Librarian Lisa Vargas also spoke to the Council, updating Council members on the number of check-outs for books as well as WiFi hotspots. Vargas said circulation is up and that the library has added more than 100 new book titles to the library's shelves.

Fire Chief Cory Hanebrink spoke next, giving a rundown of the grass fires, vehicle fires and patient transfers to which the city’s firefighters and EMTs have responded. Hanebrink also said Tyler Lickliter has completed his paramedic class and has been approved to take the National Registry Test.

Hanebrink, who also serves as the city’s emergency manager, then gave an update on the number of coronavirus cases in the city. He informed the Council that Blackwell had 230 reported cases, four deaths, and 187 recoveries. The numbers were up from November, he said. Kay County was up to 1,970 cases.

“The good news is that vaccinations will be coming in the near future,” Hanebrink said.

Council members approved their meeting schedule for 2021. They then discussed the appointment of Green as vice mayor alternate for representation on the Blackwell Hospital Trust Authority Board and the Blackwell Economic Development Authority Board.

With this in place, assuming the mayor or vice mayor could not attend the meetings, Green would represent the City of Blackwell during these meetings.

With no other business, the meeting ended just after 6:30 p.m.