City and school district reach agreement on resource officer

It was reported at the city council’s monthly meeting last Tuesday that the City of Comanche and Comanche Public Schools have reached an agreement for the city to supply a school resource officer for the district.

The school district has agreed to pay the officer while he is working for the district while the city will pay for benefits. When the school resource officer is working for the city, he will have his salary paid by the city.

Bill Straily, police chief, said it was something he has been trying to get started the past few years and then got ramped up following the school shooting in Texas a couple of months ago and the fact there was an after-hours shooting at Comanche Middle School last year where no one was injured.

“We are going to apply for grants to help with the costs,” Straily said.
He also said the federal government might help provide financial support for every school district in the country for a school resource officer.

The Comanche School Board passed the agreement the same night in their monthly meeting.

The city has lost some money in its land management and senior nutrition accounts, but they are still operating above water thanks to carryover from the previous fiscal year.

City manager Chuck Ralls reported to the city council that the city had a net loss of approximately $7,000 in its land management account and approximately $6,000 in senior nutrition.

Ralls said rising food costs and keeping volunteers have been the main factors in the loss. The AARP has had volunteers in the past come in to help with the AARP paying for them, but through the AARP volunteers quitting or being terminated, he has had to pay people from the city budget to work the senior center.

He said it is important to try to get more people coming to the senior nutrition center in order to help counter the costs. People 55 and over pay $3 per plate and those under 55 pay $5 per plate.

In other business, the council members voted to terminate the contract of city attorney David Perryman and then voted to hire Amanda Mullins as the city’s new legal counsel.

“I have not talked to David since February,” Ralls said. “We’ve had no communication. My emails and phone calls have gone unreturned.”

In other business, the council accepted the resignation of council member Amanda Duke. In her resignation letter, Duke stated that due to circumstances she is unable to satisfactorily perform her duties as a city council member.

“I have enjoyed serving my community but it is time for me to resign in order that my spot on the city council can be filled by someone that has the time to dedicate to the position,” she said in the letter.

An agenda item appointing her successor at the at-large position was tabled until the August meeting.

The council also approved an agreement for Nowlin’s United Contractors to erect the new building going up for the Church Street Project. A USDA-CF grant will pay $32,973.20 of the cost and the city will pay $14,526.80 from its capital improvement funds.

The city received the grant two years ago. The building supplies will be delivered on Aug. 3 and the building construction will begin in the fall. The concrete work will be a separate cost.