City OKs negotiations with police chief candidate

Submitted by Cameron1 on

Cameron may have a police chief soon. 

The City Council moved to allow City Manager Rhett Parker to begin negotiations with a Police Chief candidate during a meeting on June 28.

Council has not released the name of the candidate at this time.

In May the City selected Waylan Rhodes as the sole finalist for the position, but he backed out choosing to stay at his current position just days after accepting. Council has been looking to replace former chief Randy Dixon since he was terminated in February.

The City Council also held its regular monthly meeting on July 3.

During the meeting council heard from Public Works director Jerald Brunson about violations concerning wastewater from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Brunson said the city received a violation during the recent rains due to the high amount of rain coming through the storm drains and the sewer overflowing.

Parker said there was no way to prevent this and the city has submitted paperwork to hopefully get credit for the violation.

Tabled action on a TxDOT Aviation Resolution for Airport Rehabilitation project until next meeting.

The project would rehabilitate the city’s airport for a total amount of $1.96 million with the city paying 10 percent of that or $196,000 over three years and TxDOT paying the remainder. The city would pay $18,500 the first year, $58,000 the second year, and $120,000 the third year.

Parker said the project is something that the city has to do. TxDOT will take care of the entire project due to wear on the runway.

“That will be a little bit of a crunch on our budget,” Parker said. 

Council member Melissa Williams questioned the timing of the payments and Parker said he would clarify that for the council during the next meeting.

Council also heard a complaint from Nilesh Bhakta, owner of the Budget Host Inn in Cameron, about the Tourism Tax due date. Bhakta complained that the city’s ordinance and the wording on the city’s form for the Tourism Tax do not match up concerning the day the payment is due. City council directed staff to look into the matter and clarify the ordinance.

In other action the council also denied Oncor’s application to change rates in the city and approved the reappointment of Ira Canady, Thomas Spells and Ryan Batten to the Housing Authority Board for two-year terms.