BY ANDY TAYLOR
Montgomery County Chronicle
CANEY — A member of the Caney City Council will soon resign in order to accept employment with the Caney Police Department.
Ron Wade, a ward 1 city councilor, announced Monday that he would be leaving his current job as a detective with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and accept a job as a police officer with the Caney Police Department. At a special council meeting at Caney City Hall on Monday, councilors gave unanimous approval to Wade being named a police officer effective Jan. 10.
Wade had served with the local police force in the early 1990s before working with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department in several capacities.
Councilors said they were glad to have Wade back in the local department.
“I think Ron would be a great asset to our department,” said councilor Joe Taylor. “He has a lot of knowledge in drug investigations.”
Police chief Rick Pell also said he was excited to bring Wade’s breadth of law enforcement experience to the Caney department.
“When I told our officers that Ron wanted to come back to the department, they were really excited to hear the news,” said Pell. “They look to Ron as a mentor.”
Because laws prohibit city employees from serving on the city council, Wade will have to resign his position as ward 1 councilor. A replacement will be named by the council at a later date.
In other business transacted at Monday’s special council meeting, councilors delayed a decision on a bid to begin the third phase of the Caney City Hall project. The third phase involves the construction of a council chamber/municipal courtroom.
The council received a bid from Chris Uber of Uber Construction for the erection of the walls and roof at a cost of $90,000. Placement of the glass windows will cost an additional $5,000.
The bid does not include the exterior treatment, which calls for the facility to have the same slate and brick covering as the remainder of the Caney City Hall. The slate and brick would be installed at a later date.
The bid also does not include the finishing treatments inside the facility, including sheetrock, plumbing, cabinets and placement of fixtures in a bathroom and kitchenette. Those, too, would be handled at a later time, councilors said.
Councilors had questions about Uber’s bid, specifically if a metal finish would conflict with the eventual placement of the slate and bricks on the building’s exterior. Councilors said they wished to have clarification on the bid from the project architect, Heckman and Associates of Independence, when the council meets for its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Jan. 21.
Councilors also agreed to amend the city’s 2008 budget in five specific funds: general fund, special highway fund, water fund, water debt reserve fund and solid waste fund.
Those funds will have additional money devoted to them as the 2008 budget year comes to a close. The existing mill levy will not be impacted by the increase of funds because several revenue sources devoted to those funds were higher than previously anticipated.
Those five funds will increase by the following amounts in the 2008 budget:
• General fund: from $1,067,423 to $1,115,000, a difference of about $13,000.
• Special highway fund: from $70,000 to $82,000, a difference of $12,000.
• Water fund: from $492,000 to $505,000, a difference of $13,000.
• Water debt reserve fund: from $72,835 to $88,000, a difference of about $15,165.
• Solid waste fund: from $179,000 to $215,000, a difference of about $36,000.
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Present at Monday’s meeting were councilors Joe Taylor, Chad Bradford, Erin Munday and Kelly McIntosh. Councilor Ron Wade communicated with the council via a conference telephone call. Absent were councilors Penny Coy, Carol McClure and Jason Moore.
