Aldermen set performance goals for administrator

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen gave City Administrator Lambert Little several goals to work towards if he is to get back in their good graces last week.

 Following a closed session that lasted more than an hour, aldermen gave the administrator suggestions about his job during last week’s regular city meeting on Tuesday, October 9.

 Little had asked for “measurable goals,” but aldermen led by Abby Patten and Tommy Hill mostly discussed subjective areas for improvement, such as wanting the city to be “run more effectively and efficiently” and asking for better “day to day operations.”

 Patten did tell Little specifically to finish up any proposed city policies that were needing approval, and Hill said he’d like to see a report to the board each time Little travels to meetings to let them know what was learned at said meeting.

 Mayor Larry Hicks recommended Little also spend more time in the field to see what was happening around the city and also to make sure that employees were doing what they had been asked to do.

 The suggestions followed a September 25 meeting during which aldermen gave Little a performance evaluation and then gave him three months to meet their expectations.

 In other city business last week, the board opened bids on a Community Development Block Grant project to replace aging sewer lines on the north side of the city.

 The low bid from LA Fuller & Sons came in at $267,594, which is about $7,500 more than the funds available through the grant and the city’s match. Aldermen voted unanimously to accept Fuller’s bid.

 The board approved a backup agreement with the City of Pampa for solid waste disposal and approved a letter to the State Comptroller’s office reaffirming the city’s power of eminent domain as required by the state legislature.

 Aldermen considered and unanimously approved a contract with the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation for the CEDC to administer the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax funds.

 CEDC Executive Director Chandra Eggemeyer said she would help applicants fill out the proper paperwork, make sure their requests are proper under the law, and set certain criteria and reporting requirements for recipients.

 The Clareneond EDC would have to establish a budget for the HOT funds that would be approved by the city, and Eggemeyer would report quarterly to the Board of Aldermen.

 The board also approved a variance for Clarendon G2K, which is planning to build a new dollar store at US 287 and Parks Street across from the City Barn.

 City ordinances require the business to have 40 parking spaces for the amount of square footage they are building, but the board vote to allow the business to only have 30 spaces.