Grove Police Chief's Termination Rescinded

Wall Won't Take Job in D.A.'s Office, for Now

Grove Police Chief Mark Wall, now on paid administrative leave, Monday morning told Eddie Wyant he would not be able to serve as an investigator in the district attorney's office, since his firing Friday was rescinded later that day. Wyant had offered Wall the position in the sex offender division Friday, in between the time that Wall was fired and reinstated.

Wall was terminated as a city employee at 8:30 Friday morning by City Manager Bill Galletly. Named acting chief was Ivan Devitt, Jr. Wall was locked out of his office and was unable "to retrieve my personal items," he said Monday. Wall said he was given no reason, just handed a letter regarding his termination.

At 4.20 p.m. Friday, Wall's termination was rescinded and his employment reinstated effective immediately without loss of pay or benefits, after the city received a letter from Wall's attorney, citing case law and stating that the Grove Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual is contrary to decisions of the state and federal courts. The letter demanded reinstatement and a review of the decision made by Galletly.

In between, he was hired by District Attorney Eddie Wyant as an investigator in the new sex offender division.

However on Monday morning Wall went to see Wyant and withdraw from the investigator position. "I will await the outcome of the pending legal issues and I appreciate the District Attorney's offer, but I just want to continue as Chief of Police in Grove and serve the citizens there," Wall said.

Wall's reinstatement came after Galletly received a faxed letter from Wall's attorney, Bobby Ramsey, stating that "unless your letter is rescinded by the close of business of May 19, 2006, with full reimbursement of pay for Mr. Wall, all appropriate legal action will be taken on Mr. Wall's behalf."

Ramsey said the action was "both unfortunate and very poorly timed. It is inconceivable that the City would discharge Mr. Wall after Mr. Wall had participated in a funeral of a co-officer the day before. It is also inconceivable that this action would be taken after the recent Grand Jury report made the following observation:" (quoting from the Grand Jury's Observations on city management).

Ramsey also said the firing violated state statutes Title 11: 50-123 regarding a board of review regarding members of the Police Pension and Retirement System of Oklahoma.
He said the City of Grove does not have in place a civil service or merit board or a negotiated contract covering discharge of their members to hear appeals and the City has not complied with state statutes regarding the termination or establishment of a review board.

"Your actions taken on this day are contrary to Oklahoma Law and in violation of Chief Wall's civil rights, the letter to Galletly said.

City councilors were not consulted in advance of the firing, but they are not required to be notified, officials said. Copies of Ramsey's letter were faxed to City Councilors, however.

Wall has been Chief of Police in Grove since 1999, according to officials, and with the department since 1992.

Friday afternoon Wyant issued a news release announcing the hiring of Wall as "my newest investigator to join my staff." Wall was to join the staff Monday morning.

"It is unfortunate for the citizens of Grove to have lost such a fine man aas Mr. Wall as the Chief of Police, but I am excited about having the opportunity to hire such an experienced and knowledegable law enforcement officer. Mr. Wall did express his desire to explore the legality of his termination, with intentions on hopefully returning to his post at the Grove Police Department in the near future, but I am grateful that he has accepted my offer to become part of my staff whether it is on a temporary or permanent basis," the statement said.
"Mr. Wall will be assigned as an investigator in Delaware County to assist with our new sex offender division and will be keeping track of all registered sex offenders in Delaware County as well as assisting with child abuse and sexual abuse investigations within our district," the statement continued.

Wyant said the position will remain open for Wall until the legal issues surrounding his termination can be cleared up.

Ramsey's letter to Galletly cited the recent Grand Jury investigation and its recommendation to the City Council to "start taking their position seriously, to pay attention to what is happening with the management of the city, and to take action to correct the misdeeds and flagrant and gross abuse of power that continues to be exercised."

Caroline Weaver, Court Clerk, said Monday the cost of the Grand Jury was $8,178.30, which was covered in her budget since $7,000 was left over from previous trials.

A Note to Our Readers...

The much anticipated print version of The Grove Observer which was to be launched next week will not happen. We sincerely regret this, as the print version would have been an outstanding example of journalism and graphics and something this part of Oklahoma would have been proud of.
Management issues and ownership of the name are to blame.
Hopefully the print version will see its way to the public in the future.
In the meantime, the blog will continue on a weekly basis, with breaking news posted as it happens.
The Editor

Council OK's New Cell Tower, Tables Wi-Fi

Grove's new 285 foot cell tower will be up and running by the end of the year, following approval of the Verizon Wireless proposal by the Grove City Council. Verizon will build the tower, give the city 80% of the rental as well as other carriers, and give the city a signing bonus of $40,000 to pay for removal of the old tower and install city antennas atop the new tower. It will be built near the water tower south of the Grove Middle School.

In addition to Verizon, Sprint has signed on as another carrier on the tower, with a third company having given a verbal OK for participation, according to city officials. Verizon will eventually build another seven towers in the Grand Lake area, according to Richard Taylor, Verizon representative from Dallas.

Verizon will own and maintain the Grove tower for 25 years, then donate it to the city.
The city will determine rental amounts for other cellular companies on the tower.

Council tabled for 90 days a decision on whether to participate in a city WiFi broadband wireless system, after hearing that a local businessman, Troy Kyman of Precision Communications will build a private system and have it operating by August. Kyman and Trevor Langham of Tulsa Metronet had earlier made presentations to Grove Industrial Development Authority board members. Metronet's system would cost just under $500,000 but would be a Mesh system rather than point-to-point with backhauls system as planned by Kyman. Kyman said his system would cost around $400,000 and would eventually cover the entire Grand Lake area. He said he would meet with technicians in two weeks to start design work and would be transmitting from three towers by August.
The Mesh system "blasts through trees," said Langham and blankets the area similar to cell phone service rather than receiving transmissions from a tower.

In other business, council voted to annex Shundi Road from 13th to 18th streets; received a $3500 award from the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group for its safety incentive program, approved a resolution stating approval for GIDA to borrow funds from GMSA for funding from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce Development Block Grand/Loan Program, for expansion of Pride Plating. The loan amount is $120,000, the grant amount is $100,000, and competitive bidding was waived.

In other action, Council heard again from Rick Howard on the name from Highway 59 North, to Grand Lake's Freedom Blvd and deferred to staff to work with Howard on a theme and program.

They also voted to approve a contract with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission for the construction of a bioretention cell for stormwater drainage near City Hall, with another four to five structures to eventually be built in the city. A bioretention cell is a depression in the landscape partially filled with soil and vegetated with specifically selected plants to clean the incoming water.

Council also approved May 23 at 3:30 p.m. as a workshop meeting for the next fiscal year's budget, open to the public.

GIDA OK's Measure to Assist Lendonwood

The Grove Industrial Development Authority approved a measure granting payment to Lendonwood Gardens actual water bill for April, May and June at its regular monthly meeting Tuesday. Board Member Bob Hinkle voted "pass" stating that "we are getting requests from all over for money and we need to look at why we are getting involved."
Larry Harrelson appeared before the board seeking financial help for the gardens, which are a year-round economic engine for Grove. Harrelson said the financial problems are a result of purchasing the house in the gardens, which has turned into a "money pit."

In other action the board approved the contract with Verizon Wireless to build a new cell tower (see related story); tabled for 90 days a decision on a city-owned WiFi system; and voted to authorize a request to the Grove Municipal Airport Managing Authority to transfer a four-acre tract of land in the Industrial Park east of the airport, property that was previously transferred to the airport by the city in February 1998.

The board also decided to work with staff on policy for rental fees for the Grove Civic Center and appointed Bob Hinkle to work with City Manager Bill Galletly in developing the policy. Last year rentals on the Civic Center totaled only $14,500 while the electric bill alone was twice that, according to the City Treasurer.

Highway 59 Utility Relocations One Year Behind Schedule

Members of the Grove Municipal Services Authority have been advised that all permits from ODOT and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have been received, but still no word from ODOT on when the city can go to bids on utility relocations.
City Manager Bill Galletly said work would probably start in November, a year behind schedule. In the meantime, he has requested funds to go ahead and bid out materials now, and put them in storage. Material costs are rising 20-40% a year at this time.

Board members set June 6 at 3:30 p.m. as a special meeting date to discuss the GMSA budget for next fiscal year, now more than $15 million. The public is invited to attend.

Lake Marina Fuel Prices Surveyed

The Observer did a quick fuel price survey of Grand Lake marinas in advance of the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend and found some variances in prices for 87 octane.
As of survey day Thursday, Ugly Johns was quoting $2.89, lowest in the survey, while Harbors View Marina just across Duck Creek quoted $3.55, the highest.

Others were:

Arrowhead $2.94
Shangri-La Marina $3.49
Cherokee Yacht Club $3.19
Honey Creek Landing Marina $3.37
Port Carlos Marina $3.25
Serenity Point Marina $3.19
Indian Hills Resort & Marina $3.29
Hammerhead N/A by phone

Tax Volunteers Set Record

The VITA volunteers (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) at the Grove Public Library site set a record for preparing tax returns this year and won praise for the library from the IRS Oklahoma City office for sponsoring the site.The fifteen volunteers who manned the site three half days a week from late January to April 17 are credited with preparation of 628 tax returns of which 605 were accepted.

Nearly all of the few rejected returns were quickly corrected and re-transmitted. The figures in this article are preliminary as of May 2, 2006.

“This exceeds our last year’s output by more than 100 returns,” said Rose Stauber, Grove VITA coordinator. “It’s a great accomplishment to which all of the volunteers contributed,” she added. “We are especially proud of our low error rate. We all work very hard at providing correct returns for the taxpayers who come to us.”

Famous Author to Speak in Grove

John Erickson, author of Hank the Cowdog, a favorite of generations of school children, will speak in Grove at the Middle School Auditorium on Thursday, June 1, at 6:30 p.m., according to Marcia Austin of the Grove Public Library.

The program is sponsored by the Grove Public Library and co-sponsored by Dollar Thrifty Rental Car, and the Tahlequah Holiday Inn Express.Erickson has written 48 books about Hank the Cowdog. Copies will be for sale at the meeting. There will also be door prizes.Children and adults will not want to miss this event.

Observations....

Actual construction work on the Highway 59 widening project from 21st street to Sailboat Bridge won't start until Fall of 2008, according to Randle White, ODOT Division 8 Engineer. Actual work on utility relocations should start in November 2006, one year behind schedule. White said the Highway 10 Bridge replacement over the Elk River was in design stages, to cost $10.8 million; some work would be done on Highway 125 to Monkey Island and to the county line, and repairs on the Horse Creek Bridge near Bernice would be underway soon…