Neil Bonds was sworn-in as the first Cleet Certified Fire Marshall for the City of Altus Fire Department during a regular meeting of the Altus City Council in Council Chambers on Tuesday night.

After the ceremony, the board approved the City Employee and Family Health Insurance program for the 2009-10 fiscal year with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Oklahoma.

Councilwoman Peggy Risinger, who chaired the Council Insurance Committee, expressed that she was pleased that there would be no increase in premium payments by the City with the renewal of this plan.

The Council agreed to host a City Employee/Family Pool Party at the local pool, but did not set a date yet.

Perhaps the most controversial vote of the evening came as the Council rejected re-hiring Rose Fischer of Hobart to provide public relations services to the City for the new fiscal year.

The vote passed 5-2, with Councilpersons Peggy Risinger and Sid Willis voting against the question.

A former writer for the Lawton Constitution, Fischer has written several articles for the city’s PR office and the Altus Times for the past few years and received tremendous support for her efforts by Mayor T.L. Gramling.

Meanwhile, the board did approve several other agenda items, including one to solicit bids for the design of a new hangar/terminal at the Altus/Quartz Mountain Regional Airport, and an agreement with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation for the federally-funded Navajoe Gateway Projects.

The next work will be on the Navajoe to Park Lane and Park Lane to Veterans Drive segments.

Council members gave a nod to continue support and participation with Main Street Altus and approved a contract for services that requested an increase of $5,000, increasing the annual amount to $20,000.

The measure passed 6-1, with councilman Perry Shelton casting the only disputing vote.

Also approved was a Memorandum of Understanding with the Altus Police Department and the ACMI House for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and one with Oklahoma State Department of Health to use the City Gym and Community Center with 24 hours of request for mass clinics for disease prevention and central activities.

In other business, the board members voted to re-appoint Chris Wray to the Mountain Park Master Conservancy District Board and approved an agreement for services with the Altus-Jackson County E-911 Regional Trust Authority for administration of the E-911 Telephone Service,