The city signed a lease agreement with the Eufaula Area Chamber of Commerce Monday night that will allow the chamber to take over the rodeo.
The lease is for the rodeo grounds and parking.
The rodeo has been a centerpiece for the annual Whole Hawg Days but has fallen on hard times since being taken over by the Eufaula Round-Up Club seven years ago.
Zach McQuay, speaking on behalf of the Chamber, told the council they want to bring the rodeo back to its former status.
“We want to continue as it was (five years ago), not reinvent the wheel,” he said.
He said the Chamber will be cleaning up the rodeo grounds and fixing up the deteriorating facility.
“We have a very strong board,” he said. “I own a construction company so it will be easy to maintain the road and do some welding and painting. We won’t have to go outside our board to do these things.”
In the recent past there has been only one rodeo annually, during Whole Hawg Days, which takes place the last weekend in July.
McQuay said the Chamber wants to add multiple rodeos and play days throughout the year.
Jon Burdine, whose sis- ter Gale once ran the rodeo, spoke about the past glory days of the rodeo and noted that since the Round-up Club took it over attendance and participation by contestants has steadily dropped.
“It’s all but dead,” he said.
He criticized the city for not acting sooner, but appreciated that more rodeo and play days were being added.
“This is the first time anything has been said about play days and other activities. This needs to be part of that lease,” he said.
Chamber Executive Director Serina Kleveter said they are working to have the rodeo up-and going for the Whole Hawg Day event and that there are a number of play days in September and October.
“Right now we’re working on a rodeo committee,” she said.
Other business Before discussion about the rodeo got underway, the Council conducted a number of business items, including the swearing in of newly elected council members Roger Barton and Evelyn Gulley.
The council also chose Ward 4 Council Member and Vice Mayor James Hickman as mayor, replacing Mayor Todd Warren, the freeholder councilman.
Ward 1 Council Member Tisha Morgan was chosen to replace Hickman as vice mayor.
Items on the agenda approved by the council included: – designated two signatories with the authority to sign checks (the mayor and vice mayor).
– adopted a code of ethics.
– adopted a revised City Council Handbook.
– adopted budgeting and financial planning policies.
– adopted a credit card policy.
– agreed to allow Sheila Edwards, grant writer for the City of Eufaula for 35 years, to pursue Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).
– agreed to a concessionaire agreement with Joe and Robyn Watson, who are taking over a lease agreement formerly between Jennifer Albro, DBA Eufaula Public Market, and the city (subject to the approval of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). The land is located at South Main Street and Lakeshore Drive, former site of the Lake Eufaula Association.
Following an executive session to establish a search process for a new city manager, the council deferred any action until a future meeting.
Currently, Andrea Weckmueller-Berhinger is the interim city manager, replacing Jeb Jones who resigned effective April 12.
