City of Pampa announces new fire chief, finance director

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The City of Pampa Commissioners held a special meeting/public hearing meeting on Monday afternoon.

There was no comment on the first public hearing, which was in regards to the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone for Downtown Pampa.

On the second public hearing, Lee Waters, representing Open Range Development, LLC, noted the rezoning of Lots 10 through 18, Block 2 of the Edwin Park Subdivision from Single Family 2 to Commercial is more of a clean-up of language.

“What this zoning request has to do with is correcting an erroneous property description,” Waters said. “Back before Open Range Development bought the old Pampa Junior High Property, the School District owned it. They made an application to the city to re-zone the property as commercial.

“When they did that, it was intended, as shown by their resolutions, to re-zone the entire tract as commercial. What happened when they did that was they picked up a property description that had an error in it, which excluded a strip on Charles Street from 23rd northward.”

After closing the public hearing, City Manager Shane Stokes introduced new finance director Theresa Daniels. The following background was given to The Pampa News on Daniels:

“The City of Pampa is excited to announce Theresa Daniels as the new Finance Director for the City of Pampa.

“Daniels began her career with the City of Pampa in the Utilities Department in 2005 and worked there for eight years and at that time left the City to pursue an Accounting degree. Daniels came back to the City in November of 2015 as an Accountant and has served as the Assistant Finance Director since May of 2018. Daniels will be replacing Robin Bailey the current finance Director who has served as the City Finance Director for sixteen years and is retiring at the end of the year.

“I am excited and humbled to be stepping into this new position. Robin has been such a great mentor and friend over these past several years and I will always be grateful for the time I have had to work with her. I look forward to many more years here with the City and am so thankful for all those who have given me the support and strength to step into this position,” newly appointed Daniels said.

Theresa is married to her husband Kyle and they have three children Briley, McKinley and Paxton. They have been Pampa residents for fifteen years.”

Stokes then introduced Kasey Presson as the new Pampa Fire Chief, noting he will be the 13th in Pampa history.

The following was submitted to the Pampa News about Presson:

“The City of Pampa is excited to announce that Kasey Presson from the Pampa Fire Department has been named Fire Chief.

“Presson began his career with the Pampa Fire Department in 2005 and has served his entire career in Pampa. He has served the last four years as the Deputy Chief of Operations under previous Fire Chief, Greg Lee. Presson was named Interim Fire Chief on September 14 after the tragic passing of Chief Lee.

‘The City of Pampa and the Fire Department have been wonderful to my family and I throughout my career. I can’t offer enough thanks to our leaders, both past and present, for the opportunities they’ve given me. I’m excited for the next chapter and I’m grateful to serve our community in this new capacity. I look forward to continuing to instill in our personnel a commitment to our citizens and a loyalty to duty that knows no compromise. The Pampa Fire Department has a proud history, but I believe our best days are ahead of us. It’s an incredible honor to be chosen to guide the way,’ newly appointed Chief Presson stated.

“Presson has been a resident in Pampa for over 30 years. He is married to his wife Lindsey and they have three kids, Keira, Jensen and Beckett.”

Director of Community Services Dustin Miller also spoke at the meeting, updating the Commissioners on some price increases to the rental of M.K. Brown Auditorium.

“This hasn’t been updated since 2004 so we needed to update them,” Miller said. “Previously, you could rent MK Brown for basically $100, which is eye-opening when you think about it. We understand that it was donated to the City for the citizens to be able to use, but it’s also about being fiscally smart.”

Auditorium price will go from $200 to $250 and Miller noted they didn’t want to out-price the childrens’ dance organizations. Heritage Room went to $200 (for non-alcoholic events), $300 (for alcohol with under 100 people) and $500 (for alcohol with more than 100).

“The reason these are higher is because these (large groups with alcohol) are high-risk events where more than likely some damage or work will come in from our end to take care of the building,” Miller said.

The parking lot rental is increasing from $50/day to $150/day.

The Commissioners then approved the following items:

• Second and final reading Ordinance No. 1758, an Ordinance of the City Commission amending the Code of Ordinances, Article 12.04 pertaining to Crosswalks and No Parking Zones.

• First reading Ordinance No. 1759, an Ordinance of the City Commission of the City of Pampa, Texas designating a certain contiguous geographic area in the City as “Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone # 1 - Downtown Pampa” (TIRZ 1 ); establishing a Board of Directors for such Reinvestment Zone; creating a Tax Increment Fund for the Zone; provide for an effective date and termination date for the Zone; and containing other provisions related thereto.

• First reading Ordinance No. 1760, an Ordinance by the City Commission approving a rezoning request from Open Range Development, LLC to rezone from Single Family 2 to Commercial, all of Lots 10 through 18, Block 2 of the Edwin Park Subdivision to the City of Pampa, Texas.