On Oct. 9, the Burns City Council voted to terminate its search for a city manager and instead hire an interim for a short period of time.

At the council meeting on Oct. 23, it was announced that the city had come to terms with Don Munkers to fill the interim position for six months.

However, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, it was learned that Munkers had contacted the attorney for the city of Burns and let him know that he would not be accepting the position of interim city manager.

Munkers was slated to take over the position on Nov. 18 and serve for six months, giving the council time to search for a permanent replacement.

To continue looking for an iterim, the council will hold a special meeting at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, at city hall.

The interim city manager will replace outgoing City Manager Dauna Wensenk, who has served in the position since May 2015. Wensenk has served the city since September 1981, and announced last winter that she would be retiring this fall, prompting the search for a replacement.

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Burns Police Chief Newt SkunkCap wants residents to be aware of scam calls that are occurring in the community. He told the council that the scam calls are coming from phone numbers that mirror actual, legitimate phone numbers, including the county dispatch number.

SkunkCap noted that the caller threatens people with an arrest if they don’t come up with a sum of money in a short time span.

“They’re asking for money. That’s what they’re looking for,” SkunkCap said. “They’re scam calls. I can’t say it enough, and I hope nobody gets taken by them.”

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The council approved a vehicle swap between the Hines and Burns police departments. The Burns Police have a Ford Explorer that is outfitted for a K9 drug dog, and the Hines Police are working on getting a drug dog, so Hines will trade a Dodge Charger for the Explorer.

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Burns Fire Chief Scott Williamson reported that his department received 10 calls this month. Six were in the city, two were mutual aid for Hines, and two were in the rural areas. Williamson added that they also responded to a number of brush fires.

“After we opened up open burning, it dried out on us, warmed up. We had one of our biggest fires after we opened up open burning,” he said.

Williamson said they would also be burning some brush in town, and conducting a live-fire training on Oct. 26. The training involved burning a couple of vehicles so that the firefighters could learn about an initial attack on vehicle fires.

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Pat Sitz, manager at the Burns airport, reported that things are going well at the airport, and the fire season was moderate for business. She stated that the airport was busy in March and April with jets bringing in people to go hunting for sage rats and/or to visit Silvies Valley Ranch for golf and other activities.

She added that the city received three proposals for fuel providers that will be reviewed.

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In other business, the council:

• voted to proceed with two right-of-way vacation requests, one from Nolan Giesbrecht and the other for Glen Jr. and Selene Dobson;

• granted a six-month hardship request for Dean Allen at 426 Riverside Drive;

• voted to donate $240 to the High Desert Park and Rec Youth Football program to help them attend a football tournament in Elko, Nev.;

• approved a Hold Harmless Agreement with ARINC. The agreement allows ARINC to install, operate, and maintain communication equipment on city property as long as it doesn’t interfere with the city’s communication equipment. The city will provide space for the equipment, and ARINC will pay the city $2,400 a year.

The next council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, at city hall. This will be the only meeting in November.