Joe Medlin named interim parks director for Sand Springs

Parks Director Jeff Edwards was announced as the new director of Tulsa’s River Parks Authority on Sept. 19.

Edwards’ last day with the city of Sand Springs will be Oct. 21.

“It’s going to be sad for us, but it’s good for Tulsa County and River Parks, and I’m happy for Jeff,” Carter said.

“I appreciate Jeff. He’s just been tremendous — the best parks director I’ve ever worked with. I’m very appreciative of everything that Jeff has done.”

Carter said he hoped that Medlin would apply for the parks director job permanently.

“Because I have such confidence in our staff that Jeff and Joe have brought on, I do think that we can look internally for our next parks director,” he said.

He said he expects a “fairly quick” turnaround on having the next director in place.

Meanwhile, Carter told councilors at the Sept. 26 meeting that the city’s human resources director, Amy Fairchild, also will be leaving.

Fairchild and her family are moving to Wisconsin to start a family dog-care business, and Fairchild also will be the human resources director for the city of Neenah, Wisconsin, he said.

Fairchild’s last day with the city of Sand Springs is Friday.

She has worked for the city for more than 13 years and has led the Human Resources Department since March 2016.

Carter said the city is accepting both internal and external applications for the position but hasn’t made any selections yet.

Lastly, Carter said he and other city leaders are “still evaluating” how they wish to proceed in naming a new fire chief for the city.

Chief Justin Hall retired from the Sand Springs Fire Department at the end of August to take a job in the private sector. Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Wade has been serving as the interim chief since then.

Carter said in mid-August that he expected the search and hiring process to take three to six months and that it likely would include both internal and external candidates.

Hall also was the city’s emergency management director, a post that is being held on an interim basis by Police Chief John Mars, according to Carter.

He said the emergency management position is likely to remain an internal position within the Police or Fire department.