SOUTH FORK — Town of South Fork Trustees announced last week that they have selected Police Chief Henry "Hank" Weber as the new Town Administrator for South Fork.

Weber is replacing Dan Hicks, who announced to the Board of Trustees in October that he was going to retire at the end of the year. The plan is for Weber and Hicks to work together through the remainder of 2021. South Fork has started the process of recruiting and hiring a new police chief for South Fork.

Weber has been the South Fork Police Chief since November 2020. His prior work experience includes 2 years as the Town Manager of Blanchard, Okla., and 14 years as the police chief in Hennessey, Okla., and Blanchard, Okla.

The new manager and his family have been vacationing in the area for several years. Weber and his wife decided that they wanted to move to a place where they could eventually retire and chose South Fork.

Weber has 21 years in law enforcement having earned a Master’s in Business Management from the Mid-American Christian University of Oklahoma City, Okla. He graduated Summa Cum Laude. He also received a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice Management and Ethics from Mid-America Bible College also located in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Hicks was hired by South Fork in September of 2017 and during his time worked to better the South Fork community in several ways, including the revitalization and creation of the new water and sewer system in South Fork. The Water Enterprise project has been in the works for well over five years and Hicks was successful in getting the funding and necessary documents to get the project off the ground with the continued support of the board. 

Hicks and his wife own Mountain Lighthouse and Gallery. He has over 40 years of management experience working for large businesses including Siemens, IBM and ROLM corporations. Following his corporate career, Hicks worked as the chief operating officer for a “dot com” startup software development company and founded a multi-location color graphic printing company. He was the president of the River Island Ranch Property Owner’s Association, president of the Rio Grande Water Company, and past president of South Fork Ranches Homeowner’s Association. He has a Bachelor's degree in Business and Finance.

Hicks also worked with the Rio Grande County Tourism Board to improve the marketing of tourism in the western end of the San Luis Valley and improved the ATV routes through town.