Guthrie's Fire and EMS Department will be getting a new ambulance this spring after City Council on Tuesday approved the purchase of a vehicle that was desperately needed, Fire Chief Dane Lausen said.
Negotiations between city officials and the ambulance supplier, Pinnacle, knocked off $11,000, leaving the final price at $200,000 for a vehicle that includes a vital Stryker power load system and Power Pro XT hydraulic stretcher that has proved effective for patients and loaders.
On Jan. 24, Lausen and City Manager Eddie Faulkner met with the Logan County EMS District Board of Trustees and requested their financial assistance toward a new ambulance.
The board agreed to pay $100,000 upfront and the city will match the other $100,000 with the Fire/EMS budget savings from Fiscal Year 2024.
Lausen said this ambulance is needed due to the fire department’s rapidly aging fleet, and one Medic 2 will get remounted this month.
“This ambulance is kind of a Band-Aid, but it also provides us with another new unit. This will be three new units in our fleet within two years, so we're heading in the right direction,” he said.
Pinnacle can deliver the vehicle at the end of this month or in early April, while other vendors anticipated a date in late July.
In a related matter, Council approved the purchase of a 2021 Ford F150 4x4 crew cab with 71,000 miles in the amount of $32,000 from John Vance Fleet Services. The original asking price was $34,500.
“This truck is currently equipped with lights and a siren,” Lausen said in his report to the Council. “Any additional up-fitting necessary to put this unit into service will be funded through the Logan County Fire Sales Tax funds, in an amount not to exceed $10,000."
A total of $27,600 in funds to purchase this truck are utilized from an OMAG insurance claim due to the loss of a unit from a previous vehicle accident. The remaining $4,400 will come from the Fire Department’s Fiscal Year 2025 unbudgeted fund balance.
In other Council action, Frank Danley was appointed to the Guthrie Board of Adjustment. Menecca Gibbs, under an ownership position, was reappointed to the Guthrie Historic Preservation Commission to fill an expiring term through March 31, 2028, And, Nathan Turner, under the Logan County Historical Society (LCHS) position, was appointed to that same commission, also through March 31, 2028.