City Council praises first responders' wildfire efforts
By Van Mitchell
Guthrie City Council members on Tuesday recognized the efforts of first responders battling recent wildfires in Logan County and the many others who have provided assistance.
“A tragic time for us with the weather that we had no control over, but it's what I call Guthrie Good,” Mayor Steve Gentling said. “It's all the departments working together. Starting with the dispatchers, the fire, police, and churches opening themselves so that they have evacuation points. Citizens of Guthrie are donating money, donating food, donating clothing, and donating transportation.
"It makes you feel proud. It’s what you call turning lemons into lemonade.”
City Manager Eddie Faulkner echoed Gentling's sentiments, not only thanking first responders, but also all of the city's employees, as well as the Logan County volunteer fire departments and Oklahoma Forestry Services.
“We have had all hands-on deck since the first of last week," he said. "It's no secret that most of Logan County has been on fire at some point over the last week. I just want to say thank you to our first responders who have been working literally around the clock for the last week.”
Ward 1 Council member Kaley Mills expressed gratitude to the responders and also empathy to those impacted by the wildfires.
“I want to thank all of our first responders and staff, and everyone involved in responding to the fires,” she said. “I know that's a massive undertaking and so I appreciate all the work that they've done in trying to minimize the impacts of those.
"My family has been through a couple of house fires, and so I know how traumatic and difficult that can be for someone facing that kind of loss. My heart goes out to the people who have lost tremendous amounts through these fires.”
In other matters:
* The Council approved a resolution declaring 10 different property structures as dilapidated and dangerous structures that are detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of the public.
“We have 10 to present tonight, just like it has been the case in previous years,” Planning Director Dan Kassik said. “Today is not the final day, not the end of the line. If there's any of the property owners who truly want to try to save their home and work towards getting it up to code, there is still that ability.
"This year, we have had several property owners reach out to us. We might be in a position where a lot of these will get fixed up over time. I'll just end with the last few years. We've normally gone to the public hearing and if the owner was here, giving them a chance to ask questions and then go house by house.”
* The Council rescinded its action from October 15, 2024, that had approved the relocation of two 8,000-gallon Jet A and 100 LL tanks, owned by Spirit Wing Aviation, by Innovative Fueling Solutions in the amount of $24,925.38.
Faulkner said City staff later asked that the City Council rescind its previous action due to a new quote for a lesser amount from a different vendor, Boomer Environmental, LLC.
The Council approved waiving the City of Guthrie purchasing policy and approved Boomer to relocate the tanks for an amount not to exceed $17,966.32.