The Guthrie City Council acted on Monday night to move forward with funding for the construction of a second Fire/EMS station to be built along South Division Street.
The Council approved Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) No. 1 with Crossland Construction Company, Inc. for the Guthrie Fire Station No. 2 Project in the amount of $4,803,115.30. Crossland Construction Company, Inc. is serving as construction manager for the project.
The GMP includes subcontractor and supplier costs associated with the construction of the new fire station, along with construction contingency, general conditions, project requirements, insurance and the construction manager’s fee.
City Manager Eddie Faulkner told the Council this was a positive step forward for the City.
“The day we have long waited for. We are all excited and happy to move forward with the bids on Guthrie Fire and EMS Station No. 2,” Faulkner said.
Faulkner said the City has just over $4.2 million financed through Capital Improvement Project No. 2 and a $750,000 grant to pay for the project.
“With that, Crossland has taken care of the value engineering piece to cut this bid down and get it within budget,” Faulkner said.
Justin Lockwood with Crossland Construction told the Council the estimated project timeline.
“So, we’ve got 10 months of construction now,” he said. “After today’s approval, we’ll order the metal building. That will really set that 10-month schedule. So, I would say probably a year from now, given approval, that the project would be completed.”
After holding a public hearing, the Council approved adopting the FY2027 budget for the General Fund and Miscellaneous Funds.
Faulkner said the Fiscal Year 2027 budget has revenues totaling $81,894,742 across all funds, which includes grants, capital improvement, interfund transfers, et cetera, and proposed expenditures totaling $77,590,720.
“This budget as a whole is one of the largest fund balance numbers we’ve ever inserted into our budget,” he said. “The main driver behind that is the grant match requirements that we have across the city. When you look around at $15 million in federal or locally funded projects that are taking place, you don’t get that kind of progress without investing. And this council has set that vision and we’re implementing that investment. When you see the budget and you see that number, that’s a direct result of that.”
Faulkner said future goals for the City include evaluating and preparing long-term water system availability and future infrastructure goals; preparing and maintaining GIS records to support infrastructure operations and capital improvement planning; evaluating and exploring sustainable revenue opportunities to support police and fire; evaluating animal shelter staffing levels and facility options to meet community needs; evaluating the existing parks board master plan and identifying funding strategies to support future improvements; and enhancing the City’s entry points by updating welcome signage.
“We are already working on four of those six,” he said.
The Council approved a resolution adopting the revised FY2027 Non-Bargaining Employee Pay Plan pursuant to Section 700, “Pay Plan and Pay,” of the City of Guthrie Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual adopted by City Council Resolution No. 99-15.
“This is an amended pay plan from what you approved at the last meeting. We had amended the steps to a 2.75% spread between the steps. By doing that and adding a step to the pay plan when we went to replace employees, we ran into some formula errors. So, what’s back in front of you today is a two and a half percent pay plan step,” Faulkner said.
The Council approved authorizing City staff to renew a contract with UnitedHealth to provide medical, dental and vision coverage and Standard to provide life and AD&D insurance coverage for City employees for Fiscal Year 2027.
“We hammered out a plan that is a net zero increase in cost to the city. We were switching from a PPO plan with UHC to an HMO plan,” Faulkner said. “So, if you’ll recall during my budget presentation inAugust, we were at a premium to expense ratio of 108%.After some negotiations with UHC, willing to make some concessions on their end and started a 27% renewal and we played within those confines to get down to this HMO plan, which essentially means that anything out of network that is not an emergency is at the cost of the patient. It’s been a very heavy discussion as you negotiate from a 27% increase and make concessions on both sides to get to where we can afford it.”
Faulkner said his goal as city manager is to get the City on a self-insured plan.
“I will say at this point, a 10-year goal of mine as city manager was to get us on a plan where we’re self-insured,” he said. “As those premiums continue to grow and we approach one and a half million dollars in annual premium and/or city expenses, that 10-year goal probably becomes a fiveyear goal, and I bet next year is a three-year goal.”
In other matters, the Council approved the final subdivision plat for 25 residential lots within the R-1/PUD (Singlefamily Dwelling District/ Planned Unit Development) for Mission Hills Sec. 2 Phase V, located between Davis Road and the existing Mission Hills residential subdivision, and approved a Special Use Permit to allow for a manufactured home on a 1.59-acre property within the R-1 (Single-family Dwelling) zoning district for a property located on Oakwood Drive (Forrest Hills Subdivision).
After returning from executive session, the Council approved retaining the employment of Faulkner as city manager, Kim Biggs as city clerk/ treasurer, Billy Wheeler as city judge, Julie Kelly as alternate judge and Marvel E. Lewis as city attorney.
The Council took no action on collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Lodge No. 105, and the InternationalAssociation of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Local No. 2145.
The Council tabled action on a renewal contract between the City of Guthrie and Bobbie Cain to lease the Rodeo Arena grounds for a term of one year until their Sept. 15 Council meeting.
Ward 1 Councilwoman Deanna Duehning asked for the item to be tabled.
“Through a couple of conversations and discussions with a couple of folks, one in my ward and one not in my ward, I would like to make a motion that we table renewing the contract at this time until a later date,” she said. “There’s just some loose ends that I think that we as a council need to discuss a little bit further and look at the contract as a whole before we act on this.”