City Council - Regular Meeting

Just got it done today. All right. Just today.

Please join Councilwoman Denning with our pledge to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for our prayer.

God Most High, today we start this meeting with you on our minds and in our hearts. Lead us in this meeting with your protection, reminding us of who you are and who we are as your people in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Give us clear thinking to do the right things for the people of this community. Help us to walk in truth and to trust you will guide us with your wisdom. Sustain us through the difficult times and to enjoy the times of good. May we be a people who are clothed in peace, gratitude, and hope. We praise you, our creator, and thank you for answering our prayers. Amen.

Amen. You may be seated.

Okay.

All right. We call to order this regular Guthrie City Council meeting, Tuesday, May 19th, 2026, 630, right here in the council chambers. Item number two is public comments, community announcements, and recognitions. We have one, a proclamation for Mental Health Awareness Month. And we have four lovely young ladies here to join me at the podium. Whereas mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and well-being, and whereas each week approximately 300 Oklahomans are admitted for urgent care or crisis mental health services, and whereas 4.1% of adults in Oklahoma had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year, with 1 in 10 students reporting attempted suicide in the past 12 months. And whereas early identification and treatment can make a profound difference in the successful management of mental illness and recovery, and whereas it is crucial to recognize the diverse needs of all individuals, including adolescents, older adults, veterans, and historically under-deserved populations by ensuring equitable access to mental health care and support, And whereas every person, organization, and community has a role to play in ending stigma, advancing mental health equity, and creating a culture where mental health is treated with the same priority as physical health, whereas the 988 Mental Health Lifeline supports Oklahomans experiencing a mental health crisis through trained mental health professionals, mobile crisis teams, urgent care and crisis centers, and follow-up appointments, and Whereas dialing or texting, the 988 Mental Health Lifeline is free, confidential, and accessible for all Oklahomans. And whereas civic activities and conversations help educate the public about mental health and help families affected by mental health to heal, recover, and thrive. Now therefore, I, Adam Ropp, Mayor of the City of Guthrie, Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim the month of May, 2026, as Mental Health Awareness Month. in Guthrie, Oklahoma to increase public understanding of the importance of mental health and to promote identification and treatment of mental illnesses.

Go.

as program directors, so next year we hope to hit all the rural areas.

Thank you.

Okay, great cause. Thank you for initiating that.

Item number three is consent agenda items A through C. Move approval of the consent agenda.

Second.

Motion and a second. If there's no further comments or questions on the consent agenda, please cast your votes.

All those for aye.

Okay. All right, unanimous approval from all those present on consent agenda items A through C. Item number four, items removed from the consent agenda. There were none. Number five, guaranteed maximum price GMP amendment with Crossland Construction for Owen Field Softball Complex, phase one, bid package number two. Mr. Stoops?

Good evening. It's good to see you guys on a happy occasion. I'm upset Brian's not here. I really wanted him to see this one. But no, this bid package is the result of a kind of third time being the charm with this one. But we put in a lot of effort, really cut this thing down to what it needed to be to fit the budget, and we're very proud of where it's come in at. It's a result of a lot of effort on all parties. That's really the idea of the CM approach is Sanchez us as the architect the city people that represent you Really all working together, you know to make this happen. So Here to answer any questions with it I think it was able to fall right right in the budget realm that that we were wanting for this project and we're ready to rock and roll Thank you Yes

Awesome. Third time is a charm.

Definitely appreciate the efforts, the multiple efforts that went into this, and I know that Chris Evans is jumping up and down right now.

He's sitting. As are a lot of us.

Oh, no, he's jumping. He's already done the excitement part, I guarantee you, but this is still exciting, so thank you very much.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Any questions for Mr. Stoops?

I move approval of the guaranteed maximum price amendment with Crossland Construction for own field softball complex phase one bit package number two in the amount of $4,283,533.07. I second. I want to make sure we get that seven cents. All right.

Anybody else has anything? Please cast your votes.

I'll vote straight.

unanimous approval from all those present the guaranteed maximum price gmp amendment with crossland construction for owen field softplex complex phase one bid package number two the amount of four million two hundred and eighty three thousand five hundred and thirty three dollars and seven cents every bit counts uh item number six is award bid number 2026-02 for the fiscal year 2026 street capital improvement program thank you for coming mr suits mr maker public works director

Yes, Mayor and Council, the City of Guthrie Street Committee met on April 8th, 2026 to discuss and approve the paving resurfacing of streets recommended by the Public Works Director and Street Superintendent. Those recommendations included Item 1, which was East College Avenue from I-35 overpass to Midwest. An alternate one, which was a series of our downtown streets. Alternate two, East University Chestnut to I-35 and then Chestnut University to City Limits. Those two specific was just more or less patch areas where we've had base failures. It's not the entire street. And then an alternate three, which was East College Midwest to Highway 33. This specific road right here. It was in the county. We added into our bid packet to see what bids came in like and gave the county commissioner the option to, um. join in with us through an interlocal agreement if they so desired once we received bids. The bid notice was published in the Guthrie News Leader on April 22nd and 29th of 26th. Twelve bid packets were mailed out to interested parties and on May 12th, 26th at 2 p.m. four bid proposals was received and bid tabulations opened. Let's see, we had Stryker Asphalt come in at $495,872.90. Ellsworth Construction came in a total of $695,556.91. Rudy Construction came in at $899,066.73. And Atlas Paving came in at $563,000. Staff's recommending approval of bid items one and alternate one and two. Alternate three will not be awarded. The county did choose to do something different on their portion of their road. We would like to contract with Stryker Asphalt, which is the low bid at $495,872.90. It says $392,140. I'm sorry, yes. That's minus alternate three. I'm sorry about that. Just start all over, Tenny. 392, 140 is the total for item one, alternate one, and alternate two.

I move approval of awarding bid 2026-02FY26, Street Capital Improvement. planned to the lowest bidder striker asphalt of Oklahoma City in the amount of $392,100.40 and authorizing the mayor to execute the contracts.

Second.

We'll spend a second. Any more comments or questions for Mr. Maker or Eddie? No? Okay.

Thank you. Are there any faster votes?

All votes are in.

Unanimous approval to award bid number 2026-02 for fiscal year 2026 Street Capital Improvement Program. Item number seven is award bid number 2026-03 for the Airport Grass Management Services. Mr. Young, Airport Director.

Yes, Mayor and Council. This is the bid for grass management services we do every five years. We received one bid from the gentleman that currently operates these services at the airport. This is for approximately 200 acres. His bid was for $25 per bale. Five years ago, it was for $20 a bale. But it's kind of a mutually beneficial relationship between both parties because we need the grass in the outer areas cut. We don't have the staff or resources to maintain that. He maintains it for us and we earn revenue off the bales that he produces. So staff is recommending approval.

Move approval of award bid 2026-03 airport grass management to Mike Smith of Patriot Oklahoma and authorize the mayor to execute the contract.

I'll second that.

If there's no further comments or questions for Mr. Young, please cast your votes.

I'll vote for Ann.

Announce approval to award bid number 2026-03, Airport Grass Management Services.

Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Young. Item number eight, resolution number 2026-15, discussion, consideration, and possible action to approve or approve with conditions, amend or deny resolution number 2026-15, supporting the nomination and appointment of Eddie Faulkner to the District 8 seat on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Municipal League. Mr. Faulkner.

Yes, Mayor and Council. First, I'll start with the camera. Okay, I guess we got it moved over. Okay, gotcha. So this camera, which is normally on me, is out, so I'm going to try to look this way. Resolution 2615 expresses the City of Guthrie's support for the nomination and appointment of City Manager Eddie Faulkner to the District 8 seat on the Board of Directors. The seat was vacated by Midwest City, a Midwest City representative who is no longer with the city. The Oklahoma Municipal League is a statewide organization that provides advocacy, legislative representation, training, and support services to municipalities across Oklahoma. Through its membership and collaborative efforts, OML works to promote and protect the interests of local governments throughout the state. The resolution supports my nomination and appointment, obviously does not guarantee appointment to the board. From what Kim and I could tell, Guthrie has not had representation on the OML board in at least the last 27 years, probably ever. So we would like to at least throw our name in the hat. There are approximately 43 cities that are represented in District 8, so it would be an honor to serve and bring some good things back to Guthrie. So I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Move approval of resolution 2026 dash 15 to support the nomination of Eddie fucker to the district 8c on the board of directors of the Oakland Municipal League second Okay, motion is second any further comments or questions Eddie about Eddie on the Thank you.

Thank you for your willingness Yeah, I'll do great Eddie.

Hope you get it.

Yeah, I think you'd serve well in this position.

Thank you guys.

Thank you.

Appreciate it Nothing further. Please cast your votes Okay, unanimous approval for resolution number 2026-15, the appointment of Eddie Faulkner to the District 8 seat on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Municipal League, the nomination of appointment. Item number nine, city manager's report.

Yes, Mayor and Council, I have a very brief report this evening. First, on Monday, City Hall and non-emergency services will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday. Wednesday, May 27th, the post office will be dedicated in honor of Oscar J. Uppen at 10.30 a.m. So if you're available, please come out to that ceremony. I think Senator Lankford and Several then-Senator Mullen had worked pretty hard on getting this taken care of, as well as Congresswoman Bice and all of our federal and local delegation on getting the post office renamed in honor of Mr. Upham. Summer Flight Academy will be taking place at the airport May 28th and 29th. And with that... Mayor, that's all I've got for you. One more item. Cornwell Pharmacy, you may have noticed, is under construction at the corner of Division and Springer. So you'll see their new facility being built relatively quickly. They're moving quick. So excited to see that take place.

That's all I got. Thank you, Mr. Faulkner. Item number 10, request comments from members of the City Council. Councilman Williams?

Well, I certainly hope that you're selected for that board to represent us and the connections you'll make there, and I absolutely believe they'll have a good man.

Thank you. Councilwoman Denning?

I don't think I have anything.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor Taylor?

Thank you, staff. I know you all just wait for me to do that. I appreciate all of you. I really do. And thank you for getting my iPad taken care of. I appreciate that a whole bunch, too. Eddie, that would be outstanding. I hope you get on there. I really do. That would be fantastic for District 8 as well as us. That's it.

Councilman Aguirre? I believe Sunday was the 200th anniversary of Councilman Bothroyd's revolution here on the third rock from the sun. No, he's not really 200. I don't know how old he is. But it was his birthday, so I was going to wish him happy birthday, but he's not here. But happy birthday, Brian. Okay. Councilwoman Gibbs?

No, I don't really have anything other than I think that that would be a great position for Eddie, and he will do a great job representing not only Guthrie, but anyone else in regards to OML. Thank you, Tinny, for bringing everything forward for the street committee. I know a lot of people are looking forward to the new paving. Our streets are needing a little come over. So anything that we can do to brighten up is helpful. So thank you.

All right, and as for myself, we had a city council retreat last week, so I want to thank Meridian Technology Center and everybody who put that on. You don't really know who's behind the scenes doing everything, so if we miss anybody, thank you for putting that on. That was an all-day endeavor. My charger was stolen, so whoever did that.

I would like that back.

I'm just joking. My charger was there. Justin has the mayor's charger. We need to get that back. The tourism director stole my charger. I'm just teasing. I left it there. I left it there.

But you got a free ink pen out of the deal. I did, and I've got it right now. That you're using tonight, so it kind of evens that out.

No, I left it there. I'll get it. Also, Eddie, I sincerely hope you get on that board. When does that happen and occur?

So they're taking nominations through June 1st, and they will have their first board meeting, I believe it's the first Wednesday in June, and they'll review the candidate applications and then make an appointment from there. So District 8 is one of the largest OML applications, districts and so there's I'm sure there will be a plethora of applicants and Should we be honored to be nominated then that'll be that'd be great for the city, but I'm not don't want to mislead anybody because there are some pretty big cities on there with vast majority of municipal experience so Thank you, sir.

Well, here's hoping so thanks with me. That's all that I have so we will adjourn and And then we will call the order. Our Guthrie Public Works regular authority meeting, again, this Tuesday, May 19th, 2026. Item number two is the consent agenda. Items A through C. Mr. Chairman, I move approval of the consent agenda.

I second. Okay.

Got a motion and two seconds. No further comments or questions. Please cast your votes.

All votes are in.

All right. Unanimous approval for the consent agenda items A through C. Item number three were items from the consent agenda that were removed. There were none. Item number four is we are adjourned. Pretty short.

That was crazy short.