The Oklahoma State Capital

GUTHRIE - For the past several years the Logan County Civil Defense program has been headed by Civil Defense Director John Lewis. Lewis' duties included warning the populace when dangerous weather was approaching and helping coordinate emergency response to the havoc caused by storms. The civil defense director is an especially busy person prior to floods. It is his job to warn the city based on the water level at Seward.

A few months ago, John Lewis was forced to retire due to the fact the longer he stayed in his present job, the less his retirement fund would be. The county proceeded to advertise for and then hire a replacement. The one key action that the county did not take was to consult with the city during the hiring process. According to Guthrie City Manager Jones, the city was not included in the process at all.

This is a concern to the city because every year Guthrie gives $3000.00 to the county to help finance the position. City Manager Jones recommended to the Council on Tuesday, June 6, that the city not fund the position this year. Jones informed the Council that they did have several options. One was to continue to fund the county position as is. The other would be to hire a Civil Defense Director just for the city. Jones indicated that Mr. Lewis would be able to serve in the position.

Lewis told the council that the city could take the forefront in local Civil Defense. He seemed very enthusiastic about the possibility of developing the Guthrie program on the local level.

Police Chief Bishop informed the council that he had spoken with the new Logan County Civil Defense Director. He has communicated with the new director and was told by him that in the future there would be a hands off relationship between the Guthrie Police Department and the Civil Defense office.

This also seemed to factor into City Manager Jones recommendation. Mayor Nephew expressed her concern that the city had not adequately communicated with the county over the matter. Bret Jones did say that County Commissioner Hall was invited to the council meeting but was obviously not in attendance. Nephew still felt that the city should make another attempt to communicate with the county before striking out on its own. Upon a motion by Ward I Council person Davis and a second by Ward III Council Hampton, the item was tabled.

In other action, the council unanimously voted to abate a county-owned house. City Manger Jones said it would be hard to recover the cost of the abatement as law does not allow the city to enforce a lien against county property. Ward II Council person Chambers has been persistent in bringing up the issues of the county-owned house before both the city and county governing bodies. The property, located at 514 East Grant, is in an apparent state of disrepair and has been so for quite some time. Though Chambers has attempted to address the issue at the county level, the county has taken no action to remedy the problem.

City Manager Jones stated that the only way to recover the cost of the abatement would be if the county splits the proceeds with the city from a tax sale of the property. Upon a motion by Ward II Councilor Foster and a second by Chambers, the council unanimously voted to abate.

As to whether these two actions will adversely affect city relations with the county remains to be seen. The underlying tone of the meeting was that the county did not care about the dilapidated structure and did not work to communicate with the city about the Civil Defense position.