Home to where emergencies have been responded from for decades, the Jenks Central Fire Station recently had an emergency of its own.
"This is totally uninhabitable now because of mold. It is totally shut down. That’s why we have the signs on the door that says closed to the public," said former Jenks city councilor Kaye Lynn.
She says the city began talking about building a new station back in 2019, and that the idea was that roughly $6 million in Cares Act Funds would go towards the project, that is until a recent change of plan.
"We don’t need the ranch. It’s a priority thing," she said.
Mayor Cory Box recently made a Facebook post about the Ranch property located at 106th and Elm. 25 acres with several structures for $6.5 million.
"Move the chamber down there, they want to build an office building down there, eventually move city hall down there, so there’s a laundry list," said Lynn.
But not on that list says Lynn is anything about a new fire station.
NewsChannel 8 asked if Lynn feels that public safety is being compromised.
"Absolutely," she said.
NewsChannel 8 reached out to the city to see if anyone would be available for an interview on this topic and was informed that staff and councilors will not be doing interviews either before or directly after the meeting.
NewsChannel 8 was also told that ”The purchase of this property does not affect the funding of any other project such as the new fire station in Central Park. The fire station project continues to move forward and is in the construction design phase.”
"Until just this minute myself and other citizens, hopefully, they’ll put it out on the website, of what’s happening, had no knowledge of this," said Lynn.
That communication gap between city hall and residents is nothing new, says Lynn.
"There’s been a problem with communication from the city to the citizens because the less citizens know the less questions the city has to answer," she said.
Lynn says she'll be at the council meeting Tuesday with plenty of questions about priorities and the fire station.
"When did it go into design engineering? What is the projection date for completion of the fire station? Where is it going to be located for sure?" she said.
Here's the full statement from the city of Jenks:
"An item on the June 6, 2023, City Council meeting, regarding a purchase proposal* of the ranch property located at 106th and Elm Street (West side of Elm), requires clarification to eliminate concerns about this project affecting other projects around the city.
The purchase of this property does not affect the funding of any other project, such as the new Fire Station in Central Park. The Fire Station project continues to move forward and is in the construction design phase. Once the construction design is complete, the City Council will have an opportunity to approve the construction of the new fire station.
The purchase of the ranch property will allow the City to replace the parking space displaced by the Fire Station. The ranch property and the Fire Station are both in the new tax increment financing project area, which means the City is eligible for reimbursement of the expenses incurred for these two public projects through the tax increment financing district revenue.
*Please note this is a proposal and City Council has not voted on this item yet."