Six new Sapulpa police officers were sworn in by Chief Mike Reed at the regular Sapulpa City Council meeting Monday evening. Officers Kayla Martin, Kellie Beard, Aaron Kelle, Graham Bozarth, Ryan Storer, and Hailey Wright took their oath in front of a packed room of family, friends, and members of the community.
Local volunteer youth program, Young Minds, Big Ideas, led by Jordan Ascencio, presented its Founding Feathers project to City Council. The project is a large-scale scavenger hunt that will use QR codes to encourage visitors to stop at any of the Chieftain blue metal feathers in 15 historic or iconic locations to gather information about Sapulpa.
So far, locations include the Trolley, the Sapulpa Historical Society Museum, the Fire Station Museum, the Auto Museum, and Rock Creek Bridge. The group would like to add the Buffalo on Highway 66 and several other locations to that list.
“These kids are amazing. I’m floored by what they’ve already accomplished,” said City Manager Joan Riley.
“These kids are amazing. I’m floored by what they’ve already accomplished.”
City Manager Joan Riley
The presentation was made by children Bentley Ascencio, Julian Ascencio, Ruby Noble, Jo Martin, Kamille Chupco, and Lander Martin.
The feather currently standing in the lobby of City Hall will have a permanent outdoor home of the Council’s choosing sometime in the near future.
The $2,657,000 contract with Lambert Construction Company for the construction of Fire Station No. 3 was unanimously approved by the council upon City Attorney David Widdoes’s review and approval, just ahead of the station’s groundbreaking on Wednesday, August 18th.
A contract for $95,200 with Tulsa Engineering and Planning Associates, Inc. was unanimously approved by the Council for the design of South Cheyenne Road from the south side of Taft Avenue south to the entrance of the new Sports Complex. South Cheyenne is a north-south road east of Walmart and west of the apartment complex that runs from Highway 117 down to the Sports Complex, almost to Biven Creek.
The Council unanimously approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that sets forth specific terms, conditions, and services provided between Sapulpa Public Schools and the Sapulpa Police Department for the organizations’ School Resource Officer (SRO) program.
Chief Reed explained that the MOU has “been needed for a long time.” He said that it was drafted by Major Diehl, a former SRO, and that the Board of Education approved it at its August 9th regular meeting.
He said that due to lack of manpower, the program has been somewhat stalled, but that with the swearing in of six new officers earlier that evening, he expects it to be up and running again soon.
The MOU makes clear that all SROs are employees of the SPD and are subject to its administration, supervision, and control. This is important in maintaining “qualified immunity” for the officers and protects the City from potential liability.
Diehl said that though the SRO office is located at the high school and junior high campus, the MOU covers the entire school district.
