Woodward, Okla. — The Sharon Fire Department will soon be getting some new self-contained breathing gear.

Woodward County Commissioners approved a bid for the equipment during a meeting on Wednesday morning. The commissioners' regular meeting was held later this week because county offices were closed Monday and Tuesday for the Christmas holiday.

Commissioners approved a $24,088.40 bid from Wayest Safety, Inc. for 4 high pressure 4,500 PSI self-contained breathing apparatus, 8 high pressure 4,500 PSI 45-minute breathing air cylinders and 4 medium masks.

This is the second time that commissioners have approved a bid from Wayest for the breathing gear.  The first bid that was approved in November, had to be rescinded after commissioners discovered issues with the initial bid process.

After rebidding the equipment, the county received 2 bids, the one from Wayest for a little over $24,000, and one from Casco, Inc. for $22,264.  Commissioners decided to go with the Wayest bid a second time based on the recommendation from county fire chiefs.

Speaking on behalf of the fire chiefs, Sharon Fire Chief Bill Phillips said that Wayest was selected even though it presented the highest bid, because Wayest could provide the Sharon Fire Department with the same equipment as other county fire departments.

"There's just under $2,000 difference, but we get what we need to match the rest of the departments in Woodward County, so that when we're all working together, everything is interchangeable," Phillips said.

Phillips said he even spoke with the District Attorney's office to make sure that the county could proceed with the higher bid, since it offered matching equipment and the lower bid did not.

In other business Wednesday morning, the county board approved a request from the Grunewald Family, LLC to rezone a 32-acre tract of land southeast of Woodward from A-1 agricultural district to I-2 industrial district.

A public hearing had been scheduled to discuss the rezoning request.  But when no one showed up to speak on the rezoning, the county commissioners moved on to a vote on the matter and unanimously approved it.

The commissioners also addressed routine monthly financial matters as they approved:

• the allocation of the alcoholic beverage tax for December in the amount of $14,915.88;

• the cash fund estimate of needs and request for appropriations for December in the amount of $247,381.28.

Commissioners said both of these amounts were lower than the month before, but that they expect the figures to pick up after the New Year.

Other action on the agenda centered around the Woodward County Free Fair Board, as commissioners accepted the resignation from Eddie Wilson from the board.  They also rescinded the appointment of Todd Stoll, who had been selected at a previous meeting to replace another resigning board member.

Stoll had been selected to fill the remaining term of District 2 representative Wade Free.  But commissioners later learned that Stoll lived outside of the District 2 area and therefore could not be appointed to replace Free.

However, District 3 Commissioner Vernie Matt said he believed Stoll might be able to replace Wilson who was in his district or another District 3 board member Rex Latta, who recently moved to another county.

In other business, County commissioners approved a utility permit request from Rural Water District No. 1 to allow for trenching along a District 1 roadway north of Mooreland for a water line extension.

Commissioner Tommy Roedell said the water line extension was requested by one of his neighbors and will come close enough to his own home to allow him to tie into the rural water district as well.

Under new business, the commissioners approved 37 permits for road crossings in District 2 to allow Glass Mountain to construct an oil pipeline across the county.  County Clerk Charolett Waggoner said the requests, and the accompanying $18,500 in fee payments, were just received in her office on Wednesday morning.

District 2 Commissioner Ted Craighead said the pipeline will come into Woodward County from Ellis County to the west, starting near N/S 191 and E/W 54, and then continue east through the county to around N/S 227.