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Candidates run for Edmond City Council

Continued from Pg. 1 to cast their ballot in the Ward 1 race, as well as the Mayoral and Ward 2 contests.The Ward 1 seat was held by David Chapman, professor of finance and real estate at UCO.

Robins, president of Solid Foundation Consulting, said if elected, he would prioritize transportation, education, public safety, and recreation. He secured several endorsements, including those from current Ward 1 councilman and the three other councilmembers.

Bradley, a senior engineering technician at Gulfport Energy Corporation, said she was motivated to run due to the absence of an opposing candidate in the race, as she believed it was important to provide Edmond residents with another option. Some of her priorities include recreation and land preservation, infrastructure, and emergency response times.

High Density Housing

The candidates were asked a series of questions in the first round regarding their positions on higher density housing, transportation and other issues specific to Ward 1, which includes the UCO campus.

In his response, Robins expressed his support for a variety of housing options as a means to cater to Edmond’s population growth. In his conversations with public servants and educators, he discovered that many individuals in these professions are unable to afford a house in Edmond with their income.

In agreement with her opponent, Bradley emphasized the necessity of multiple attainable and affordable housing alternatives, including high-density housing.

Transportation

Both the candidates agreed that the most pressing issues facing Ward 1 are transportation and traffic-related concerns. The

Kaleb Gonzalez

Contributing Writer

two also shared a common view that the Edmond City Council must prioritize the intersection of 2nd and Broadway.

Bradley shared a few ways to tackle these concerns, such as focusing on the expansion of the main roads to alleviate the flow of traffic and consider more transit options to improve connectivity in the city. She said, if elected, she would carry forward the efforts of the city council to resolve this issue.

Robins shared his transportation plan, spanning six to eight years, to address the city’s traffic issues, which the residents of Edmond would vote on. He said there needs to be a cohesive plan with the federal, state, and city government to find the best solution for the city.

Both candidates said they support the use of general obligation bonds, which would be subject to a ballot question, to finance traffic-related upgrades and other city projects.

Emergency Response Times

The candidates were asked about EMSA’s emergency response time concerns and what the best course of action would be to tackle this issue.

Under their agreement with the city, EMSA is required to respond to Priority 1 calls, which can involve life-threatening emergencies, in under 11 minutes at least 90 percent of the time. During the course of 2022, EMSA failed to meet this requirement, having only managed to respond to Priority 1 calls 46% of the time in under 11 minutes.

Candidates were specifically asked if Edmond should continue with EMSA or consider working with another medical service provider.

Robins said he would explore the possibility of working with medical service providers that are more small-scale in order to cater to these demands, although he acknowledges it might be a

The Stephens Truck Center Company lit an electric car on fire March 29 at the Edmond Fire Department to demo their new EV Fire Blanket to state representatives and fire departments.

The demonstration began at 5:36 p.m. and ended around 6 p.m. Thermal scanners were used to track the vehicle’s temperature and how the blanket affected it. Stephens Truck Center Truck Tech Chase Pogue estimates the car reached about 1,500 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. After 5 minutes, firefighters covered the car with the fire blanket, and the temperature dropped until it hit 250 degrees, Pogue said.

“After it hit 250 degrees Fahrenheit, first responders lifted the cover and sprayed the car down. In less than 20 minutes, the car was down to about 93 degrees Fahrenheit,” Pogue said. The EV fire blanket does not extinguish the fire; it controls it. Stephens Truck Center says the blanket helps control a fire until first responders arrive at the scene, reduces water usage, reduces the amount of time to extinguish the fire, and helps to eliminate thermal runaway, a cycle in which excessive heat in a lithium battery keeps creating more heat.

“The fire department may take a while to get there, and you need to be able to get that fire under control and let the professionals come,” said Dillon Brooks of Stephens Truck Center. “Or if the car has been extinguished and needs to be taken off the property, then you need to have your car wrapped with a blanket because if it reignites, it may take a wrecker with it.”

Stephens Truck Center provides six steps to take when using the fire blanket. Call 9-11, position the fire blanket in front of the vehicle, make sure the blanket is unfolded and centered, take hold of the red straps and pull the blanket over the vehicle, tuck in the blanket by pressing down challenging task.

“The bottom line is, if we need to do it on our own, we can, it would be difficult and we probably need the support of the people and look at dedicated funding,” Robins said. Bradley said that this particular issue is of personal importance to her and agreed with her opponent to consider alternate providers to improve EMSA response times, if elected.

“We cannot accept this type of response time. We just can’t,” Bradley said. “And whatever method that we can determine and find that would help, we got to go with that even if it’s a short-term fix.”

Homelessness

The topic of homelessness in Edmond was also discussed by the candidates. The two were specifically asked if Edmond needs a homeless shelter to alleviate this issue. Both the candidates agreed that Edmond should consider the construction of a homeless shelter.

“We need something in this city where there is a bed.” Bradley said “Just like we need attainable housing, we also need to look at options for people in and out of housing, and housing needs, with a coalition of community partners.” on it with your feet, and retreat to safety. Research shows that electric vehicles catching on fire is rare, but electric vehicle fires can be harder to put out than gas vehicles because of the lithium battery.

Robins also noted that North Care, a mental health facility, addresses the issue of homelessness in a holistic way by providing mental health and substance abuse services to the community. Bradley concurred that Edmond needs to take care of it’s homeless population with a homeless shelter.

“I think that these are people just like all of us and at any given point, we could all fall victim to that. So to treat them less than is quite frankly it’s not us. It’s not this community,” Bradley said in her response.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

According to AutoinsuranceEZ, batteries in electric vehicles have a 0.3% chance of igniting, compared to a gas vehicle’s 1.5% chance. AutoinsranceEZ says batteries are their own fuel source that can burn for hours, making it difficult for firefighters to cool down. And even when an EV fire appears to be out, it can reignite.

“As far as a regular gas vehicle, I’ve seen most fires are put out with about 500 gallons of water. From what I see now with the EV cars, it’s so much more difficult to get the water to where the fire is because the batteries are encased into another container. So, we use a lot more water to get the job done.” Special Operations Programs Manager Clint Greenwood, with Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training, said. Stephens Truck Center is selling the EV Fire Blanket for $1,675.

The Stephens Truck Center has partnered with Andy Colson and Matt Butcher with Prosol UK to sell the EV Fire Blanket.

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