The Guthrie-Edmond Regional Airport Board voted to authorize airport staff to trade a 2009 John Deere tractor to the Guthrie Public Works Department in exchange for $16,000 in capital outlay funds to purchase a mower.

Board members approved the trade during the board’s July special meeting after staff described low recent use of the tractor and an ongoing need for a turf mower. Airport staff said the department had budgeted $16,000 for a mower and coordinated the swap with Guthrie Public Works as a way to meet that need without an additional cash outlay.

Airport staff told the board the 2009 tractor had been purchased around 2009–2010 and initially was needed when the airport’s equipment lineup was smaller. Staff said the airport later acquired a larger tractor and two mowers; one mower was replaced last year from the capital outlay account, and the remaining mower is beginning to show similar wear. “We have only used that tractor once in the past two years,” airport staff said, explaining the tractor is underused for the airport’s current needs, which focus on finished mowing.

Staff also said the airport’s current grass-management contract with a vendor (Mike Smith) covers much of the mowing across airport acreage, reducing the airport’s internal need for the older tractor. The trade, staff said, effectively transfers an underused airport asset to a city department that has greater need for that type of equipment.

Board members questioned the tractor’s residual value and whether implements would transfer. Airport staff said certain attachments (a 5-foot back wing or brush hog) would move with the tractor, while the larger mower and other implements would remain with the airport’s larger tractor. Staff provided historical purchase figures in the discussion: the vehicle was described in meeting materials as originally purchased for about $24,711 and the mower replacement was budgeted at $16,000.

A board member moved approval and the motion was seconded; the board voted in favor and the motion passed.

The vote recorded in the meeting minutes shows the motion was moved, seconded and approved; no formal roll-call tally was given on the record.