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City wins P3 financing for Charles Hall Boulevard; grants awarded for public safety and equipment
Summary
City staff reported multiple grant awards and applications, including a $350,000 P3 financing award for Charles Hall Boulevard improvements, a $10,000 JAG grant for police iPads and a $10,000 public-safety award toward a new K-9; the city also listed other pending applications for ambulance equipment and park improvements.
Melanie McGuire, city staff presenting on grants, told the Perry City Council the city has secured several grants and is pursuing additional awards to fund equipment and infrastructure.
The awards and applications matter because they provide external funding for public-safety equipment and a roadway project that the city said will be paid in part through a public–private financing arrangement.
McGuire said the city received a $10,000 JAG (Justice Assistance Grant) award that the police department is using to buy iPads, and a separate $10,000 public-safety grant to help the department obtain a new K-9. She said the iPads have been ordered and that the K-9 funding has been received while staff search for a suitable dog.
She described the largest recent award as a public–private (P3) financing grant to widen the Charles Hall Boulevard highway frontage road and convert it to a two-way street. McGuire said the Seth Wadley Group has committed $400,000 toward the project and that the Oklahoma Department of Commerce awarded $350,000 to cover the remaining construction cost. She said the Oklahoma Municipal Finance Authority will collect payroll withholding from participating employers and remit quarterly ACH payments to the city under the program; the council will be asked to review and sign an agreement in coming weeks.
McGuire listed other grants the city has applied for or is planning to apply for: an OSIRF application for ambulance equipment; a Kerr Foundation request for dash-camera funding (and potential body cameras); a T-Mobile Hometown Grant for park projects; a TSET Healthy Incentives grant for parks; and a green-space enhancement grant through the Toure/Toro foundation (the transcript uses multiple spellings). She said staff are prioritizing projects and coordinating with department heads to align grant requests with city needs.
City Manager Nate and council members thanked McGuire and noted the potential to use payroll-based financing programs repeatedly with large employers to fund infrastructure improvements.
No formal council action was recorded on the grants presentation during the meeting; McGuire said the city expects a funding agreement from the Oklahoma Municipal Finance Authority and will schedule further steps once that agreement is available.
