McAlester council accepts $5.862 million community wildfire mitigation grant

The McAlester City Council on a unanimous vote accepted a $5,862,000 Community Wildfire Mitigation grant from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry and authorized the mayor to sign the contract.

City staff told the council the award was first granted in May of last year but that federal and state processes delayed the city’s request for council approval. “It has taken this long for me to come to you to ask you to approve the award because the federal authorities and the state authorities took a long time to come up with the processes and procedures for dispersing the grant,” a staff member told the council. “So, it's for $5,862,000 and once that is done, then we'll be able to proceed, initiating activities.”

The council approved the acceptance by motion from Councilor Boatwright, seconded by Councilor Stone. A roll call recorded yes votes from Boatwright, Stone, Beatty, Gilmore, Woodley, Roden and the mayor; the motion carried.

Council members did not detail specific projects in the meeting; staff said accepting the award is the step required to begin grant-funded activities. A separate agenda item proposing a contract award tied to the Community Wildfire Defense Grant was later stricken by staff and will be brought back at a later date for council consideration.

The grant was identified on the agenda as coming from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. Acceptance authorizes the mayor to execute the contract so the city can proceed with implementing activities once state and federal processes are complete.

The council took the action as part of the scheduled business portion of the meeting and moved on to other agenda items at the same session.