Muskogee approves CDBG-DR planning and voluntary buyout applications for flood-damaged Meadows subdivision

City Council on Oct. 27 approved a package of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR 2022) items aimed at flood recovery in the Meadows subdivision. The approved steps include a citizen participation plan, an application to fund an engineering planning project (up to $600,000) for subdivision drainage, and a separate application for voluntary housing buyouts (up to approximately $3.4 million available through the program).

City staff said the planning grant would fund an engineer to design a drainage solution; the buyout program is voluntary and would prioritize properties that flooded during the May 2022 events. Staff recommended applying for the grants to position the city to pursue federal recovery dollars; the department of commerce application does not require a local match but applications score higher when the applicant shows local commitment.

Council approved the citizen participation plan and directed staff to submit applications. Staff noted that some properties were annexed decades ago, and that grant-eligibility details and property-level parameters would be worked out through the application and later implementation work.

Votes Resolutions to adopt the citizen participation plan, submit the CDBG planning application, and submit the CDBG buyout application were approved by roll call.