Oklahoma City (Free Press) — Oklahoma County’s County Commissioner (BoCC) met twice to handle county business and allocated $11,406,660 from the federal government for the county portion of the American Relief Plan Act (ARPA) I was.
Monday’s meeting had the odd difference of being held in two separate sessions. District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan and District 3 Commissioner Kevin Calvey were absent from the 9:00 meeting as they attended the funeral of former Secretary of State Kay Dudley. With the Commissioner only one of him present, some formalities took place before a break for the 3:00 p.m. reconvocation.
Marty Piercy reports to local government
Allocation of ARPAs
Part of Oklahoma County’s ARPA allocation was $10,000,000 as a “replacement of income” to cover collection shortfalls during the pandemic.
In an act legally called “replacement,” the commissioner voted to transfer that quota to the county’s General Fund capital. The move will allow the county to use her ARPA funds to supplement construction costs for new prisons.
Although technically legal, the federal government specifically prohibits the use of ARPA funds to build new prisons. In this case, the BoCC, like many other states, counties, and local governments, has moved the injection of funds elsewhere to remove obstacles from its intended source.
According to the agenda item, the funds will be used for land acquisition, utility relocation and environmental mitigation.
prison quota
The Board also approved a long list of ARPA allocations recommended by a Policy and Governance Committee made up of legislators from each district. These allocations are primarily $1,406,660 for projects at the existing Oklahoma County Jail (county jail).
- Avigilon System Upgrade, Prison: $479,964
- COVID Testing, Jail: $171,024
- PPE, Prison: $71,617
- Quarantine Pod, Jail, $58,530
- LiveScan Fingerprint, Prison: $17,577
- Full Body Scanner, Prison: $137,500
- Deep cleaning, prison: $4,915
- Undisclosed COVID-19 Fix, Prison: $123,916
- COVID Medical Claims, Benefits and Retirement: $329,185
- COVID-19 PPE Nitrile Gloves, Prison: $9,447
- COVID-19 Disposable Face Mask, Prison: $780
- COVID-Related Deaths – Cremation, Social Services, $2,205
There was no discussion of these items during the Commissioner’s consideration of funding. The difference between his PPE items for prison and his PPE items of a particular type is not represented.
bang bang
After weeks of drought, emergency management today recommended that the board begin a 14-day burn ban. Fire department officials across Oklahoma County agree on the need for a burn ban.
The burning ban is approved and will continue for 14 days ending October 17th unless extended by the Board.
The BoCC will meet again on 17 October at 9:00 am.
Last updated October 3, 2022 at 8:29 PM by Brett Dickerson – Editor
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