ONEOK grant for new pool

Former Ekalaka Town Clerk/Treasurer Lisa Jourdan recently received a phone call from ONEOK, a pipeline company which has lines in Carter County. During the call, she learned that the company will be fulfilling her submitted grant request for a new pool by providing $10,000 upfront which will be presented to the town shortly.

Furthermore, ONEOK will provide an additional $15,000, paid on a matching funds basis. When the town raises $15,000 beyond the funding that was listed on the original grant application, these matching funds will be received. That’s a grand total of $25,000 from ONEOK. There has already been about $10,000 raised since the original grant proposal, so only another $5,000 needs to be raised locally to get the additional $15,000.

ONEOK will be sending additional information and details to the town office on specifics of the grant, but this is how it was initially set up. Stay tuned and watch for additional information. This is a great opportunity to double local donations!

At the end of October, current cash in the Town of Ekalaka restricted cash account for the swimming pool was $50,985.23. These funds, plus the others of $108,531.43 in pool committee funds, $11,945.20/Lions Club, and $12,003.06/Meadowlark Club, bring the total cash to $183,464.92. When all of this is added to the $150,000 grant from Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, it brings the total available funding to $333,464.92.

The Town of Ekalaka and the New Pool Committee acknowledge and thank those who have recently made donations to the Town’s Restricted Cash - New Pool Account as listed below:

Individuals/Business Donations

Ella Voise, Lorene Rowland, DeGrand Angus

In Memory of Argaylon King

Valley Bank, Lynn & Dave “Dead Battery” Williams

Following is what Jourdan had to say about the grant and the future of the project:

As the “old” town clerk/treasurer, I want to thank the community for its support of this project and hope that you push on with it and get it done. Yes, it will be expensive; but it will not get any cheaper! Also, remember that it is a long term investment in the community; the current pool has been used for 56 years!

Again as a reminder, if you haven’t contacted Carter County Commissioners (Jim Courtney, Rod Tauck, and Steve Rosencranz) to let them know that you feel a swimming pool is important for this community, please do. If you don’t tell them, they won’t know.

So goodbye and good luck from the “old” clerk/treasurer. This officially places the pool project into the hands of the “new” clerk/treasurer, Kitty Schmid. Please help her get this project completed.