About 10 miles of roads south of Ardmore are the target of a grant that the Carter County Commission applied for on Monday. The Community Development Block Grant, if approved, would help pay to chip and seal several roads south of US Highway 70.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the CDBG program give rural Oklahoma communities the ability to finance large public infrastructure projects with federal money overseen by the state’s department of commerce. Commissioner Joe David McReynolds said the last CDBG road project in the county was for Gene Autry Road in 2021.

CDBG funds are regularly used by rural governments for large projects including road projects, wastewater facilities and community revitalization. Carter County has also used CDBG funds through the Rural Economic Action Plan to help offset the costs of warning sirens across the county.

As part of the application approved by commissioners on Monday, roads to see maintenance would include South Dickson Road, Hoxbar Road, Sandy Creek Road, and Edgewood Road.

If the grant is awarded, money would be administered by the Southern Oklahoma Development Association. Commissioners expect to know by May whether the $300,000 grant will be awarded.

The commission on Monday also approved a contract with Exceptional Community Hospital. Carter County Undersheriff Phil Shepard said the contract would be for blood draws if Mercy Hospital Ardmore cannot conduct them.

In other business, the Carter County Commission on Monday:

• approved a $57,355 bid from LS Concrete Coatings to repair floors at the Carter County Detention Facility;
• approved ODOT claim forms for right-of-way purchases;
• approved 3 road crossing permits;
• approved purchasing PPE equipment for the Ardmore Airpark Fire Department;
• declared items from the commissioner’s office and fire departments as surplus;
• approved requisitions and purchase orders.