BY C.L. HARMON

PUBLISHER

City Manager Mike Nunneley announced at the annual Chamber banquet this past Monday night that the city is preparing to build a multi-million dollar senior housing facility…at no cost to the citizens. He explained that disaster relief money that has been released to Oklahoma through HUD (Housing & Urban Development) The money is federal money that is provided to the state due to the natural disasters it has incurred over the past several years. Those include an ice storm, wildfires, flooding, severe weather and winds that have affected Creek County. Nunneley explained that from the disasters, homes were hit the hardest. The earlier disasters in 2010 and 2011 caused damages to home which caused insurance premiums to rise and even some policy cancellations. This left many, who owned their homes to be unable to afford insurance and therefore lost their homes and the financial means to rebuild them after they were destroyed by the later wild fires. This new site, in part, is to help many of those as well as offer affordable living to others who are aging and living in a large home that may become too much for them to maintain. In addition, Nunneley said that this opens up those houses for families to buy who need more room or are looking to make a move to the area. The site is to be just south of the welding shop in Mannford and walking distance to the senior citizen facility. The $5 million, 34,000 sq. foot complex will house 33 one bedroom apartments and seven two-bedroom units.Each apartment will come with all the the appliances including a washing machine, dryer and microwave. In addition, there will be emergency pull handles in every unit so that emergency responders can be notified in case of accidents or medical problems. This will include lights and sound buzzers outside so neighbors will be alerted as well.The city is also planning to construct a sidewalk connecting the complex to the senior center, Nunneley said. Tenants will only be charged for their electric usage and any cable or dish they purchase. The city covers the remainding utilities.Rent is expected to cost $525 per month and sign-ups are scheduled for August.Construction is slatef to begin by the first of June. As an added bonus and to help keep those funds local, the job is being divided into smaller subsections so local contractors can place bids on the construction. Nunneley told those in attendance at the banguet to inform local contractors they know “to sharpen their pencils and make a bid. Let’s keep the money here” he said. JELLYSTONE PARK Nunneley also mentioned the Jellystone park thats future is currently under environmental evaluation from the Corp of Engineers. he spoke positive about its arrival to those in attendance and told the Reporter he sees no issues with the evaluation. He further explained that he believes this to be a major enhancement to the area and for the costs, it will be the best amusement for miles around.