New Muskogee, OK, Fire Station Depends on Sales Tax Vote

Jan. 7—A new fire station on York Street has been on Muskogee Fire Department's need list for at least four years.

The station at 1634 N. York St. has structural issues, Fire Chief Jody Moore said. He said the cinder block is starting to crumble. There are major plumbing issues and no insulation.

"In summer it gets hot, winter it gets cold," Moore said in July.

A replacement for the station, plus renovations and equipment at other Muskogee fire stations are part of a proposed county-wide sales tax up for a vote Jan. 14. The proposition calls for a temporary sales tax of 0.849% of one cent to fund an array of public safety facilities, projects and services. Services would include emergency ambulance runs at no cost to Muskogee County residents.

In addition to the York Street fire station, capital projects on the proposal include a public safety building complex, likely on Columbus Avenue, to house Muskogee County Emergency Management Services, Muskogee Police Department, Muskogee City and County Emergency Management, Muskogee County 911 call center and part of the Muskogee County Sheriff's Office.

Police and sheriff agencies would get new vehicles and equipment.

General counsel John Tyler Hammons said all the projects would cost about $60 million.

After initial projects are funded, within seven to 10 years, the sales tax would drop to a half-cent to keep funding the no-cost ambulance service, building maintenance and ongoing departmental vehicle and equipment needs, said Muskogee County EMS Executive Director Laurel Havens.

Havens said the joint public safety complex could be 60,000 square feet, or smaller because there will be a lot of shared space among the departments. He said the building could cost $25 million.

The proposition calling for the sales tax election did not list the public safety complex. Instead, the proposition listed how much of the sales tax would go to each entity, including those sharing the public safety building, Havens said. Amounts of the sales tax going to entities sharing the building are partly based on how much space the department take up in the public safety facility.

According to the proposition, Muskogee Police would get about $17 million, including their portion of the complex, plus new vehicles, radios, tasers and other equipment. EMS would get $16 million including its portion of the complex, new vehicles and equipment.

Muskogee County Sheriff's Office would keep part of its staff at the courthouse and have a smaller share of the public safety complex. It is due to receive $3.1 million for its share, plus new radios and equipment.

Muskogee County 911 center is to get $2.3 million.

Muskogee Fire Department, which has seven fire stations, would get $6 million to fund the new York Street station, plus renovations to Station 6 on Peak Boulevard and Station 7 on 40th Street. Sales tax money also would fund new trucks and equipment.

Muskogee's main fire station, 505 Columbus Ave, was built in the early 2000s. The city solicited qualifications for an architect for a new York Street station in 2021.

Havens said one reason Columbus Avenue is being considered for the public safety complex its four-lane railroad overpass. He said ambulances and other vehicles would have better access to other sides of town when there is a train.

The current EMS main facility, 200 Callahan, is by the Callahan Street viaduct, causing ambulances to be tied up if there is a train, Havens said.

He said having the complex in Arrowhead Mall had been considered in early discussions, but ability to cross the viaduct posed a problem.

"The normal flow of traffic down Okmulgee east to west when a train is on the tracks is to turn right, go two blocks and then cross over the Callahan bridge," he said. "During this time, we cannot get ambulances across the tracks in a timely manner. This issue exists regardless of the direction of travel. If we relocate to the mall we will be forced to wait on bridge traffic again."

He said the cost of buying and refitting the mall would be more expensive than building a new facility on Columbus.

Fort Gibson, Haskell and Warner would receive $4 million each for new joint police-fire-EMS facilities in their towns, plus new vehicles and equipment.

Money also will be allocated for new radios for county volunteer fire departments, Havens said.

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