By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
From gaining approval for grants for capital improvements to the basic need for accurate numbers, people should take part in the 2020 U.S. Census, Okarche’s Mayor Jeff Sadler said.
Okarche’s population has not changed greatly since the 2010 county, Sadler said. There have been a number of new homes built in the city limits, but mostly the outlying areas in the Okarche Schools district outside city limits in both Canadian and Kingfisher counties have grown in 10 years.
Whether a decade saw significant numbers in population growth or not, there is a need for accurate numbers when it is time to be counted, Sadler said.
Federal funding is rewarded through grants that are often based on census numbers. Okarche recently benefited from about $800,000 in federal funding for the Oklahoma Avenue street reconstruction project. Okarche kicked in about $250,000 and Kingfisher and Canadian counties funding provided another $250,000 for the work that is expected to take about six months. Work could start by April 1, Sadler said.
“It’s a good project,” Sadler said. “That road needs to be replaced.”
Oklahoma Avenue will be reconstructed and resurfaced from U.S. 81 to the railroad tracks, Sadler said. It will improve the town commerce.
The census count also helps the city in capital improvements project plans.
“As far as the census. You want to make sure you participate, and it is as accurate as possible for grants and funding that is important. We want to make sure we keep up with infrastructure as much as possible,” Sadler said.
Some of the needs in the future in Okarche will be in the water line system. Aging lines need repair. Two or three wells will need to be replaced.
