The special election will be May 9.
Ed Barton, president of the Sequoyah County Volunteer Firefighters Association, told the county commissioners the fire departments have the estimated $14,000 needed to conduct the election for the fire departments.
After receiving approval of the resolution from the district attorney's office, the commissioners approved the election to raise money for the cash-strapped volunteer fire department.
The firefighters said the continuing drought and wildfires have drained their bank accounts. The association asked the commissioners for the election last month. But the commissioners responded the county did not have the money for a special election, and, if they wanted a special election, the association would have to pay for it.
Barton told the commissioners Monday that the association had begun raising funds for the election, and could write a check to begin the process of obtaining ballots. Kathy Webb, election board secretary, told the commissioners that wouldn't be required until she got a quote on ballot printing.
Because of the drought, a burn ban remains in effect in all 77 counties in the in spite of the rain predicted this week. Officials with the Forestry Division report Sequoyah County and the surrounding area are at least 16 inches behind in precipitation since November, and the Oklahoma Climate Survey reports the past 180 days in the area are the driest since record keeping began in 1888.
Barton told the county commissioners last month, "Many firefighters are paying for fuel (to drive to wildfires) out of their own pockets."
Barton said, "Some of these fire departments might go under. They are out of equipment or have broke equipment.
"We had 14 out of 21 (volunteer fire departments in the county) at a recent meeting and they approve of a quarter-cent sales tax. For instance, if you pay $100 for something, only 25 cents will go to the fire departments. I don't think that's too much for a fire department," Barton said.
The county's volunteer fire departments are supported by donations, most recently from the Cherokee Nation; grants and money from the state legislature, which are usually dispersed by the Eastern Oklahoma Development District in Muskogee; fundraisers; and memberships, which can be paid annually or monthly through Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative. The co-op, if the customer wishes, will list monthly fire department dues payments on their monthly electric statement, will collect the dues and distribute them to the correct volunteer fire departments.
In other business the county commissioners approved a resolution asking the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to encumber funds to remove poles for a bridge project over LaRue Branch Creek. District 2 Commissioner Steve Carter said the bridge is on Moonshine Road.
The commissioners approved an application by the Sequoyah County Water Association for a Community Development Block Grant to improve the water system.
Carter and District 1 Commissioner Bruce Tabor publicly thanked Bill Poindexter, District 3 road foreman, and his crew for their assistance while District 3 voters chose a new county commissioner. The two commissioners oversaw District 3 operations while a new commissioner was chosen.
Carter said, "Every time we've called Bill and his boys, they have been right there."
Tabor said, "He has done a good job."
