Tulsa County has agreed to a four-party plan to build a new control tower at Tulsa International Airport.
County Commissioners on Monday approved spending $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding on the project.
"It's something that's much needed in the area for economic development, for safe travels in the sky. So, we think it's certainly an important piece of infrastructure that needs to be taken care of," County Commission Chairman Stan Sallee said on Tuesday.
Sallee said paying for a new airport tower is something county and city leaders discussed in meetings about ways they could use their coronavirus relief funding in partnership.
"This is an area, certainly, that affects entire Tulsa County and we thought it a perfect use of funds that is rolled into other dollars with the city and the airport authority that will be submitted for a grant to the state of Oklahoma," Sallee said.
A City of Tulsa working group announced a plan last week for the city, county and airport authority to come up with $7 million apiece and apply for $21 million in state matching funds.
Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe has requested $20 million in federal funding for the Tulsa airport tower, but local officials are concerned that will be denied because the Federal Aviation Administration did not build the tower originally.
Another joint project is relocating the Family Safety Center, which helps children and adults in domestic violence situations. County Commissioners allocated $2 million for that when they approved the airport tower and seven other projects totaling $13.4 million.
Tulsa County is receiving a total of $126.5 million in ARPA funding.
