COWETA, Okla. — The City of Coweta is looking for new land to purchase so that construction on a public safety complex can start.
It's something that's been discussed since the city passed a penny sales tax increase in 2022 to pay for it.
Coweta's police department may have recently received shiny new cars, but Chief Bell will be the first to tell Coweta residents that their cramped department was built in the 1940s.
"As a chief, I can't provide the services to the citizens out here anymore — not all of them," Bell said.
The fire department's got its own set of issues.
A lot has happened since the 'One for Coweta' penny sales tax increase passed in 2022.
On March 8, 2023, the city announced its firefighters had to move out of the station and into a hotel after mold was found.
2 News was in Coweta as the firefighters settled into their first temporary home:
Later that month, firefighters moved into a mobile home to serve as a temporary fire station.
The plan was for firefighters to work out of the mobile home until a public safety complex was built.
Chief Bell and other city leaders were looking at a piece of land in the back of Walmart off Highway 51— to build a public safety complex to replace their downtown location.
They never purchased the land, but they recently found out it was in a floodplain.
It doesn't mean they can't use the land ever, but Chief Bell said it could take time as they wait for studies to be completed. He said the city has chosen to look at other properties to avoid an even longer delay.
"We're doing a lot of talking with ODOT. We're doing a lot of talking with our architect. We're trying to figure out where the best area is that we can possibly build," he said.
Bell said they've come close to selecting three properties - two on Highway 51 and one downtown.
Windy Rummel works at 'Koweta Hardware' and said she'd like city leaders to make a decision.
"If they got an opportunity to grab something, they probably should just because it's growing," Rummel said. "Coweta's getting bigger and bigger."
While residents and officials alike want the project done, it was going to take time regardless. In June 2023, the city manager at the time, Roger Koleman, told 2 News it would take at least two years before the safety complex would be finished — and this was before the setbacks.
If it comes to it, Chief Bell said they may have to split police and fire into separate buildings, forgoing the public safety center altogether.
"It's not something that we want to do," he said. "It adds a little bit of cost."
The city's goal is to have two fire stations and a police station. That way, they'll continue to effectively recruit, meet Coweta's growth needs, and provide the public with answers.
Chief Bell said they plan to bring city council members to the selected properties to get an idea of what they look like before making a decision.
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