One of the first major projects Lawton residents may soon see stemming from their approval of their recent Community Improvement Plan is work on the west end of Lee Blvd., Mayor Stan Booker recently told The Ledger.
“We’ll probably end up focusing first on a lot of the things that don’t cost a lot of money. Things we can do in-house. Beauty projects,” Booker said, “but my timeline for beginning major projects is ASAP. My preference is this calendar year we begin work on the upgrades to the last west two miles of Lee Blvd.
“We really want to kick that into high gear.” There are eight miles of Lee Boulevard projects planned in all, but the mayor said all of the work will take about three years to complete because of the planning and engineering that has to be done first. Lawton residents overwhelming passed the CIP proposals, known as “Propel Lawton” by a vote of 2,787 to 1,555 earlier this month.
Booker said he also is considering quickly establishing a “blue-ribbon committee,” similar to the CIP’s planned juvenile justice citizens committee to oversee all of the CIP’s proposed projects. By establishing such a public group, Booker said he believes the planned CIP projects can be significantly sped up. He said he has not asked anyone to serve on such a committee. Other high priority projects on the Mayor’s list include tackling the troublesome problem of dilapidated houses scattered across the city and the Good Year extension of Highway 62.
“We have 500 houses in desperate need of attention around the city,” the mayor said. “We know there’s also a couple of hundred others that we’re probably going to have to take action on.” That action, he said could include demolition of some properties, he said “but I doubt any of that could occur before April 1, though, because of the procedures we have to follow.”
City officials and elected officials took part in more 50 community meetings and public forums leading up to the vote Propel vote. “It is an exciting time to be in Lawton-Ft. Sill,” Booker said. “We now have plans in place to grow and improve the quality of life for our citizens and ‘PROPEL’ Lawton into the future.”
“We have 500 houses in desperate need of attention around the city. We know there’s also a couple of hundred others that we’re probably going to have to take action on.”
Mayor Stan Booker Lawton