Council approves block grant money

Federal grants could soon pay for improvements around Tulsa.<br><br>Tulsa City Council members held a rare Saturday meeting to re-evaluate who would get the $6.1 million set aside by the mayor for Community

Sunday, August 11th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Federal grants could soon pay for improvements around Tulsa.

Tulsa City Council members held a rare Saturday meeting to re-evaluate who would get the $6.1 million set aside by the mayor for Community Development Block Grants.

The council met Thursday to disscuss the reallocation of the federal money but wasn't able to approve a package then because they couldn't agree where the money should go.

Saturday's meeting solved that problem and one council member says he's confident that the Council made the right decisions.

Council member Sam Roop says,"When nine people get together and have a collective wisdom, hopefully we make a good choice, and I think today we made a very good choice."

Council member Randy Sullivan says it was a tough decision trying to decide who will get the money and who won't. But he says he's also pleased with the outcome of today's meeting.

"I think we came up the resolution on which programs would best fit the needs of Tulsa, North Tulsa, and for the areas that are affected by the CDBG funding."

Among the changes made; more than 200-thousand dollars that the council had planned to use to demolish a North Tulsa school will now be used to restore a historic movie theater.

The allocation of the grant money needed to be approved by Monday to meet Thursday's federal deadline.