WAGONER COUNTY, Okla. — An agreement at Sept. 24's Wagoner County Economic Development Authority meeting has put the future existence of the long-awaited downtown Wagoner project called The Junction back on track.
"Any type of retaliatory statements won't be tolerated," WCEDA chairman Chris Leffingwell said at the start of the meeting's discussion of committing $400,000 to the project's construction, which has a total budget of around $1.4 million.
WATCH: 'Tax dollars at work': Wagoner County gives financial go-ahead for 'The Junction' after two-year deadlock
However, by the end of the discussion and unanimous vote in favor, only smiles and handshakes were exchanged among board members and Mayor of Wagoner Dalton Self.
This, after the last vote in February was tabled by tense disagreements stemming from a contested quarter-acre land deal in Wagoner that the city has since sued a county employee over.
- Previous coverage>>> Only on 2: Wagoner 'Junction' funding on hold amid county-city feud
"This is a grand slam for the city of Wagoner," Mayor Self told 2 News afterward. "I'm very excited about the partnership between John Chandler and the City of Wagoner and Wagoner County. All three of us. I couldn't be happier."
The mayor and the board agreed that The Junction donor and former Williams Companies chief financial officer John Chandler would help oversee the project's financial progress.
"It's taken longer than we thought to get us to where we're at today," Chandler told 2 News. "But essentially we're pursuing the same thing we were pursuing back in 2023, which is a venue that allows for events, activities, concerts, things that really increase the activity in downtown plus beautifies our downtown area in a way that would encourage additional investment in the empty buildings that surround it."
"This is really tax dollars at work," Self added. "This is people's tax dollars investing in their town."
The mayor believes construction will start up in January for a completion of next fall, assuming Wagoner City Council approves the financial agreement in its next meeting.
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