City of Tahlequah

PROJECT PURPOSE

The federally designed scenic Illinois River is located east of the City of Tahlequah. The Illinois River is a primary driver for tourism in this region. The City of Tahlequah owns river access property, which is undeveloped, open to the public, not managed or patrolled by the GRDA, and which serves as the main access point to the City?s water supply intake pump. Increased water flow from expanding water treatment plants in Northwest Arkansas and changing weather patterns have led to progressively more severe flooding events, causing severe erosion, degradation of the site, and threatening the access road to the water intake pump. This project proposes long-term solutions to preserve the riverbank, develop the recreational use of the property to increase river access for the general public, preserve access to critical infrastructure which provides drinking water for the City of Tahlequah, and create a launching point for emergency personnel involved in water rescue training and responses.

EVIDENCE

The City of Tahlequah took great planning and work to create a Comprehensive Plan for the city and neighboring communities. This plan was created by community stakeholders, partners, citizens and City of Tahlequah administrative staff. This City of Tahlequah is also fortunate to have Mr. Taylor Tannehill onboard and his extensive background and degrees in planning prepare him for this endeavor and others. This plan is attached as a supporting document.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The City of Tahlequah is located within miles of the third poorest county (Adair) and ranks tenth respectively in this category (U.S. Census Data 2010) which establishes a dire need for assistance in this project during unprecedented times. Numerous community members are recovering from loss of employment and wages during the Covid-19 pandemic in this geographically isolated area. By creating and providing safe areas of outdoor recreation during pandemic recovery times, this project will benefit the lives of visitors to the Scenic Illinois River area by being a desired recreation spot to enjoy without health or safety concerns, and with no monetary resources needed in such difficult times. Family and friends want to be together safely, and this venue provides this space. The project also aims to improve the economic vitality of the area, by providing a desired travel destination free to patrons, where they will hopefully partake in some business in our community while visiting. Whether it is eating in a restaurant, putting gas in their vehicle to travel, or spending the night in a hotel to explore the area longer, this recreation area will provide more to our community than possible to project.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Project performance will be measured by meeting predefined milestones as prescribed in the 2010 User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation (Frechtling Westat et al., 2010). The project will have four stages: Project planning/modification, Needs assessment, Project Implementation and Project Evaluation. The City of Tahlequah has already completed the first two steps in effective program evaluation. Both formative and summative data will be collected to measure completion goals created by a project committee made up of citizens and members from each partnering entity. The City of Tahlequah will adhere to all expectations of the US Treasury financial reporting requirements.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma