The Mayes County Board of County Commissioners met Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in Pryor with a lease-purchase agreement for a new Locust Grove fire truck on its agenda, the largest single figure on a posting that also opens the county fair's week at the county event center.
Item 14 of the agenda, posted Sept. 3, is "approval of Lease Purchase Agreement between Welch State Bank and Locust Grove Fire Department for a 2026 Ferrara Cinder Pumper Rescue Truck" purchased from Fire Master Fire Equipment "in the amount of $871,652.00 (Less Down $200,000.00)." The item is carried by District 3 Commissioner Randy Pierce, according to the initials the agenda attaches to each item.
What the record says
Locust Grove is one of 13 fire departments listed on the county's fire departments page, where its chief is given as Jared Turner. The agenda does not state the term of the lease, the interest rate or the annual payment.
The same agenda carries a $1,395 contract between AT&T and Mayes County 911 for Ethernet service (item 13), the 2025-26 schedule of expenditures of federal awards (item 10), and, as old business, "discussion and proposed action on matters discussed in executive session on August 31, 2026" regarding the appraisal of a property "for the purpose of purchasing real property," also carried by Pierce. The property is not identified.
Item 15 books the Mayes County Event Center for the week: the Mayes County Fair with OSU Extension exhibits and 4-H from Sept. 8 through 13, the county premium sale on Sept. 14, and a "Data Center Meeting" booked by Sue McCollough for Sept. 21. The agenda gives no further description of that meeting.
The Aug. 31 agenda, posted Aug. 27, listed a resolution "to issue a 7 / or 14 Day County Wide Burn Ban" as item 13. Mayes was among 53 counties on the burn-ban list Oklahoma Forestry Services provided to News 9 on Sept. 2. The U.S. Drought Monitor's county statistics for the week beginning Sept. 1 put 65.16 percent of Mayes County in D2 "severe drought," up from 19.46 percent the week before; all of the county was in at least D1 "moderate drought" both weeks.
The Aug. 31 agenda also listed a resolution to deposit $29,138.63 "from Mayes Solar for Road Maintenance" into a District 2 account (item 17), advertising for Bid 1332 to replace the Peters N 430 Road bridge in District 2 (item 18), a $33,297.41 reimbursement request from Mayes County HOPE under an opioid abatement grant (item 11), an annual memorandum of agreement with the Cherokee Nation (item 12), and an agreement between the Pryor Creek music festival, identified as Rocklahoma and Born and Raised, and the sheriff's department (item 15).
What it means for the county
If the board approves item 14 as posted, the county enters a financing agreement with Welch State Bank for a truck that costs $871,652 with $200,000 paid down, leaving $671,652 to be financed on terms the agenda does not state. The fair contract puts the event center in county use for six days. The solar deposit, per the Aug. 31 item, goes to District 2 road maintenance.
What the record does not say
Neither agenda states how many days the Aug. 31 burn ban runs; the county's inclusion on the state list is the only posted evidence it passed, and the resolution's length is a matter for the Aug. 31 minutes, which Tuesday's agenda lists for approval as item 4. The lease-purchase item carries no term, rate or payment schedule, and no fiscal note. The real-property item does not name the property or a price. The "Data Center Meeting" is a room booking with no stated agenda.
What happens next
The board is required by law to meet on the first Monday of each month and by its posted pattern meets weekly; the next regular meeting falls on Sept. 14, when Tuesday's minutes come up for approval. Bid 1332 for the Peters Road bridge, if advertised as posted, goes out for bids on a schedule the county clerk's office sets. The Mayes County Fair runs through Sunday, Sept. 13, at the event center.