Town Of Talala Prepares To Expand Police Department, New Community Building

The town of Talala is getting ready to expand its police department and build a new community building. This is all thanks to some grant funding and some donations.

The current town hall building isn't that big, and it also houses the police department. However, the police department only makes up one small room in the building.

The Cherokee Nation offered up a $50,000 Safety Grant to expand the police department, doubling the size of the current space.

Chief of Police Ronald Eaton said right now, a lack of space after making arrests is one of the biggest problems the police department is facing.

"Storage is probably our biggest issue. Every police department that makes any kind of an arrest has to have a location for secure storage, and we have a very minimal amount of space to be able to make that happen. So with the expansion of the new police department, we will have that space available to us," Eaton said.

The new community building, along with the police department, will be attached to the current town hall building according to the initial plans.

A Grand Gateway REAP grant served as the launching point for the new community building. This grant provided $75,000 in funding for the project, while the town provided another $25,000 for the project.

A couple members of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council, Dora Patzkowski and Kevin Easley, also provided some funding for the community building.

The community building will allow town officials, such as the town attorney, to have more space to meet with clients, or for officials to conduct business without disturbing others. It could also be used for community or personal events.

"We’ve worked hard to build up this area of town, which is kind of the main hub of the town. And I think it’ll be a nice addition. I’m always trying to think about future growth and make sure we leave things in a better place than when we got here," Kandy Damron, Mayor of Talala said.

The town is waiting on final designs for the projects, and construction will begin soon after. The goal is to have these projects completed by March 2025.