Henryetta Economic Development Authority (HEDA) members are looking for one person to fill a vacancy following the death of longtime HEDA member Ron McAfee.
He joined the city authority not long after it was founded some 30 years ago and has been serving since. Current members are Keith Estes, president, Jill Francis, vice-president, Jim Beymer, Jennifer Mulholland and Bruce Jones, members.
At the June HEDA meeting, the vacancy was announced but no date was set to fill that empty seat. If anyone is interested in being a part of the board, they should contact one of the board members about submitting an application.
During the Monday morning session, members were told that paperwork is underway toward eventual construction of a motel and travel center south of the 237 exit west of town. Those plans were announced earlier this year.

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City public works director Ron Casey said work is wrapping up on the storm drain project on East Main. That is expected to be completed within the next couple of weeks.
Authority members looked at ways to improve curb appeal of Henryetta and specifically the downtown area.
Board member Bruce Jones said several businesses have opened their doors in recent weeks despite the COVID pandemic issue that has gripped the country.
A plan to help businesses recoup some money in remodeling or store front improvements had been brought up several years ago but has never moved on.
Roy Madden, who serves as HEDA secretary said the original plan called for a business to submit an application detailing the work and that would be reviewed by city officials. If it met the requirements, the business owner would be eligible for a reimbursement percentage of the money they spent.
He explained the proposal had gone from city officials to the city attorney who sent it to the Oklahoma Municipal League. That state organization said there were liability issues and the plan was dropped.
“We were wanting to start with our downtown core then branch out as more businesses started remodeling,” Madden said.
“I don’t see how the city could get any liability,” board member Jim Beymer said.
The plan would call for all work to go through code enforcement and once the work was completed and met all code requirements reimbursement could be made.
“This could be something that would help somebody over the hump to get them interested in doing something,” Madden pointed out.