Rural projects to be funded with REAP grants

The new year will be bringing communications upgrades in Cotton County and street repairs in Tipton.

Fifty-six projects submitted by towns in Southwest Oklahoma were awarded funding by the Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments (ASCOG) under its 2025 REAP Grant program. The $1,824,156 in projects funded by the Rural Economic Action Plan (REAP) grants range from storm sirens and street work, to communications upgrades in Cotton County and jail annex repairs in Tillman County.

Riley David Cronin, ASCOG planner, said ASCOG received 68 applications for funding, totaling $3,965,246.14. The entities that won grants will participate in a contract signing Thursday at the Canadian Valley Technology Center in Chickasha.

Cronin said REAP is a grant program designated annually by the State of Oklahoma to help small rural communities with basic infrastructure and community projects. For ASCOG, those communities are located in the counties it represents in south-central Oklahoma: Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Grady, Jefferson, McClain, Stephens and Tillman.

“The main purpose of the REAP grant is to provide rural communities with a program of their own to assist in upkeep and duties,” Cronin said.

Cronin said REAP differs from state and federal grants, which often have rules that can inhibit rural towns from receiving them. Cronin said while helpful, those grants tend to favor those who can provide matching funds, the personnel to apply for them and the funding to maintain them.

“Rural communities may have these resources, but not to the same extent as larger ones, and there are only so many awarded applications,” Cronin said.

While there are some guidelines for REAP — applicants must have populations of 7,000 or less — there are notable differences.

While an applicant will receive additional points to contributing local funds to the project, a material match is optional. Cronin said that specification opens the door to smaller communities — especially those with fewer than 1,500 residents — to receive financial assistance. There also is a wide range of projects town can apply under, with points given on things such as a community’s population, and tax and utility rates.

“We do place a priority on water, sewage, street and public safety projects, specifically in the grading of applications, as those are most often the most pressing projects,” Cronin said, adding applications that don’t win aren’t discarded: they receive additional points for the next two years, ensuring each community receives a REAP grant at least once every three years (most receive a grant every year).

The average grant sought this year was $50,000, for projects that included street overlays, water/sewer line replacements and storm sirens, or work that can be completed within 18 months while having a meaningful impact on their communities.

The two largest grants went to Cotton and Tillman counties, with each approved for $135,000. For Cotton County, that funding will be used for communications upgrades, while Tillman County will use its grant for jail annex repairs.

The town of Tipton received $96,000 for an oil and chip seal project for its streets, while Caddo County received $90,000 for a building security upgrade project.