The City of Muskogee Foundation’s incorporating documents are expected to be filed Tuesday along with the names of its 13 original directors.

City Attorney Frank Medearis’ announcement came Monday after city councilors appointed nine community members and selected two of their own to serve.

In addition to the nine at-large community members announced Thursday, City Councilors James Gulley, Ward II, and David Ragsdale Jr., Ward III, will serve two-year terms.

Four councilors initially expressed an interest in serving on the foundation’s governing board. Two withdrew from consideration after Ragsdale and Vice Mayor Robert Perkins said their constituents had expressed a desire to see a racial mix when it comes to council representation.

“There has been some concern in the neighborhood,” Perkins said about the request for racial diversity.

With Perkins’ announcement, City Councilors Jim Ritchey, Ward IV, and Bob Luttrull, Ward I, withdrew their names from consideration. Gulley and Ragsdale, who failed to timely submit his first-round ballot for the at-large nominees, were unanimously appointed.

Directors of the city’s charitable foundation, which will be funded with the proceeds from the lease of Muskogee Regional Medical Center to Capella Healthcare, will oversee how those funds are invested and how the interest is used to benefit the community.

The lease is valued between $100 million to $120 million. Officials expect to reap about $5 million annually in interest. The foundation’s mission is to use that money to improve the quality of life for all Muskogee residents.

The foundation’s 13-member governing board, in accordance with its corporate documents, consists of Muskogee’s city manager, its mayor, two city councilors and nine at-large members appointed by the City Council.

City Manager Greg Buckley and Mayor John Tyler Hammons will serve as long as they hold their respective positions. City councilors serve two-year terms, and at-large representatives are allowed to serve two, three-year terms.

Because the at-large terms are staggered, with three positions appointed every two years, the first nine community representatives were selected to serve one-, two- or three-year terms. The at-large representatives include, by length of term:

• Three-year terms — Mike Webb, Janey Boydston and Sharon Parks.

• Two-year terms — John Barton, Martha Alford and Darrell Hamby.

• One-year terms — D’Elbie Walker, Timothy Holder and Earnie Gilder.

There was no word when the City of Muskogee Foundation’s governing board will meet. Officials with Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, which is managing the day-to-day affairs of the city’s foundation, have said the board’s first order of business would be a retreat, during which directors will hammer out policies that will govern investment and granting procedures.