2026-09-29 - Oklahoma City Riverfront Redevelopment Authority

05:00I have a 130 with council. You think

05:02we'll be done in 30 minutes?

05:05>> Maybe not.

05:07Look at all these quarterly reports we

05:09got here. What do you have at 1:30?

05:11>> Uh with council. I got a meeting with

05:14city council.

05:14>> Oh,

05:17>> blow them all.

05:37Must be 1:00 the lights come on. Before

05:40I call the meeting to order, I have a

05:42couple of items. Uh on a sad note, those

05:45of you that know Don Douglas, our

05:47longtime uh engineer on on call

05:51engineer, did a lot of work for the

05:53river, a lot of work for the city, but a

05:55lot of work for the river trust. Also

05:57passed away yesterday. And we're very

06:00sad to hear that. We wish uh the best

06:02for his family and all that. On a

06:05lighter note, we have two guests in the

06:07audience that I'll introduce

06:10before we get started. There are youth

06:13council members for W six and uh they've

06:16been assigned the river trust to study

06:19or monitor or critique or whatever you

06:22want to call it. I'm sure they'll do a

06:24little bit of both of that. But uh uh

06:27first let me introduce Coral GT. Stand

06:31up. Coral. Coral.

06:36Coral is a senior at Heritage Hall.

06:38She's leader of the Heritage Hall

06:39diversity club, a co-lead builder for

06:42the overcharged robotics team, and a

06:46standout member of her school's cross

06:47country and track team. Carl has earned

06:50numerous honors including the state 3A

06:52cross country championship, the

06:54president's volunteer service award, and

06:56multiple recognition from academic honor

06:59society. Outside of school, she worked

07:02at the Red Coyote as a fit coach and has

07:04also served as assistant veterary tech

07:07at Sunset Veterary Clinic. Known for her

07:10leadership and ability to connect with

07:12others, Coral is passionate about

07:14expanding mental health support and

07:15increasing access to educational and

07:17career opportunities for youth across

07:19Oklahoma City. Welcome, Coral. We're

07:22happy to have you.

07:24[applause]

07:28Allan, stand up.

07:30Alan Padilla is a junior at Southeast

07:33High School and an active member of both

07:35academic and extracurricular community.

07:38He participates in the police athletic

07:40league mentorship program as a mentor

07:42and is involved in PAL chess where he

07:46has competed and developed his strategic

07:48training skills. He is also a trumpet

07:51player in the Southeast High School band

07:53and a member of the Southeast Music

07:54Honor Society. Outside of school, Allan

07:57has earned recognition in chess and

07:59athletics, including placing 37th at the

08:022023 US K3 Chess Nationals and earning

08:07awards such as a three-point medalist at

08:10Jinx K through2 and runner up at the

08:13OSCO state championships. He's

08:16passionate about mentoring youth and

08:18creating positive opportunities for

08:19young people. and he continues

08:22and he hopes to continue using

08:24leadership and service to support others

08:26in his school and community. Welcome,

08:28Alan. We're happy to have you.

08:31[applause]

08:34>> Okay, I'll call to order the the

08:37September 29th meeting of the Oklahoma

08:39City Riverfront Redevelopment Authority.

08:42Uh item chairman Kamal Pennington is

08:44sick today, wasn't able to join us, so

08:46we'll welcome him at the next meeting.

08:49uh have a report from the development

08:51water use committee. Kathy,

09:01>> no.

09:04>> Now, can you hear me?

09:06>> Okay. Thank you.

09:08On August the 26, the Land and Water Use

09:11Committee met to consider the final

09:14revisions to the RFP.

09:17These were suggested by the planning

09:20department after an earlier version of

09:22the RFP was introduced at our July 21st

09:26trust meeting.

09:28Included in these changes were revised

09:31maps and edits to the scope of services

09:34and description of services sections.

09:37These changes clarify and expand on

09:40project requirements,

09:42expectations, and should result in more

09:46complete and use useful proposals.

09:49On August the 26th, our committee

09:51recommended that these changes be

09:53accepted.

09:55At that time, after reading all of the

09:59uh changes and the document again, we

10:02requested that the description of

10:04services include references to three

10:07additional background documents that we

10:10thought would be very helpful. The first

10:12one is the executive summary of the

10:14string of pearls river corridor

10:16development plan from 1979.

10:20the North Canadian River Corridor

10:22Strategic Action and Development Plan of

10:242006

10:26and the Oklahoma River Trails Equestrian

10:29Experience Conceptual Plan in 2015.

10:34We also requested that staff docket the

10:36revised RFP for introduction at this

10:40trust meeting

10:43for approval on October the 27th

10:48and then for approval with the city and

10:52the Oklahoma City Public Property

10:54Authority on November the 10th.

10:58I also made just a couple of thoughts

11:01with uh the RFP

11:06in the beginning. If you'll read through

11:08your your uh plan, you'll see that the

11:11introduction of the project with the

11:13history, the assets along the river, and

11:16a statement of need are quite detailed.

11:20And then I want you to note that the

11:22scope of services on page nine

11:26breaks down how the plan will be in

11:29three phases. The first phase will be

11:31the Oklahoma River corridor between

11:33Meridian and Eastern. The second phase

11:36is the west corridor which is Meridian

11:39Avenue westward to Lake Overhoser. And

11:42then the third phase is east corridor

11:46eastern avenue eastward to Perary Park

11:50in the vicinity of Midwest Boulevard.

11:53And then I also want you to note that on

11:55page 23, we outlined the timeline and

12:00the content.

12:02Mr. Chairman, this was approved by our

12:04committee at our August 26th meeting and

12:07we present it today to the trust for

12:11approval October the 27th.

12:16>> Good.

12:19Well, that's part of the consent a

12:24>> Thank you. Any questions of Kathy before

12:26we move on?

12:28>> Okay.

12:30>> Okay. Item three is the minutes of the

12:32July 21st meeting. Have any changes or

12:35corrections?

12:43Have to vote.

12:49And that's pass. Item four is a consent

12:52docket. We have a presentation on the

12:54Oklahoma River project summary.

13:01Thank you, chairman. Uh Juan Ramos, uh

13:04project manager over the Oklahoma River.

13:06Um we're going to continue our efforts

13:07with the river bank stabilization, uh

13:10dredging rem or debris removal and

13:13dredging.

13:15If you could scroll down the next page

13:17for me. Um our upcoming projects on the

13:19river is MC0671.

13:22Um gate 5 on our brum

13:28gate five at our paw bra dam um is

13:32needing replaced MC0816

13:36um Oklahoma River and vegetation

13:38management. The funding has been

13:40obtained and will be prepared for

13:41advertisement in the upcoming months.

13:44DM0426

13:45channel cleaning and maintenance of the

13:47North Canadian River from Eastern to

13:49First Americans Boulevard um from

13:53Eastern First Americans Boulevard to

13:54Northeast 36. Funding has been obtained

13:57and will be prepared for advertising in

13:59the next uh coming months. The up uh

14:03ongoing projects we have MC0776

14:06for the Oklahoma River SCADA system. um

14:08any issues that come up with SCADA and

14:10reporting

14:12um

14:13being repaired and project MC0788

14:18EB1 decant site road has been completed.

14:21Um it was in service as of 917 2026 and

14:25our dredging program has started um as

14:28of 917 2026. Uh the top two pictures are

14:33our decant site uh prior to service. The

14:37bottom two pictures are our decanton

14:39site with the liner and bags ready for

14:42service.

14:44Any questions?

14:46>> Any questions?

14:48>> Thank you.

14:49>> All right. Thank you.

14:51>> Next, we have our quarterly update from

14:53Epic Paintball.

15:02Hello everybody. Um, not a lot's been

15:06going on just yet, but we're getting

15:08ready to start on a few small projects.

15:11Um, one thing, um, well, can you put it

15:15on that chain?

15:18We upgraded the gate chain to a heavy

15:22duty um, basically a security chain.

15:27We've had people

15:29dumping on the property lately. Uh, they

15:32had broken a lock. They had cut the

15:34existing chain that was there. It was

15:36just a regular chain. So, uh, we put

15:40this industrial chain on and I put a

15:42disc lock on it so it can't be cut. So,

15:44hopefully that'll help secure the area

15:46better. And then future plans for it,

15:49which would be the other picture,

15:52is we have a pipe gate at our current

15:55location.

15:57Um, and it's

16:00considerably bigger and stronger than

16:02the one that's currently at the

16:03property. So, we'll be updating that

16:06over the winter.

16:08Um, the road going in, there is a

16:13concrete approach and some of it has

16:16started to wash out the dirt um, right

16:19in front of it, causing a a pretty steep

16:22drop. So, uh, Monday we're going to

16:25have, uh, we're going to bring in a

16:27little bit of asphalt, smooth that out,

16:31um, is what is what our next plans are

16:35currently. And I'm actually meeting with

16:37the mower after this meeting. And we're

16:40going to be mowing the entire property,

16:42you know, making sure the grass stays

16:43low, things like that, so it looks okay.

16:46Um probably looking at spring to do some

16:50more uh expansion

16:54on

16:55what we have planned. Uh one would

16:58probably be our parking lot.

17:00Um, we have decided to move it north of

17:07our original location up near the tent

17:09near tent street so that it stays out of

17:12the FEMA floodway so we don't run into

17:15problems with FEMA and things of that

17:17nature. And that area has been already

17:20approved for us to um do that

17:24modification through the city, which we

17:27got a permit for earlier, but we just

17:29have to renew it next year when we when

17:31we start on that.

17:34And that's kind of where we're sitting

17:35right now.

17:37>> Okay.

17:38>> Does anybody have any questions?

17:42>> Thank you. Appreciate it.

17:44>> Appreciate it.

17:48Uh, next is a presentation quarterly

17:51report foundation. Chris,

17:57>> thanks chairman. Good afternoon. Uh,

17:59Chris Hornson, executive director at

18:00Riverport. Uh, so last quarter was a a

18:04good quarter for Riverport. We hosted um

18:07a number of events and had our uh

18:10programs uh kickoff. And so here you can

18:13see that our youth uh rowing fall

18:15program kicked off for our fall season

18:18uh with 20 new athletes coming to our

18:20open house that we hosted. I think we

18:22retained about 25 of those athletes that

18:24stayed in the program. Um our masters

18:26rowing continues to grow. That's our

18:28adult rowing program. Uh we see a

18:31pipeline of people that go through our

18:32learn to row that decide they want to

18:34stick around and continue to row with

18:35our masters program. Um, but this

18:38weekend we're hosting the head of the

18:39Oklahoma and so a lot of those masters

18:41racers will be competing at the head of

18:42the Oklahoma on the river. You can see

18:45we've had over 120 that came through our

18:46learn to row. Um, and again we've been

18:48able to retain quite a few of those

18:50folks to stick around into our

18:51programming. Uh, our masters dragon boat

18:54fall season. So we've got 20 master

18:56dragon boat paddlers that competed in uh

18:58Colorado and Denver at the largest

19:00dragon boat festival in the United

19:02States. Um, and our team was successful

19:04in uh their bracket getting first as

19:07well as when they went to Arkansas, they

19:08placed first in their bracket and then

19:10they were the fourth fastest team at

19:12that event in Arkansas uh earlier in the

19:14summer. So,

19:16our Scholastic Rowing League, which is

19:18our YRL league, will host its

19:20championship on November 14th. We've got

19:2312 teams that compete in that. Those are

19:2412 um schools that are part of the YRL

19:27program. And then our adult leagues,

19:29which is our corporate uh leagues, will

19:31also compete uh this weekend um at the

19:34end for their championship in not only

19:36dragon boating but also rowing. And you

19:38can see here we've got 34 dragon boats

19:40that will be competing about 350

19:41paddlers and then 12 of our rowing

19:43teams, about 130 total rowers that'll

19:46all be competing in our OG& night

19:47sprints on the second Friday night. So

19:50if you're looking for something to do,

19:51come down and watch root for your

19:53favorite uh team uh at the water. So,

19:57our sprint kayaks, uh, those are the

19:59ones on the flat water that race. Um,

20:02we're lucky enough that we actually were

20:04hosting the K4 US national team here,

20:07uh, for a little while in the last

20:08quarter that were training before they

20:09left to go overseas and compete. This

20:12team is training to secure a spot for

20:14the 2028 Olympics. Uh, right now they

20:16are, uh, I believe sitting in 16th for

20:19overall points. Um, I think it's top 18

20:21teams actually qualify to make it into

20:23the Olympics. And so we'll continue to

20:25work with them. You can see a picture

20:26there of me with the team. They were

20:28gracious enough to let me get in the

20:30boat and splash around. Uh they're um

20:34phenomenal athletes. Uh and I only

20:35slowed them down for the 20 minutes that

20:37I got in the boat with them. Uh and then

20:39you can see a picture of our dragon boat

20:41team at the Colorado um Sloans Lake

20:43Dragon Boat Festival, which was uh

20:45really really fun event.

20:48This past quarter we also hosted the uh

20:50ICF World Championships at the

20:52Whitewater Center. Uh so at the end of

20:54July we had teams here all month of

20:56July, some in June that were training.

20:58Uh in the end we saw 50 countries, 257

21:01athletes compete at the uh world

21:03championships. The event was broadcasted

21:05globally and then all the finals were

21:07picked up by Peacock and broadcasted

21:09here in the United States. Uh it was

21:11about a three and a half million dollar

21:13economic driver for the city with hotel

21:15rooms and food for everybody that came

21:17to watch the event. Uh next year the

21:19World Championships are going to be held

21:21in Spain. Um, so if you're looking for a

21:23trip, go to Spain in September and watch

21:25the World Championships there before it

21:27comes back here in 2028 in July for the

21:30Olympics. Um, and then there were some

21:32pictures of some folks. One of the other

21:34cool things that we get to host down

21:35there in the facility is the OSU

21:37Swiftwater Conference. And so there'll

21:39actually be a presentation next month

21:41from the the chief that that puts on

21:44that swiftwater conference. But I'll

21:45give you a super high level. We had 112

21:47EMTs or swiftwater rescue people that

21:50came in for training for the week as

21:51well as a competition. If you look

21:53closely in that left picture, you can

21:55see a horse head. Um, one of the rescues

21:58that they train and teach to are animal

22:00rescues. Uh, and so not only when they

22:02go into a flooded place are they going

22:04to be saving people, but they're also

22:06typically saving dogs, cats, and

22:08livestock. And so they have a 700 pound

22:10horse mannequin that they put in the

22:13water that the um Switchwater folks get

22:15to learn how to harness up correctly and

22:17then safely uh retrieve from the water,

22:19which is pretty cool to see. Um the one

22:23the one station that the media really

22:24liked to cover was the uh the animal

22:27rescue. So our guest service score uh

22:31for the quarter was a 78. That's a

22:33little bit down over what we saw the

22:34same period last year. Um most of that

22:37is due to the world championships. Um

22:39during the world championships, some of

22:40our offerings were not available,

22:42rafting was not available because of the

22:44world championships. Tubing was not

22:46available. And so the guests that came

22:48out um were you know not as happy as

22:51they could have been if everything was

22:52open and available to them. So plus it

22:55was hot

22:57104 like you know you took took away the

23:00one way that you can get wet and stay

23:01cool. Uh, you know, kind of makes you a

23:04little grumpy, but overall really good.

23:05Uh, we did close for the season the

23:07Whitewater facility last weekend, so

23:08Whitewater is done for the season. We do

23:10have some projects that are coming up

23:12this off season that will take place in

23:14the Whitewater facility. Um, and then

23:17we've got the head of the Oklahoma this

23:18weekend that I spoke to as well as our

23:20YL championships in November before they

23:23then start working on the river. So, any

23:25questions?

23:27I will tell you I went out there one day

23:30during the swiftwater conference and um

23:33the the people that come in here u

23:36increases every year it seems like and

23:37this is a sought after conference. It's

23:40there there are a few other places that

23:42do it to the extent we do it but not

23:44very many and this one is really set up

23:46well. Uh that's why I asked the

23:48gentleman from WestU to come in when he

23:51could and do a presentation so you can

23:53see how they're utilizing the swift

23:54water. Uh it's really amazing and the

23:57the horse rescue was I hadn't even

24:00that's something I hadn't even thought

24:01about. But uh you got to rescue

24:04everybody, I guess. But uh just a couple

24:06of quick questions, Chris. Uh

24:10congratulations on your award of the

24:12grant for the high school rowing

24:14program. You want to do a quick synopsis

24:17of that real?

24:18>> Yeah. So, we were uh we were awarded a

24:20million-dollar grant for a new varsity

24:22rowing league that we plan to kick off

24:24next fall. Um and that grant came from

24:26in as much. And so, with that, we are

24:29making the high school league free to

24:31high school and middle schools that want

24:33to participate for the first two years.

24:35Then it'll be a 50% shared cost year

24:38three and then a 25% cost share in year

24:41four. Um, we currently offer a travel

24:43juniors program, which is our high-end

24:46competitive team, almost like a a travel

24:49uh uh volleyball or softball team. Um,

24:53and so that team practices six days a

24:55week and then competes. And that is a

24:57year-long um during the school year

24:59team. We then offer our YRL, which is um

25:04three hours a week that they train. So,

25:06some of them will train two days a week,

25:07hour and a half. Some of them will only

25:08train one day for three hours. So, we

25:10didn't have something in between and we

25:12found it was hard for our athletes to go

25:14from three hours a week to six days a

25:16week of training. And we said, hey, why

25:18not start a high school or a varsity

25:21rowing league that would train 5 days a

25:22week, three days down at our facility on

25:24the water, two days a week at the

25:26school. And so, part of this money is

25:28going to be able to fund urging

25:33at the school um when they're not on the

25:34water. We would also then host uh

25:37bi-weekly night races. We're one of the

25:39only venues in the world that has

25:40stadium lights on the waterway. Uh and

25:42so because of that, we can host races

25:44night. So that's our plan is that we'll

25:46have Tuesday night uh high school races

25:48on the water where our high schools will

25:50compete to give them lane choices for a

25:53state championship that we'll host uh at

25:55the end of the season. And so really

25:57really excited to kick it off. We

25:58already have two schools that have

26:00confirmed that they want to be a part of

26:01that league. Um we're hoping to get five

26:03or six for the first year and then

26:05continue to grow after that. But anybody

26:07that signs up and says they're

26:08interested for the first two years is

26:09going to be free cost to them.

26:12>> That's really [clears throat] exciting.

26:13I think that's going to be great. I was

26:15down there the other day and this

26:16parking lot was full of school buses and

26:18there was kids everywhere. What was

26:20that?

26:21>> Yeah. So uh we're lucky enough that we

26:23get to host uh the TSA group which is uh

26:26technology, science, and academics. And

26:28so those kids come out uh in the fall.

26:31Uh this year they came out two different

26:32days. There were over 400 kids each day

26:34from around the state that come down and

26:36they build uh a boat with cardboard and

26:39duct tape and they have to race it

26:41across the flat water uh there in the

26:43white water channel. Um most of them

26:46don't make it all the way across. Most

26:48of them sink pretty quickly. Uh but they

26:50do themes and they get really engaged in

26:52it. Uh and then some of them do make it

26:53AC across which is really fun and then

26:55they win they win prizes. And so they do

26:58that kind of bit of competition and then

27:00they get to play. So then they get to

27:01surf, they get to paddle around on

27:03paddle boards, they get to access the

27:05sky trail of the slides, and so they get

27:06to kind of make a fun field trip out of

27:08it before they head back to the school.

27:10So yeah, really cool.

27:11>> Very good. Very good. Any questions for

27:14Chris?

27:15>> I'll add one more thing about the OSU

27:17Swiss water, um, of the 112 people that

27:20actually participated, 87 of those

27:22individuals were from outside of

27:24Oklahoma. Um it included so of of the

27:28total number of people there there were

27:2937 different fire departments or

27:31swiftwater rescue teams that came and

27:33participated. Um we did have a few

27:36people come internationally from out of

27:37the country from New Zealand that came

27:39over to be part of this training and

27:41competition. Uh and so it it is a global

27:43group that comes in to participate and

27:45it isn't just a bunch of people that are

27:46here in Oklahoma City. So it's pretty

27:49cool.

27:50>> Awesome.

27:50>> Yeah. Yeah.

27:52>> Awesome. Thank you.

27:53>> Very good. Thank you.

27:55We do a lot of fun stuff going on. So,

27:59>> okay. Next, we have a presentation from

28:02the Oklahoma City Community Foundation

28:03on our endowment.

28:05>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon,

28:07ladies and gentlemen of the authority.

28:08My name is Lindseay Lair and I'm with

28:10the Oklahoma City Community Foundation

28:11here to report on the uh authorities

28:14fund at the community foundation. The

28:16fund was established in 2005 to fund

28:18programs and activities that support the

28:20public use of the riverfront.

28:22contributions comprised of individual

28:24gifts, corporate gifts, and private

28:25foundations showing the vast support um

28:28of the fund. The last gift was received

28:30in October of 2025 for $25,000 from OA

28:34Connections. In your packet, you can see

28:36the current market value as of June 30

28:39is $2,210,511.

28:43In addition, I wanted to take a step

28:44back and look at the fund's history to

28:46show the scale of the impact of the fund

28:48over the past 20 years. Actual

28:50contributions over the past 21 years are

28:53valued at $1,250,43.

28:57Total cumulative distributions, so money

28:59going back to the authority is $538,521.

29:04Total investment gains for the same

29:06period 1,593.

29:10Excuse me, 1,593,339.

29:14The current available spendable balance

29:16to the authority is $426,598.

29:21There there are also unspent

29:23distributions um currently held by the

29:25authority from previously requested

29:27distributions valued at $197,977.

29:32Moving over into investment performance

29:35for our OCCF general pool, investment

29:37performance for fiscal year 26 came in

29:40at 16.43%.

29:42Our 10-year average as of June 30 is

29:459.4%.

29:47Normally, this is where we would end our

29:49presentation, but I'm excited to share a

29:51distribution update.

29:54Let's see here. The Oklahoma River

29:56Foundation Endowment Distribution

29:57Committee, which consists of Chairman

29:59Mars, uh, Trustee Williams, and myself

30:01met on September the 11th. The terms of

30:04the endow endowment fund call for all

30:06distributions to be approved by this

30:08advisory committee. We discussed the use

30:11of available funds to be put toward the

30:13comprehensive plan for the riverfront

30:15through an RFP process, which I know you

30:17all are familiar with and we'll hear

30:18more about later in the agenda. All

30:20parties agreed that this project is well

30:22within the parameters of the fund

30:24agreement in a desirable project for the

30:26riverfront. Funding for the project was

30:29approved in two parts. release of the

30:31current restriction on the $197,977

30:36currently held by the city to be uh

30:39spent on the project as identified as

30:42well as approval of any amount up to the

30:45full spendable balance held at OCCF,

30:47which is the $426,598

30:51to be requested by this body. Unanimous

30:54approval was reached for all funding

30:56considerations,

30:57which provides an approved combined

30:59available amount of 624,575

31:04to be drawn down as needed for the

31:06approved project. This concludes my

31:08presentation. Are there any questions?

31:14>> Thank you.

31:15>> Thank you.

31:18Next is a presentation on the downtown

31:20strategic

31:22development plan.

31:29>> Uh good afternoon. Jeff Butler. Uh I'm

31:32city's planning director. Happy to be

31:33here and take you through this uh this

31:36plan. I've got a summary for you. Um

31:39I'll go relatively quickly, so please

31:42[clears throat] excuse me, stop me if

31:43you have any questions. um got a lot of

31:46information and the plan's about this

31:48thick the draft plan. So there's a lot

31:50of information but uh I'll take you

31:52through the highlights and I'll I'll try

31:54and focus more on uh things that are

31:56related to the southern end of downtown

31:58and the river uh the connections that we

32:00have. Um, so just uh to get underway

32:03here, we have about uh the downtown

32:06boundary itself is about three square

32:07miles and uh we've got a fair amount of

32:10people that live here, 10,000, and a

32:13fair amount of jobs uh that are housed

32:16uh in our downtown. So it has an out

32:18outsized uh importance uh for the amount

32:21of area that it is

32:25um and it's growing. So, uh, you can see

32:28there's some statistics, um, uh, related

32:31to our population versus the city city

32:34and and we've got a lot of land that's,

32:36uh, owned by either the city or some

32:38public organization. A lot of privately

32:40owned vacant land, too. In fact, that's

32:42one of our challenges that we would like

32:44to address, uh, as part of this plan.

32:48Um, so, as part of the plan, we did a

32:51lot of uh, a lot of studies. uh we had

32:54some consultants that focused on the

32:56market. We want to make sure that we

32:57have a plan that's grounded in in

32:59reality uh that we're not being that

33:02we're being ambitious but not uh

33:04delusionary. And so uh these this was

33:08really helpful to do that. So if you

33:10were to peruse the plan itself and the

33:12appendices that will be coming, you you

33:14would see a lot of information about um

33:17uh the market data and be able to get a

33:20good feel for what what we can expect.

33:22So, um, here's some highlights here. Uh,

33:25but there's there's demand, we think,

33:27for about 5,000 new housing units by

33:302040, for example. Uh, as far as

33:33hospitality goes, uh, we we feel like a

33:36new 500 plus room headquarters hotel,

33:39uh, could be coming. Uh, but things have

33:42to happen first. Uh, that could be

33:44triggered by a convention center

33:45expansion. Um, so those are just some of

33:48the of the highlights that are in the

33:50plan. There's a lot more where that came

33:51from.

33:53Um, we also articulate uh some of the

33:56investments that are that are planned.

33:59Of course, we're aware of some of the

34:01recent uh on and ongoing uh investments

34:04both private and public. Uh there's a

34:06lot still to come with the 2025 bond

34:08with MAPS projects and other publicly

34:10funded projects. Uh so there's a lot uh

34:13to to digest in there. And in fact, that

34:15was really the the impetus behind the

34:17plan is to uh figure out, okay, well,

34:20there's a lot going on here, both

34:22private and public. Uh what do we need

34:24to do to coordinate these efforts and to

34:26maximize them so that we have, you know,

34:28something that ends up being bigger than

34:30the sum of its parts at the end.

34:34Um we we had a lot of stakeholder

34:35engagement as part of this. Uh we did a

34:38public survey and uh we actually got a

34:40quite a high response rate for that,

34:42almost 3,000 responses. that went to um

34:45everybody citywide. Uh anybody could

34:48participate in that. And so we were

34:50happy to see those numbers and asked a

34:52lot of questions. What we're really

34:54getting at is, you know, what what

34:56brings you downtown? Uh why do you live

34:58downtown if you live down here? Why do

35:00you work here? Uh if you don't, what

35:03would bring you downtown? Either to

35:04live, work, play, or uh shop. And so

35:08that provided us a lot of valuable

35:09information. We also had some focus

35:12groups um and um also several one

35:15one-on-one conversations with people who

35:17uh own businesses downtown or uh live

35:20downtown um various uh various groups

35:23that we had. We also had an advisory

35:25group uh which met nine times and

35:27provided a lot of valuable input uh to

35:30the process.

35:32So, uh, we ended up with six guiding

35:34principles and you see those six in the

35:36the colored tiles here and 18

35:39strategies. Um, so they're organized by

35:42by principle and uh got a couple of

35:46boxes around the ones that I focused a

35:48little bit more on today given our

35:50interest in the river. Uh, and that will

35:52be the under the infuse Oklahoma into

35:55downtown. Uh what a lot of that is about

35:58is trying to make uh a downtown uh more

36:01natural. Uh bring the natural

36:03environment downtown, not just people

36:05and Oklahomaans, but the natural

36:07environment and whatever it is that

36:09makes Oklahoma great into our downtown.

36:13Uh and connecting downtown to the

36:15riverfront is of course very important.

36:17Uh so I'll I'll uh talk about that a

36:20little bit. And also establishing a

36:21cultural spine kind of goes along with

36:24that. Um, but we want to make sure that

36:26we've got a lot of u uh activity and

36:30mobility in downtown, interesting places

36:33to go and to see and and transportation

36:35network and corridors that tile that

36:37together.

36:40Um, so here's the vision statement. I

36:42won't read it, but basically we want

36:44downtown to be very welcoming, uh, safe,

36:48well connected, u, and just a place for

36:50everybody to be.

36:53So this this next couple slides will

36:56kind of show you what we what we hope to

36:58see. So here's a just a graphic visual

37:00visualization of today. And then the

37:03next slide uh shows you where what we

37:05think can happen by 2040. We can add

37:08about 10,000 more housing units. And

37:11that would be roughly double uh sorry

37:13I'm getting my population mixed up but

37:15substantially more um housing units than

37:18we have today. And of course you're

37:21aware that we have the quarter shore

37:23plan. We've had that for many years and

37:24we've made a lot of progress in

37:25implementing that. We're a little behind

37:28when it comes to adding the residential

37:30uh and development that we hoped to see.

37:33So, uh that's been a focus of the plan.

37:35What can we do to stimulate that to get

37:38that going so that we can reach this

37:40goal and have additional housing and

37:42additional demand, additional people to

37:46congregate on the riverfront, to use the

37:47facilities, to shop downtown, and to

37:50make it more vibrant.

37:53Um, one of the things that our

37:55consultants uh noted early on is we've

37:59just got a lot of vacant land. Um, more

38:01so than well, it's it's it's certainly

38:03not unique to us. I was on a call

38:05recently with some other planning

38:06directors in large cities and talking

38:08about having data centers downtown

38:10occupying parts of office buildings.

38:12This, you know, there's just a lot of

38:14vacancy. Um, but we do we are a bit

38:18unique in the sense that we're a fairly

38:20low density downtown and we just have a

38:22lot of gaps in the in the built

38:24environment. And so what that does is it

38:26makes it feel um less vibrant and if you

38:30want to walk from one place to another,

38:31it doesn't feel really that safe. If

38:33you're walking past a vacant land, a

38:36piece of vacant land or an abandoned

38:37property, it feels like it takes twice

38:39as long to walk past that as it actually

38:42does. So what they what the the uh

38:46process what we ended up calling this

38:48was horizontal urbanism. Just the idea

38:51is to just get things developed. We're

38:53not going to worry so much about how

38:54tall or how dense things should be. What

38:56we want to do is develop our downtown.

39:00So um very simple but what we want to do

39:03is start with public land and see what

39:05we can do to set to show some leadership

39:07there.

39:09Uh we want to improve uh BNSF railroad

39:12crossings. Um the one of the principles

39:15is the plan of the plan is to break down

39:17barriers. We know that the railroad

39:19going through downtown can be a

39:20significant barrier to folks uh wanting

39:22to get to Bricktown or vice versa east

39:24and west. So we're going to do what we

39:26can to address those barriers. Uh and

39:29also the freeway as well.

39:31[clears throat]

39:33Um getting to the uh the the green

39:36aspect of it. So, we've got an east west

39:39greenway um on Robert S. Kerr that you

39:42can see there on the top left. And um

39:45that's just uh the goal is to find a

39:48corridor that would um that would just

39:51make sense for for various reasons um to

39:54have uh this really peoplefriendly and

39:58um you know like I said earlier bringing

40:00Oklahoma into downtown an enjoyable

40:02place for people to uh walk along and

40:06access uh all the benefits downtown has

40:08to offer. Um

40:11yeah, and then as far as the river goes,

40:13of course, we also want to um extend

40:17um we want to have a north south

40:19connection. So Robinson, Walker, the the

40:22north south connections there. Uh we

40:25want to make sure that people who live

40:26downtown can easily get to the river.

40:28And furthermore, we want people to live

40:32as close as we can get them to live um

40:34on the river. Now, of course, you're all

40:36aware that we have um a lot of

40:38constraints with uh what what can be

40:41done on the river. Um but uh there are

40:44some opportunities and there's just some

40:46conceptual examples especially on the

40:48bottom right there of some things that

40:50we can do potentially to make sure that

40:52we get people you know living on the

40:54river to the greatest extent possible.

40:59So the challenge, you know, underline

41:01some of the things. Uh this this is of

41:03course excerpts from the plan. Um but

41:06the waterfront lacks pedestrian focused

41:08access to and across the river. So while

41:11we have made progress, we there's a lot

41:14more progress to be made and the plan

41:15outlines some some action items to get

41:17us there. So, you know, and then under

41:20the programming and activation, um, it,

41:23you know, just kind of outlines that

41:25issue, you know, bringing visitors to

41:27the river. Again, we've made substantial

41:29strides, but there's a lot that can

41:31still be done, uh, to bring people to

41:33the river, make it a great place to be.

41:37Um, go ahead to the next slide and and

41:40I'll uh well, maybe not. Uh, go back to

41:43that one. Sorry, I thought a picture was

41:44coming up, but I think it's in a couple.

41:46Basically the ecology and the

41:47hydrarology is really important. Um of

41:50course back in the day we had uh this

41:53highly engineered drainage facility and

41:57um

41:58it's doesn't exactly you know shout to

42:01people that hey this is a great you know

42:03great place to be. It's missing some

42:05things and I think you know that's what

42:07we're trying to call attention to. If we

42:09can naturalize this, if we can make it a

42:12more beautiful place to be, we can start

42:14to really see the uh the value increase

42:17of some of the things that we've already

42:19built and some of the hopes that we have

42:21for the river. So, um we we uh there's a

42:25lot of work to do on that. We've got to

42:26work with the Army Corps of Engineer uh

42:28engineers on that. And of course that

42:29ties into the river plan that we'll be

42:31talking about in a minute, which we're

42:33also very excited about and had in mind,

42:35of course, as we were doing this

42:36project, trying to kind of um set that

42:40plan up for success with this, trying to

42:43make the two plans really kind of link

42:45up. Um so the the next plan, we'll build

42:48on this one and and modify to the extent

42:50that that we need to and get into a

42:52little bit more detail.

42:56Um I'll go ahead and I think we've

42:58covered that. So, we'll go ahead and

42:59skip to this is just a map that kind of

43:01shows uh some of the concepts that uh

43:03that we've outlined, but there's there's

43:06a lot going on and it shows some of the

43:07connections that we would like to see

43:08and some of the urban development we

43:10would like to see. Um, and I'll go ahead

43:14and skip to the next one. Um, talks

43:16about creating a destin destination loop

43:19trail connecting both sides of the

43:21river. Of course, you know, uh, we've we

43:23want to get as many and we've funded

43:25some some projects. Um um we we hope to

43:28fund an additional bridge going across

43:30the river and everything we can do to

43:32get people back and forth across the

43:34river and just make that a as close as

43:37possible to being one environment is

43:39going to be uh going to be good for the

43:41river.

43:43Um so I think I covered this a little

43:45bit already, but uh really just trying

43:48to make that um the river's edge as

43:51active as possible is really what we're

43:53after. So here's an example. This is,

43:55you know, you're you're seeing Wheeler

43:56Park improvements on the left side of

43:58this image. Uh we hope that we can uh

44:01marry that up with some good mixeduse

44:03private development uh right along the

44:06street there.

44:08Um here's just an image of what we can

44:10do to enhance biodiversity going from

44:13the top to the bottom. you know, making

44:14it a more natural environment that will

44:17obviously have beautifification

44:18benefits, but also be able to help clean

44:20water and just have a better ecosystem

44:24down down there that would be more

44:25enjoyable.

44:28Um, we wanted to to kind of note in the

44:32plan our desire to have infield

44:34development as appropriate on the river.

44:36So this is an example of a piece of

44:38property on Western and this is

44:40something that we would look at in more

44:42detail uh in the riverfront plan. Um but

44:45you know the desire that we know is out

44:47there to bring people there have some

44:50revenue generated uh do everything.

44:52There's if if carefully designed we can

44:55do it all. We can have a nice ecosystem.

44:58We can we can also have development

44:59there and we can have folks enjoy

45:01themselves on the river.

45:04Um and we can do we just do a lot.

45:06There's just they give examples um again

45:09of of all the activities that can happen

45:11and as we enhance and add residential

45:14growth and commercial growth we can see

45:16those opportunities increase.

45:20Uh the cultural spine I mentioned uh

45:21here's just some some renderings of what

45:23that could look like. But really it's uh

45:25it's about going up and down Robinson

45:28and making it a and it would tie into

45:30what we're calling a an entertainment

45:32loop. Um, and you can see that in the

45:36top right image. Basically, we want to

45:38kind of build and brand that so the

45:40people can feel like this is a thing I

45:42can get on this loop and there's

45:44something interesting to see no matter

45:45where I am on this loop. And the same

45:48goes for the the north south cultural

45:49spine. U just really amenitizing those

45:52and making them a place uh where people

45:54will want to be.

45:57We want to support downtown retail. So,

45:59we've gotten specific about where to

46:01focus. Auto alley, for example.

46:03uh as long as as well as some tools uh

46:06to help us do that.

46:09And uh I'll go through the last few um

46:12just uh in terms of transit. I won't go

46:15into depth on this, but there was

46:16there's a fair amount of work on how to

46:18make that more efficient, working with

46:21Embark and One Transit, making sure that

46:23looking to the future, we're able to to

46:26have transit oriented development, for

46:28example, near uh what we hope will be

46:31the commuter rail station to make uh

46:33that function better, have more demand

46:35for riders, and also have just bring

46:38people from outside the city to our

46:39downtown.

46:42So this the plan just in closing has uh

46:44of course uh implementation uh a roadmap

46:48I would say. So you see all the

46:50strategies and and uh you know when we

46:52would start working on them. We can't do

46:54it all at once obviously but uh we've

46:56got a plan here to execute it and it is

46:58a long-term plan so we're we're going to

47:00be working on this for quite some time.

47:05And just uh I think uh just wanted to

47:07throw in here that we we do have some

47:10detailed plans for uh some geo bond

47:12dollars, streetscape funds, some park

47:14money, and uh some transit money. That's

47:17uh kind of outlined in the plan. A

47:18little more specifics as to how that uh

47:21uh the intentions for for those funds as

47:23far as how it should be spent.

47:27So I'll uh end with uh some possible

47:29outcomes. If we are successful, we can

47:32see a lot of new investment, uh a vastly

47:35enhanced uh ecosystem,

47:37um a safer, cleaner, uh more beautiful

47:41downtown and more vibrant downtown.

47:45Um so with that, uh I'll leave you with

47:47an image of uh what our what Robinson

47:50Avenue may be looking like in the in the

47:52near future with the new arena on the

47:54right hand side. Um and uh ask if there

47:57are any questions.

47:59Any

48:01questions?

48:02>> Thank you.

48:03>> Pretty expensive.

48:06>> Yeah, this is uh it it of course will

48:10not uh you know things will look

48:12different than than the images as as has

48:15happened with Cordore, but it's

48:16interesting to go back and look at

48:18Cordore and and see how much of it

48:20actually has happened and happened quite

48:22a bit uh like it was envisioned. So, I

48:25look forward to seeing uh how things

48:27roll out in the next 10 years or so.

48:30>> Well, dreams and visions don't get done

48:32unless you start them. So, you got to

48:34start it sometime. I think this is an

48:36excellent.

48:38>> Thank you.

48:39>> Thank you.

48:42>> Okay. Uh next, we have an update on the

48:46North Canadian River Corridors treat

48:49strategic development plan.

48:59Have we got somebody's going to do that?

49:09>> Okay.

49:11Are there any questions?

49:16>> Well, I don't Nobody had any earlier

49:20when you discussed it, so but I thought

49:22we were going to see a presentation on

49:24it.

49:26My mistake. Okay. The rest of the

49:28consent is an oil and gas revenue report

49:31corridor events update,

49:33a schedule of cash receipts and

49:36revocable permit for the hope was alive

49:38ministries run for hope.

49:41Uh another revocable for the riverport

49:44foundation for the Oklahoma regarda.

49:47another revocable for the Riversport

49:49Foundation for the Youth Rowing League

49:50Championships and a limited revocable

49:53rowing and parallel permit for Rivers

49:56for uh October 1 to September 30 and 27.

50:01Any questions on any rest of those?

50:05I need a motion on the consent docket

50:12to vote.

50:38Okay, that passes.

50:40Item five is the primary agenda items.

50:42We have a resolution approving financial

50:45participation in the amount of 25,000 by

50:48us to uh for the river cruiser sales

50:52marketing plan. This is something we've

50:53done yearly. Uh it's time to do it again

50:57and help them out so they can market the

51:00cruisers on the river.

51:05Got somebody going to talk on it.

51:08>> Good afternoon. My name is Tiffany

51:10Aguilar and I'm with Embark's business

51:12development and marketing team.

51:18This is just an overview of our

51:20marketing plan or recap from FI FY26.

51:24Some river maintenance impact. Um the

51:27recap schedule and discount package

51:29promotions first Americans museum

51:32landing um open this season and seasonal

51:35promotions media and public relations

51:38and FY27 outlook.

51:42We partnered with several city teams to

51:44maintain the dams and locks of the

51:46river, public works and it just to name

51:49a couple. We did run into some issues

51:52receiving parts which took several

51:53weeks. Um they did complete some

51:55dredging during this time as well to

51:58allow our boats to pass through more

51:59easily. Uh we do appreciate everyone's

52:02work um on these projects that were

52:04completed. With that said, we only had

52:07the western route running for the public

52:09ferry which impacted some of our

52:10ridership numbers for this season. Also,

52:14with a lack of rainfall and drought, um

52:16that also played a part in the river

52:18levels um being too low for to operate

52:21some of our boats.

52:26Uh for the FY26 recap, regular route

52:29schedule began in May. Also a new

52:32discount package promotion as well.

52:35River expansion with the opening of the

52:37First Americans Museum landing on May

52:3915th. Building a partnership with Okana

52:42um happened this season. Seasonal

52:45promotions and uh sponsorships and also

52:48media and PR promotions. And we have a

52:51video I think if it'll play.

53:11We just have to pretend that there's

53:13like Beach Boys music or something, I

53:15guess.

53:19Okay. Um, schedule and discount offers.

53:21This was our regular schedule and um,

53:24fair prices for adult and reduced fair.

53:28Um, the west route is listed on the blue

53:31um, slide here with the bold trips are

53:33just the one-way locations and then the

53:36east route is listed in orange.

53:40Um, this is another video on the

53:42Oklahoma River cruises when we the east

53:44route began on May 15th. We took some of

53:47the Okconor marketing team out so that

53:49they could get a firsthand look and be

53:51able to share the experience with the

53:52guests staying at their resorts. Um, and

53:55then this is a little bit of that

54:20some new discount packages that we

54:22offered this season. There was a $6

54:24ferry family pass um which was a

54:26discounted rate for four to eight riders

54:29um on any of the route landings. Then a

54:31$4 east route pass which was only valid

54:34on the east route for the FAM landing

54:36Brooktown and Riotta Park. Discount and

54:39promotions were not combined. Um through

54:42this program we did we only um sold

54:44about eight of the family passes this

54:47season. It was a very short time that we

54:48offered it. Um but we have had over 177

54:52passes um purchased for the east route

54:57for halfpric Wednesdays. Oklahoma River

55:00cruises are Wednesday through Sunday but

55:02every Wednesday we offer the halfp price

55:04fair allowing public to ride for just

55:06$6. During FY26, there was a significant

55:10decrease in ridership um compared to

55:13last year. Um this decrease was out of

55:16our control since the river was drained

55:18and the locks had felled during the

55:20season.

55:23Third Friday free has a new look this

55:25year and we received sponsorship from

55:27Allegiant Credit Union for all of the

55:29modes of transit. As you can see, the

55:31new graphic is listed on the right. This

55:34is our fifth season for third Friday

55:36free. Um and in FY26 we actually had a

55:3826% um increase in ridership on this

55:41day.

55:44>> Um we also have this third Friday for

55:47free promotion. Oh

55:51>> by bus

55:54>> or even by boat.

55:58>> We can help you get there.

56:00Try Transit every third Friday for free

56:03from [music] May through September.

56:06Not quite sure who that girl is, but um

56:10our commercial [music] shows all modes

56:11of transit, including the Oklahoma River

56:13cruises.

56:17>> Oh, that's okay. Most of the other ones

56:19just have music. There wasn't any

56:20talking on those.

56:23This year, the COPA board approved our

56:25Oklahoma River cruises to be part of the

56:27halfp price sale in July. um not only

56:30not to be combined with any other

56:31discount offers and that sale ran

56:33through from July 1st through July 8th.

56:36Total amount of passes sold were only

56:38about 30, but we only had about a twoe

56:40period time to prepare for that and sold

56:43about $200 in passes.

56:47Specialty cruises. There were about 67

56:50specialty river cruises this fiscal year

56:52for uh just over almost 1,700

56:55passengers, which is 11% decrease

56:58compared to the year prior, but we did

57:00have 68 cruises um due to river

57:03maintenance and that was not based on

57:05demand.

57:09Private charters, we had 56 private

57:11charters in FY26, only five less than

57:13last year. In FY26, we provided private

57:16charges for,234

57:18passengers, which basically was even

57:20from the year prior.

57:24Wrership took a 20% decrease

57:26year-over-year for um our river cruise

57:28ridership due to maintenance, but we

57:31still had more than 5600 passengers so

57:33far.

57:35Media and promotions. On May 6, um our

57:38director Jesse was on Kok Fox 25's

57:41Living in Oklahoma to promote our

57:43Mother's Day cruises. That local

57:45audience was uh over 2,000 watchers and

57:49made about $1,300.

57:53Our marketing focus for 2027 would be

57:56our growing partnership with Okconor and

57:57First America's Museum, preparing for LA

58:0028 Olympics and how we will navigate

58:02those services and also increasing

58:05wrership.

58:07Here's a look at the marketing calendar

58:09from now through next season. We are

58:11currently going through PR and specialty

58:13cruises, digital and social media

58:15marketing, and continuous partnership

58:17development.

58:21And that is it. Any questions?

58:23>> Very good. Thank you. Any questions?

58:26>> Thank you.

58:30>> Okay, we need a motion on the uh

58:33approval of 25,000.

58:49And that passes.

58:52Item six is a claims docket.

58:54>> Any questions on the claims do

59:27and that passes.

59:29Item seven is the comments from staff.

59:35>> Good afternoon, Chairman Mars, trustees.

59:37I'm Scott Fairman. I'm the assistant

59:39director for parks and recreation. Um

59:41Melinda couldn't be here today. She's at

59:44our National Recreation and Parks

59:45Association conference in Philadelphia.

59:48So, um, she did prepare a report for

59:50you. It's included in your packet, um,

59:52for your consideration and acceptance.

59:55Um, if you have any questions, I'd be

59:57happy to try to answer those for you. I

59:59would like to point out um, one item on

1:00:01there, there's about a dozen, a little

1:00:03little over a dozen items, was a

1:00:05groundbreaking that we had last week for

1:00:07the USS Oklahoma City. Um it was it was

1:00:12a special event. It's going to be a

1:00:13special place. If if if you haven't seen

1:00:16a lot of that information. Um uh please

1:00:19please look into it. Um and we hope in

1:00:22the spring we'll have a we'll have a

1:00:23ribbon cutting and and definitely

1:00:25everyone's going to be invited to that.

1:00:26So we're really excited about that. Um

1:00:28but again, if you have any questions on

1:00:30the other uh items, I'll I'll be happy

1:00:32to try to answer those for you.

1:00:35>> Any questions?

1:00:38>> Very good. Thank you.

1:00:41Any comments from trustees?

1:00:46Any other citizens to be heard?

1:00:50We are D.