2026-10-13 - City Council

12:26Yeah.

12:33>> Okay. Good morning. We're going to get

12:36started. Good morning. And we're going

12:38to get started this morning with an

12:39invocation led by Rabbi Abby Jacobson of

12:43Emanuel Synagogue and that'll be

12:45followed by the pledge of allegiance led

12:47by Abraham Micheller representing Troop

12:5015 of Scouting America. Please stand as

12:52you are able.

12:57>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, city

12:58councilors. Uh, as a nod to the fact

13:01that this is uh an interfaith uh

13:05gathering, I would like to warn all of

13:08those uh folks that we don't typically

13:11end Jewish prayers with uh the um uh

13:18the way that I know that our Christian

13:20friends and neighbors end prayers. And

13:22the last time I was in the city council

13:24chambers, I ended a prayer and everyone

13:25just stood there because it didn't sound

13:27like I was done. and it sounded to me

13:28like I was done. And now I'm very

13:31nervous about this happening.

13:34So I would like with your permission,

13:36Mr. Mayor and counselors of the city, um

13:39to offer a prayer for our country

13:41followed by a prayer for the US

13:43military. These are straight from the

13:46prayer book used by our denomination.

13:49They're said weekly and on all holidays

13:51in the synagogue um at Emanuel

13:53Synagogue. Um

13:55uh each of them is going to end with and

13:58let us say amen. I would like to say

14:01anyone who would like to say amen at

14:02that time is free to do so. But also

14:05that's going to be the signal that it's

14:06over. I'm very nervous about this. Um

14:11so um here is a prayer for our country

14:15from our prayer book. Our God and God of

14:18our ancestors, with mercy, accept our

14:21prayer on behalf of our country and its

14:23government. Pour out your blessings upon

14:25this land, upon its leaders, its judges,

14:28officers, and officials who are devoted

14:30in good faith to the needs of the

14:31public. Instruct them with the with your

14:34laws, and help them understand your

14:36rules of justice so that peace and

14:38security, happiness, and freedom will

14:40never depart from our land. We pray,

14:43Lord God, whose spirit is in all

14:44creatures. Awaken that spirit within all

14:47the inhabitants of our land. Uproot from

14:50their hearts hatred and malice, jealousy

14:52and strife. Plant among those of

14:55different nationalities and faiths who

14:57dwell in our land, love and

14:59companionship, peace and friendship. May

15:02it therefore be your will that our land

15:03be a blessing to all who dwell on earth,

15:06and cause them to dwell in friendship

15:07and freedom. Speedily fulfill the vision

15:10of your prophets. Nation shall not lift

15:12up sword against nation, neither shall

15:14they learn war anymore. For all of them

15:16for the least from the least of them to

15:17the greatest shall know me. And let us

15:19say amen.

15:21A prayer for America's military

15:23personnel.

15:25Sovereign of the universe, we invoke

15:26your blessings upon the members of our

15:28American military forces. Those brave

15:31men and women whose courage and

15:32commitment to that for which this

15:34country stands protects us all. Whether

15:36by air, land, or sea, wherever their

15:39orders take them, we ask, dear God, that

15:41they be protected within your sheltering

15:43presence. Shield them from harm and from

15:45pain. Assuage their loneliness and

15:47sustain their faith in the face of the

15:49formidable enemies that they confront on

15:51a daily basis. May all of their efforts

15:53be crowned with victory and the

15:55assurance that we who depend on their

15:57courage appreciate and understand the

15:59great difficulty of their work. Most of

16:01all, we pray for the ultimate prayer of

16:03all service personnel that they be

16:05privileged to return to the loving arms

16:07of their families and a grateful country

16:09safely, speedily, and in good health.

16:12Because of their courage, may we all be

16:13privileged to know and savor the

16:15blessings of true peace and security.

16:17And let us say, amen.

16:23>> Now, would everyone please join me in

16:25the pledge of allegiance?

16:27I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

16:30United States of America and to the

16:33republic for which it stands, one nation

16:36under God, indivisible, with liberty and

16:39justice for all.

16:41>> Thank you.

16:46>> Thank you, Rabbi Jacobson, and thank

16:48you, Abraham. I call this meeting of the

16:51city council to order. First, I want to

16:53express our gratitude to Rod Porter and

16:56Kendrick McKenna who are our performers

16:58in the lobby uh here in honor of

17:02National Arts and Humanities Month. And

17:04that is among the many recognitions we

17:07are about to embark upon. I will make my

17:10way to the front for what is a very

17:13robust office of the mayor schedule. I

17:17think we'll start with code compliance

17:19if our friends from code compliance

17:21would like to meet me down by the

17:23podium.

17:56Well, it is code compliance month. This

17:59is actually a probably too often

18:02overlooked but very critical service we

18:04provide here uh that uh impacts directly

18:08the quality of life in our city. And so

18:09we'd like to learn a little bit more

18:11about it. And so I would ask the clerk

18:13to read this proclamation.

18:15>> Whereas code enforcement staff provide

18:18for the safety and welfare of Oklahoma

18:20City residents through the enforcement

18:22of municipal codes and ordinances. And

18:25whereas code enforcement staff are

18:27dedicated, highly qualified

18:29professionals who share the goals of

18:31preventing neighborhood deterioration,

18:34ensuring and enhancing safety, and

18:36preserving property values through their

18:38knowledge and application

18:40of housing, zoning, nuisance codes, and

18:42ordinances. And whereas code enforcement

18:46staff regularly interact with the

18:48community as frontline representatives

18:51who prioritize service first while

18:53building trust and encouraging voluntary

18:56compliance. And whereas code enforcement

18:59staff exemplify professionalism and

19:01excellence in the one city, one team

19:04mindset by offering guidance, education,

19:07and support while maintaining our

19:09community standards. And whereas we want

19:12to recognize and honor code enforcement

19:14officers and professionals across the

19:17city and bring awareness to the

19:19importance of code enforcement in

19:21Oklahoma City. Now therefore, I, David

19:24Halt, mayor of the city of Oklahoma

19:26City, do hereby proclaim the month of

19:28October 2026 to be code compliance month

19:32in Oklahoma City.

19:33>> Well, thank you. And we have uh one of

19:36the leaders of this team uh here to say

19:38a few words and uh maybe kind of brag on

19:41uh the good work that our folks do.

19:43Brock, the floor is yours.

19:44>> Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Well, um

19:47first of all, I want to thank uh my

19:50staff. Um the staff up here is out there

19:53every day trying to uh get compliance

19:56with the city uh municipal codes. uh

19:59whether that's grass overgrowth or

20:02dangerous buildings or trying to secure

20:05uh buildings that are open and vacant.

20:07Uh they're out there doing it every day.

20:08Um I am honored to be a part of this

20:10team. Uh this is one of my one of my

20:12divisions that I have. I'm the director

20:14of development services and they are out

20:17there every day um through the muck, the

20:20snow, and everything else trying to make

20:21sure that this city's safe and clean and

20:24they do a phenomenal job. So I want to

20:26give them honor today about that. That's

20:28what this is about. CO compliance. They

20:31have been working really hard to uh get

20:33owner abatement uh which is where the

20:35owner actually takes care of the issue

20:37instead of the city has to. And they've

20:39been doing a phenomenal job. Our numbers

20:40are really coming up on that. And that's

20:42the approach we've been taking and uh

20:44they've been out there making decisions

20:46and trying to help people. Uh and that's

20:48what we're all about. So I appreciate

20:50it. Thank you guys for everything you

20:51do.

20:52>> Let's hear it for our code compliance

20:54team. [applause]

20:57Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

21:01Thank you. Thank you.

21:04>> All right. How about our uh well-dressed

21:08fire department team? Why don't you guys

21:10come down here?

21:25All right, it's fire prevention month.

21:28Um, and that's an important distinction,

21:30not suppression, prevention, which is

21:32much better. So, let's hear a little bit

21:34more about that. And I, so I would ask

21:36the clerk to read this proclamation.

21:38Whereas the Oklahoma City Fire

21:40Department, OKCFD,

21:42responded to 104,031

21:45calls for emergency assistance in 2025.

21:49And whereas during that same year, fire

21:51claimed the lives of six residents,

21:54reinforcing the importance of fire

21:56prevention and life safety. And whereas

21:59the Oklahoma City Fire Department

22:01recognizes that fire prevention is as

22:04critical as fire suppression.

22:06And whereas OKCFD promoted compliance

22:10with fire and life safety requirements

22:12through diligent safety inspections and

22:15documented 20 instances in which fire

22:17protection systems contributed to early

22:21warning, evacuation, or fire control.

22:24[sighs] And whereas fire caused an

22:26estimated $40,156,115

22:31in property loss in 2025, but the fire

22:34department's efforts saved an estimated

22:37$450,597,383

22:42in damages.

22:44And whereas the women and men of the

22:46fire department witness fires

22:48devastation firsthand and the lasting

22:50impact on residents who have lost

22:53belongings, homes, and loved ones as

22:55well as on co-workers when injuries or

22:58deaths occur in the line of duty. And

23:00whereas OKCFD actively engages residents

23:04in year-round community risk reduction

23:06programs to raise awareness of fire

23:09safety and teach best practices to help

23:12reduce the frequency and severity of

23:14fires in our city. Now therefore, I,

23:17David Holt, mayor of the city of

23:19Oklahoma City, do encourage residents to

23:22learn and apply fire safety and risk

23:25reduction principles and do hereby

23:27proclaim the month of October 2026 to be

23:30fire prevention month in Oklahoma City.

23:33>> Thank you. Well, we have Chief Keel and

23:35a lot of his leadership team assembled

23:37here, but we're going to hear from

23:38Battalion Chief Howard. The floor is

23:41yours.

23:42>> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council.

23:44And thank you neighbors for recognizing

23:46this as fire prevention month for

23:48Oklahoma City. Uh to me prevention is a

23:50mindset. It's in the choices we make

23:52every day in our homes, in our places of

23:54work, at our schools. And keeping those

23:57choices in mind, I would like to share

23:59with you this year's NFPA fire safety

24:00message. This year's message is charge

24:03into fire safety. Safe charging is a

24:05superpower. And what that's referring to

24:07is how we utilize and how we charge our

24:09lithium-ion battery devices. These are

24:11everyday devices such as cell phones,

24:13tablets, uh kids hoverboards, just to

24:15name a few. And I want to give you a few

24:17quick tips on how to charge those

24:19safely. One, please use the charging

24:21cord and charger that came with the

24:22device. If you need a replacement, refer

24:24to the manufacturer's recommendations.

24:26Two, um when your battery is fully

24:29charged, please take it off the charger.

24:31Three, charge on a flat hard surface

24:33like a table or desktop. for while

24:36you're charging. If you notice the

24:37battery is abnormally hot, you hear any

24:40uh hissing or popping sounds coming from

24:42the battery, you see that the batteries

24:44become misshaped, we need to stop using

24:46those batteries and recycle them, not

24:48throw them in the trash. We do have a

24:50really good resource right here in the

24:52city at 1621 South Portland Avenue. It's

24:56the uh hazardous household waste

24:58collection center. It's a great

25:00facility. You can just drive right up

25:01and they'll come to your car door and

25:03help you out with that. I've used it

25:05myself. Great resource, great people

25:06down there. Um, and five, if you're

25:09charging a large device like a ebike or

25:11e scooter, we recommend charging those

25:14outside. Uh, if you got to charge them

25:16inside, just don't put them in your

25:18egress path. And finally, I would like

25:20to uh remind residents to please check

25:23their smoke alarms if they have them. if

25:25they need them, they could call 405316

25:28and the word beep and that'll connect

25:30you to the fire department and we'll

25:32come out and install as many as you need

25:33free of charge. We installed nearly

25:354,000 last year for residents. So, um I

25:38do have some members of my staff here

25:40today, Major Meredith Herman, Major Dale

25:43Kase, and Lieutenant Jacob Delo. I'm

25:46really proud of the work that they do.

25:47Uh, every day they're out there teaching

25:50kids, going over fire escape plans,

25:52installing smoke alarms, and I couldn't

25:55be more proud of them. So, thank you.

25:57Appreciate it, mayor.

25:57>> Thank you. Let's hear from our fire

25:58prevention team. [applause]

26:00Oh, good job.

26:04>> Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you.

26:07[applause]

26:11All right. Next up, how about National

26:13Arts and Humanities Month?

26:18Come on down.

26:33>> All right. It is National Arts and

26:35Humanities Month and so I would ask the

26:38clerk to read this proclamation.

26:41Whereas the month of October has been

26:43recognized as National Arts and

26:45Humanities Month by organizations and

26:48communities across the country. And

26:50whereas Oklahoma City has flourished

26:52since its founding because of the

26:54intellectual curiosity and creativity of

26:56our residents. And we rely upon the arts

26:59and humanities to broaden our

27:01understanding of ourselves and the

27:03perspective of others. And whereas the

27:06arts and humanities add texture to our

27:08lives, play an important role in telling

27:11our city's story, and remind us of the

27:13truths that connect us in our one OKC.

27:17And whereas dozens of organizations and

27:19institutions play a role in furthering

27:22our city's arts and humanities. And

27:25whereas encouraging the creativity and

27:27intellectual exploration of our

27:29residents and ensuring that they have

27:31access to the arts is critical to our

27:34city's continued prosperity. And whereas

27:37this month allows us to pay tribute to

27:39the arts and humanities and the role

27:41they play in our daily lives here in

27:43OKC. Now therefore, I, David Holt, mayor

27:46of the city of Oklahoma City, do hereby

27:49proclaim October 2026 to be National

27:52Arts and Humanities Month in Oklahoma

27:54City.

27:54>> Well, thank you. And we have obviously a

27:56great uh cross-section of our arts and

27:59humanities community here in OKC. And

28:03we'd love to hear a few words from

28:05Leandre Latimore.

28:06>> Thank you, Mayor. It's always an honor

28:08for us to be here to celebrate Arts and

28:10Humanities Month uh every year. Um, and

28:13I think the proclamation stated it so

28:15perfectly is in terms of how much this

28:17adds value to our lives here in Oklahoma

28:19City. So, I really would just like to

28:20say thank you to the mayor and to city

28:22council for being such strong supporters

28:24of this movement. Uh, thank you to the

28:25residents of Oklahoma City for allowing

28:27this to be a place where artists, uh,

28:29creators, humanitarians can can live,

28:32work, and thrive. And thank you to all

28:34the people here for choosing Oklahoma

28:35City to bring your your talents. So,

28:37thank you.

28:37>> Awesome. Let's hear it for arts and

28:39humanities community. [applause]

28:44you all.

28:47[applause]

28:47Thank you.

28:50All right, next up, pedestrian safety

28:53month.

29:12Thank you.

29:22>> All right. It is pedestrian safety

29:24month. Not just tall pedestrian safety

29:27month despite the representation here

29:29today. U and we'd love to hear the a

29:32little bit more about that. And so I'd

29:34ask the clerk to read this proclamation.

29:37>> Whereas the safety and well-being of all

29:39Oklahoma City residents is of paramount

29:41importance. And whereas pedestrians play

29:44a vital role in the life of our city by

29:47contributing to its vibrancy, economic

29:49vitality, and our shared sense of

29:52community. And whereas the city of

29:54Oklahoma City is partnering with the

29:56association of central Oklahoma

29:58governments and the central Oklahoma

30:00transportation and parking authority

30:03to participate in the week without

30:05driving campaign to raise awareness of

30:07barriers faced by residents who do not

30:09have access to motor vehicles. And

30:12whereas the city is committed to

30:14fostering an environment where

30:15pedestrians can navigate our streets

30:17with confidence through the

30:19implementation of plans such as bikewalk

30:22OKC and the vision zero action plan. And

30:25whereas Oklahoma City has secured tens

30:28of millions of dollars toward providing

30:30sidewalk and trail infrastructure

30:32through the better street safer city

30:34program, multiple federal grants and

30:36maps for and whereas the pedestrian

30:39safety month designation provides an

30:42opportunity to educate residents and

30:44visitors

30:46about the importance of pedestrian

30:47safety through various outreach and

30:49educational activities. Now therefore,

30:52I, David Halt, mayor of the city of

30:54Oklahoma City, do hereby proclaim the

30:56month of October 2026 to be pedestrian

30:59safety month in Oklahoma City.

31:01>> Thank you. And to hear a little bit more

31:03about this, I'm going to turn the floor

31:04over to Max Harris.

31:07>> Thank you, mayor. So, every year we uh

31:10bring pedestrian safety month uh to

31:13council and to have a little more

31:14attention and uh like to uh acknowledge

31:18uh people across organizations who help

31:22um improve uh safety amongst

31:24pedestrians. pedestrians um experience a

31:27large disproportional rate of um

31:31fatalities of fatal crashes on our roads

31:34and um this is happening you know in

31:36communities across America and so um we

31:39appreciate the partnerships uh with ACOG

31:43represented here today and others like

31:45downtown OKC uh and the urban land

31:49institute who have helped with other

31:51projects this year uh we did a little

31:54bit more on week without driving, as was

31:56mentioned in the proclamation, um with

31:58the leadership of some of our city

32:00council members and um our partnership

32:02with Embark. And so there's really just

32:05a lot of different uh organization and

32:08hands that help uh improve safety for

32:11pedestrians across the city. And um

32:14there's a lot of work to do, but um you

32:16know, there's a lot of education and

32:18awareness and also just infrastructure

32:21that improves that safety. And so we're

32:23very grateful for the support of council

32:25and the mayor in those efforts.

32:27>> Absolutely. Let's hear it for our folks.

32:28Protecting pest pedestrians. [applause]

32:35[applause]

32:37Now we have our teacher of the month. If

32:40Chris Pratt would come forward. Thank

32:42you for your patience, Chris. Your

32:45students have been waiting for you to

32:46return. Um,

32:49well, we'd like to learn a little bit

32:50more about you and so I would ask the

32:52clerk to read this resolution.

32:55>> Whereas Chris Pratt has been named

32:57teacher of the month for October 2026 by

33:00Aztec Charter Schools and Rotary Club of

33:02Oklahoma City. And whereas Mr. Pratt has

33:06devoted 25 years to education, including

33:0923 years of service to Aztec Charter

33:11Schools. And whereas he currently

33:14teaches 12th grade English and world

33:16mythology and has taught a wide range of

33:18courses across grades 6 through 12. And

33:21whereas Mr. Pratt created Aztec's world

33:24mythology curriculum and

33:26interdisciplinary course that connects

33:28literature with art, history, geography,

33:30philosophy, science, and technology,

33:34and has become one of the school's most

33:36popular electives. and whereas his

33:39expertise led to his selection in 2025

33:42for an eight-member Oklahoma State

33:44Department of Education committee

33:46charged with developing the state's

33:48mythology competencies. And whereas as

33:51senior class sponsor, Mr. Pratt supports

33:54scholars through graduation and other

33:56milestones and provides individualized

33:59guidance on college and scholarship

34:01essays, including classroom essays

34:04through which 10 scholars have earned

34:06competitive $2,000 scholarships. And

34:09whereas Mr. Pratt's dedication to

34:11challenging, encouraging, and respecting

34:13scholars has helped them recognize their

34:16potential and prepare for life beyond

34:18high school. Now therefore, be it

34:20resolved by the mayor and council of the

34:22city of Oklahoma City that they do

34:24hereby recognize and commend Chris Pratt

34:27on his selection as October 2026 teacher

34:31of the month by Aztec Charter Schools

34:33and Rotary Club of Oklahoma City.

34:36>> Thank you. Now, Chris, this is a

34:37resolution, which means we're actually

34:38going to vote on this one. So, I hope

34:40you're ready for this. Let's see if we

34:43can get you a motion in a second. We

34:45have that. Uh, please cast your votes. I

34:47wish to vote. I

34:54passes unanimously.

34:56It would. [applause]

35:00Chris, we're very grateful for your

35:02service to our young people. We're very

35:04um excited that we get to honor you here

35:06today. And we'd love to hear a few

35:07words.

35:09>> Uh I would just like to thank city

35:11council for this recognition. I'm very

35:14honored and humbled by it. Um, I'd like

35:16to thank Aztec High School. The

35:18administration, the staff, the faculty

35:21is wonderful there. I'd like to thank my

35:23wife for putting up with me during

35:26stressful times of the year. Um, and

35:28thank you for calling attention to

35:29teaching. Um, especially in time where

35:31there's a shortage and uh, you know, as

35:34much respect and awareness as we can get

35:36is appreciated.

35:37>> Absolutely. Well, let's show some of

35:38that right now. Let's thank his serving.

35:40[applause]

35:41Thank you.

35:45>> [applause]

35:46>> Kendra Dumis, come on down.

35:51Kendra, you are our employee of the

35:53month and we'd like to learn a little

35:55bit more about you and so I'd ask the

35:56clerk to read this resolution.

35:58>> Whereas Kendra Dumis has been a city

36:01employee for seven years and serves as

36:03quality control coordinator for the

36:05municipal court. And whereas in October

36:08of 2025, Kendra transitioned to the

36:10administration division and immediately

36:13advanced municipal court operations. And

36:16whereas Kendra created a comprehensive

36:18standard operating procedure template

36:21that provides structure, flexibility,

36:23and consistency for the municipal court

36:26and serves as a citywide training tool

36:28for SOP development. And whereas Kendra

36:31developed digital courtroom displays

36:33that give patrons clear information on

36:35check-in, motions, please, etiquette,

36:38hours, payments, resources, and

36:40frequently asked questions. And whereas

36:43Kendra automated the court reporter and

36:45interpreter request forms, converting

36:47paper processes into efficient

36:49SharePoint workflows that improve

36:51routing, tracking, and auditing. And

36:53whereas Kendra automated the court

36:55services leave request form with

36:57electronic submission, supervisor

36:59notifications,

37:01timestamped actions, and automatic

37:03calendar updates that strengthen

37:05transparency and staff oversight.

37:08And whereas Kendra updated a tile on

37:11court services SharePoint training tool

37:13to ensure consistent operational and

37:16customer service information. Now

37:18therefore, be it resolved by the mayor

37:20and council of the city of Oklahoma City

37:22that they do hereby thank and commend

37:24Kendra Dumis on her selection as the

37:27September 2026 South Oklahoma City

37:29Kuanas Club employee of the month.

37:32>> Kendra, it sounds like we all need a

37:33Kendra in our office. You have done some

37:35really great things at the courts and

37:37we're very grateful for that. Now, this

37:39is also a resolution. So, I would ask uh

37:42the council if they might like to make a

37:44motion. We have a motion and a second.

37:46Cast your votes. I wish to vote I.

37:52Passes unanimously. Yes. [applause]

38:00>> Well, Kendra, we'd love to hear a few

38:02words if uh if you'd like to share some

38:04wisdom. Uh maybe some SharePoint lessons

38:06would be a good place to start. But uh

38:08the floor is yours.

38:11Um, I would just like to say thank you.

38:13Um, thanks to city council and the South

38:15Oklahoma City Kani Club of the Month.

38:18Um, I appreciate the recognition and um,

38:21I always appreciate the support of my

38:24co-workers and my supervisor. Um, I

38:27really enjoy working for municipal court

38:29and I hope to continue to learn and help

38:32uh, municipal court to grow. So again,

38:33thank you.

38:34>> All right, let's show our appreciation

38:35to Kendra. [applause]

38:41>> [applause]

39:04>> All right, we are not done yet with

39:06office of the mayor item. 3C is the

39:10second hearing of um my proposal

39:14introduced uh a few weeks ago um

39:18altering the membership requirements of

39:21the historic preservation commission

39:22real briefly and then also discuss an

39:24amendment I'm making on the floor to my

39:26own proposal. Um basically eight years

39:30of experience have kind of taught me a

39:32lot about what would be a little more

39:34practical. Um all the requirements in

39:37the current HP ordinance uh relating to

39:40the membership of the commission are

39:41certainly well-intentioned, but um this

39:44by far out of our nearly 50 boards and

39:46commissions has the most um overlapping

39:49requirements which have really made it

39:51very difficult to keep the board u fully

39:54filled. And so um my original proposal

39:58is to take the membership from 9 to 7 to

40:01eliminate some of the um occupational

40:04requirements but to retain some of the

40:06most critical ones uh especially

40:08architects. Now, my amendment that I'd

40:10like to make um is a was created after

40:14consultation with um historic

40:16preservationists in the city who wanted

40:19to see who understood the practical

40:22um changes but wanted to see a few

40:25tweaks that would make them feel more

40:26comfortable. And so my proposal would

40:29have um currently we have six of the

40:33nine members must live in an HP or own

40:36property in it. and I had taken that

40:38down to four and my amendment will bring

40:41that back up to five. So, five of the

40:43seven um members would have to live in

40:46or own property in an HP. That affects

40:50another clause just a few um words later

40:53relative to the remaining members. So,

40:55it wouldn't be the remaining three

40:56members, it would be the remaining two

40:58members. The other change is um

41:02subsection

41:04A4

41:06had some language that though not um

41:09really legally operative describes the

41:11ethos of the commission and the types of

41:15people that should be pursued for

41:18appointment. And some of that language

41:20was deleted not really for any

41:22particular reason. it it was uh the

41:25parts of this that had to do with uh

41:28occupations were added back into section

41:31subsection 3, but the part that said all

41:34members shall have demonstrated

41:35experience in historic preservation and

41:37interest in the historic traditions of

41:39the city, uh I proposed to restore that

41:42um to further the um historic

41:46preservation ethos of the commission and

41:49not send the signal that that would not

41:50be important. Of course, it would remain

41:53important. Uh although in all cases

41:55before and after uh potential amendment,

41:58this you know always depends on the um

42:01people that the mayor appoints and the

42:03people that the council approves. Um

42:05obviously that will still be uh most

42:07important in preserving the uh

42:10philosophies and priorities of

42:12commission members, but this restoration

42:14of most of the language of subsection 4

42:18um does send that signal to those who

42:20would be making these decisions in the

42:22future. So with that um I'd like to move

42:26my amendment. So this would be just the

42:28amendment to my original proposal which

42:31you also have written copies of though I

42:33have just described it verbally. Um can

42:37we do that and then we can talk about it

42:38if you have any other questions about

42:41any any aspect of it. So we have a

42:44motion and a second for the amendment.

42:47Cast your votes.

42:54Passes unanimously. Now, are there any

42:56questions or discussion relative to the

42:59proposed ordinance change? You've

43:02probably heard me talking about it

43:03enough at this point. Okay, very good.

43:05Um, well then I would uh love to

43:08entertain a motion for its adoption.

43:14We have a motion and a second. Cast your

43:16votes.

43:27passes unanimously. Thank you. And this

43:29will take effect in March. Uh we have

43:31one vacancy now and we will leave that

43:34vacant. Um and then in March we'll um

43:37bring this down to seven and move

43:39forward in a more practical format. And

43:42I thank you very much for your

43:43indulgence of that amendment.

43:47All right. Finally, item 3D is a

43:50resolution approving my travel expenses

43:52uh to attend US Conference of Mayor's

43:54winter meeting in Washington in January.

44:02We have a motion and a second. Cast your

44:04votes.

44:08Passes 8 to one and with the necessary

44:10six affirmative votes. Thus concludes

44:13office of the mayor. We have no uh items

44:16from council and so we'll advance to

44:17item five, city manager reports.

44:21>> Uh thank you, mayor. We have several

44:22reports that are on today. We just have

44:24one with a presentation. So I'm going to

44:25start with that with Andre Grayson who

44:27leads our public safety partnership uh

44:30work and she's going to give us an

44:31update. I know she meets with council

44:33periodically to give updates, but want

44:35to give a um basically an annual update.

44:38You know, at least once a year we come

44:39back and do a presentation before

44:41council with the progress we've seen

44:43with the public safety partnership. very

44:44grateful for Andrea's leadership and her

44:47work with u many different entities

44:49including the police department and fire

44:51department um in our own offices. So

44:53Andre, I'll turn it over to you and let

44:54you uh provide the presentation and the

44:56update.

44:57>> Thank you. Good morning, council, mayor,

44:59city manager. Um we're here, as Craig

45:02said, to recognize the three-year

45:03anniversary of the public safety

45:04partnership and give a really brief

45:06update on the program itself.

45:09Um, the public safety partnership is a

45:11collaboration among city council, our

45:14fire department, our police department,

45:16and residents to advance public safety

45:18here in Oklahoma City. Um, the history,

45:21as you all know, of the public safety

45:23partnership started with a resolution in

45:252020 uh to uh study law enforcement

45:29reforms and we're focused on

45:31re-imagining and modernizing our

45:33policing here in Oklahoma City.

45:36um some of those uh I'm so sorry, eight

45:39focus areas that we had, just to name a

45:41few, they're on the screen, but I'll

45:43just name a few of them. Um crisis

45:45response, deescalation, mental health

45:48programs, and youth programs. I won't

45:50name them all. You can always go to our

45:53uh website at okc.gov and look at our uh

45:55public safety partnership updates. Um

45:58but the progress that we've made here

46:00with the public safety partnership

46:03following that resolution um the law

46:05enforcement policy task force was

46:07formed, the community policing working

46:09group was formed. We had community

46:11listening sessions. Um we reviewed

46:14information, had many meetings, uh

46:17completed a study and and ultimately 39

46:21recommendations were presented to

46:23council in 2022. And then in 2023, the

46:27public safety partnership was officially

46:29formed and the implementation work

46:31began.

46:37The implementation process takes real

46:40collaboration. This collaborative effort

46:42of putting a plan into action and

46:45assuring its effectiveness really

46:48involves the entire partnership and it

46:50really is a partnership. I work with a

46:52liaison with the police department. My

46:54very first liaison was actually chief

46:56basy now working with uh major spru uh

46:59fire stepped up and allowed us to h

47:02house the mobile integrated healthc care

47:04program in their department and provided

47:06leadership to that program. We work with

47:09various advisory groups and working

47:11groups uh our public information office

47:15who had a full plate of responsibilities

47:17before there was any public safety

47:18partnership. Um, our boards and groups

47:22here in the community are comprised of

47:24various professionals, licensed mental

47:26health professionals, practitioners,

47:28former law enforcement, attorneys, um,

47:31and most importantly, our community

47:33stakeholders. It takes this broad group

47:36of people to move these collaborative

47:38efforts forward to get recommendations

47:41implemented. One group I wanted to talk

47:44about in particular is the public safety

47:45partnership steering committee.

47:49In our implementation stages, which I

47:51won't linger on any of those except uh

47:54one, but in those uh in that process,

47:57the steering committee must agree that

47:59the recommendation will be moved to full

48:01implementation. I wanted to state that

48:03because I wanted everyone to understand

48:05that um I'm the program manager, but but

48:07I don't make any unilateral decisions.

48:10This is still even in the decision-m

48:12internally is a collaborative effort. So

48:15as we progress with this work, one phase

48:17that was added was evaluation.

48:20Um my uh ACM Jason Fairbrush and his

48:23infinite wisdom added this phase. It's a

48:26continuous assessment of programs in the

48:28project. It's really important. We don't

48:31want to seem as if we're checking off a

48:33box. We've implemented this program. We

48:35want to make sure that we're

48:36continuously evaluating for

48:39effectiveness.

48:41So I'll u briefly update you on the

48:43recommendations. So we have 39

48:46recommendations right now. We're at

48:47recommendation uh where we've completed

48:49fully implemented 23. We have currently

48:52four on track for full implementation

48:55this year in 2026. And we've started 11

48:58evaluation programs uh for uh in our

49:01implemented uh recommendations. One that

49:04I wanted to point out just so you can

49:06kind of understand how the evaluation

49:09process works is our youth enrichment

49:11program. We started that program

49:16slightly as a pilot. Um as we evaluated

49:19its effectiveness, we had to take it to

49:21the steering committee and make quite a

49:22few changes to the program and it has

49:25increased twofold. Um the changes that

49:27we made during the evaluation process

49:30really increased attendance um increased

49:32participation with the kids, increased

49:35our relationship with the public schools

49:37in the number of uh meetings with the

49:39youth that we can have. So that

49:41evaluation process really does work.

49:46Our big purpose with the public safety

49:50partnership is building community trust.

49:53So clear communication with residents is

49:55our most important facet. We share

49:59important information about the

50:00recommendations, their implementation,

50:02um programs that are developed that

50:04would affect our residents that they can

50:06benefit from and even participate in.

50:10Some of those programs, just to name a

50:12few of them, are mobile integrated

50:14health care, our youth enrichment

50:16programs, and our info sessions where we

50:18go out to each ward, uh, have an

50:21information session, tell our residents

50:23about what's happening with the public

50:25safety partnership that so that they are

50:27aware that the change that they ask for

50:29is actually happening.

50:32So, in keeping up with that goal, we'd

50:34like to share a video with you all um to

50:37communicate the effectivenesses of the

50:39program and the important work that's

50:41being done. So, go ahead, Tammy.

50:48>> At its heart, public safety is about

50:50people. The residents who call for help,

50:52the professionals who respond, and the

50:54community we all share. listening to our

50:56residents and those that are delivering

50:58public safety services. It's vital.

51:01>> The only way to ensure that we're

51:03meeting the needs of individuals within

51:05our city [music] is to get that

51:07feedback. And just having those

51:08conversations creates understanding and

51:10it builds bridges. [music]

51:11>> When you're in a crisis, it's so

51:13important to have someone arrive at your

51:16door who understands [snorts]

51:19and can determine what resources are

51:22best for the individual. Public safety

51:25modernization is an ongoing commitment

51:27in our city because our community's

51:29needs have changed and the public safety

51:32partnership has been set up to improve

51:35and modernize public safety delivery. We

51:38are working diligently with our

51:40community stakeholders to make this a

51:43better and safer city. The public safety

51:45partnership spotlighted something we've

51:47always known. We work really well

51:49together. The public safety partnership

51:51is a partnership between our elected

51:53officials, city council, our city

51:55manager's office, the Oklahoma City

51:57Police Department, and the Oklahoma City

51:59Fire Department, and most importantly,

52:01our community stakeholders.

52:04Following community concerns in 2020,

52:07the law enforcement policy task force

52:09was established by the office of the

52:11mayor and the community policing working

52:13group was established by the city

52:14manager's office. The task force was an

52:18intentional

52:20selection of people from all parts of

52:23the community to participate. It was a

52:27concerted effort to ensure everybody had

52:29a voice. They collaborated with an

52:32advisory consultant group and this

52:34collaboration led to a recommendations

52:36report with 39 recommendations designed

52:38[music] to strengthen public safety in

52:40Oklahoma City.

52:41>> The 39 recommendations really provided a

52:43roadmap. It gave us a list of

52:46recommendations backed by best practices

52:49we knew worked in other places around

52:52the country, but also at the same point

52:54want to make sure that it works for us

52:57locally. The public safety partnership

52:59was created to implement those 39

53:03recommendations. So when I think of the

53:05public safety partnership and the

53:06progress that I'm most proud of, it's

53:09really captured in one word, momentum.

53:11The partnership moves the

53:13recommendations from ideas into real

53:15programs. A few examples of progress

53:17that the partnership has made through

53:19the recommendations. One of course is

53:20mobile integrated healthcare. For us to

53:22have a co-response or nonp police

53:25response to mental illness is big.

53:28>> With alternative response, we can meet

53:30them where they're at. It may be that we

53:32go to their house and we're able to

53:33provide services such as maybe food

53:36insecurities or we may be able to help

53:38them with challenges they have with

53:40their medication or it may be they're

53:42having a mental health crisis and this

53:44allows us to really meet their needs.

53:46>> Another one is a crisis intervention

53:48team. We've established the crisis

53:51intervention team many many years ago.

53:53However, we had a certain budgeted

53:56number of crisis intervention team

53:58members. We were able to increase that

54:00number and now every officer who comes

54:02through the academy receives crisis

54:04intervention training.

54:05>> The Oklahoma City Police Department

54:07rolled up our sleeves and figured out

54:09that we would just get the best training

54:10available to be able to recognize people

54:12who are in crisis, respond

54:14appropriately, but also connect them to

54:16services at the same time.

54:18>> Another one is our youth enrichment

54:20programs through the police department.

54:22that has been extremely influential in

54:25how we're thinking about addressing

54:27violence interruption.

54:29>> Our youth outreach programs are

54:30essential for us to learn and understand

54:32what the problems are. It's us listening

54:35to them and answering their questions

54:37where we both learn and we grow closer

54:39together through that understanding.

54:41>> The public safety partnership is [music]

54:44making public safety more accessible

54:46through improved community trust.

54:48Accessibility comes when you're able to

54:51approach um entities that are providing

54:53public safety to [music] you. So if the

54:55police department is more approachable,

54:57if the chief is more approachable, if

54:58city government is more approachable,

55:00then there is an improved trust and

55:02therefore improved delivery of services.

55:05[music] The more we learn from the

55:07people who are calling us, the better we

55:09can provide them the sources that they

55:11need, the responders to make sure that

55:13they're bringing the correct tools with

55:15them. I hope that the partnership makes

55:17people feel better about living in

55:18Oklahoma City. The way we care about all

55:22of our residents, those in crisis, our

55:25youth, it shows that we're listening to

55:27our community. What we see the future of

55:30public safety partnership is we can

55:32continue to grow and to make sure we're

55:34meeting those underserved areas of our

55:37city. We're proud of how much the

55:38partnership has accomplished and we hope

55:40residents will continue to track our

55:42progress and stay invested in the

55:44outcomes [music] for our city. As we

55:46continue into Oklahoma City's future,

55:48the public safety partnership will

55:50continue making our city safer for

55:52everyone.

56:04So, as we look forward to continuing our

56:06focus on full implementation, I wanted

56:09to tell you all it has just really been

56:10truly my honor to have been selected to

56:13work with you all to do this job as the

56:15implementation manager to work with our

56:17residents. It is really important work

56:19and it's really been my honor to

56:22continue this work. Um, we're leading

56:24the next phase into the evaluation

56:26phase. We want to measure and ensure the

56:29long-term sustainability of the program.

56:33Thank you all if you have any questions.

56:36>> Thank you, Andrea. Appreciate that.

56:38>> Thank you.

56:40>> Thanks. Um [applause]

56:48Andrea really has been a great leader

56:50for this program and the right person

56:51for the job. She uh she can tell you

56:54that almost every time we go through an

56:57implementation, there is disagreement

57:00um on how to do it exactly. And so she's

57:03got to work through a lot of conflict

57:04and like disagreement and work to get

57:06consensus and does a great job for us.

57:08Sometimes she's bringing me along in the

57:10journey. So I really do appreciate her

57:12leadership and appreciate your support

57:13in this work. Um couple of other things

57:16are on here. We have our year-end

57:17performance report that's here. If

57:19you'all have any questions, there's a

57:20lot of information. If you have any

57:21questions on that, we're glad to provide

57:22that. And then I also wanted to call out

57:24the um uh year-end revenue enhancement

57:28report. Um, this report really just

57:31reflects the work that we're doing in

57:32our revenue enforcement program and that

57:34is in the treasur's office. I always

57:36like to point this out. It really was

57:38moved into the treasur's office because

57:40of work that was done in our city

57:41auditor's office and recommendations

57:43that they made this year. They generated

57:45an additional $4 million through audits

57:48that were done, contracted audits on

57:50sales tax and then work that our team

57:52did on hotel tax. So about $4 million is

57:55the highest amount that they've

57:56collected in one single year. Um so just

57:59kudos to the team and to Angela and

58:01Treasury and so really appreciate their

58:03work. Uh and that's all the items that I

58:05have.

58:06>> All right. Thank you.

58:09Uh next up, item six, journal of council

58:11proceedings. We have items A and B. We

58:13could take with one motion.

58:18We have a motion and a second. Cast your

58:19votes.

58:25passes [clears throat]

58:26unanimously.

58:28Um, item seven, request for uncontested

58:32continuences, listed on the agenda is

58:34item 11F, which will be deferred for two

58:38weeks. Uh, anything else, Mr. City

58:40Manager?

58:41>> Uh, yes. Beginning on page 15, item 11

58:45C,

58:47this is PUD 2131.

58:50And uh that is going to be deferred to

58:52the 10th of uh November.

58:55And then on page 16, item 11 I PUB 1839

59:00will be deferred to the 10th of

59:01November.

59:05Page 18, item 11 Q1, this is unsecured

59:09structures. We're going to strike all of

59:10these from the agenda. Item B, 836 Green

59:14Veailed Road, the owner has secured. And

59:16then item E for 4 4301 South Walker

59:20Avenue. The owner has abated. And then

59:23on page 21,

59:25it item 11 AGB,

59:30uh there's a claim for denial. We're

59:31going to strike this item and

59:33re-evaluate. And that's all the items

59:35that I have.

59:38>> All right. Thank you. Next up, item

59:41eight, revocable permits and events.

59:44Item 8A is a revocable ride-of-way use

59:46permit with downtown OKC Partnership to

59:49hold brick or treat on October 25th on

59:53Mickey Mantel. And we have Rob Greenleaf

59:56here. Hello. So, uh, October 25th,

1:00:00Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m., we're going to

1:00:02bring back the 12th annual Brick Treat.

1:00:05And this year we have 45 candy stops um

1:00:09with an anticipated 18,000 people

1:00:12attending. Um, so we're definitely

1:00:14looking forward to a fun day of

1:00:16activities, activations, and u a lot of

1:00:19candy and things being handed out. Uh,

1:00:22do you have any questions?

1:00:24>> Uh, no.

1:00:25>> Again, thank you.

1:00:27>> It's 1 to 4 p.m. So, a few hours, right?

1:00:30>> Well, that's really a fantastic event. I

1:00:32always enjoy going and taking my girls

1:00:34to um to the event and so just looking

1:00:36forward to another great year. So, I'm

1:00:38happy to move approval.

1:00:43We have a motion and a second. Cast your

1:00:45votes.

1:00:50Passes unanimously.

1:00:51>> Thank you.

1:00:52>> Next up, 8B, right? A revocable ride

1:00:55ofway use permit with downtown Oklahoma

1:00:57Partnership to hold Midtown Walkabout on

1:00:59October 24th on Walker. And we have

1:01:02April Aubrey here.

1:01:05>> Good morning. My name is April Aubrey. I

1:01:07am the Midtown district manager with

1:01:08Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership and

1:01:10we would like to bring back Midtown

1:01:12Walkabout this fall on October 24th. Uh

1:01:16we will be closing Walker Avenue um from

1:01:2011 to 5 to have our vendor marketplace.

1:01:24Uh this is a bianual event. We just

1:01:26hosted another one earlier this year in

1:01:28April and we would love to bring it back

1:01:30this year.

1:01:32>> Thank you, Councilwoman Hammond.

1:01:33>> I'm happy to move for approval.

1:01:39Have a motion and a second. Cast your

1:01:41votes.

1:01:44>> Thank you all so much.

1:01:47>> Next up is item C, revocable rightway

1:01:50use permit with visual image media

1:01:52consultants to hold Carnead on October

1:01:5523rd on Park Avenue. Uh, no one has

1:01:57signed up to speak on this item.

1:02:00Councilwoman Hammond,

1:02:01>> I'll move for approval.

1:02:08Motion in a second. Cast your votes.

1:02:16Passes unanimously. Now we'll recess the

1:02:19council and convene as the Oklahoma City

1:02:21Municipal Facilities Authority where we

1:02:23have items A through I. We could take

1:02:25with one motion.

1:02:30We have a motion and a second. Cast your

1:02:33votes.

1:02:38[clears throat]

1:02:44[clears throat]

1:02:49Passes unanimously. Now we'll adjourn

1:02:50OCMFA and convene as the Oklahoma City

1:02:53Public Property Authority where we have

1:02:55items A through C. We could take with

1:02:56one motion.

1:03:04We have a motion and a second. Cast your

1:03:06votes.

1:03:08>> Passes unanimously.

1:03:10We'll adjourn OCPA and reconvene as the

1:03:13council. We're on item nine, the consent

1:03:16docket. We have scheduled presentations

1:03:18for item AO,

1:03:21BC, and BT. Is there any other item that

1:03:24a council member wishes to pull out for

1:03:26separate vote, comment, or question? I'm

1:03:28sorry, mayor. Would you one more time?

1:03:31Also, good morning.

1:03:32>> Good morning.

1:03:33>> Um, would you mind saying those again

1:03:35before I

1:03:36>> Sure. AO BC and BT.

1:03:45Okay. Um

1:03:52item not for a separate vote

1:03:55but item BA

1:03:58I would like to discuss.

1:04:01>> Okay please and then

1:04:07yes that's

1:04:09that's it.

1:04:10>> Okay

1:04:11>> thank you sir.

1:04:12>> Thank you. Anything else?

1:04:14Hearing

1:04:16none, we'll take things in order. And we

1:04:18have a resident who signed up to speak

1:04:20on item 9F. Steve Hunt.

1:04:22>> One other thing, Mayor. Yeah. Uh I'm

1:04:24sorry I'm a little slow today. Uh item

1:04:279BM.

1:04:29>> We'll need a separate vote on that,

1:04:31please.

1:04:31>> Separate vote. Okay.

1:04:32>> Yes, please. Thank you.

1:04:34>> All right.

1:04:36Back to the resident.

1:04:42>> All right. Steve Hunt, 6300 Westbrook.

1:04:44Um, I know y'all remember when you were

1:04:45in school and the teacher would put in a

1:04:47uh videotape for you to watch fired or

1:04:50whatever and I'm exhausted. So, I'm

1:04:51going to play a little 60-second clip

1:04:53from the Oklahoma City uh formal agenda

1:04:56podcast

1:04:58that talks about item F. That's pretty

1:05:01good. So, let me play that real quick

1:05:03and then I'm going to comment. Let me

1:05:05play devil's advocate here for a second.

1:05:07Isn't skipping a long bidding process

1:05:09sometimes just I don't know a necessary

1:05:10evil like just to keep a massive busy

1:05:13city running? Why is this specific

1:05:15instance such a red flag?

1:05:17>> Well, speed is one thing definitely but

1:05:19a retroactive approval bypasses public

1:05:21scrutiny entirely. And you know when you

1:05:24look at who actually benefits from that

1:05:26lack of competition, a really clear

1:05:28pattern emerges

1:05:29>> like the private equity stuff.

1:05:31>> Exactly. Private equity firms are

1:05:34quietly acquiring the vendors that

1:05:36handle basic public interfaces. For

1:05:38example, Digitech, which handles EMS

1:05:40billing and Selectron, they manage

1:05:42utility software. Both of those have

1:05:44been acquired by massive private equity

1:05:47portfolios.

1:05:48>> Okay. So, if a private equity firm buys

1:05:50the company that say bills you for an

1:05:52ambulance ride, what actually changes on

1:05:54the ground for you?

1:05:55>> The financial mandate changes

1:05:57completely. By acquiring these

1:05:59companies, they inject private

1:06:00investment return objectives right into

1:06:02core municipal functions.

1:06:04>> Right? So everyday software isn't just

1:06:06about public efficiency anymore.

1:06:08>> No, it's required to generate a high

1:06:10yield for a private portfolio.

1:06:12>> Okay. So it feels like Truman Show being

1:06:14up here talking about yet another SAS

1:06:17contract handed out to a private equity

1:06:20firm based in Ottawa, Canada. Um, this

1:06:24is only $68,568.75,

1:06:28but this is a program that could easily

1:06:31be built by freshman computer science

1:06:33students at OOT trip. And in fact, in uh

1:06:37San Francisco and New York City right

1:06:39now, municipalities are ditching these

1:06:42SAS's in favor of municipally owned and

1:06:47even produced by local schools. Um, I

1:06:52don't know how many SAS contracts we

1:06:54have right now, but the number is

1:06:55exceedingly high and it's taking out of

1:06:58the general fund. Um, the other day at

1:07:01my job, a couple women came in and

1:07:02talked to me. They recognized me from

1:07:04being up here. [clears throat] One of

1:07:05them told me that her and a number of

1:07:07her friends were laid off from parks and

1:07:09wreck last year. Um, and I know that

1:07:12that's there's going to be a lot more of

1:07:13that because of these expensive

1:07:15contracts that were uh

1:07:1830 seconds. um that we're handing out.

1:07:21And I don't know if anyone even looks at

1:07:23these, but but one of the interesting

1:07:25things and interesting and gross is that

1:07:29every time we're locked into these

1:07:31contracts, they add special things. And

1:07:34if you look at the uh the contract,

1:07:36there's a line on here that I would like

1:07:38y'all to consider. Actually, I know

1:07:40Dave's playing his Candy Crush Saga

1:07:41game, but the rest of you all that are

1:07:42listening,

1:07:44>> the forensic lab is also requesting the

1:07:46purchase of bolt bulk support hours

1:07:49package.

1:07:50>> We have a presentation now on item 80.

1:07:52Mr. City Management,

1:07:54>> thank you, Mayor.

1:07:55>> Thank you.

1:07:57>> Thank you, Mayor Debbie Miller.

1:08:00will uh our public works director will

1:08:02give his presentation on this project

1:08:04that we uh briefed council on last week,

1:08:07but um project that we're working on

1:08:09that will create a pedestrian bridge

1:08:11across uh Gaylord Boulevard near Santa

1:08:14Fe garage.

1:08:16>> Good morning, Mayor and Council. Debbie

1:08:17Miller with the public works department.

1:08:20Um I'm just going to show you a few

1:08:21slides of what to expect um with the

1:08:23construction of this pedestrian bridge.

1:08:26Here you can see the location and

1:08:27overhead view where it goes on the west

1:08:30side of the railroad tracks and up over

1:08:34and connects to the parking garage.

1:08:38So um the construction budget is 5.8

1:08:41million. The total budget is 7.6. This

1:08:44is a uh Seymour project that we are

1:08:46working on with um Lingo Construction

1:08:49contractor. We have two different

1:08:51packages. bids will be received in

1:08:53December. And this is the first package

1:08:56for the bid.

1:08:59Um, here is a rendering showing it

1:09:01crossing the street. Here you can see

1:09:04how it connects to the parking garage.

1:09:07And here is a full-on view to show you

1:09:10as you're driving down the street what

1:09:12you would see.

1:09:15Here is another view. You can see the

1:09:17elevator tower and the staircase over on

1:09:20the left side of the picture and uh

1:09:22pedestrians will be able to cross back

1:09:24and forth.

1:09:27>> Um that's all I have. Do I have Do you

1:09:29have any questions about the project?

1:09:34>> Thank you, Debbie.

1:09:34>> Thank you.

1:09:39>> All right. Next up then is item BA.

1:09:41Councilman Cooper.

1:09:44Oh, he's not here. Um then BC we have a

1:09:48presentation.

1:09:49>> Yes,

1:09:51Kenny Sudel is here with the Alliance

1:09:53for Economic Development U to give us an

1:09:55update on this new tiff district.

1:10:04>> Thank you, Mayor and uh council. Uh I

1:10:07wanted to talk to you today. this item

1:10:08BC is adopting this is the introduction

1:10:12and setting the final hearing uh on

1:10:14October 27th for the adoption of the

1:10:16South Oklahoma City Economic Development

1:10:19Project Plan. So, this is a new TIFF

1:10:21district on the south side of the city.

1:10:23Um [clears throat] this is the project

1:10:25plan which is a very lengthy document,

1:10:28you know, that meets all the

1:10:29requirements of the local development

1:10:31act, but I'm just going to take you

1:10:32through kind of the highlights and of

1:10:33course if there's any questions, be

1:10:35happy to answer these. Um so within this

1:10:39you know you have to lay out the plan's

1:10:40objectives. So they are the strengthen

1:10:42South OKC's tax base and economic growth

1:10:45retain attract employers and private

1:10:47investment. Uh and this is really a big

1:10:50one for me is redevelop redeveloping

1:10:52underutilized properties uh and support

1:10:54infrastructure and then improve

1:10:56connectivity tourism destination

1:10:58development. You know, there's this is

1:11:00kind of an interesting area, and I'll

1:11:02show you the map in a second around I240

1:11:04and I35, but you know, there's we've

1:11:06kind of got residential, retail, we've

1:11:09got industrial, but we we also have the

1:11:11Stanley Rother Shrine, which is, you

1:11:13know, I think why we wanted to include

1:11:14this connectivity and tourism element as

1:11:16well.

1:11:18So, just very quickly, one of the things

1:11:19we have to do in this project plan is go

1:11:21through and determine, you know, its

1:11:22eligibility under the state statute. So,

1:11:24just letting you know that these areas

1:11:26are uh eligible. uh they're in an

1:11:29enterprise zone. The tiff will encourage

1:11:32uh and support development that may not

1:11:34otherwise occur. Uh you know, the

1:11:36anticipated development we do think it's

1:11:38going to generate and we'll talk to you

1:11:40about kind of the uh uh estimates on on

1:11:43the tax uh taxes that would be generated

1:11:46and we believe this will have an

1:11:48overall, you know, positive impact on

1:11:49the taxing jurisdictions and the

1:11:51community at large. So,

1:11:54so just as a reminder, when we do these

1:11:57project budgets, we have to make an

1:11:59estimate of what we think will be

1:12:01generated uh over the 25-year period. So

1:12:05just again making the point today

1:12:07there's zero there but this is the

1:12:09budget and as and as you know and I kind

1:12:11of remind you when we do these things

1:12:12that we oftentimes come and amend these

1:12:14budgets when we learn more later but uh

1:12:17right now what we're thinking is this

1:12:18tiff would have over 25 years $173

1:12:21million budget. The vast majority of

1:12:24that would go to assistance and

1:12:25development financing. We think that

1:12:27there will be uh you know we want to

1:12:28have budgets in there for public

1:12:30improvements and development and then

1:12:31obviously other taxing jurisdictions. we

1:12:33we try when there's funds available to

1:12:36work with uh those affected

1:12:37jurisdictions.

1:12:40And so again, this one and I'm, you

1:12:43know, when we did the first step some

1:12:45months ago to create this, I think I

1:12:46presented this map to you all and it

1:12:48hasn't changed, you know, once it went

1:12:50through the committees, uh, comprise of

1:12:53the different taxing jurisdictions. And,

1:12:55um, really this is showing that the the

1:12:58dotted line that kind of is bounded by

1:13:00Southeast 59th, Walker, 89th, and

1:13:03Bryant. That's the project area. So

1:13:06that's where funds generated by this

1:13:07tiff can can uh be expended. The uh

1:13:12areas A, B, C, D, and E that are uh the

1:13:15different color shaded areas, those are

1:13:17the actual increment areas. So those are

1:13:19the only areas that will actually um

1:13:22take any new taxes once generated

1:13:25property taxes and and put them into the

1:13:26tiff fund. So, um, A and B are you A is

1:13:31sort of a residential area, and there's

1:13:33some projects already coming forward on

1:13:34that that we're looking at. B is a

1:13:37residential and shopping center area.

1:13:40Um, D& or Crossroads Mall and some of

1:13:43the uh developable land just north of

1:13:46it. And then C is the undeveloped

1:13:48portions of the OKC 577 industrial park,

1:13:52of which the city is a owner on that.

1:13:57So just from a schedule and a process

1:13:59standpoint, this has gone through uh

1:14:01part of the process already. The TIFF

1:14:03review committee meeting on September

1:14:052nd, planning commission uh approved

1:14:07that it's in conformance with a

1:14:09comprehensive plan on September 24th. Of

1:14:11course, introduction today and uh you

1:14:14know we would introduce with your

1:14:16approval and then it would be brought

1:14:18back to you for final consideration on

1:14:20October 27th. We do have some projects

1:14:23that are moving through the process and

1:14:25like we do sometimes and of course but

1:14:27they're all contingent on uh this

1:14:30project plan actually being adopted. So

1:14:32with that I would be happy to answer any

1:14:33questions.

1:14:37>> Thank you Kenny.

1:14:38>> Thanks.

1:14:40>> Now we'll back up. Councilman Cooper, uh

1:14:43item BA, you wanted to talk about that?

1:14:46>> Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Um,

1:14:50may I share my screen and then I'm gonna

1:14:54have some questions for our good friends

1:14:56economic alliance. So this is from

1:14:59entity you all might know about Forbes

1:15:03which I suspect my business community

1:15:06friends especially know it. So I just

1:15:08want to read from this. Uh, as the

1:15:10prevalence of mixeduse development

1:15:12increases, so do studies that show the

1:15:15positive impact on economic growth these

1:15:18projects deliver. Their blend of

1:15:20residential units, offices, retail, and

1:15:22dining creates lively, self-sustaining

1:15:24lifestyle pockets that help catalyze the

1:15:27establishment of other local businesses,

1:15:30leading to civic vibrancy.

1:15:32Observers have noted mixeduse

1:15:34developments serve as job centers both

1:15:36now and later. They provide immediate

1:15:39construction jobs while building is

1:15:41ongoing, then create [clears throat]

1:15:42long lasting employment opportunities in

1:15:44the stores, restaurants, and offices

1:15:47that open once construction is complete.

1:15:50Mixeduse developments also generate

1:15:52higher property values for owners and

1:15:56greater tax revenue for local municipal

1:15:58budgets. Moreover, the people who move

1:16:02into the four-cell homes or apartments

1:16:04in the upper floors of mixeduse

1:16:06developments become instant customers of

1:16:09the services service businesses, excuse

1:16:11me, restaurants and stores that open

1:16:13below them on the ground floors of those

1:16:15properties. All these benefits, as well

1:16:17as the real estate risk reduction and

1:16:19resilience for the owners, help explain

1:16:22why the retail and restaurant model of

1:16:24malls in years past is increasingly

1:16:26yielding to something new. That

1:16:29something new is mixeduse development in

1:16:32which a variety of housing types and

1:16:33commercial spaces are combined to create

1:16:36something akin to a traditional downtown

1:16:39district on property once reserved

1:16:42almost solely for retail. You can thank

1:16:45you so much city clerk. I appreciate

1:16:46you.

1:16:48For those of you who aren't familiar

1:16:50with the concept of mixuse development,

1:16:52I promise you are if you have ever

1:16:53visited your grandparents, particularly

1:16:55if they live in a small town anywhere

1:16:57across America, specifically Oklahoma.

1:17:01It's the main streets. It's the ground

1:17:04level retail with one or two floors of

1:17:06housing above it. If it was good enough

1:17:07for grandma, grandpa, why would we not

1:17:09want to modernize that and bring it into

1:17:12the 21st century? It is the thing I will

1:17:15continue to beat the drum for so long as

1:17:17I am up here because it yields such high

1:17:20sales tax revenue and return. In fact,

1:17:24if you look at Forbes, Strong Towns,

1:17:26Wall Street Journal, almost any sort of

1:17:29studies that exist out there tell you

1:17:32municipalities receive a bigger bang for

1:17:34their buck when they make investments in

1:17:37those sorts of uh properties

1:17:42than when they do in sprawling strip

1:17:44malls.

1:17:46That's not my opinion.

1:17:49Yet the city has a long history of

1:17:52investing in the latter and not the

1:17:54former and our grandma and grandpa's

1:17:57vision of what builds community and

1:18:00sustainability in terms of sales tax.

1:18:04I bring this up because I have some

1:18:07questions for our economic development

1:18:08team before we approve this and then I

1:18:11have some request. So um

1:18:17there's a memo here about

1:18:20economic alliance and it says that the

1:18:22alliance was established I'm now reading

1:18:25to coordinate and consolidate economic

1:18:27development functions and provide

1:18:29dedicated professional staff and

1:18:32resources to support the city's trust

1:18:34and econom economic excuse me

1:18:36development programs. services include

1:18:39administration and implementation of the

1:18:41GOLT bond, the bond we just passed last

1:18:44October, and tax increment financing

1:18:46like you just saw from Kenny Sudel,

1:18:49redevelopment activities, retail

1:18:52strategy and incentives, job site

1:18:54identification and development,

1:18:57coordination with MAPS programs,

1:18:59implementation of financing tools, and

1:19:01other economic development functions

1:19:03assigned by the city and trust. Am I I'm

1:19:07getting this right? Okay. So my question

1:19:10to economic alliance staff is

1:19:15whose function is it?

1:19:18Is it economic alliance? Is it the

1:19:20planning department? Whose function is

1:19:23it when a council member identifies as I

1:19:26have done about 6 to 12 sites across W 2

1:19:31from MacArthur to 235 23rd to Britain.

1:19:35whose function, whose responsibility is

1:19:37it to go out and start talking to those

1:19:40property owners to specifically have

1:19:43conversations about

1:19:46potential, and I'm just going back to

1:19:47the memo, redevelopment activities.

1:19:51Who's whose job is that? Because what

1:19:53I've been hearing so far is it's my job

1:19:55as the council member to go out and talk

1:19:57to those developers and to that's what I

1:20:00that's what I that's what I've heard

1:20:01that it is my job to go out and meet

1:20:03with developers and to ask them what

1:20:05they're doing. And let me tell you why

1:20:06that's a problem. It's a problem because

1:20:08when I try and reach out to those

1:20:10developers as I did on my lunch break

1:20:12from teaching last week, remember every

1:20:14council member up here is part-time. We

1:20:16all have full-time jobs. On my lunch

1:20:18break in between grading, I tried to

1:20:21call one of those developers of a

1:20:23shopping mall. I've heard nothing back.

1:20:26Why have I heard nothing back? I

1:20:27probably have heard nothing back because

1:20:29we don't know who actually owns that

1:20:31property because often it's like a

1:20:33Russian doll. It is an LLC hidden under

1:20:36an LLC hidden under an LLC hidden under

1:20:38an LLC. It is no longer your mom and pop

1:20:40who owns that store.

1:20:42So, what am I supposed to then call

1:20:44again the next day? do we not have

1:20:47dedicated staff to do this? And my

1:20:49further followup is not only whose

1:20:52responsibility is this, but then whose

1:20:54responsibility is it to report back to

1:20:56the council members to let them know

1:20:58where we are in that process? Those are

1:21:02my questions.

1:21:03>> Yeah, I mean I would start off and then

1:21:05Joanna and Kenny can help me with this

1:21:08that you know planning does get planning

1:21:11department does get involved with this.

1:21:13We do identify areas where there are

1:21:14opportunities. Typically really what

1:21:16we're doing is working with developers

1:21:18that are coming to us with concepts that

1:21:20they have where we have opportunities

1:21:22where we have incentives that are

1:21:23provided. We have the opportunity with

1:21:25an incentive that we can sometimes

1:21:26through a tip district or something like

1:21:28that encourage that type of development.

1:21:30But again, they're going to look at that

1:21:32type of development and determine that

1:21:33it works well for them economically and

1:21:36then they would make the decision to

1:21:37move forward with the project. So, it's

1:21:39really a combination of us working with

1:21:41those that are interested in

1:21:42redeveloping areas. Um, so it's it's a

1:21:46combination. It's not like just one one

1:21:49group has an assignment or

1:21:50responsibility to that. But again, it's

1:21:52private land owned by private developers

1:21:56who then make the decision how they

1:21:57develop that land.

1:22:00>> That is also the response I've heard in

1:22:02private. Thank you for sharing that. in

1:22:03public. What would it look like to be

1:22:07intentional in outreach to existing

1:22:11property owners? Not with the heavy hand

1:22:13of government to force them to do it,

1:22:15but to have conversations with those

1:22:18existing property owners. Starting with

1:22:20the simple question of what is your

1:22:22intention with this property?

1:22:24Second question to the property owner.

1:22:27Did you know we have economic incentives

1:22:30such as voterapproved economic and

1:22:33community development funds?

1:22:35Third, did you know about tax increment

1:22:38financing? And the reason why I think

1:22:40those are the three questions. What are

1:22:41your plans? Did you know about GT? Did

1:22:43you know about TIF? Is I have spoken to

1:22:46all kinds of residents across W 2,

1:22:48developers especially. They don't know.

1:22:51And it's people who've even voted for

1:22:52the bond

1:22:54specifically for economic development,

1:22:56but they do not know how to access these

1:22:58tools. They do not know that they exist.

1:23:00And when we have such opportunity for

1:23:03sales tax revenue generation here from

1:23:06the sort of mixeduse developments, the

1:23:08redevelopment of as I've said Shepard

1:23:10Mall, Pin Crossing, French Market at

1:23:1363rd in May, 23rd and MacArthur where an

1:23:16abandoned Walmart sits with all kinds of

1:23:19parking in front of it. Are we waiting

1:23:22for a developer to come to us who has

1:23:25that vision? They have not all of this

1:23:27time. So why can't we be proactive and

1:23:31intentional and going out and we miss

1:23:34every shot we don't take? So let them

1:23:36tell us no. But right now there's not

1:23:38even a conversation.

1:23:41>> Yeah. Let me just address a couple of

1:23:42those and I think you know I do think

1:23:44probably the alliance is the tip of that

1:23:46spear. You know a couple things are

1:23:48agree with what you said Craig about

1:23:51kind of the private ownership and

1:23:52sometimes folks don't want to talk to

1:23:54us. Sometimes they do. Sometimes these

1:23:56are what you just said is one of the

1:23:58challenges. So for example, you and I

1:24:00had a conversation about Shephard Mall.

1:24:02We started reaching out to them. We've

1:24:04started trying to figure out like who's

1:24:06the property management company? Who's

1:24:08who's the owners? What are they maybe

1:24:10interested in? Begun those

1:24:12conversations. I think we're always able

1:24:15and I think a I hope a lot of you all on

1:24:18on the horseshoe would recognize, you

1:24:20know, there's times different ones of

1:24:22you have come to me and said, "Hey,

1:24:23we've got an area that we're concerned

1:24:25about. Can we talk about this property?

1:24:27Can we make this connection?" And we try

1:24:29to do so. Absolutely. I think we were

1:24:32probably not as proactive as we

1:24:34potentially could be, but that's pro

1:24:35that's down to a resource issue. you

1:24:37know, I mean, we're we are essentially

1:24:40the city's contracted economic

1:24:42development office, but we're a small

1:24:43office. You know, we're 13 people, and a

1:24:46couple of those are administrative

1:24:48types, but I mean, we have hundreds of

1:24:51properties we're managing. We have

1:24:52hundreds of projects we're managing. And

1:24:55I think it's it's a we certainly will

1:24:58serve at the council and the mayor's

1:25:00behest of whatever it is you want us to

1:25:02focus on. You know, there's quite a few

1:25:05things on council day. I think we have

1:25:07about 13 different economic development

1:25:08items and some of those are really big

1:25:11picture, big impact, big dollar items.

1:25:15Totally agree with you about mixeduse

1:25:16development. You know, those things are

1:25:18wonderful. Those are what we want to try

1:25:19to see. I love those way better than

1:25:22strip malls and things like that. Um,

1:25:25utilize the property better. But I think

1:25:26it is a team effort because there are

1:25:29other tool there tools that are under

1:25:30the alliance purview. uh you know our

1:25:33friends at the chamber have a retail

1:25:34specialist but again they have like one

1:25:37person that's covering the whole city uh

1:25:39you know the planning department works

1:25:41with us with different grant programs

1:25:43bids other tools like that and so it

1:25:46really is kind of a comprehensive

1:25:48approach but I think you know for me if

1:25:50it's we are happy to be more proactive

1:25:53but I think you know it's one of those

1:25:55things like we pretty much everything

1:25:57else in local government of it's a

1:25:59resource issue and where do we want to

1:26:00put our efforts And I don't disagree

1:26:03with you about a lot of these um

1:26:06shopping centers and there's probably,

1:26:09you know, 50 of them around the city

1:26:11that could use some redevelopment, some

1:26:14effort. And some have local ownership,

1:26:16some have out of city or out of state

1:26:19ownership. Um you know, that's always I

1:26:21think the challenge is when we're trying

1:26:23to figure out who it is that owns it. Do

1:26:26they know about our programs? Certainly

1:26:28getting the word out, trying to do more

1:26:30outreach about programs that may be out

1:26:32there or tools. I think those are all

1:26:34things that are good good and could and

1:26:37should be done. I think a lot of times

1:26:39it's just boils down to, you know, it's

1:26:41it's a resource issue. And you know, if

1:26:43you look through our scope of services

1:26:46and all the things we're managing, you

1:26:47know, it's it's a lot of stuff that

1:26:49we're managing, a lot of projects. I

1:26:51think we have probably I think I looked

1:26:53this morning we have about 130 different

1:26:56projects in our in the allianc's project

1:26:59active database right now and those are

1:27:00things anywhere from single family

1:27:02properties we're managing under the

1:27:04OKura umbrella um to industrial parks to

1:27:09tiff districts to working on the

1:27:11downtown plan you know so there's just a

1:27:14lot and that's it's it's one of those

1:27:16things just Oklahoma City so large I

1:27:18think you know we're look we would

1:27:20always look to you all of like where do

1:27:21the priorities go?

1:27:22>> And and I think to Kenny's point just

1:27:24with the the challenge of resources and

1:27:26working with you know needing to work

1:27:28with cooperative partners who want to be

1:27:30a part of it that it really is one for

1:27:33us together that we've got to identify

1:27:35where those opportunities are and be

1:27:37targeted. You know to think that we

1:27:39could go and reach to every one of those

1:27:40areas. you and I talked about it the

1:27:42other day of like man there are so many

1:27:43areas that have become more distressed

1:27:45like shopping areas pre previous

1:27:47shopping areas and getting reinvestment

1:27:50in some of those areas it's um I can

1:27:52think of many different examples of

1:27:55opportunities that we have some of which

1:27:58we're taking advantage of with you know

1:28:00we're just talking about this tip

1:28:01district over on the south side that

1:28:03gives us some opportunity that I think

1:28:04we can definitely do that and those

1:28:06areas that you're identifying I think if

1:28:08we'll target specific areas it'll give

1:28:10us an opportunity

1:28:11to be able to focus there.

1:28:14>> You know, I I I tend to agree with

1:28:17James, the the frustration level um that

1:28:20you experience trying to track an out

1:28:22ofstate land owner down. Um I remember

1:28:26one winter we were trying to track an

1:28:28out ofstate owner down about a problem

1:28:30that was occurring and it was just

1:28:32incredibly frustrating. And um I think

1:28:35uh I agree with what you said, Kenny.

1:28:38Uh, I believe we need to be more

1:28:40proactive. We have a state and city,

1:28:43especially in this area, that that

1:28:45businesses are wanting to come to right

1:28:46now. And so I would be for us being more

1:28:50proactive, number one. And number two,

1:28:52you putting together some type of

1:28:54budget, whether it's just through social

1:28:56media, whether it's reach out with phone

1:28:59calls, just put together a budget that

1:29:01lets us at least look at it and see if

1:29:04we can move this thing forward. And we

1:29:06may not be able to afford it this year,

1:29:08but if we don't start looking at it now,

1:29:10we never will.

1:29:16[laughter]

1:29:17I It takes a lot. Thank you. It takes a

1:29:20lot to like shock me, man. That

1:29:22counselor.

1:29:27[laughter]

1:29:28>> I'm y'all. That's so Thank you, Mark.

1:29:31>> You're welcome.

1:29:32>> Seriously. Yes. Good. Because like when

1:29:36I talk like this sometimes I feel like

1:29:38people aren't hearing me as if I'm

1:29:40speaking Greek and I'm not having the

1:29:43city's best interest. And I love the way

1:29:44you framed it, Mark. People want to come

1:29:47here. A 100,000 new people just moved

1:29:50here. We're about to host the Olympics.

1:29:52We have the Thunder. Like this is not an

1:29:55anti- Oklahoma City thing that I am on.

1:29:57This is me saying it is time to maximize

1:30:00the fact that we are the 22nd largest

1:30:02city in America. That's what I want. So

1:30:04yeah, let let's you know, yes, it is a

1:30:06resource issue, but let's take this

1:30:09opportunity. Oh my god, what a wonderful

1:30:10idea you have just put there. I owe you

1:30:12a thank you card.

1:30:13>> Thank you.

1:30:14>> Um, but as we're doing that, I think the

1:30:18other thing I would add here is I have

1:30:21already put forward a list. I would

1:30:23suspect each one of you have a list. In

1:30:25fact, I have listed places outside of

1:30:27Word Two. Like I am so happy about

1:30:30Shield. Todd and I talked to councelor

1:30:32Stone and I talked about this yesterday.

1:30:34Thrilled about that. Y'all know how I

1:30:36feel about 240 Meridian. We could do

1:30:38this all up and down. Whether it's 59th,

1:30:41you name it. There are streets I care

1:30:42about because this is Oklahoma City, our

1:30:44city. I think my other ask is that when

1:30:48we put forward these list of asks of

1:30:52locations there needs to be an

1:30:54accountability and transparency process

1:30:57of saying hey I called I got nothing I

1:31:01called they want to talk and meet with

1:31:02you bring me to those meetings I would

1:31:06be honored to sit in those meetings and

1:31:08share this vision with them but there

1:31:10needs to be a process it cannot just

1:31:11exist in in a vacuum and in the darkness

1:31:14of us not knowing what happens. That

1:31:16would be my next ask there. But

1:31:19honestly, counselor, thank you for that.

1:31:21And Joanna and Kenny, this is not again

1:31:25shade against you all. I respect your

1:31:27work. I am proud of your work. We've

1:31:29worked together. I just want us to keep

1:31:31the momentum going and going deeper. And

1:31:33I hope my chamber friends are listening,

1:31:35too, because we need you at the table

1:31:37right now, too. It's too big of a city

1:31:39to just ask one or two or four people to

1:31:41do this work.

1:31:44Kenny, do you mind um sharing the

1:31:48priority goals that you're working under

1:31:50right now with the with the council and

1:31:52with our attendees today? We have quite

1:31:54a few recipients and I think it would be

1:31:56well well timed to talk through what are

1:31:59the priorities that you have that you're

1:32:00aligning to right now. Well,

1:32:02[clears throat] I think if you look at

1:32:03the scope of services, I mean the the

1:32:05major things are working on tiff

1:32:07districts, working on implementing, you

1:32:10know, gulp bond things, which which

1:32:12encompasses not only job creation, but

1:32:15also purchases of land, you know,

1:32:18industrial parks, employment centers.

1:32:21Um, but you know, obviously a lot of

1:32:23that work's happening around where the

1:32:25districts are, so tips and those sorts

1:32:27of things. We do spend a lot of time

1:32:29working, you know, behind the scenes

1:32:32trying to help other developments and

1:32:34things happen around other parts of the

1:32:37city. I mean, there's a lot of ideiating

1:32:40that goes on behind the scenes, whether

1:32:41that's trying to figure out, you know,

1:32:43you and I have talked about Meridian

1:32:45corridor, MacArthur corridor,

1:32:47stockyards. I mean there's just so many

1:32:50areas and districts that we could be

1:32:52working on. But I think you know the

1:32:54bulk of what we do from the city side

1:32:57and and the other part of it you have to

1:32:58remember you know this is the city part

1:33:01of it. We also manage the urban renewal

1:33:04authority. We manage the county's

1:33:07Oklahoma industries authority which

1:33:09that's the primary uh body that deals

1:33:11with tinker. So that's a major thing

1:33:13that we do a lot of the land acquisition

1:33:16and development things around Tinker.

1:33:18You all don't see a lot of that because

1:33:20it goes through the county entity that

1:33:21we manage. But it's um that there's a

1:33:25ton of work happening in northeast

1:33:26Oklahoma City because of the uh urban

1:33:29renewal authority and the redevelopment

1:33:30authority and managing all of those

1:33:32things. Uh the innovation district.

1:33:34Those are some of the big picture

1:33:36priorities. And then certainly

1:33:37supporting maps projects which again a

1:33:40lot of that ends up being downtown.

1:33:42Sometimes that spreads out to other

1:33:43areas. You know, there's, for example,

1:33:45we helped acquire the uh Wilmont Place

1:33:47Baptist Church. That was where the Boys

1:33:49and Girls Club is putting one of the

1:33:51youth centers. So, you know, those are

1:33:53the big priority areas looking at the

1:33:56tip districts, the gold bonds, you know,

1:33:58that's that's where the funding is. We

1:34:01try to work on other things too as we

1:34:03have time and and availability, but

1:34:05again, it's it's always a resource

1:34:08issue. So those are really a great

1:34:09reflection of the tools that you use,

1:34:11but you are using those tools as

1:34:13mechanisms to achieve goals, right? And

1:34:16so when we look at the national

1:34:18priorities or the state priorities, we

1:34:20see things like um workforce development

1:34:22capabilities. Um creating a space for

1:34:25innovation to happen and then what does

1:34:27it take and what does success look like?

1:34:30um being a producer society, not just a

1:34:33buyer society, and balancing those so

1:34:35that we're not looking only at retail

1:34:37sales, but we're looking at production.

1:34:39>> Um we're looking at self- sustainment

1:34:41from a um city, state, national

1:34:44perspective and what does that look

1:34:46like? And I think that it's important to

1:34:48translate that piece of the tools that

1:34:51you're using to what are the goals and

1:34:53what does success look like not just for

1:34:55the alliance but for the city and for

1:34:57the state and how that feeds into our

1:34:59national priorities as well.

1:35:00>> And our piece of the puzzle would be the

1:35:02job creation and the development dollars

1:35:06that are happening. And that's whether

1:35:08that's residential, industrial, retail.

1:35:11There's other folks that work on, you

1:35:14know, not the alliance. We don't do the

1:35:15workforce piece of it. You know, we

1:35:17don't do the big outside of the state

1:35:20recruitment. You know, the chamber is

1:35:21really more on that side of it. But I

1:35:24mean, I think ultimately it's the goal

1:35:25of, you know, continued growth, quality

1:35:27jobs and development that continues to

1:35:30to improve. Quality of life is certainly

1:35:32a part of that also. Those are the

1:35:34outcomes that we're we're trying. So

1:35:36when we're talking about it, we're

1:35:38typically aligning to um our key

1:35:42industries that Oklahoma and Oklahoma

1:35:44City have demonstrated repeated success

1:35:47and um leadership in. So things like

1:35:50agriculture, aerospace, defense,

1:35:54>> um bi um biomedical technology, and then

1:35:58I think we've added an additional

1:36:00element. If I missed one, please make

1:36:02sure I get all five of them. um but the

1:36:05small businesses and making sure that

1:36:07we're not just looking at large

1:36:09established businesses but creating

1:36:11pathways for our small businesses and

1:36:13innovators to have that trans

1:36:14transitionary path. And I think that you

1:36:17actually brought that before council a

1:36:18couple of months ago as well.

1:36:20>> Yep. And I think you'll see we have an

1:36:22item later on we're going to talk about,

1:36:25you know, partnership with OU and the

1:36:26innovation district that it's going to

1:36:28talk about several of those things.

1:36:29You're talking about those industries.

1:36:31Exactly. So,

1:36:32>> but I think when we talk about economic

1:36:34development and strategic economic

1:36:36development, uh the revitalization is a

1:36:39critical part of it, but aligning to a

1:36:42mission. Um aligning to our industries,

1:36:45aligning to support the businesses and

1:36:47residents that we have in place as well

1:36:50as those that are coming down the

1:36:51pipeline. I think it's important to

1:36:52retain that portion of the story.

1:36:55>> And on that note, it's right here in the

1:36:57in the memo where we say coordination

1:36:59with the MAPS programs. So we have the

1:37:00Henrietta B Foster Center. I keep

1:37:02beating that drum as well that's going

1:37:04to be coming online focus on small

1:37:06businesses, minority owned businesses

1:37:08where when we start incentivizing and I

1:37:11I talked to councelor Hinkle about this.

1:37:13You know, sometimes for the developer to

1:37:15do a mixeduse development, the math

1:37:17doesn't math. And so that's where Gol or

1:37:19TIF becomes, as both you and Joanna know

1:37:21very well, useful to supplement. But

1:37:24those ground level businesses, right,

1:37:26that could go in there. You could have

1:37:27the big box store beside, right, the

1:37:30small business, but we can help that

1:37:33small business become a reality there by

1:37:35connecting them to the maps for

1:37:37Henrietta B Foster Center, right? The

1:37:40the technical assistance they might need

1:37:42in terms of the administration of their

1:37:44business. And so, and I know again you

1:37:46are already thinking like this, it's

1:37:48written here. I'm just to kind of

1:37:49councilwoman's point that coordination

1:37:51and it's just going to require a level

1:37:53of intentionality that the city's not

1:37:55brought for the reasons we've discussed

1:37:58earlier. So, I just wanted to affirm you

1:37:59on what you were saying there,

1:38:00Councilwoman.

1:38:00>> Also, I forgot energy.

1:38:03>> That was the fourth one we're going to

1:38:04talk about later.

1:38:06>> Councilman Cooper, I'd like to thank you

1:38:08for sending the articles that you sent,

1:38:10but like we talked about, all of this

1:38:13boils down to money and the people

1:38:15willing to spend the money. And I think

1:38:18another thing we need to look at is

1:38:20making the permitting process more fluid

1:38:23and easier.

1:38:24>> Yes.

1:38:25>> Across the board. Not just for stuff

1:38:27like this, but you know, time's money.

1:38:29And if you're waiting an exorbitant

1:38:32amount of time to get whatever permit it

1:38:34is you need, then time's money.

1:38:36>> Counselor, that's so right. The permit

1:38:37streamlining better that permitting

1:38:39process is critical, that efficiency

1:38:41without, of course, abandoning the

1:38:43regulations one might need for safety.

1:38:45But yes, the the streamlining process

1:38:47here here

1:38:51>> I will say there is one thing that we

1:38:53can do in advance of money because

1:38:55there's not always money growing on

1:38:56trees and that is we have resources in

1:38:58our people and so community engagement

1:39:00is a huge lever in being able to support

1:39:03revitalization. The Midian bid project

1:39:06is an excellent example of that. It has

1:39:08taken the work of many many people um

1:39:11working to make phone calls a on duty,

1:39:14off duty to um people that own property

1:39:17across you know across the United States

1:39:19and even across the world at this point.

1:39:21Uh we're not over the hump yet, but I

1:39:24just would say there are ways. It is a

1:39:26lot of work and it is not something that

1:39:28any one of us can carry on our own

1:39:30shoulders and it is something that we do

1:39:32need our community um our neighbors to

1:39:35partner with us to help us figure out

1:39:36how we do it most effectively in lie or

1:39:40in advance of the the money growing on

1:39:42the trees.

1:39:46>> All right. Well, I think now we're to

1:39:48item BM that Councilman Stone Cipher,

1:39:50you needed to step out for and we'll

1:39:52cast a a separate vote on item 9BM.

1:39:58So, if we could take a motion on that.

1:40:07We have a motion and a second. Cast your

1:40:09votes.

1:40:15Passes unanimously. Now we have a

1:40:17presentation on item BT.

1:40:19>> Yes, David Todd, our MAPS uh program

1:40:22director will introduce this item on

1:40:25phase two of the youth centers.

1:40:27>> Good morning, David Todd, MAPS program

1:40:29manager.

1:40:31Um, [clears throat] as you're aware, we

1:40:32just did groundbreaking for our first

1:40:35MAPS 4 youth center and on the heels of

1:40:37that, we're bringing you the preliminary

1:40:39report for the second youth center. So,

1:40:43um, Kale Wilson from Design Architects

1:40:46Plus is here to take you through this

1:40:48preliminary report.

1:40:54>> Thank you, Mr. Todd. Morning, council.

1:40:57Uh, we're excited about this today. Uh,

1:40:59he just talked about the groundbreaking

1:41:01in the first facility. This facility is

1:41:04number two. Again, the the common

1:41:07denominator for all these, the objective

1:41:08is to create a youth focused community.

1:41:11This is in South Oklahoma City, kind of

1:41:13in the district that you've been talking

1:41:15about here. I 240 just north of 240 off

1:41:18of Santa Fe. That's just north of the

1:41:21Webster Middle School as well.

1:41:25Little closer look at the site itself.

1:41:27Uh sits just on the east side of Santa

1:41:29Fe. This is an existing building. It's a

1:41:31little different than the first one.

1:41:32We're going to take and remodel and add

1:41:34to this facility. But as you can see,

1:41:36it's a large site. We have large uh ball

1:41:40fields to the south. Webster Middle

1:41:41School. If you know where that is, it's

1:41:43in the upper right hand corner. And

1:41:44again, this all faces Santa Fe.

1:41:48What it looks like today, it is a church

1:41:51today. Uh,

1:41:53a few pictures of the outside looking

1:41:55from Santa Fe. A few pictures of the

1:41:58inside of the sanctuary space. They have

1:42:00a few of those in this area as well as

1:42:02the gymnasium that's located in the

1:42:05northeast corner of this facility that

1:42:06we're going to take advantage of as

1:42:07well.

1:42:09Uh,

1:42:10like all facilities, this this

1:42:13building's been here a long time. Those

1:42:14colors represent different additions to

1:42:16the building over time. So, it's been

1:42:18added on to several different times and

1:42:20as you can see, several different types

1:42:21of framing uh of this facility. It is

1:42:24two stories. Uh, the green and yellow

1:42:26areas are twotory areas of the existing

1:42:29facility.

1:42:30Uh what we plan to do in this facility

1:42:33which is different than phase one is

1:42:35everything you see outlined in red will

1:42:37be removed. Uh we are keeping the

1:42:39twotory elements that are yellow and

1:42:41green in this facility. Uh you can see

1:42:43some of the existing square footages

1:42:45we're going to keep off to the right and

1:42:47remodel. Uh in doing that uh we'll show

1:42:50you the proposed site plan. Uh the light

1:42:54orange you see is the existing facility.

1:42:56The blue is the new additions. Uh the

1:42:59red we've highlighted because it's a

1:43:00little different. This was a shelter

1:43:02space. So there's a tornado shelter

1:43:03added to this project uh which we are

1:43:06very excited about. Uh you can also see

1:43:09some of the alternates uh with foosball

1:43:11courts, basketball courts. They're shown

1:43:12in blue in the bottom right. There's

1:43:14also a soccer field just south of that

1:43:16as well.

1:43:19As we go look at the floor plan itself,

1:43:21this is the first floor plan. We've kind

1:43:23of broken it apart into administrative

1:43:24areas uh which are the blue. The front

1:43:27door is obviously to the left there into

1:43:29the lobby space. Uh the early childhood

1:43:32in the upper left corner is actually

1:43:33located in the shelter. That's for a

1:43:35reason. Little kids, we need to get

1:43:37there fast. If there is a tornado,

1:43:39they're already there. Uh again,

1:43:41elementary is also on the lower level as

1:43:43well for quick access to that space. Uh

1:43:46the existing teen area is on the far

1:43:50right. Uh again, we took advantage of

1:43:52the gymnasium and dining areas.

1:43:56The second floor, we put the middle

1:43:57school area. Uh we have dance floor open

1:44:00to the gym. This one actually has a

1:44:01walking track, which is a little

1:44:02different than phase one. Uh it's an

1:44:04existing walking track that we're going

1:44:06to take advantage of as well.

1:44:08Here's what it looks like today. And the

1:44:11most exciting part is here's what we

1:44:13expect it to look like. Again, we've

1:44:15added on to the west side of the

1:44:16building, reoriented the parking lot

1:44:19with drop off areas for students. Uh you

1:44:22can see the basketball courts in the

1:44:24blue behind.

1:44:26And as we go through a little closer

1:44:27look uh at the front door,

1:44:31I'm going to click through some pictures

1:44:32because these are exciting for us.

1:44:34Again, this is looking at the back

1:44:35entrance for teens and the existing

1:44:37building there that's on the right.

1:44:42This is a small courtyard area for the

1:44:44outdoor play area for the younger

1:44:46children. These are between the area two

1:44:48buildings. This is our new shelter space

1:44:50to the right.

1:44:53Again, we'll look at this again from

1:44:55Santa Fe as you drive by at night time.

1:44:59Uh probably more exciting place we go

1:45:01inside. Uh this is looking if you walked

1:45:03in the front door of this facility, this

1:45:05is what you will see. Again, we've

1:45:06coordinated these colors. It's the Boys

1:45:08and Girls Club, so we've kind of

1:45:09coordinated those colors with them as

1:45:11well as this. It kind of tends to lead

1:45:13towards the thunder colors. Uh but as

1:45:16you can see uh you walk in the front we

1:45:18have directional traffic uh signs for

1:45:20elementary to the right uh lobby

1:45:23reception desk is also on your right.

1:45:26Looking to your left the early childhood

1:45:28area that goes into the tornado shelter

1:45:30as well as some learning stairs and

1:45:32stairwells to the second floor.

1:45:35I'll click through some pictures. This

1:45:36is actually in the early childhood area.

1:45:41Again, same color theme throughout this

1:45:42facility.

1:45:44Uh this looks a lot different than the

1:45:46previous picture you show showed you in

1:45:48the existing facility. Again, uh it

1:45:50already has a wood floor. We'll

1:45:52revitalize that wood floor. Uh repaint

1:45:55the space, add goals on the side. And

1:45:58you can see off to the right hand side,

1:46:00it says the teen center. Those doors

1:46:02enter into this space, which is the teen

1:46:06center for this facility. Again, it's

1:46:07broken up into areas for gaming and all

1:46:11sorts of things for fun fun items for

1:46:13kids today. But maybe a more important

1:46:16part on the the whole project itself is

1:46:18a budget. The original BAS budget was

1:46:219.5 million. We've added geo bond funds

1:46:25to this as well for a total budget of 14

1:46:27million. We have a construction estimate

1:46:30of 13.9.

1:46:32We've also included some alternates for

1:46:33this project. Uh the first two are

1:46:36really outdoor play equipment. Uh and

1:46:38the third one we've added since the

1:46:41first one they requested a nicer dance

1:46:43floor. So we've put that nicer dance

1:46:44floor as an option in this one as well.

1:46:47U four is some additional furniture.

1:46:49There are furniture in this facility now

1:46:52but there's requests for additional

1:46:53furniture. So we want to make sure we

1:46:55allow that request. And five and six are

1:46:58the outdoor playfields uh as well as

1:47:00some parking lot repair of that existing

1:47:02facility.

1:47:05From a timeline standpoint, uh this is a

1:47:08Plymouth airport. We'll go to council.

1:47:10Uh the big item we want to see here is

1:47:12estimated construction completion date

1:47:13of winter of 2026.

1:47:18With that, are there any questions?

1:47:23>> Um

1:47:25yes. So I think this is of course

1:47:27wonderful. You all know how I feel about

1:47:29you centers. I think this might be less

1:47:32of an architect question. I think really

1:47:34clever work you're doing and maybe a

1:47:36city manager question. And it was

1:47:38something that stood out to me when I

1:47:39saw the um social media and press

1:47:42release around the groundbreaking for

1:47:45the first youth center. All the

1:47:47amenities of course will serve children,

1:47:50their families, the neighborhoods well

1:47:52and long overdue.

1:47:55There were some words I found missing.

1:47:58Um, and I there's they're missing here

1:48:00too. Um, and it's adverse childhood

1:48:04experiences and mental health. When we

1:48:07had the maps for um, youth center

1:48:11presentation, you'll recall that

1:48:13childhood trauma statistics, which we

1:48:15are still, if not the highest, right up

1:48:18there unfortunately uh, as a state. But

1:48:21the fortunate part is that city leaders

1:48:24way more than state leaders understand

1:48:26the problems facing us. And that was one

1:48:28of the reasons why maps 4 funded the

1:48:30four youth centers. And I have not seen

1:48:33in any of the language a reference to

1:48:36mental health. Um maybe I missed it but

1:48:39but I just have not seen that and I have

1:48:40not seen that intentionality around the

1:48:43adverse childhood experiences.

1:48:45Uh, and I believe strongly it cannot

1:48:47just be something that we have trained

1:48:50staff. And I love Boys and Girls Club.

1:48:51You all know I love Tina and respect her

1:48:53work. Um, but it cannot just be that we

1:48:56have the staff that's trained in this.

1:48:58There needs to be that level of

1:48:59intentionality within these facilities

1:49:01to meet these uh families where they

1:49:05are. Because remember, speaking of where

1:49:07they are, we chose these location sites

1:49:09based on the high crime statistics in

1:49:12those areas, which means you're going to

1:49:14have a lot of trauma um untreated often

1:49:17trauma. And so I don't know where we are

1:49:19with that, but I would really like to

1:49:22see that emphasized more. I know that it

1:49:24is it is part of their programming that

1:49:26they do as part of their programming,

1:49:28but we can ensure that as we're looking

1:49:29at this, we're making sure that we're

1:49:31emphasizing areas that they would use in

1:49:34the building that are for those

1:49:35purposes. So, we can go back and take a

1:49:36look at that and just make sure we have

1:49:38that highlighted.

1:49:40>> Appreciate that. Thank you so much.

1:49:45>> I just want to say um Todd, what a great

1:49:49location. I'm really so excited and

1:49:52fired up about this. Um, it's just

1:49:55perfect. When I when I came out of grade

1:49:57school, you either went to Jefferson or

1:49:58you went to Webster. And I know this

1:50:00area well, and this is much much needed

1:50:03for this community. The second thing I'd

1:50:05like to say is I do want to recognize

1:50:08Tim Mclofflin, Chief Bill City, and

1:50:10Peter Dei who had the foresight and the

1:50:13vision to start thinking about these

1:50:15projects in in 2016 and worked hard to

1:50:19see this accomplished. So my hats off to

1:50:21them, too. Thank you.

1:50:24And Todd fought for this location and

1:50:26the public should know that like that is

1:50:28very important to your point like he

1:50:30made sure that this location was part of

1:50:32like at the very end he's like we've got

1:50:34to address Webster and Jefferson. So

1:50:37just hats off.

1:50:41>> Thank you.

1:50:42>> Thank you.

1:50:43>> All right. That concludes uh consent

1:50:46docket. We could take a motion now to

1:50:49pass the items not [clears throat]

1:50:51previously considered.

1:51:00>> [snorts]

1:51:07>> I guess. Oh, I'm not showing it for some

1:51:09reason. We have a motion in the second.

1:51:11Cast your votes. I wish to vote. I Maybe

1:51:14I'll refresh.

1:51:18Passes unanimously.

1:51:21Uh, next up is the concurrence docket.

1:51:23We have items A through R we could take

1:51:26with one motion.

1:51:31We have a motion and a second.

1:51:37Cast your votes when you have that

1:51:39opportunity.

1:51:46>> Are others getting a chance?

1:51:48Just

1:51:49>> I wish to vote I if I if I'm the hold

1:51:52up.

1:52:00Passes unanimously.

1:52:05Okay. Now we're at item 11, items for

1:52:08individual consideration. And uh we have

1:52:11item 11A. This is an ordinance on final

1:52:14hearing. is recommended for approval

1:52:16reszoning 2209 Northeast 100th Street

1:52:21from R1 to double A. Um, Councilman

1:52:26Pennington, uh, we have a extraordinary

1:52:29number of people who signed up to speak.

1:52:31So,

1:52:31>> thank you, Mayor. Um, this has gotten a

1:52:33lot of attention um, lately and so

1:52:35looking forward to the opportunity to

1:52:37hear from our neighbors. I want to share

1:52:38at the onset that um, I appreciate all

1:52:41of our neighbors reaching out to me. We

1:52:42heard from a number of them both for and

1:52:45against um this proposal. Um I read

1:52:49through the numerous emails expressing

1:52:51concern. I received a number of photos

1:52:54about um expressing concerns about what

1:52:56they've seen on the street. So I think

1:52:57it'd probably be good for us to mayor to

1:53:01um hear from the applicant and perhaps

1:53:03hear from the attorney representing the

1:53:04neighbors who had specific concerns and

1:53:06then hear from our neighbors. Okay.

1:53:16Good morning. David Box, 525 Northwest

1:53:1811 Street here on behalf of the

1:53:20applicant. Um, I think at the outset

1:53:24when we were first retained by the

1:53:27operator, one of the things became clear

1:53:29to us that the previous actions to hold

1:53:32events at this facility was not going to

1:53:35be something that we were going to be

1:53:36able to accomplish. uh we first filed a

1:53:39PUD and the goal was to be able to have

1:53:41some limited number of events and the

1:53:44reason I say that is uh my client was

1:53:47contacted by the action center probably

1:53:48numerous times for having weddings and

1:53:50other events on site. Once it became

1:53:53clear that the ability to have weddings

1:53:55on site was not going to be something we

1:53:57could accomplish, uh my client accepted

1:53:59the fact and the thing that is most

1:54:02important to him is to be able to

1:54:04operate this facility uh as it was when

1:54:07he acquired it and that is a farm.

1:54:09>> If anyone has been out there, it is an

1:54:11active operating urban farm. And so the

1:54:15irony in this case is the site is zoned

1:54:17R1. Why it's zoned R1, I have no idea.

1:54:21There are not city services out there.

1:54:23Uh however, if you think about what R1

1:54:25would allow if we could accomplish

1:54:27dragging sewer and water here, we could

1:54:29put somewhere around 80 dwelling units

1:54:31perhaps out there, which I think would

1:54:33be totally inconsistent with the area.

1:54:36But let's say we couldn't get sewer.

1:54:37Well, then what we could do on these 10

1:54:39acres is do halfacre lots uh with

1:54:42aerobic systems, which I know, you know,

1:54:45Todd is currently working through

1:54:46perhaps an ordinance to to limit aerobic

1:54:48systems, but as exists right now, we

1:54:51could do what 20 single family homes

1:54:54with aerobic systems out there with no

1:54:58uh entitlements necessary other than a

1:55:00plat. And the plat would conform to the

1:55:02subregs and the zoning and we could move

1:55:04forward with that. And so we're zoned

1:55:06R1. Now, what this application seeks to

1:55:08do is downzone it to AA. It perhaps is

1:55:12the first downzoning application that

1:55:14I've stood at this podium requesting uh

1:55:16in the the many years that I've been

1:55:17doing this. Why we are seeking to

1:55:20downzone it is to acknowledge that what

1:55:22we are is an agricultural use and an

1:55:25urban farm. Our current use as a farm is

1:55:28not allowed under the current zoning.

1:55:31the only way to allow my client to

1:55:33continue to operate what we believe to

1:55:35be a very important urban farm in this

1:55:37city is to get it into the AA district.

1:55:41Uh you're going to hear from both uh

1:55:43people here in support as well as people

1:55:45here in opposition

1:55:46um at the time of planning commission.

1:55:48The concern that was raised by by

1:55:51numerous people and I'm sure you're

1:55:52going to hear it again is that they

1:55:53don't believe that my client will adhere

1:55:55to the zoning. Um my client understands

1:55:58he can no longer host events. We've made

1:56:00that clear. he understands that and

1:56:02there is just no way that AA would allow

1:56:05events. I think you're going to hear

1:56:06that from the attorney uh and perhaps

1:56:08others. So, out of an abundance of

1:56:11caution, we contacted staff to confirm

1:56:14that there are no uses within the AA

1:56:16district that would allow for events to

1:56:18happen on site. The response we got was

1:56:21there are three use units that would

1:56:24allow events if a special permit was

1:56:26granted. A special permit is a reszoning

1:56:29process where notice would be sent. It

1:56:32would have to go to planning commission

1:56:33and city council ultimately for

1:56:36approval. So there is no scenario that

1:56:38exists on this site if reszoned AA that

1:56:41would allow for in any way an event to

1:56:44happen. All we want to do is to be able

1:56:47to continue to farm. Now we think you're

1:56:49going to hear some some new arguments

1:56:50that we didn't hear at planning

1:56:51commission. Uh that being that we could

1:56:53turn this into a hog farm.

1:56:56Despite my degree from Oklahoma State

1:56:58University, I have almost no knowledge

1:57:00as it relates to hog farms, agricultural

1:57:02or anything. So what we did last night

1:57:04was we found that under the 10 acres, I

1:57:06think we could have one pig perhaps

1:57:09upwards of two, maybe. Uh that is not in

1:57:12any way what we seek to do. We simply

1:57:15want to be able to continue to have the

1:57:17farm that we have. You're also going to

1:57:19hear from uh a neighbor who I'm not sure

1:57:22where he lives, but he has an almost

1:57:25identical use just south on Eastern of a

1:57:28farm.

1:57:30That's all we want to do, too. Um

1:57:32perhaps you'll hear that this will allow

1:57:34for an expansion of the retail use. So,

1:57:37under AA, I think it's important to note

1:57:40that we are allowed a farm stand.

1:57:43However, the municipal code limits the

1:57:45square footage of that farm stand to 200

1:57:48square ft. So, Mr. Birdwell sells his

1:57:52products on site, but more importantly,

1:57:54he also takes the crops that he grows

1:57:57there to local farmers markets that are

1:57:59available to the general public. He

1:58:01takes them to Scissor Tales Market. We

1:58:04believe that this is a very important

1:58:05urban farm. We understand the errors of

1:58:09um the past and those won't happen

1:58:11again. But without this AA zoning, we

1:58:14cannot continue to operate a farm

1:58:17because it is illegal under the R1

1:58:19designation. So we would ask that you

1:58:21follow planning commission's

1:58:23recommendation uh and provide approval

1:58:25for this. I'm happy to answer any

1:58:27questions. David, one of the things that

1:58:29um uh we received from a lot of the

1:58:31letters and pictures from neighbors was

1:58:33about traffic and the street being

1:58:36blocked because of I'm assuming events

1:58:38or maybe it was just from um from the

1:58:41farm stand being open. What has your

1:58:43client done if anything to address those

1:58:44traffic concerns along 100 street?

1:58:47>> Sure. So, um, those all all the pictures

1:58:51you saw there were were from events. But

1:58:53if you look at what would be the

1:58:54southwest corner of the site, it's now a

1:58:58parking lot. It's a gravel parking lot

1:59:00uh that patrons could use to park if

1:59:02they were going to buy the the fruits,

1:59:04vegetables, and the other things

1:59:06offered. Um, I am confident that all the

1:59:09pictures you've seen are from when the

1:59:12site was hosting weddings or other

1:59:13events. All of which has stopped uh and

1:59:16will not happen again. So there is a

1:59:20sizable parking lot that would more than

1:59:22handle the traffic that would be allowed

1:59:24for a 200 foot farm stand under the

1:59:26code.

1:59:30>> Mayor, can we hear from Kelly work?

1:59:32>> Absolutely.

1:59:34>> Kelly,

1:59:41>> good morning. Uh thank you uh Mr. Mr.

1:59:44Mayor and members of the council, my

1:59:45name is Kelly Work and my address is 105

1:59:48North Hudson, Sweet 304 and I am

1:59:51representing a group of neighbors that

1:59:53surround 2209 Northeast 100th Street. We

1:59:57ask you to deny this application to reo

2:00:00reszone this property from R1 to AA

2:00:04agricultural. Your planning department

2:00:06staff report recommends the same. The

2:00:09applicant states that he wants an urban

2:00:11farm. He does not need aa zoning for

2:00:15that. An urban farm is already a

2:00:17conditional use allowed in R1 approved

2:00:21administratively with no reszoning. The

2:00:24neighborhoods also supported a previous

2:00:27application PUD 2110 that gave the

2:00:31applicant the farm plus the roadside

2:00:34stand. The applicant chose to withdraw

2:00:36that application.

2:00:38Double A zoning would not be a down

2:00:40zoning. DoubleA would add multiple uses

2:00:43that R1 does not allow in any form and

2:00:46more uses move to an easier approval

2:00:50track. Horse stables, commercial kennels

2:00:52and veterinary service, mobile homes,

2:00:55commercial animal raising, including

2:00:57sheep farms, pig farms, chicken farms

2:01:01come by right with no hearing, no notice

2:01:04to the neighbors. Community Recreation

2:01:07General, which is a use unit that allows

2:01:10events for up to 500 people, moves from

2:01:13a council decision to a conditional use

2:01:17under double A. The only

2:01:20requirement that this applicant would be

2:01:22made to do would be to bring Northeast

2:01:25100th Street up to a minimum standard

2:01:28for a collector street and they would be

2:01:30eligible to conduct that event center

2:01:34use. A straight resoning can only be

2:01:36approved or denied with no conditions.

2:01:39The use limits, hours of operation,

2:01:42setbacks, and other items that had been

2:01:44negotiated in the proposed PUD

2:01:47application would all disappear. Those

2:01:50protections cannot be stipulated in base

2:01:54zoning. This application AA for AA

2:01:58resoning just does not fit this

2:02:00location. It's 10 acres on a narrow

2:02:04neighborhood street bordered on every

2:02:06side by R1 zoning. It's in the urban low

2:02:10inensity area of plan OKC. What the code

2:02:14says about AA is that it holds land in

2:02:17agriculture until urbanization takes

2:02:20place. Urbanization has already taken

2:02:23place here. Finally, the real problem

2:02:27presented here. This property operates

2:02:29as a commercial event center with

2:02:32amplified music late at night and heavy

2:02:35traffic. The staff report confirms the

2:02:38ongoing complaints. AA zoning would

2:02:42leave the neighbors complaints

2:02:44unresolved while weakening their

2:02:46position. It gives the unlawful event

2:02:49center use an agricultural cover and new

2:02:54roots for approval to pursue. Denial of

2:02:58this application does not stop the

2:03:01operation of the urban farm. It is a

2:03:03permitted use as a conditional use in

2:03:06R1. The neighbors, we do not oppose the

2:03:10farm or a farm stand. Denial of straight

2:03:14resoning to double agriculture would

2:03:17return the parties to the PUD process

2:03:20where limits can be written down and

2:03:23enforced. We would request that you

2:03:26follow the staff's recommendation and

2:03:28deny this straight AA resoning request.

2:03:31I would just add in closing that the

2:03:34comments that Mr. Box made about how the

2:03:36applicant has recognized that he can

2:03:38have no that he can no longer have

2:03:41events on this property. Those same

2:03:44statements were made on August 27th at

2:03:47the planning commission hearing when the

2:03:48planning commission heard this item.

2:03:51There was an additional event. A wedding

2:03:53was held on the property on October 3rd.

2:03:56Both sides of the property, the parking

2:03:58lot was totally full. So, you can

2:04:01understand our concerns about the

2:04:04statements and promises that are made.

2:04:06What has been demonstrated is that this

2:04:09applicant does not feel obligated to

2:04:11comply with the city's ordinances and

2:04:14intends to continue that behavior. We

2:04:17ask that you deny this application, send

2:04:20the process back to the PUD process

2:04:23where there can be appropriate

2:04:24conditions put in place for the

2:04:26protection of this neighborhood. I'm

2:04:28happy to answer any questions that you

2:04:30may have.

2:04:32Thank you,

2:04:34>> Mayor. Could I hear ask a few questions?

2:04:36I don't know if this is for Sarah or if

2:04:37this is for our planning director. So,

2:04:40just a few questions for the planning

2:04:41director.

2:04:42Um, one, are there, can you please

2:04:46settle this? We've heard from two

2:04:48attorneys. Settle this. Are events

2:04:50allowed in AA without a special permit?

2:04:54>> Uh, Jeff Butler, planning director. Uh,

2:04:56no. Events are not allowed in AA. A

2:04:58special permit would be required.

2:05:00>> Thank you. So, now let's talk about R1.

2:05:02Um, here he Mr. Work just shared that an

2:05:06urban farm is allowed in R1. Are there

2:05:08limitations to that farm? Would would

2:05:11Mr. Birdwell's current operation be

2:05:13allowed in R1.

2:05:15>> Um, that's something I was just looking

2:05:16at. Whether or not there are limitations

2:05:18to that that would be that would be, you

2:05:21know, different under AA, I'm not sure

2:05:23about just yet. So, let me let me get

2:05:24back to you on that.

2:05:25>> Okay. Thank you. Then, let's hear from

2:05:27our neighbors, mayor.

2:05:29>> All right. So,

2:05:31there's so many that first of all, state

2:05:34your name and address and keep your

2:05:35remarks to three minutes or less. The

2:05:37clerk will um warn you when you have 30

2:05:40seconds left and then I will stop you

2:05:43when you're out of time. You don't have

2:05:45to fill all three minutes. Uh many

2:05:48profound things have been said in a much

2:05:50shorter time. Um,

2:05:53I will state the uh name of the speaker

2:05:56and then I'll also preview who is coming

2:05:58up next in hopes that that person might

2:06:01make their way uh to the front row and

2:06:04cut down on the travel time. Okay, so

2:06:08we'll begin with Mark Goro who will be

2:06:10followed by James Pickle.

2:06:22Oh, right here. Yeah, center center

2:06:24podium will be fun for everybody.

2:06:26>> Morning. [snorts] I'm Mark Goro. Uh 3008

2:06:29Brownstone Road, Oklahoma City.

2:06:32Uh I've been a recovering lawyer and a

2:06:34real estate developer for since 1983.

2:06:38I've had the pleasure of working with

2:06:40both planning commission and city

2:06:41council and and I have deep respect for

2:06:43both bodies. I was at the planning

2:06:46commission meeting uh that was mentioned

2:06:48and it seemed to me that notwithstanding

2:06:51the withdrawal of the PUD there was

2:06:53confusion about what would be allowed

2:06:55under AA and most of the complaints I

2:06:58think are effectively mitigated in the

2:07:03limitations that would now be in place

2:07:06for straight AA.

2:07:08My understanding is the the

2:07:12production of vegetables and flowers are

2:07:15enjoyed by the community around Ralph's

2:07:18Ranch. Uh I've been there several times.

2:07:22A great place to buy produce. I think

2:07:24it's a it's good for the community. I

2:07:27don't really understand the the root of

2:07:30the objection to the AA zoning. U I'd

2:07:34much rather buy my lettuce from Ralph's

2:07:35Ranch than from Taylor Farms.

2:07:37>> [snorts]

2:07:38>> uh and I I very much support uh the

2:07:41applicants uh in being able to continue

2:07:45his farm.

2:07:46>> Thank you.

2:07:47>> Thank you. James Pickle, who will be

2:07:49followed by Joanna Smith.

2:07:54>> Thank you, Mayor. My name is James

2:07:56Pickle. I live at 8420 Northeastern.

2:08:00I am that uh neighbor who opposes this

2:08:05reszoning that David Box mentioned. I

2:08:09live exactly one mile south of Ralph's

2:08:12Ranch. I too am a big fan of this

2:08:17applicant, Ben Birdwell. He and I are at

2:08:21the beginning of what I hope to be a

2:08:23very good friendship. I respect what

2:08:26he's doing because I am stupid enough to

2:08:29be doing the same thing. U I am a

2:08:33retired commercial contractor. I spent

2:08:3645 years uh getting building permits,

2:08:39dealing with planning commissions,

2:08:41dealing with city council. Most of you,

2:08:44some of you weren't born when I was

2:08:46doing that. Uh, and my retirement

2:08:50project is uh raising vegetables and

2:08:53selling them, which is the worst

2:08:55retirement plan in the world. You can't

2:08:58make any money. It's hard work. And why

2:09:02anybody else would want to do it, I have

2:09:04no idea. But it is a wonderful way of

2:09:08life. And I appreciate Ben's desire to

2:09:12put himself out there in the public for

2:09:16people to come and use his property and

2:09:19enjoy what he is doing. None of us, none

2:09:23of us who are protesting this, it has

2:09:25nothing to do with Ben Birdwell and it

2:09:28has nothing to do with his farm or or

2:09:31his farm stand. We support him with

2:09:34that. our problem. When he first

2:09:38presented his PUB,

2:09:40he wanted to do eating establishments.

2:09:43He wanted to do lodging, commercial

2:09:46lodging. He wanted to do events. He

2:09:48wanted to do retail sales. He wanted to

2:09:50do spectator sports, both general and

2:09:53restricted. That is why I got involved.

2:09:57His original PUB went way over the line.

2:10:02So, knowing that the neighbors there did

2:10:05not have an HOA, there was no homeowners

2:10:08association,

2:10:09some of them reached out to me and said,

2:10:11"Could you please help us?" And I said,

2:10:13"Well, I'll try." And so, I got involved

2:10:16in the negotiation of this original PUD.

2:10:20And as Kelly work mentioned, we had a

2:10:23solution allowing him to be a farmer, an

2:10:27urban farmer on his location. We had it

2:10:30resolved and it and it did have

2:10:33limitations. It limited him from being

2:10:37able to do the events that he continues

2:10:40to do and has continued to do since he

2:10:43first started.

2:10:45Now, I just heard uh Mr. Goro, another

2:10:49friend who I greatly respect, say that

2:10:52there are limitations on AA zoning.

2:10:55There are we cannot negotiate

2:10:58limitations on AA zoning. This vote you

2:11:01have today is either approve it or deny

2:11:04it. We want you to deny it and tell us

2:11:08to go back and do the PUB process so we

2:11:11can put limitations on it. AA has 61

2:11:15listed uses. 61.

2:11:19>> Seven of those deal with the farm.

2:11:22>> I'm sorry, we're overtime. you you know

2:11:24I don't take any pleasure in cutting you

2:11:26off but we've got a [laughter] we're at

2:11:28three minutes

2:11:29>> that's three minutes

2:11:30>> it was yeah like 20 20 seconds ago yeah

2:11:33>> I used to I used to wrestle and we had

2:11:37two minute periods and three there can't

2:11:39be that can't be three minutes thank you

2:11:42council

2:11:43>> thank you very much uh Joanna Smith

2:11:46followed by Molly Hill

2:11:49>> good morning my name is Joanna Smith and

2:11:52my address is 7508 Claremont Place. I am

2:11:56a co-founder and retired CEO of Hearts

2:11:59for Hearing in Oklahoma City. I'm here

2:12:01today on behalf of my friend and loyal

2:12:04customer of Ben Birdwell and Ralph's

2:12:06Ranch. And as someone who has for the

2:12:09last 30 years helped children with

2:12:11hearing loss grow into confident,

2:12:13capable contributors in our community.

2:12:16At Hearts for Hearing, we teach children

2:12:18to listen and talk, support through

2:12:20their school years, and watch them

2:12:22become college students, professionals,

2:12:24and leaders. Every summer for the last

2:12:2730 years, except during the pandemic, we

2:12:31host a camp where our children learn

2:12:33with hearing loss, learn, and meet

2:12:36people in our community who [snorts] are

2:12:38making a difference. They learn about

2:12:40leadership. They learn about kindness.

2:12:43They learn about environmental

2:12:44stewardship, government, and the many

2:12:46ways that we can shape the world around

2:12:49them. This summer, once again, our

2:12:52campers had the privilege of learning

2:12:54from Ben at Ralph's Ranch. Ben welcomed

2:12:57them with generosity, patience, and

2:13:00genuine enthusiasm.

2:13:02He taught them how farming is, how

2:13:05deeply he loves the work, and how

2:13:08essential Ralph Ranch is to our

2:13:10community. He answered every question,

2:13:14silly and serious, and there were many,

2:13:18and he encouraged the campers to imagine

2:13:20themselves as future farmers. He even

2:13:23invited them to work alongside him when

2:13:26they became old enough. For many of

2:13:28these students, it was the first time

2:13:31they saw a dream up close. It was the

2:13:34first time they understood that farming

2:13:36is not just a job. It's a calling. It's

2:13:41a responsibility and a gift to our

2:13:43community. Ben's work and this farm are

2:13:47treasures of this city. They enrich our

2:13:50city, our families, and our future. I

2:13:53urge you to zone this as agricultural so

2:13:56that Ralph's Ranch can continue. Thank

2:13:58you.

2:14:00>> Thank you. Uh Molly Hill, followed by

2:14:03Rachel Cretchmar.

2:14:05>> Morning, mayor, council members. Thank

2:14:07you for giving me the opportunity to

2:14:09speak. I'm here to protest the reszoning

2:14:12of Ben Bergwell's place from R1 to AA. I

2:14:16was really surprised to hear at the

2:14:18planning commission meeting that any

2:14:2010acre lot that didn't have city water

2:14:23or sewer was the perfect place for AA

2:14:27zoning. I did not know that. I have 20

2:14:30acres in the neighborhood and half of it

2:14:33is zoned R1.

2:14:35If I can get AA zoning, I grew up as a

2:14:38chicken farmer. We had a chicken house

2:14:42with 12,000 birds, which is very small

2:14:45compared to today's standards. I would

2:14:47love to put a chicken house, a

2:14:49commercial chicken house on that 20

2:14:51acres. It would fit very nicely. Would

2:14:54my neighbors like that? Would you guys

2:14:56like that? I seriously doubt it. I could

2:14:59divide my property up and build bunk

2:15:01houses and have a mini dude ranch. I

2:15:05don't think that is appropriate for my

2:15:06neighborhood.

2:15:08I could put multiple small cottages on

2:15:11it and rent them out for the Olympics. I

2:15:13could make a killing, but I don't think

2:15:16that's appropriate either. This is an R1

2:15:19neighborhood, and I'm not the only one

2:15:22that has acreages like this. There are

2:15:24multiple homeowners in our neighborhood

2:15:26that have acre acreages enough to be

2:15:30zoned AA.

2:15:32So, I encourage you to consider what is

2:15:36appropriate for a residential

2:15:37neighborhood, even a multi-acreage

2:15:41resident. This should remain R1.

2:15:44Thank you for your time.

2:15:46>> Thank you, Rachel Cretchmar, followed by

2:15:48Chrissy Marshall.

2:15:52>> Good morning, council. My name is Rachel

2:15:53Cretchmar. Um, and I'm speaking today in

2:15:55support of Ralph's Ranch, both as the

2:15:57operations manager of the OKC food hub

2:16:00and as a resident of Ward 7. Um, I

2:16:02forgot to say my address, 14112 Benson

2:16:05Road. Um, from both perspectives, I have

2:16:08nothing but positive things to say about

2:16:10the incredible impact Ralph's Ranch has

2:16:12on our community. As I mentioned, I'm

2:16:14the operations manager of the OKC Food

2:16:16Hub. We're a small nonprofit that works

2:16:18as a distributor and wholesaler to

2:16:20support small and midsize farms across

2:16:22the state. Um, our mission as a

2:16:24nonprofit is to build a better food

2:16:26system. And to do this, we connect

2:16:28farmers and buyers to reduce strain on

2:16:30both sides. One [clears throat] of the

2:16:32ways we've been successful in bridging

2:16:34this [snorts] gap has been by working

2:16:35with the regional food bank of Oklahoma

2:16:38um through the local food purchase

2:16:39program to ensure that all Oklahomaans

2:16:42have access to the best locally grown

2:16:45fruits and vegetables and to provide an

2:16:47additional market for our producers.

2:16:50Over the course of our partnership with

2:16:52RFBO, Ralph's grew nearly 5,000 pounds

2:16:56of fresh produce

2:16:58um for our neighbors and a quarter of

2:17:00that was baby salad greens which don't

2:17:02weigh very much. So in addition to the

2:17:05other root vegetables and things that

2:17:06Ben and his team grew, um they fed our

2:17:09neighbors approximately 6,400 salads

2:17:12alone. Um and that's only a portion of

2:17:14the produce that they're capable of of

2:17:16growing. That doesn't include any of his

2:17:18other customers or sales channels. Ben

2:17:21and his team are passionate about

2:17:22feeding people. And that is something

2:17:25that we need more of in our world. It's

2:17:28incredibly difficult to do what Ralph's

2:17:29Ranch has done so beautiful beautifully

2:17:32to be able to secure land, learn how to

2:17:34grow produce, um, and do so effectively

2:17:36in our challenging climate. Think about

2:17:38all the 100 degree days that we had this

2:17:40year. It's not it's no simple feat. Um

2:17:43he's acquired the infrastructure that's

2:17:45necessary to produce at a scale to stay

2:17:47viable. So think cold storage,

2:17:49irrigation, hoop houses to extend the

2:17:51growing season. Um and it's it's really

2:17:54incredible. New and beginning farmers

2:17:56like Ben are especially at risk of

2:17:58burnout um and close their doors within

2:18:00five years.

2:18:02In addition to growing healthy produce

2:18:04to feed the community, the team at

2:18:06Ralph's Ranch, as we've heard, is

2:18:08actively educating our community about

2:18:10what being a farmer can look like. Um,

2:18:13the proximity of Ralph's to central OKC,

2:18:15which is only 15 minutes from here, has

2:18:17allowed them the opportunity, of which

2:18:19they take full advantage, to invite

2:18:21people out to the farm to learn about

2:18:23where their food comes from.

2:18:24>> 30 seconds remaining.

2:18:25>> This type of opportunity can be rare.

2:18:28Um, and it can really uh

2:18:33it really helps have a positive and

2:18:36interactive experience for people. Um,

2:18:38he's hosted, like we heard, field trips,

2:18:40Girl Scout groups, and food system

2:18:42stakeholder groups, including groups

2:18:43that were sponsored by and attended by

2:18:45the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture

2:18:47and the Oklahoma Local A Collaborative.

2:18:50So, Ben's farm has been shown as a model

2:18:52farm for what other um farmers can

2:18:55aspire to who are just getting started.

2:18:57Um, and he's taking all of this under on

2:19:00without additional compensation.

2:19:03Um, because he wants to share what he's

2:19:05doing and his love of spreading joy and

2:19:07feeding his community. Um, so I know I'm

2:19:09over time um, but I can't offer stronger

2:19:12support and thank you for your time.

2:19:13>> Thank you. Chrissy Marshall, followed by

2:19:15Becca Nelson.

2:19:20>> Good morning, Christy Marshall, 2201

2:19:22Northeast 98.

2:19:24and I am here in opposition to the

2:19:27resoning request. I want to be really

2:19:30really really clear that the people that

2:19:33are protesting it aren't taking issue

2:19:37with the with the value of what Mr.

2:19:41Birdwell does. There's there we aren't

2:19:45saying he's doing bad things and it

2:19:47shouldn't be. We largely support what

2:19:51Ben's ideas have been, think he does

2:19:54good things, and I understand the people

2:19:56who are supporting it,

2:19:58but we have to be on behalf of the

2:20:02neighborhood that speaking for my

2:20:04husband and I personally, we have spent

2:20:06most of our life savings to live in that

2:20:10neighborhood without expectation of a

2:20:13commercial enterprise. We're 700 feet

2:20:16from the property line.

2:20:18So, we're really close. That's we moved

2:20:22into the neighborhood because of what it

2:20:25is. Um, and without that expectation and

2:20:29we're just asking that that that that

2:20:32all of the people who have

2:20:35[clears throat] made their homes in that

2:20:36neighborhood be taken into

2:20:38consideration. There are lots of cool

2:20:40things out there that are really neat to

2:20:43go visit, but then the people come visit

2:20:46and then they go back to their homes.

2:20:48We're the ones who live in the

2:20:50neighborhood

2:20:52and we aren't visiting it and leaving.

2:20:55We're living there. We're just asking

2:20:57that

2:20:58all of those people who have spent so

2:21:00much of what they've earned over their

2:21:02lifetime

2:21:03be considered in this.

2:21:06So that's

2:21:09there. I saved some time.

2:21:10>> Thank you, [laughter]

2:21:12>> Becca. Nelson,

2:21:13>> but thank you so much for the

2:21:14opportunity to speak.

2:21:16>> Of course. Thank you, Becca Nelson,

2:21:18followed by Jonathan Majid.

2:21:23>> Hi. Um, I'm going to let my son talk

2:21:25real quick and then I'll take over.

2:21:28>> Is Is that Brad?

2:21:29>> Uh, no. This is Cade, my son. Okay. Um,

2:21:33address is 2760 Northeast 100th Street.

2:21:36>> Okay.

2:21:39>> Hello, I'm Kade, Ben's neighbor. We like

2:21:42to walk up to Ben's farm stand and buy

2:21:44things

2:21:45there there and play on the farm. I like

2:21:48seeing all the beautiful animals and

2:21:50flowers, eating all the [clears throat]

2:21:51yummy veggies and treats. Ben is a very

2:21:54nice neighbor and I'm happy we have such

2:21:56a cool farm close by our house.

2:21:59>> Um, I already stated my address. I think

2:22:02so. Um, to keep this quick before I read

2:22:05what I wanted to say, um, I too I too

2:22:08own a home in the neighborhood and, um,

2:22:11I know my neighbors. I talked to my

2:22:14neighbors. Um, predominantly the

2:22:17consensus from most of the neighbors is

2:22:19that this is a very cool um, happening

2:22:22in our neighborhood. Um, so I do want to

2:22:24voice that. I know I'm just here voicing

2:22:26for me, but just my other neighbor that

2:22:29doesn't like it, there is a lot of

2:22:30support for this in the neighborhood and

2:22:33I I do want to represent that as well.

2:22:36Um, aside from to shorten my comments,

2:22:40um, I do want to say I'm very passionate

2:22:42about having access to healthy food and

2:22:44supporting our local food economy. I'm

2:22:46sad that many of the zoning laws have

2:22:48made it harder for residents to access

2:22:50healthy food and the community that

2:22:51naturally forms around it. This was also

2:22:53spoken to with the multi-use. There's so

2:22:55many pieces that have already been

2:22:57addressed on the larger scale of

2:22:58Oklahoma City that are applicable to

2:23:02this issue. Um I have a few friends who

2:23:06farm and most of them are 40 minutes or

2:23:08more from the city. It's hard for people

2:23:09like us in the city to get to them and

2:23:11support them which makes it hard for

2:23:13them to stay profitable or open because

2:23:15there's such a large gap in

2:23:16accessibility. There are miles and miles

2:23:18of pavement to cross to get to food that

2:23:20can easily be grown in our yards and our

2:23:22neighborhoods. My pork I buy is grown in

2:23:24Wilston and my beef is grown in Enid.

2:23:27Finding local produce is challenging.

2:23:29Farming and growing isn't easy or highly

2:23:31profitable. Those who take it on do so

2:23:33with a passion, a deeper desire for

2:23:35access to healthy food and a wish to

2:23:37create balance in our failing food

2:23:38system and contribute to healing so many

2:23:41problems in our society. As leaders in

2:23:43our city, I call on you to do your part

2:23:45to make it easier for farms to start and

2:23:47to stay open. As a mother, I hope and

2:23:49pray that my kids have accessibility and

2:23:51connection to their food, the land, and

2:23:53the

2:23:53>> 30 seconds remaining.

2:23:56>> I'm done. Okay. Um, I just also want to

2:24:00say as a neighbor, I'm vigilant for the

2:24:02safety of my family and I'm aware of the

2:24:03comingings and goings here. I drive

2:24:05here, I walk here, I bike here. I have

2:24:08no complaints on safety. All of the

2:24:10complaints of the neighbors have been

2:24:12thoughtfully addressed by Ben through

2:24:14the years. Ample parking, signage, all

2:24:16of those things, they have been

2:24:18addressed. The farm is beautiful and it

2:24:21can adequately handle any comingings and

2:24:23goings that are there and I hope that

2:24:26you approve this application. Thank you.

2:24:28>> Thank you. Jonathan Majid, followed by

2:24:30Brad Nelson.

2:24:34Respected members of the city council,

2:24:36my name is Jonathan Majid and I live at

2:24:3810501 Joshua Drive. I oppose PC 111014.

2:24:43I've lived in my home for 36 years, but

2:24:46over the last three years, we have

2:24:48experienced loud amplified music from

2:24:52weddings and other party events held at

2:24:54Ralph's Ranch. Due to the volume of the

2:24:57loud amplified music, we are unable to

2:25:00enjoy sitting outdoors and the music is

2:25:03audible inside our home even after 1000

2:25:06p.m.

2:25:08Our home is 500 ft away from the event

2:25:11barn.

2:25:13Used to be a horse barn, now converted

2:25:16into a party barn. Our the event barn's

2:25:20main openings are to the north. the

2:25:23event band which directs the amplified

2:25:26music towards the home. We have

2:25:28complained to him personally in a

2:25:30friendly way. Met him at coffee shops,

2:25:33please turn the music down. He says, I

2:25:35have my right to do what I want to do as

2:25:38far as the decibb go. And we hear it

2:25:41inside our living room. I'm a retired

2:25:44architect. I've built an

2:25:46energyefficient, wellinssulated home

2:25:49with good windows. And I can hear it.

2:25:53So the people living across the street

2:25:56in other parts of the same neighborhood

2:25:59are to the south and they don't get the

2:26:02brunt of the loud banging music that I

2:26:06do and people to the north do. Multiple

2:26:09calls have been made to the in law

2:26:11enforcement, action center, code

2:26:13enforcement

2:26:14and the events keep happening. As

2:26:18recently as October 3rd,

2:26:22he has been it there was a site uh not

2:26:24citation violation issued and it was

2:26:28disregarded. And that's my I love

2:26:31farming. I wish I had a big farm. I had

2:26:35animals. I love it all. I have nothing

2:26:36against farming, but I would request

2:26:39that we go back to the PUD that the our

2:26:43attorney had recommended through which

2:26:46we can have a controlled

2:26:49well managed

2:26:52situation where the neighbors are not

2:26:54disturbed. I'm not disturbed.

2:26:58I mean, I'm at my wit's end. I've looked

2:27:00at other properties, but I don't want to

2:27:03move from there. Beautiful 5 acres. 30

2:27:05seconds remain there and please deny

2:27:08this and go back to the the PUD that the

2:27:12lawyer is suggesting to have

2:27:15restrictions written in. I don't buy the

2:27:20written I mean the verbal agreements.

2:27:23Thank you for your time. Please deny.

2:27:26Thank you. Bye-bye.

2:27:28>> Thank you Brad. Brad [clears throat]

2:27:29Nelson followed by Marcus Long.

2:27:33Hi, I'm Brad Nelson at 2760 Northeast

2:27:37100 Street and uh my son Isaac's gonna

2:27:39share some first.

2:27:42[snorts]

2:27:44>> Hello, my name is Isaac Nelson and I am

2:27:46Ben's neighbor. Ben's farm is a happy

2:27:48and wonderful place where the community

2:27:51can come together. There are lots of

2:27:53cool things to see and explore there.

2:27:55His place used to be just a normal house

2:27:58and property. Over time, you can see how

2:28:00much he's contributed. and I like

2:28:02watching it evolve and transform into a

2:28:04beautiful, thriving land and place. Ben

2:28:07has made the neighborhood a better place

2:28:09and works hard to contribute to the

2:28:11community. My generation needs more

2:28:14farms and opportunities to learn, to

2:28:16work, to be outside, and to have

2:28:18alternative alternatives to sitting on

2:28:22screens all day. I hope Ben's farm is

2:28:24always a part of my neighborhood. Ben is

2:28:27very kind, loving, and helpful, and

2:28:28always makes me feel welcome. He is a

2:28:32great friend and neighbor to all.

2:28:37>> Um

2:28:39just I I realize the uh the opposition

2:28:42needs to use extreme cases and old

2:28:44situations to to make the argument. uh

2:28:47just on you know it it it's sad to me

2:28:50that any type of community gathering um

2:28:53now that there's so much attention on

2:28:54this that any type of gathering is is

2:28:57you know portrayed or characterized as a

2:29:00a forbidden event. Um we've we've

2:29:02enjoyed taking our family there and

2:29:03interacting with Ben and the farm. um

2:29:0615,000 farms a year, small farms close

2:29:10every year in the United States. And uh

2:29:13I'm raising three boys and uh you know,

2:29:15my my heritage was all farming and I

2:29:18just uh love being able to see my boys

2:29:20have exposure to to what it really takes

2:29:22to to make things happen and also just

2:29:24to meet like-minded people. And uh I

2:29:28hope hope we're able to continue having

2:29:29a farm and a farm stand and support Ben

2:29:32and uh have have this aspect of

2:29:34community that seems to be dwindling in

2:29:36our our world. Um all the uh you know

2:29:40just through all the interactions with

2:29:42Ben, Ben pops out to the road and chats

2:29:44with us when we're on walks, he's he's

2:29:46told us about the the obstacles he's

2:29:48faced and his his uh you know, desire to

2:29:51find uh workable plans on things. And

2:29:54so, um, I just hope whatever is required

2:29:56to to let Ben do do what he's doing that

2:29:59it's able to happen. Thanks.

2:30:03>> Uh, Marcus Long, followed by

2:30:07Alli Fabri.

2:30:09>> Good morning. My name is Marcus Long. I

2:30:12live at 704 Northwest 24th Street.

2:30:16As part of my day job, I'm a natural

2:30:18resource scientist. I work to support

2:30:20uh, local agriculture all over the

2:30:22state.

2:30:23I also am a urban agriculturalist. I

2:30:26work uh a moonlight at at a farm called

2:30:28Commonwealth Urban Farm. And I wanted to

2:30:32uh there's been so many great things

2:30:33said about Ralph's Ranch. And I wanted

2:30:35to offer a little bit of unique

2:30:37perspective about uh how they farm at

2:30:39Ralph's Ranch. And you know, when when

2:30:42uh I when I farm and my own practice and

2:30:45and the type of farming that I support,

2:30:47it's not just it's not just farming. You

2:30:49know, what we're trying to support is

2:30:50regenerative farming. And at Ralph's

2:30:53Ranch, they they exemplify uh

2:30:55regenerative farming. And a quick

2:30:57summary of what that is is essentially

2:30:59regenerative farming is farming for the

2:31:02benefit of uh ecological um community

2:31:05benefits. You know, soaking water into

2:31:08the ground, nutrient exchange from soil

2:31:10to plants. Um those things are done by

2:31:14uh reducing tillage, increasing roots in

2:31:17the ground. Um, I won't bore you all

2:31:20with the uh the nitty-gritty of of of

2:31:22how regenerative farming um is is a

2:31:26works, you know, the the nuts and bolts

2:31:27of how it works, but the basic benefits

2:31:29that benefit all of us is we get

2:31:31healthier food. You know, we talk about

2:31:33the healthy food that's produced at at

2:31:35Benz. It's not produced at every farm.

2:31:38Some a lot of the food that we see um in

2:31:40grocery stores uh didn't come from a

2:31:44local area. it wasn't produced

2:31:46regeneratively. So, it has a lower

2:31:48nutrient uh density.

2:31:52The other thing that uh regenerative

2:31:55farming provides is

2:31:57cities um they really change the way the

2:32:00water cycle works. You know, we we

2:32:03Oklahoma City's over 600 square miles,

2:32:05right? 620 square miles. It's primarily

2:32:08covered with uh impermeable surfaces,

2:32:10rooftops, asphalt, concrete.

2:32:14They don't soak up water very well. So,

2:32:16what we see, I mean, this isn't rocket

2:32:18science. What we see is exacerbated

2:32:20flooding and and exacerbated drought,

2:32:22right? We we ship our water away from

2:32:24our cities and that and that's probably

2:32:26appropriate in a lot of cases. I know

2:32:28I'm in a room with a lot of planners, so

2:32:30nothing against that, but water is a

2:32:32valuable uh natural resource. We want to

2:32:34keep that in our communities when we

2:32:36can. Regenerative farms help to uh

2:32:39>> 30 seconds remaining. They they have

2:32:42healthier soil. It soaks up water. It

2:32:44purifies that water and it mitigates

2:32:46drought and flooding.

2:32:48Ralph's Ranch is actually right next to

2:32:50a creek. I think it's it's a pretty

2:32:52amazing

2:32:54example of how healthy soil systems, you

2:32:57know, a 10 acre healthy soil system can

2:32:59benefit a watershed. It's right next to

2:33:01to a a visible drainage area. Um, and

2:33:05so,

2:33:07um, just in closing, I wanted to say

2:33:09that, you know, so much of survivability

2:33:12has been discussed for small farms. Um,

2:33:14I see this every day. Farms pop up and

2:33:17and are extinguished. Um,

2:33:19>> Mr. Long, we're at time.

2:33:21>> Thank you, sir.

2:33:21>> Thank you. Um, Alli Febri, followed by

2:33:24Rachel Smith.

2:33:28>> Good morning. I'm Ally Febre, address

2:33:30104 Mary Lee Lane, Edmond, Oklahoma.

2:33:34My husband and I have three children

2:33:35under 8 years old and we lived in the

2:33:37neighborhood on 100th Street from 2016

2:33:40to 2024.

2:33:42We were very fortunate to live there

2:33:44during the time that 2209 Northeast

2:33:47100th Street transformed into Ralph's

2:33:50Ranch.

2:33:52There was a time where that property

2:33:54stood still and vacant. We watched

2:33:56Ralph's Ranch slowly bring life to the

2:33:58neighborhood in the most beautiful way.

2:34:00I went from driving by a brown deserted

2:34:03tundra to a colorful vibrant oasis every

2:34:05day. Our family walks went from aimless

2:34:09down an open road to a demanded

2:34:11destination with my littles begging to

2:34:13go say hi to the horses that they now

2:34:14knew by name at the fence. [snorts]

2:34:17Even after we moved out of the

2:34:19neighborhood, we have returned to

2:34:21Ralph's ranch several times, keeping us

2:34:23connected to that neighborhood, wishing

2:34:25that we were still just a walk away.

2:34:27We've also gone to Scissor Tale to

2:34:29support him at the markets here in

2:34:30Oklahoma City. I first met Ben Birdwell

2:34:33in March 2023. His absolute genuine

2:34:36kindness, hospitality, and acceptance of

2:34:38our children's curiosities and their

2:34:40over-the-top energy was unmatched.

2:34:44From every encounter I've had with Ben,

2:34:46I've seen respect for people, for the

2:34:49ranch, and for the neighborhood.

2:34:51I will always remember the day that he

2:34:53invited us to tour the ranch within the

2:34:55gates in the very early days before it

2:34:57had fully formed. He walked my children

2:34:59through the magic makings of his own

2:35:01dream, allowing them to participate and

2:35:04learn.

2:35:06He let them feed the horses, explore the

2:35:09farm, pet the animals, and even gave

2:35:10them fruit snacks when they told him

2:35:12that they were hungry, as children do. I

2:35:14saw Ben's character that day, but more

2:35:16important, I saw the beginnings of the

2:35:18culture that was being built at Ralph's

2:35:20ranch. I saw a genuine desire to learn

2:35:22and grow, hard work that does not quit,

2:35:25and an open door attitude. He invited us

2:35:27in, cultivating relationship and

2:35:30community, which are things that I would

2:35:32wish for any neighborhood that my

2:35:33children grow up in, and more so things

2:35:35I want to see in the world that my

2:35:36children grow up in. I feel that Ben and

2:35:39those who rallied around him have done

2:35:40what they've done with this property is

2:35:42really nothing short of incredible. I

2:35:44believe it's a beautiful example of

2:35:45redemption, new life, and I'm so glad to

2:35:48see that his leap of faith has brought

2:35:50such a pre precious gift to this

2:35:51community. I hope that Ralph's ranch

2:35:54will be given an opportunity to continue

2:35:56to model what I believe a true village

2:35:58looks like.

2:35:58>> 30 seconds remaining. After witnessing

2:36:01what Ben has done with the opportunity

2:36:02of an old ranch with no farming

2:36:04experience, I'd certainly say I have

2:36:06high hopes for the impact that this

2:36:08decision would have. Thank you.

2:36:11Thank you. Rachel Smith, followed by

2:36:15Natalie Evans.

2:36:17>> Hi, my name is Rachel Hubard Smith and I

2:36:19live at 22000 Northeast 100th Street,

2:36:22which is directly across the street from

2:36:24Ralph's Ranch. My husband and I bought

2:36:27our home eight years ago because the

2:36:29land across the street was agricultural.

2:36:31It had been an operating horse barn for

2:36:33decades. We chose a neighborhood where

2:36:36homes and agriculture sit side by side.

2:36:39And that mix is why we live there. When

2:36:41the previous owner passed away, our

2:36:44biggest fear was a housing addition.

2:36:46Instead, Ben Birdwell bought the

2:36:48property, kept the spirit of our beloved

2:36:51old neighbors, and he made it better.

2:36:54Today, I can walk my son across the

2:36:56street to see the goats, gather eggs,

2:36:58and watch food being grown. Just last

2:37:00week, we even talked about what 4

2:37:02project he could start for next year.

2:37:05That's an education he won't get from a

2:37:07subdivision.

2:37:08I've heard the concerns about noise and

2:37:10traffic. I live closer than I think

2:37:13anyone, and that hasn't been my

2:37:15experience. When issues have come up, as

2:37:18they do with new projects, Mr. Birdwell

2:37:21has addressed them quickly. And for what

2:37:23it's worth, he's been an excellent

2:37:24neighbor. To me, he embodies the

2:37:27definition of a neighbor. Offering aid

2:37:29when we had a fire at our own home,

2:37:31bringing over excess veggies, and

2:37:33helping with our dog, who is a perpetual

2:37:36escape artist. Oklahoma City is growing,

2:37:39and we do need housing. But a growing

2:37:41city also need that produce local food,

2:37:44create local jobs, and give

2:37:46neighborhoods their character. This is

2:37:49one of those places. If it were to be

2:37:52developed, we could not get that back.

2:37:54So, I'm asking I speak today in support

2:37:57of this proposal. Thank you.

2:38:00>> Thank you, Natalie Evans,

2:38:03followed by and I think if I'm

2:38:04understanding here, maybe Madden and Jay

2:38:06Jud are going to speak together, but I

2:38:08guess we'll figure that out at that

2:38:09time. But first up, Natalie.

2:38:11>> Good morning, mayor, council, and staff.

2:38:14Hello. My name is Natalie Evans, and I

2:38:15am a resident at 1317 Northwest 11th

2:38:18Street. I moved to Oklahoma City in 2016

2:38:22after having spent the first 20 years of

2:38:24my life in a small farming community in

2:38:26rural northwest Oklahoma. As a child, I

2:38:29routinely had experiences in nature

2:38:31learning how to tend to the land. Upon

2:38:34moving to Oklahoma City, I realized how

2:38:36uncommon these experiences stewarding

2:38:38the land can be. Many of our youth and

2:38:41community members lack access to nature

2:38:43and the benefits provided. Today, as the

2:38:46director for an environmental education

2:38:47and community development nonprofit, my

2:38:50work focuses on restoring urban

2:38:52environments into thriving and beautiful

2:38:54spaces through nature-based and

2:38:56community solutions. As a certified

2:38:58arborist, ecological gardener, and

2:39:00environmental educator, I was introduced

2:39:02to the work happening at Ralph's ranch.

2:39:05I met Ben four years ago in the early

2:39:07stages of the farm's establishment. The

2:39:09land had become an eroded version of the

2:39:12natural prairie and eastern cross

2:39:14timbers ecosystem it once was with years

2:39:17of compaction from being a horse farm.

2:39:20Since that time, Ben has restored fields

2:39:22of compacted soil and invasive plant

2:39:24species into flourishing prairies. He

2:39:27has planted dozens of native oaks and

2:39:30diverse fruit trees that provide

2:39:31benefits to the environment and to our

2:39:34community. Farming is grueling,

2:39:36unforgiving work, and Ben's focus on

2:39:39incorporating regenerative practices

2:39:41shows his consideration for both the

2:39:43community and the environment. In a

2:39:46community that has fragmented access to

2:39:48nature and fresh local food, Ben's work

2:39:51is important. It is something our

2:39:53community should be investing in, not

2:39:55restricting. He is stewarding the land

2:39:57in a way to restore it and feed our

2:40:00community. As someone who works with

2:40:02thousands of neighbors in youth in

2:40:04environmental work, I see the potential

2:40:06for what Ben's farm can be for a

2:40:07community. It is a place where people

2:40:10can be introduced to the power and

2:40:12beauty of nature, where people can learn

2:40:14to appreciate our native prairies,

2:40:16diverse trees of the eastern cross

2:40:18timbers, and the importance of fresh

2:40:21local produce. And when people are

2:40:23introduced to the power and beauty of

2:40:25nature, they can learn to care for it,

2:40:27too. I have seen the ways that Ben and

2:40:29his team have intentionally stewarded

2:40:31the land and in extension served our

2:40:33community. This is why I would like to

2:40:35state my support of this project and

2:40:38resoning of Ralph's Ranch. I believe

2:40:41this property offers our community an

2:40:43opportunity to provide fresh food and

2:40:46the joys of nature to experience the

2:40:48living world to learn to care for it and

2:40:51ultimately to be a part of it. Thank

2:40:53you.

2:40:55>> Thank you. Uh, Madden and Jade Jud, are

2:40:58you speaking separately or Okay, then I

2:41:01guess we'll start with Are you Madden?

2:41:04>> Oh, yeah. Madden.

2:41:05>> Okay.

2:41:06>> Good morning, council members. My name

2:41:08is Madden Jud. I live at 13116 Cali

2:41:10Drive and I'm here in support of Ralph

2:41:12Ranch reszoning.

2:41:14One morning in late spring, my mom woke

2:41:15me up to take me to a volunteer day at

2:41:17Ralph's Ranch. I was annoyed and angry

2:41:19and I wanted nothing to do with it. Then

2:41:21I got there and I met Ben.

2:41:24Ben changed my life that day. He treated

2:41:26me better than I deserved for the reason

2:41:27I was there. He told me I could stop

2:41:29working whenever I needed. He offered me

2:41:31food, drinks, and everything else I

2:41:32need, anything else I needed. Then he

2:41:34offered me a job for summer. I was

2:41:36nervous my first day, but then I met my

2:41:38co-orker, Tobias. He's one of the best

2:41:41workers and people I ever met in my

2:41:42entire life. He treated me as equal and

2:41:45never made me feel small or less useful

2:41:46just because I was younger than him. Ben

2:41:49did the same. He trusted me with

2:41:50projects and independence I probably

2:41:51shouldn't have been trusted with given

2:41:52my track record.

2:41:55That trust me more more to me than I can

2:41:57say. And it changed me. It changed my

2:41:59whole family, too. Ben gave my little

2:42:01siblings a place to play and my mom a

2:42:03place to relax and make wonderful

2:42:05memories with all of us. Ben shares his

2:42:07land so everyone in our community can

2:42:08enjoy it, no matter who they are or what

2:42:10they believe. He has blessed Edmund and

2:42:12all of Oklahoma City with that

2:42:14generosity. So today I ask the council

2:42:16to recognize what Ben has given this

2:42:17city and support the places and people

2:42:19that make our community this welcoming.

2:42:21Ben showed me that once person kindness

2:42:22can change a life and I'm proof of it.

2:42:24Thank you for your time.

2:42:27>> Thank you. Um and then Jade Jud.

2:42:30>> Yes. Good morning. My name is Jade Jud

2:42:33and I reside at 13116 Cali Drive in

2:42:36Oklahoma City. I am here in support of

2:42:39the resoning [snorts] request for

2:42:40Ralph's Ranch. I live just down the

2:42:42street. Ralphs has been a place that my

2:42:44little kids absolutely idolize.

2:42:47It is one of their favorite adventures.

2:42:49So, over the last year, we now have the

2:42:52library, playground, and then we've got

2:42:54Ralph's. They love knowing that we get

2:42:56to go get a cinnamon roll, flowers,

2:42:58coffee, feed the goats, visit every

2:43:00animal they can get their hands on, and

2:43:02take turns on the horse and tree swings.

2:43:04My kids will run all over Ben's property

2:43:07like they own the place because Ben

2:43:08allows complete strangers to come onto

2:43:11his property and feel that level of

2:43:13comfort, peace, and happiness. Ben

2:43:15allows people to come and enjoy his home

2:43:17and his hard work without requiring

2:43:19anything at all simply because he is

2:43:21kind, generous, and here for our

2:43:23community. In a society that is

2:43:26aggressively interested in nickel and

2:43:27dimeming you at every opportunity, who

2:43:30does that? Who just lets people come and

2:43:32enjoy their property?

2:43:34Now, moving on to my teenager. That one.

2:43:38Have any of you ever had a teenage boy

2:43:40catch me on a bad day? I wouldn't

2:43:42recommend it most times. Um, after a bad

2:43:45night with said teenager, it happened to

2:43:48be a volunteer day at Ralph's. I dragged

2:43:51my son Madden out there. I basically

2:43:53dropped him off and I asked Ben to put

2:43:55him to hard work. A few hours later, I

2:43:58came back and Ben casually mentioned

2:44:00that if Madden wanted a summer job, he

2:44:02had one. I was so thankful Ben had

2:44:05absolutely no reason to take a chance on

2:44:07my son. This summer was the most

2:44:09transformative experience I've ever seen

2:44:11my son have. I don't even think Ben

2:44:14knows this, but working at Ralph's

2:44:15changed Madden's life. I watched him

2:44:18look forward to challenging himself and

2:44:20pushing his mind and his body to do

2:44:22really hard things. I saw him find

2:44:24purpose and pride in what he could do.

2:44:26He spent his days outside with animals

2:44:29that he adores and vice versa and in the

2:44:32sun away from screens. My son spent more

2:44:36time this summer talking about his

2:44:37employee discount. Mind you, it's on

2:44:39vegetables and I don't think that they

2:44:41ever charged him for a single thing. Um,

2:44:44he started gathering his own eggs,

2:44:46making himself breakfast, getting up

2:44:48early to go for a run before work. The

2:44:51staff at Ralphs took care of my son all

2:44:53summer. Gave him guidance but freedom.

2:44:56Treated him so generously. Let him joke

2:44:59and banter with them. And he loves to

2:45:01push the boundaries of both.

2:45:02>> 30 seconds remaining.

2:45:04>> While also teaching him priceless life

2:45:06lessons. If Ralph's were to cease to

2:45:09exist in the capacity that it does now,

2:45:11it would negatively impact my entire

2:45:13family from age three to age 40. It

2:45:16would be a devastating loss for not only

2:45:18us, but for the community, for the

2:45:21neighbors, and especially the best

2:45:23teenage boy I've ever known. I pray we

2:45:25get to continue to engage with and

2:45:27support the farm for many years to come.

2:45:30Thank you.

2:45:31>> Thank you, Phil Maul.

2:45:44>> [clears throat]

2:45:45>> Phil Mall, 100 Park Avenue 73102.

2:45:49Council, again, my name is Phil. Um, and

2:45:52I currently serve as the bike and

2:45:53pedestrian planner for ACOG, the

2:45:55Association of Central Oklahoma

2:45:57Governments. I'll be speaking this

2:45:59morning as a private citizen. Um, and my

2:46:01comments do not represent the viewpoints

2:46:03of ACOG.

2:46:05There have been some amazing stories

2:46:07told here this morning. Um I am going to

2:46:10be very dry. Um this is a resoning case

2:46:13and I want to point out the uh matters

2:46:16that we should consider in a resoning

2:46:18case. As I see it, uh this case is

2:46:21straightforward reszoning from R1 to AA

2:46:24in an area where the existing land use

2:46:26is almost entirely agricultural and

2:46:28rural in character. This case is not

2:46:30asking for any variances to the AA

2:46:31zoning category and the features of this

2:46:34property along with its neighboring

2:46:35properties perfectly fit the standards

2:46:37of agricultural zoning. If we take the

2:46:40square mile that this farm exists

2:46:41within, we can observe that the average

2:46:43density is 8 acres for each home. If we

2:46:46examine the northern half of the square

2:46:48mile where this farm exists, the lot the

2:46:50lot sizes average 16 acres per home.

2:46:54It's worth noting that R1 zoning would

2:46:56allow for 7.5 dwelling units per acre

2:46:59here. So, it seems fairly obvious and

2:47:02plain that reasoning this property to AA

2:47:03is entirely appropriate as it matches

2:47:06the character and low intensity of this

2:47:08air area. Despite this property being

2:47:11characterized as urban low intensity in

2:47:13plan OKC in the future land use map, the

2:47:16eight square miles to the north, south,

2:47:18east, and west surrounding this property

2:47:21um all match a rural and open space um

2:47:26characteristic.

2:47:28The radio towers that sit directly to

2:47:31the west of this tower and to a little

2:47:32bit to the southwest of this or excuse

2:47:34me of this farm further solidify that

2:47:37this area will not become residential

2:47:39anytime soon as those radio towers are

2:47:41not likely to go anywhere. Lastly, from

2:47:44a traffic standpoint, any impacts that

2:47:46this uh weekend farm stand may have are

2:47:49insignificant. On Eastern and Britain,

2:47:52both roads have four lanes that can

2:47:54carry 13,000 more cars before they would

2:47:57be need to considered as at capacity.

2:48:00Right now, these roads average 6,000

2:48:02cars per day. For a road this size, the

2:48:05Federal Highway Administration

2:48:06recommends increasing capacity only

2:48:07after a road exceeds 20,000 cars per

2:48:10day. In short, then this farm is not

2:48:15adding any negative adverse traffic

2:48:18>> and a few more cars on any given weekend

2:48:21will not deteriorate the roads. Again, I

2:48:24want to uh end by saying this is a

2:48:26simple reasonzoning case that brings a

2:48:28farm from R1 into AA zoning and the

2:48:31council should approve this zoning

2:48:33reszoning request. Thank you.

2:48:37>> Thank you, Councilman Pennington. That

2:48:39concludes the citizens who have signed

2:48:40up to speak. Thank you. Can we, mayor,

2:48:42can we hear from the planning director?

2:48:44I think we asked a few questions about

2:48:45what is allowed in AA.

2:48:49>> Uh, yes. Uh, again, planning director,

2:48:51uh, Jeff Butler. So, um, they could So,

2:48:55spectator sports is something that would

2:48:57be allowed. Um,

2:49:01>> sorry if if you want to I know that you

2:49:03had a specific question that I'm I'm

2:49:05happy to

2:49:06>> the specific question was about are

2:49:08events allowed without a special permit

2:49:10>> because a special permit would require

2:49:12res would require notice and a hearing

2:49:14from both the planning commission and

2:49:15the city council.

2:49:16>> Yes.

2:49:17>> So are there any events that are allowed

2:49:18without a special permit

2:49:20>> in the AA zone?

2:49:21>> In AA zoning. Okay, that was one. Um,

2:49:24then two, um, Mr. work said that um

2:49:28perhaps an urban farm could exist in R1.

2:49:31Is that true? Could Ralph's ranch

2:49:33operation

2:49:35function in R1?

2:49:37>> They could with certain conditions and

2:49:38they're they're related to, you know,

2:49:40setbacks and so on. There are some

2:49:42things they could not do in R1 um that

2:49:45they can do in AA. And so there, you

2:49:48know, that's the applicant I think has

2:49:50some things that they some reasons, road

2:49:52field crops for example, that they would

2:49:54prefer to do AA rather than R1. You

2:49:56can't do that in R1. Um, you can't sell,

2:49:59you can't have like a roadside sand and

2:50:01and sell in R1, for example. So yes,

2:50:04urban farm is conditional. Uh, it can be

2:50:08done, but it is limited um more limited

2:50:11than it would be in AA for example.

2:50:13>> What about lodging?

2:50:15lodging,

2:50:16>> like any kind of lodging. Wouldn't

2:50:17lodging require the same permit that

2:50:19people need to operate an Airbnb?

2:50:22>> Uh, well, yes. If you were going to

2:50:24operate something like that, you would

2:50:25need um you would need to go through

2:50:27that process.

2:50:29>> Okay. Um, can we hear from the applicant

2:50:31one more time? I have a few questions

2:50:32for the applicant, the attorney.

2:50:34>> Of course.

2:50:35>> Um, one, I I want to be very clear about

2:50:38this with our neighbors, and I I know

2:50:41that I'm not sure if Mr. I hope I'm

2:50:43pronouncing your name correctly, Mr.

2:50:45Nei, the retired attorney. Um, it is

2:50:48entirely unacceptable that you would

2:50:50have to hear noise like that in your

2:50:52house. That you would need to leave your

2:50:54home because of the events that are

2:50:55being hosted at Ralph's Ranch is

2:50:57completely unacceptable to me. And so, I

2:50:59apologize to you that we have not been

2:51:01able to have effective code enforcement

2:51:03that would keep you able to enjoy the

2:51:05peace and security of your home. And I

2:51:06apologize for that. I am adamantly

2:51:09opposed to any event uses and that is

2:51:13why I have brought this up numerous

2:51:15times. I'm adamantly opposed to it. It

2:51:17should not happen. And in my opinion

2:51:19based on the numerous letters even from

2:51:21the the testimony of all of our

2:51:23residents today, the event use has been

2:51:26the most controversial and the move to

2:51:28AA at this point sounds to me like it

2:51:30prevents that from continuing to occur.

2:51:33However, I think Mr. NI shared that

2:51:35there was some event that was held in

2:51:38sometime this month. Can you address

2:51:39that? Was there some event?

2:51:41>> Was there noise? What? Please explain.

2:51:43>> This is the first I heard of it. Um so

2:51:45I'll echo what you said. It absolutely

2:51:49inappropriate. If it if it happened, it

2:51:51shouldn't have happened. It's illegal

2:51:52and I hope the city issues the the

2:51:54strictest of fines. Um I asked my client

2:51:57in the hall. Again, first I heard was

2:51:59when Mr. Work said it. Certainly no

2:52:01information was given to my office or I

2:52:02would have uh shared that. So, what he

2:52:06told me was he was out of town and

2:52:07people used his facility. So, um I don't

2:52:10know what else to say about it other

2:52:11than I learned of it when you did. So,

2:52:15>> okay. Thank you. Um I would say to my

2:52:18colleagues here, um it's always

2:52:20difficult. As you can see, we have a

2:52:22neighborhood divided. Um there are

2:52:24plenty of neighbors, those directly

2:52:25across the street that are in support.

2:52:27Um there are plenty of neighbors who

2:52:29understandably have opposition because

2:52:31of um what in my opinion and based on I

2:52:34was taking notes as each of them was

2:52:35speaking. Um comes down to the event use

2:52:38which is banned in R1. It's banned in

2:52:41AA. It's banned if we did a PUD. Then

2:52:44they're concerned about lodging which

2:52:46would be banned in R1 and banned in AA

2:52:49without the special permit that we

2:52:50require for short-term rental. So then

2:52:52the question before me becomes and this

2:52:55is after eight years. This is I'm coming

2:52:57on eight years of dealing with planning

2:52:58and zoning and I and I'm somehow I'm

2:53:00still deciding to be here. Um and I I'm

2:53:04I'm baffled by the idea that AA isn't a

2:53:08reduction in intensity in a residential

2:53:11area. And I can tell you from the number

2:53:13of um planning commission cases that I

2:53:16have seen over the years where neighbors

2:53:18were begging me to allow us to keep a

2:53:21zoning versus going to R1. So this is a

2:53:24new one for me that there would be

2:53:26neighbors who are opposed to a less

2:53:27intense use. But I understand why those

2:53:30neighbors would have concern because if

2:53:32I had this same issue that Mr. Nei had,

2:53:34I would be just as outraged as he is. So

2:53:38I I would love to hear my comments from

2:53:40my colleagues, but I will say this. I'm

2:53:41I am from a strictly land use

2:53:44perspective. AA is appropriate in this

2:53:46area. AA prevents the things that we are

2:53:48most concerned about, events, lodging,

2:53:51and we've addressed the traffic issues

2:53:52by the parking lots that that's been

2:53:54added. That is allowed in AA. I

2:53:57understand that there are some neighbors

2:53:58who um will disagree with me, and I

2:54:01apologize. I enjoyed the conversations

2:54:03that I had with James Pickle and Mr.

2:54:06Birdwell. We tried I I'm telling you, I

2:54:08I did the best I could to try to get

2:54:10both sides to come together and figure

2:54:11out, is there something we can do that

2:54:13can satisfy everyone? And so the

2:54:15question before me is, is AA zoning

2:54:18appropriate at Ralph's Ranch? And I have

2:54:20a hard time finding the reasons why it

2:54:22is inappropriate. So, um, I'm in support

2:54:26of this application. I hope that Ben

2:54:28would act in good faith knowing your

2:54:30neighbors are concerned about event

2:54:32uses. I hope all event uses of any kind,

2:54:35whether you're there, whether you're not

2:54:36there, need to cease immediately. And I

2:54:39hope that code enforcement strictly

2:54:41enforces any deviation for any of these

2:54:44event uses. Um, and so that I I welcome

2:54:47comments from my colleagues.

2:54:48>> David, why did this pud get killed? Why

2:54:51isn't this a pud?

2:54:52>> We we tried for a long time with a PUD.

2:54:57Um, in our opinion, it became clear that

2:55:00there was no path forward working with

2:55:04opposing council and the neighbors to

2:55:07achieve a PUD that would be acceptable.

2:55:10Um, and so in our mind, we were going to

2:55:13something less intense than even the PUD

2:55:16would allow because at the time of the

2:55:18PUD, we were still trying to negotiate

2:55:20some limited number of events, limited

2:55:22number of gatherings. And so in our

2:55:24mind, AA, if you look at a scale of

2:55:26zoning, AA is on the bottom and I3 is up

2:55:28top. Uh the reason that is the case is

2:55:30because AA is the least intensive zoning

2:55:33district that we have in the city. And

2:55:34so in our mind, what was important was

2:55:36the ability to have the farm. And the

2:55:38way we needed to do that was AA because

2:55:40row and field crops are not a permitted

2:55:42use under R1 and it is under AA.

2:55:46I guess the only question I have is

2:55:49Kelly. David, is there any way you can

2:55:51go out there and come up with some

2:55:53resolution and bring it back to us

2:55:55today?

2:55:56>> Not with AA. My client and Mr. Pickle

2:56:00spoke about the willingness to have a

2:56:02PUD. My client is now tapped out

2:56:05financially and the perhaps if if Mr.

2:56:09Pickle wanted to pay for a PUD to push

2:56:11put forward. My client's happy to burden

2:56:13this property with a PUD, but he needs

2:56:16to be able to get the AA zoning so that

2:56:18he can continue to operate the farm

2:56:20stand.

2:56:20>> Mr. Pickle, would you pay for that?

2:56:23>> Not at all.

2:56:24>> Okay.

2:56:28>> You know, I listened to all of

2:56:30>> Pickle, you need to come to the

2:56:32microphone.

2:56:37I've listened to uh Mr. Box. I've

2:56:40listened to all these neighbors.

2:56:42Not one of them mentioned all of the

2:56:46different uses that are available in

2:56:49AAA.

2:56:50We're talking mobile home parks. We're

2:56:53talking with a special permit sanitary

2:56:55waste. We're talking about hazardous

2:56:59waste materials.

2:57:01AA opens a can of worms

2:57:05that can only be addressed in a PUD,

2:57:10you have got to have a PUD in place that

2:57:14specifically limits all of these other

2:57:18AA uses. As I mentioned, there's 61 AA

2:57:22uses. Now, some of them, yes, they

2:57:24require special permit. I get that. But

2:57:28believe me, AA will be stuck on this

2:57:31property forever.

2:57:34I mean, you all, our our commit, our

2:57:36councilman is saying, "I won't allow it.

2:57:39I I I'm opposed to it. It's got to go

2:57:42through him. It's got to go through

2:57:43council again to get a special permit."

2:57:46Unless we can put it in a PUD, it goes

2:57:49with the land forever. It is stuck on

2:57:53the land. It becomes AA. We think AA

2:57:57says agriculture. It says so much more

2:57:59than that. There are so many intensive

2:58:02uses under AA and the only way we can

2:58:06protect the neighborhood from someone

2:58:08else else. If it's not Mr. Birdwell,

2:58:11we've already heard how hard it is to be

2:58:13successful as a farmer. Well, if he has

2:58:16to sell or if something happens to his

2:58:18health, he can't do this anymore. It's

2:58:20still AA. Now, if we can put a PUD on

2:58:24that AA property, then we can limit

2:58:27these uses. We can take them off the

2:58:30table forever.

2:58:33>> Councilman Stone Cipher and Pennington

2:58:36and and Councilman Hinkle as well, if I

2:58:38could just comment about the the PUD

2:58:41that was in process. So the situation

2:58:43here that that what the applicant has

2:58:47stated that they need is they want to be

2:58:50able to operate the urban farm. They

2:58:53also want to have a farm stand. The

2:58:55urban farm, as you learned, is a use

2:58:58that is permitted as a conditional use

2:59:01in R1. So he can have the farm. To have

2:59:04the farm stand is in a different use

2:59:07unit category. So we were willing in the

2:59:11PUD to allow the farm stand as an

2:59:16additional permitted use under the terms

2:59:18of the PUD. So we were open to allow

2:59:21that to allow the farm to allow the farm

2:59:25stand where where Mr. Birdwell will be

2:59:27able to market goods from the property.

2:59:30We were open to that. The um so we don't

2:59:34know. It wasn't there wasn't any

2:59:36explanation given to us as to why the

2:59:39applicant chose to withdraw the PUD. But

2:59:42>> it looks like to me it looks like to me

2:59:44that the applicant is out of money and

2:59:48you all don't want to participate in the

2:59:50cost of the PUD. So we're kind of at a

2:59:53logger's head. Well,

2:59:56the respondents have had to spend a fair

2:59:58amount of money too over many many

3:00:01months during which time all of these

3:00:04events continued uh to occur at the

3:00:07property. Um but

3:00:11the appropriate we have a vehicle here

3:00:13that is available to solve this kind of

3:00:15situation where you've got these

3:00:17conflicting interests that exist in this

3:00:21neighborhood. that vehicle is a PUD.

3:00:24That's that's the appropriate

3:00:26path for this issue. We're doing the AA

3:00:30zoning simply so that Mr. Birdwell can

3:00:34get a farm stand. Is that what we're

3:00:36doing? If that is the case, then let

3:00:39that needs to be in a PUD. AA comes with

3:00:42all of these other additional permitted

3:00:44uses that are problematic for the

3:00:47neighborhood. So that's where we were

3:00:49working to get to with the PUD. The

3:00:53concern that we have is if the council

3:00:56gives the stamp of approval on the AA

3:00:59zoning and approves that that this

3:01:02applicant will take that as a validation

3:01:06as a stamp of approval for what he's

3:01:08doing. The events will continue. Nobody

3:01:11stopped him in the last three years and

3:01:13that they will just continue to go on.

3:01:16The only way to have meaningful limits

3:01:19is to do it in a planned unit

3:01:20development in our opinion.

3:01:24>> So, Councilman Pennington,

3:01:27man, I appreciate you sharing your

3:01:29thoughts on this and I appreciate

3:01:30everyone coming in sharing their

3:01:32thoughts on this thing. It's uh I mean,

3:01:35it's one you definitely struggle with.

3:01:37It just seems like surely we can find

3:01:39some way to work out. But, I mean, my

3:01:42thought is it's used as ZAG. uh should

3:01:44probably be zoned as a and the problem I

3:01:47have too with we can say well a pud

3:01:50limits it pud doesn't limit it uh R1

3:01:54guess what doesn't limit it

3:01:56>> it's really it's up to him to do what he

3:01:59needs to do to take care of his his

3:02:01neighbors concerns too to me the zoning

3:02:06at the end of the day the zoning doesn't

3:02:08honestly take great care of that so

3:02:12anyway thank you

3:02:13>> I think it's also Alo worth noting

3:02:14because again I share the concern about

3:02:17some of the uses that are problematic

3:02:19and aa I don't want to ignore Mr.

3:02:21Pickle's point. I I think that what's

3:02:24important to remember is the code

3:02:26already places conditional uses and

3:02:29special permits on the things that are

3:02:30the most problematic uses allowed in AA.

3:02:34And that is the other reason why I feel

3:02:35comfortable in supporting the

3:02:37application.

3:02:38So, I've got a couple things. I I don't

3:02:41know in the six years I've been here

3:02:43that I've ever seen a more amicable

3:02:45disagreement between people. So, thank

3:02:47you. I've never seen people opposed to

3:02:51something come up and actually praise an

3:02:53applicant like this. Um, which really

3:02:56makes it difficult to understand why we

3:02:57can't come to the understanding at this

3:03:00point. Um,

3:03:03Mr. Mr. Bergwell, I hope you've listened

3:03:05to each and every person in here as well

3:03:07as the council because you're actually

3:03:09on the radar now. If you continue to do

3:03:12if you get your way if we if we vote

3:03:14this direction and you continue to have

3:03:17events, if they're already on your

3:03:19calendar and you don't have permits, I

3:03:20suggest you walk to the next building

3:03:22and get that taken care of. Um,

3:03:25we have

3:03:28I mean, I think I have to agree with the

3:03:30councilman. He's said on this this

3:03:33planning and zoning commission for a

3:03:34number of years, we've heard the lives

3:03:35that are affected in a positive way. The

3:03:38others are just more of concerns of what

3:03:40could happen, worst case scenario, not

3:03:41necessarily what is right before us. Um,

3:03:45so with that, I'm also in agreement.

3:03:47>> Well, I want to point out

3:03:51this

3:03:54this problem is not going to go away.

3:03:58We had a solution. We had a PUD.

3:04:02We were in agreement on this farm. This

3:04:05all of the restrictions

3:04:08that were in R1 against the farm, we

3:04:11removed.

3:04:12We had cherrypicked this thing. We did

3:04:16six drafts of this PUD. And I know

3:04:20because I was paying my attorney to do

3:04:23them.

3:04:24And even one of the things that was

3:04:27changed at one point, we we've heard

3:04:30about this parking lot. Yes, it took the

3:04:34traffic, it took the parking off of

3:04:37100th Street and put it in a parking

3:04:40lot. The problem with the parking lot,

3:04:42it was built without a permit. It's a

3:04:45gravel parking lot in R1, which is not

3:04:49permissible.

3:04:51Will we

3:04:53put in one of these drafts? We said,

3:04:56"You've got to do your parking lot per

3:04:59municipal code." Well, Mr. Birdwell

3:05:03called me and said, "Pickle, I can't

3:05:05afford a paved parking lot. I can only

3:05:09afford this gravel parking lot." And we

3:05:13talked about it as the neighbors opposed

3:05:15to this AA resoning and came back to Ben

3:05:20and said, "You're right. We will allow

3:05:22the gravel parking lot.

3:05:25We were working that. We had a PUD in

3:05:29place."

3:05:29>> Thank you,

3:05:30>> Mr. Pickle. You You also do farming, you

3:05:32said, correct? What's your property

3:05:34zoned?

3:05:35>> AA.

3:05:36>> Okay.

3:05:36>> I've been there 40

3:05:44I have a very long

3:05:45>> That wasn't more of a get gotcha, but it

3:05:47just kind of puts it in. You're right

3:05:48down the road. So, I apologize. That

3:05:50wasn't the reason for the question like

3:05:52that. Um, but it's kind of odd that you

3:05:56have that zoning and you're opposing

3:05:58someone doing the same thing. Does that

3:06:00make sense? I'm opposed to the 54 uses

3:06:05NAA that we cannot restrict in this

3:06:09zoning hearing,

3:06:10>> but that's the same thing that you have

3:06:12as well. So, what happens to your health

3:06:14or if you can't continue to do whatever

3:06:15else and someone

3:06:16>> we're putting our property in a con

3:06:18conservation easement?

3:06:20>> Maybe he can do the same as we work to

3:06:22towards that.

3:06:23>> Well, that would be a discussion in a

3:06:26different time with Mr. Birdwell.

3:06:28>> Agreed. right now. What he tells us and

3:06:31what his attorney tells us is he wants

3:06:33an urban farm. We gave him that in a

3:06:36PUD. We gave him that and it eliminated

3:06:40all these other restrictions that we

3:06:43can't negotiate here in a zoning

3:06:45hearing.

3:06:46>> Completely agree. But with all due

3:06:48respect, it isn't yours to give. It is

3:06:50ours.

3:06:51>> And and that is correct. That's why

3:06:53we're asking you to deny this.

3:06:55>> All right. Thank you,

3:06:56>> Mayor. I think councilwoman wanted to

3:06:58speak.

3:06:58>> Okay. Thank you.

3:06:59>> I I was just going to say 45% of

3:07:02Oklahoma City is zoned AA currently and

3:07:05we don't live in fear of that zoning. It

3:07:07is part of our decision-making process

3:07:09and I think that it's good to identify

3:07:11concerns and it's we we so appreciate

3:07:15this room full of people that are

3:07:16concerned and representing their

3:07:19concerns so well um is very very

3:07:23powerful and it really speaks to how

3:07:26these conversations should happen and I

3:07:28hope that regardless of the decision

3:07:30around the council today that as a

3:07:32community you're able to continue to

3:07:34have the relationships that have

3:07:36obviously ly developed in this

3:07:37neighborhood. So kudos to each of you

3:07:40for showing up, for speaking up, and for

3:07:44doing it with eloquence.

3:07:46And then I just want to add um

3:07:50particularly to the event that happened

3:07:52earlier in October, it's if what we're

3:07:55hearing is the way that played out where

3:07:57someone came there uh and had the event.

3:08:00We heard earlier that Ben will often let

3:08:03people, right? And so now I think it's

3:08:06up to Ben to start communicating to your

3:08:09community, to your network, right?

3:08:11Saying, "Hey, when I

3:08:14extend that invite,

3:08:17then you know it's not to have some big

3:08:20wedding or this. It's maybe to go for a

3:08:22swim, right? Or to go pet the the

3:08:25chicken. I don't know what people always

3:08:26[snorts] do when they're on the farms."

3:08:28Uh, and there's a reason why, and I just

3:08:30this is actually uh very important to

3:08:32me. I just saw a PBS NewsHour segment.

3:08:36Um, nine and ten Americans were farmers

3:08:39at our nation's founding. Nine and ten.

3:08:41Nine and 10. Today it's fewer than 2%.

3:08:46like and it was Thomas Jefferson's

3:08:49vision that we would be and I'm quoting

3:08:52now the idea was a a yman's idea of

3:08:55people who are close to the land which

3:08:57we heard people speak to that and

3:08:59therefore have this like sense of

3:09:01community and loyalty and patriotism

3:09:04that had not really been seen by the

3:09:06Europeans in hundreds of years. So it's

3:09:08that community you just heard

3:09:09Councilwoman Aber speak to. So whenever

3:09:12there is the need to complain about loud

3:09:15sounds if should that happen we would of

3:09:17course hope that's not what's going to

3:09:19happen then there are official channels

3:09:21with which to do that and a council

3:09:24person to follow up with via email

3:09:28via call. I'm sorry to do that to you. I

3:09:29mean I know I saw how mad you were. So

3:09:31yeah that that's the that's the that's

3:09:35the channels. Um, but to the residents,

3:09:38and again, I thank everybody who came

3:09:40here today to speak, but to those of you

3:09:42who were saying uh that you would not

3:09:44like this in a neighborhood that was

3:09:47zoned R1 or has the housing, I live in

3:09:49the PO and literally right up the road

3:09:52from me on 28th Street, right up the

3:09:54road from me, is uh Paul Maze, and he

3:09:57has turned it into a place where people

3:10:00weekly come to buy flowers, where they

3:10:03have chickens with eggs.

3:10:05um where they have vegetables. He and

3:10:08Amanda, an artist in our community.

3:10:10Right behind me is the 612 studio. So, I

3:10:14know most people know me as the transit

3:10:15oriented develop mixeduse density and

3:10:17all that, but I am so tired of the

3:10:20Walmarts of the world and making it easy

3:10:23for them to source food from god knows

3:10:26where and the beef farmer from Argentina

3:10:29uh getting more of a say in our market.

3:10:32I don't think that's right. And that has

3:10:33been the last 26 years of my adulthood

3:10:35that we have made it easier for that

3:10:37path. What Ben is doing where he is

3:10:39making it easier just like Paul to

3:10:41supply our local businesses like 30th

3:10:44Street Market where I go, that is

3:10:46community that creates a sense of

3:10:48belonging and that's why I'm going to be

3:10:50supporting this as well.

3:10:53>> Thank you, Mayor. I move approval.

3:10:55>> Okay.

3:11:07We have a motion [snorts] in a second.

3:11:08Cast your votes.

3:11:10>> I'm a yes vote. My screen does not show

3:11:12the ability for me to vote.

3:11:22>> Who are you waiting for?

3:11:27>> Oh, how do you wish to vote? Councilman

3:11:29Stone Cipher.

3:11:30>> Yes.

3:11:30>> Okay.

3:11:34>> All right. Passes unanimously.

3:11:38[applause]

3:11:47All right. Item 11B uh is an ordinance

3:11:50on final hearing that was recommended

3:11:52for approval reszoning 2301 Northeast

3:11:5423rd from R1 C3 and HNO to O2 and HNO.

3:11:59And I understand uh Councilman Stone

3:12:01Cipher is going to carry this uh for

3:12:03Councilman Pennington and no one has

3:12:04signed up to speak.

3:12:05>> Yes.

3:12:08>> Yes. This was approved by planning

3:12:10commission. There are no protests. So

3:12:12I'll move for its approval at this time.

3:12:14Please.

3:12:20>> We have a motion and a second. Cast your

3:12:21votes.

3:12:34>> Wait, wait. Um, are you able to vote,

3:12:36Councilwoman Avers?

3:12:40>> Are you a How did you vote?

3:12:42>> Okay.

3:12:47passes unanimously.

3:12:49Item C was previously deferred. Item D

3:12:52uh is an ordinance on final hearing. It

3:12:54was recommended for approval reszoning

3:12:553200 Northeast 23rd from R1 R4C3 I2 and

3:13:00SPD 1409 to PUD 2146. This was deferred

3:13:04from September 29th. Councilman

3:13:05Pennington, no one has signed up to

3:13:07speak.

3:13:07>> Thank you, mayor. um really appreciate

3:13:09the applicant um having uh two meetings

3:13:12with the community to discuss their

3:13:14concerns. Um I would say and Caitlyn you

3:13:16can I'm sure you can verify this like

3:13:18the neighbors were in total support of

3:13:20the changes that had been made at

3:13:21planning commission and so I'm happy to

3:13:22move approval.

3:13:25[snorts]

3:13:30Have a motion and a second. Cast your

3:13:32votes.

3:13:35passes unanimously. Okay. In an

3:13:38abundance of caution, I'm going to pull

3:13:40up an item that requires seven

3:13:41affirmative votes just in case people

3:13:44start to leave. Um, that is item double

3:13:46A. This is a resolution approving the

3:13:48incurrence of indebtedness by the

3:13:50Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust by

3:13:52the issuance of its utility system

3:13:53revenue refunding and improvement bonds,

3:13:55etc. I think we have a presentation.

3:13:57>> Yes, Dennis Whem. [snorts] uh they're

3:14:00our municipal adviserss and uh he's

3:14:02going to give us a presentation on this

3:14:04proposed indebtedness.

3:14:06>> Good morning uh mayor, council, city

3:14:09manager. It's really sad everybody left

3:14:11and didn't want to hear this

3:14:12presentation, but we're going to go

3:14:13ahead and do it anyway.

3:14:15Okay, go to page uh three. Okay. Uh so

3:14:21this is I'm Dennis Whe with uh PFM or

3:14:25the financial advisor to Oklahoma City

3:14:27Water. We're going to talk today about

3:14:29an upcoming bond sale. On August 18 of

3:14:3226, the Aqua trustees approved present

3:14:36preparation of documents and

3:14:38solicitation for underwriting services.

3:14:40A mini RFP was circulated to

3:14:42underwriting firms from the approved

3:14:44list for uh for the city. Uh an

3:14:49evaluation of responses occurred

3:14:51thereafter and Morgan Stanley was

3:14:53selected as bookrunner and RBC was

3:14:56selected as co-manager. The transaction

3:14:59will refund approximately $125 million

3:15:02of commercial paper and raise

3:15:05approximately $235 million of new money

3:15:07for capital projects. The refunding of

3:15:10the commercial paper restores capacity

3:15:12for appropriation and borrowing. The new

3:15:15money should bridge the funding gap for

3:15:17approximately 6 to 12 months.

3:15:20A good question came up from council

3:15:22about why does the resolution say $375

3:15:25million when we are actually going to

3:15:29borrow uh less than that. When the

3:15:31resolution was posted or sent to the

3:15:34clerk's office, we needed to give a

3:15:36maximum amount and we thought at that

3:15:39time that Aquit would refund 135 million

3:15:42of commercial paper. Actually, right now

3:15:44it's going to be at $125 million. So,

3:15:47the preliminary estimate will be a par

3:15:49value of 356,

3:15:52$10,000.

3:15:53That will change between now and the

3:15:56sale, but it will not exceed 375.

3:16:01Little update on the market. Uh rates

3:16:03have moved higher. Uh the Fed raised Fed

3:16:07funds rates on September 16, 25 basis

3:16:10points. It now sits at 4%. The Fed will

3:16:13meet again on October 2728.

3:16:16The early expectation is they will

3:16:18continue to push rates up by another 25

3:16:21basis points. You'll see by the graph on

3:16:23the left the treasuries a year ago which

3:16:25is the orange dash line is uh

3:16:28significantly lower than the solid blue

3:16:31line which is today's rates. Same thing

3:16:34has occurred in the mun market as rates

3:16:36have moved higher. Uh lot lot of the

3:16:40higher rate movement is due to fed

3:16:43bringing rates up and we're been

3:16:45fighting inflation.

3:16:48Th although this transaction is not a

3:16:50refunding for savings or we take bonds

3:16:54we issued in the past and and call them

3:16:56and have lower interest rates. This

3:16:59transaction is necessary to restore

3:17:01spending capacity because we need to

3:17:03support major intergenerational projects

3:17:06and the resiliency and reliability of

3:17:08the system.

3:17:12And then a timeline. We had rating

3:17:14meetings yesterday which went extremely

3:17:16well. very pleased with how how well

3:17:19those meetings went. We have a double

3:17:21docket today of trust and council

3:17:23action. We should receive ratings the

3:17:25week of October 19th. Uh have a

3:17:29negotiated sale on November 17th and

3:17:31closing on December 2nd. Be glad to

3:17:34answer any questions.

3:17:38>> Thanks, Dennis.

3:17:39>> Thank you.

3:17:41>> Thank you.

3:17:42>> All right. This is item double A and we

3:17:44could take a motion.

3:17:46>> [snorts]

3:17:51>> Have a motion and a second. Cast your

3:17:53votes.

3:17:59Passes unanimously and with the

3:18:01necessary six affirmative votes required

3:18:03to incur indebtedness and the necessary

3:18:05seven affirmative votes required to wave

3:18:07competitive bidding. All right. Now we

3:18:10will return to our regular order which

3:18:12brings us to item E1 11E. This is an

3:18:15ordinance on final hearing reszoning

3:18:184001 Southwest 15th from PUD 1417 SR O D

3:18:24and AE2 to PUD 2149 SR O DD and AE2

3:18:30Councilwoman Avers no one has signed up

3:18:32to speak.

3:18:37>> Thank you and hats off to our planning

3:18:39commission. They did a great job

3:18:40coordinating this with the applicant and

3:18:42I make a motion to approve.

3:18:55We have a motion and a second. Cast your

3:18:57votes.

3:19:00[clears throat]

3:19:04[snorts]

3:19:05Passes unanimously. Item F was

3:19:07previously deferred, which brings us to

3:19:08item G. This is an ordinance on final

3:19:10hearing. was recommended for approval.

3:19:12Reszoning 2124 South Czech Hall Road

3:19:14from RA CUP72 and CUP75 to PUD 2155.

3:19:20Councilwoman Avers knowing sign speak.

3:19:24>> Another well-coordinated well executed

3:19:26application. Motion to approve.

3:19:37We have a motion and a second. Cast your

3:19:39votes.

3:19:41>> [snorts]

3:19:42>> Not that

3:19:44>> passes unanimously.

3:19:46All right. Item H is an ordinance on the

3:19:48final hearing. It was recommended for

3:19:49approval reszoning 3522 Westmont Avenue

3:19:52from R1 to SPD1 1826.

3:19:56Councilman Cooper known as Sun Peak.

3:20:05>> Would you mind walking us through what

3:20:08you're up to here, please? Sure.

3:20:11Uh JJ Gritz with ZJ Holdings, 8051 North

3:20:15Classen. Uh we bought this lot uh after

3:20:20the previous uh structures. There were

3:20:22two homes on it um for a long time. They

3:20:26were dilapidated and torn down by the

3:20:28previous owners. Uh we originally

3:20:31applied with a spud to do a triplex on

3:20:35this. had a lot of feedback from the

3:20:37neighbors that they didn't want to see

3:20:38that. Um, and we worked with uh,

3:20:42Commissioner Powers quite a bit to try

3:20:44to work through it. Um, she wasn't

3:20:46necessarily opposed to it, but the the

3:20:49fact that this property sloped so so far

3:20:52from front to back, we couldn't get it

3:20:54to a single level uh, to work for kind

3:20:58of what we were wanting to do there. So,

3:21:00we amended our spud application to just

3:21:02be two single family residential

3:21:04dwellings on it, and that's what we're

3:21:07planning to put back. It's essentially

3:21:09the same thing that was there before.

3:21:12So,

3:21:13>> so yeah, I appreciate you walking us

3:21:14through that. So, some of the neighbors

3:21:16have reached out to me and they're kind

3:21:18of curious what your vision for that

3:21:20street is ultimately.

3:21:22>> Two single family houses. I mean, like,

3:21:25do you have There's a concern from some

3:21:27residents that other homes might be on

3:21:30the chopping block to bring down. Just I

3:21:33can't speak to any of that. We don't own

3:21:35any other property in there. We haven't

3:21:36talked to any other property owners,

3:21:39so I I don't know. We own this property

3:21:42and this is what we're looking to do

3:21:44with it.

3:21:46>> Put two houses back where there were two

3:21:47houses.

3:21:48>> And just on the public record, because

3:21:50that was a concern that I heard. So, I

3:21:51just wanted to make sure that there was

3:21:53a

3:21:53>> Yeah, completely understand. Yeah, it

3:21:56we're just going back and putting two

3:21:57houses where two houses existed.

3:21:59>> So, okay. All right. Thank you.

3:22:02>> Yep. Thank you.

3:22:10>> Uh oh, you're the vice mayor, right? No,

3:22:12it's over here now. Wow, our site has

3:22:14it. Okay. Um, yes, I would move for

3:22:16approval, Vice Mayor.

3:22:19All right, we can take a motion and a

3:22:20second.

3:22:23We have a motion, a second. Please vote.

3:22:30And the item is passed.

3:22:33Item I has been deferred. Brings us to

3:22:37item 11J, an ordinance on final hearing

3:22:40recommended for approval. Uh, Spud 1846,

3:22:44reszoning 6200 North Robinson Avenue

3:22:46from AI Light Industrial District to

3:22:49Spud 1846,

3:22:51W 2. Councilman Cooper.

3:22:53>> Thank you, Vice Mayor. Uh, would it be

3:22:55possible, I believe, to We have an

3:22:57update on our conversation. If you could

3:23:00walk us through what this uh item now is

3:23:04proposing.

3:23:05>> Uh, David Box, 525 Northwest 11th

3:23:07Street, here on behalf of the

3:23:08applicants. Um, so this was deferred two

3:23:10weeks ago. We did have the opportunity

3:23:12to speak to our architect and have a

3:23:14meeting with Councilman U Cooper this

3:23:16week. So, what we have now is what you

3:23:18have before you. So, we've tried to max

3:23:20out as much green space as possible. Uh

3:23:22we've added um some tree wells within

3:23:25the parking. So, what we're proposing is

3:23:27to seek to amend the MDS to have a

3:23:30minimum of 20,000 square feet of open

3:23:32space. Um that I think gets closer to

3:23:35what the the councilman was was hoping

3:23:37for,

3:23:38but that would be a change. So, we will

3:23:40need to make an amendment before we vote

3:23:42on the item.

3:23:43>> Yes. Thank you. And I also want to say

3:23:45thank you to um planning staff Marilyn

3:23:48and Tio for joining us. And thank you to

3:23:49the applicant and architect for joining

3:23:51us as well. So, I would need to uh make

3:23:54a motion to amend with the 20,000 is it

3:23:58literally 20,000 David?

3:24:00>> A minimum of 20,000 square feet of open

3:24:02space

3:24:03>> to a minimum of 20,000

3:24:05feet of open space. Feet.

3:24:09Uh 20,000 square feet.

3:24:10>> 20,000 square feet. Okay. Thought I was

3:24:12missing something. Thank you. It's

3:24:14getting to lunch time.

3:24:15>> All right. We can take a motion on the

3:24:16amendment.

3:24:22>> We have a motion, a second. Please vote.

3:24:30The items passed. The item has been

3:24:32amended.

3:24:33>> Thank you, Vice Mayor. And then I would

3:24:34move for approval the amended item.

3:24:47Thank you.

3:24:48>> The items passed as well.

3:24:50Next up, item 11K

3:24:53is reszoning 7200 South Walker Avenue

3:24:56from R1 Single Family Residential

3:24:58District to Spud 1860 in Ward 4. Um, I

3:25:02can tell you this is a multif family

3:25:05multifamily housing unit over at 7200

3:25:08South Walker. I'm assuming no one signed

3:25:11up to speak. All right, with that, I'll

3:25:13go ahead and move for its approval.

3:25:20And please vote.

3:25:25The items passed. Brings us to item 11L.

3:25:3090deree angle parking within a setback

3:25:33parking area on the north side of

3:25:34Northwest 123rd Street from

3:25:37approximately 140 ft east to

3:25:39approximately 210 ft east. The east curb

3:25:42line of Solar Lane

3:25:44ward one.

3:25:46>> Well, since you just read all that, just

3:25:48so you know, the next couple ones are

3:25:49going to say the same thing.

3:25:50>> Oh, great.

3:25:54Although I'm a little perplexed by this,

3:25:57I don't see why we couldn't do it. So,

3:25:59I'll move for approval.

3:26:01>> All right,

3:26:06we have a motion and a second

3:26:12and the items passed. Brings us to item

3:26:1511M,

3:26:1790° angle parking within a setback

3:26:20parking area. Uh, pretty much the same

3:26:22area.

3:26:23>> Yeah.

3:26:23>> Yeah. In Ward One. Go ahead,

3:26:25>> Debbie. Can you Do you know anything

3:26:27about this since public works is doing

3:26:29it?

3:26:33>> Is this backend parking?

3:26:35>> Oh, please God, no.

3:26:36>> Oh, Debbie Miller, public works. Be

3:26:38happy to answer your question.

3:26:41Uh, this looks like it's 90° parking.

3:26:44This is for um setback on 126th. So that

3:26:49allows them to set back in this 90

3:26:51degree parking as you it looks like when

3:26:53it pulls in.

3:26:55>> Is it forward pulling in or backward?

3:26:58>> It's not back in.

3:26:59>> Okay.

3:27:01>> I move for approval.

3:27:04>> All right. We have a motion

3:27:07and a second. Please vote.

3:27:14That item has passed as well. Item N is

3:27:17next up.

3:27:19let you go.

3:27:21>> Sort of enjoying it. All right. Item N

3:27:24is an ordinance on final hearing

3:27:26establishing reserve parking for the

3:27:27physically disabled on the north side of

3:27:29Northwest 123rd Street. Um that's in

3:27:32Ward One.

3:27:33>> Yes, sir. I move for approval.

3:27:40>> We have a motion and a second. Cast your

3:27:42votes.

3:27:46>> [snorts]

3:27:46>> passes unanimously.

3:27:49Item O is an ordinance on final hearing

3:27:51establishing reserve parking for the

3:27:53physically disabled on the south side of

3:27:55Northwest 126th. Also in Ward one move

3:27:58for approval.

3:28:03>> Got a motion and a second

3:28:07votes.

3:28:10Passes unanimously.

3:28:12And now we're at item P. This is an

3:28:14ordinance to be introduced today and set

3:28:16for a final hearing on October 27th

3:28:18relating to our personnel and retirement

3:28:20systems. And we have a presentation.

3:28:22>> Yes. Amy Mida, our chief human

3:28:24[clears throat] resources officer will

3:28:26give us an explanation of the proposed

3:28:28changes.

3:28:29>> Good morning, Mayor and Council. Again,

3:28:32as city manager said, Amy Madera, chief

3:28:34HR officer, and also the chair of the

3:28:36the Oklahoma City employee retirement

3:28:38system. Uh today on behalf of the board

3:28:41um and the employee retirement system um

3:28:43as well as uh assistance and guidance

3:28:45from municipal counselor's office and

3:28:47for our outside tax council um we're

3:28:49introducing the proposed amendments to

3:28:51chapter 40 of the the Oklahoma City

3:28:53Municipal Code. Um few of the updates

3:28:55that are before you um is update the

3:28:58actuarial and mortality assumptions.

3:28:59Again, we do experience studies based on

3:29:01our trends. Uh we do this um to be able

3:29:04to make sure that the that we're looking

3:29:05at the correct assumptions and that will

3:29:07help us um keep our retirement system

3:29:09financially sound and aligned with uh

3:29:11with our national uh standards. Um if

3:29:14approved, it would be effective

3:29:15beginning January 1, 2027. We also uh

3:29:19before you is to include the uh the

3:29:21employees that that are part of our

3:29:22McGee Greek Authority system um to add

3:29:25them to our the city's money purchase

3:29:28plan open plan and the 457 to allow them

3:29:31to be able to participate in the city's

3:29:33retirement system. Um this would also

3:29:35allow us to ensure that um that uh keep

3:29:38us compliant with our deferred

3:29:40compensation board. We have um clarified

3:29:43funding requirements for the public

3:29:45trust. So again, the public trusts that

3:29:47participate, we are asking them to also

3:29:50contribute the same percentage that the

3:29:51city contributes to the city's

3:29:53employment plan just so that we've got

3:29:54consistent experience across all of our

3:29:57employee populations. Um we also um have

3:30:00updated postretirement death benefits.

3:30:02Uh we will maintain the the the

3:30:04surviving spouse $5,000 benefit, but

3:30:07currently there's a 20-day wait. If they

3:30:09if they don't get it notified within 20

3:30:11days, it does restrict them. We're

3:30:12opening that up. We have mechanisms now

3:30:14to be able to monitor the financial

3:30:16responsibility without putting undue

3:30:18pressure on a surviving spouse. Uh,

3:30:21additionally, uh, we've got um, we are

3:30:23updating the time frame that we do our

3:30:25consumer price index measurement in

3:30:27November. We take that snapshot so we

3:30:29can make it more effective on January 1

3:30:30to make that more timely. I also will

3:30:33clarify um, the board trustees

3:30:35appointment language and it aligns our

3:30:37reporting payment practices um, just to

3:30:40make sure that we're there's greater

3:30:41transparency. And then just finally um

3:30:43it allows us to ensure that um that our

3:30:46money purchase plan retirees qualify

3:30:48under a fully match match pension

3:30:50system. Um for any questions.

3:30:53>> Thank you very much.

3:30:54>> Thanks.

3:30:57>> All right. So this would be item P for

3:30:59introduction today.

3:31:07We have a motion and a second.

3:31:10Cast your votes.

3:31:13passes unanimously.

3:31:15[clears throat] Item 11 Q is the public

3:31:17hearing regarding unsecured structures

3:31:18here listed. Amy, has anyone signed up

3:31:20to speak?

3:31:21>> No, they haven't.

3:31:22>> They have not. And so we will advance to

3:31:24the resolution found at Q2 declaring the

3:31:26structures are unsecured. Say for those

3:31:28previously struck.

3:31:33We have a motion and a second. Cast your

3:31:34votes.

3:31:40passes unanimously.

3:31:42Item 11 R1 is a public hearing regarding

3:31:45a resolution authorizing acceptance of

3:31:46the joint award for the 2025 Edward Burn

3:31:49Memorial Justice Assistance Grant in

3:31:51[clears throat] the amount of $482,665.

3:31:54Amy, has anyone signed up to speak under

3:31:56this public hearing?

3:31:56>> No, they haven't.

3:31:57>> They have not. So, now we'll look at the

3:31:59resolution at R2 authorizing acceptance

3:32:02of said joint award. And I think Mr.

3:32:05city manager just going to maybe say a

3:32:06word about

3:32:07>> Yeah, this this is a grant that we've

3:32:08received for a number of years. I think

3:32:10since back around 2005, 2006 and uh we

3:32:14use it for uh crime analyst to pay for

3:32:16crime analyst positions, but we also

3:32:18distribute to uh Edmund, Dell City,

3:32:21Midwest City, and then the Oklahoma

3:32:23County Sheriff's Office. They use it

3:32:24more on the equipment side and maybe for

3:32:26some contracting of services. And so

3:32:28it's uh something that's really served

3:32:30us to help us in the work that we do.

3:32:35All right. Well, if there are no

3:32:36questions or comments, we can um

3:32:40take up the resolution. We have a motion

3:32:42and a second.

3:32:44Cast your votes.

3:32:49Passes 8 to one. Next up is item S. This

3:32:52is a resolution describing creating,

3:32:54activating, and initiating

3:32:57district previously designated as

3:32:59increment district number D as increment

3:33:01district number 21. And uh we have a

3:33:04presentation on this.

3:33:05>> Kenny Sud with the Alliance will uh give

3:33:07us a presentation on this item

3:33:09>> very very quickly. So this is the class

3:33:12corridor tiff district and if you'll

3:33:14recall on the screen we when we created

3:33:16it there were four different increment

3:33:18areas. So the one in red is increment

3:33:21area D. We are ready to actually

3:33:23[clears throat] uh implement this one

3:33:25and start the timer. We have a couple

3:33:27projects uh the Palomar parking garage,

3:33:30the Eddie and the Browns Bakery uh

3:33:33project that are either completing or

3:33:36nearing completion. So this would

3:33:38activate this and uh set the 2026 year

3:33:42the base year. So that's really just so

3:33:44it can start collecting incremental

3:33:46revenues.

3:33:48That's that's it.

3:33:51Can I ask

3:33:53what does outreach to developers look

3:33:57like? Is there like a press release that

3:33:59goes out today letting them know that

3:34:02this is

3:34:04I I know we have the tiff on visionc for

3:34:08instance, but how do we make sure that

3:34:12both the existing property owners in the

3:34:14area and then ultimately developers

3:34:16around the city are aware that this is

3:34:18an opportunity for them? Well, we've

3:34:19been in communication with the, you

3:34:22[clears throat] know, any of the

3:34:23developers that have projects that we're

3:34:24actively working with. But as as far as

3:34:26like a, you know, other property owners,

3:34:30I mean, that's something we'd have to

3:34:32figure out what, you know, do we need to

3:34:33do a press release? do we need to do? We

3:34:36typically, you know, may put some things

3:34:38in like the article I write in the

3:34:40journal record or things like that, but

3:34:42we don't have a formal, you know, hey,

3:34:44the TIFF is active type of thing because

3:34:46this is TIFF 21. So, we have several

3:34:50tips around, but we're happy to have a

3:34:52discussion with you about how we can

3:34:54push that out on social media if we need

3:34:57to, you know, put it out in other

3:34:58things. So, we're happy to do so.

3:35:00>> I'm open to ideas. This is, and I know

3:35:04some people are kind of ribbing me on

3:35:06this one right now cuz we're we're

3:35:08having this tiff. This is the first TIFF

3:35:11in W 2. [snorts] We've not had one

3:35:13before. In fact, my predecessor was

3:35:16anti-tiff. So, this was hard fought by

3:35:20the community to get here, which means

3:35:22there's not institutional knowledge in

3:35:24Word 2 about how to activate it. So, I'm

3:35:28grateful. Do not misunderstand me saying

3:35:31these these things. I am grateful this

3:35:34council approved this. I'm grateful to

3:35:36the economic alliance for their work

3:35:38here. I'm grateful to the Asian district

3:35:39for their advocacy of getting us here.

3:35:42What I am suggesting is this is such a

3:35:43new economic tool for W 2, right? That

3:35:48there might need to be that level of

3:35:49intentionality. I suspect something is

3:35:51true for the one we approved earlier on

3:35:53the south side as well.

3:35:58Can I have a question real quick? Um, so

3:36:01with the tiff, does that fund

3:36:04infrastructure development as well?

3:36:06[clears throat]

3:36:07>> So that is allowable under the project

3:36:11plan. You know, today this tiff has no

3:36:14money in it. So what happens is the the

3:36:17area in red when we activate it now any

3:36:19growth above the tax level the the base

3:36:22year would be set as this year. So those

3:36:24taxes would continue to go to the

3:36:26different taxing jurisdictions starting

3:36:28next year. Any growth above that would

3:36:31then divert into the TIFF fund

3:36:34one to pay for in the incentives on

3:36:37these deals. Like some those three deals

3:36:38I mentioned earlier, all three of them

3:36:40have incentives. So that's what would go

3:36:42to pay the incentives. Not all of that

3:36:44TIFF goes to those projects. So they're

3:36:47generating other other monies that would

3:36:49just go into the fund. Those monies

3:36:51could then be used for either projects

3:36:54with our taxing jurisdiction partners is

3:36:56allowed in the project, infrastructure

3:36:58projects or other incentives. Um and

3:37:01then any other [clears throat] um and

3:37:03each tiff district's a little bit

3:37:05different. This one I believe you know

3:37:08100% of the growth stays within the tiff

3:37:11district. You've got other ones like

3:37:12cord to shore where any properties that

3:37:15we're not incentivizing or doing any

3:37:17anything with 75% of that growth goes

3:37:20back to the taxing jurisdiction. So it's

3:37:22really a little bit different on each TI

3:37:25district, but on this one it, you know,

3:37:27theoretically that would start, those

3:37:28funds would start building up over time

3:37:31and, you know, hopefully these actions

3:37:33create more activity that that grows the

3:37:35incremental revenues and those are what

3:37:37we oftent times uh access to use for

3:37:40infrastructure projects or other public

3:37:42type projects.

3:37:43>> Got it. Well, that helps. So the

3:37:46valuation prior to the tiff, that

3:37:49valuation and the tax base off of it is

3:37:51locked and is fed back into the

3:37:54different mechanisms for the county, for

3:37:56the city, for the school system.

3:37:59>> Y

3:37:59>> and then any economic development gains

3:38:02in the tax valuation is reinvested in

3:38:06>> the areas identified by the TIFF and TIF

3:38:09um recipients.

3:38:10>> Yes. and they can only be spent in the

3:38:12project area which is always that dash

3:38:15line. So these are the increment areas.

3:38:17There's a project area that's bigger and

3:38:20off the top of my head I can't remember

3:38:21exactly what the streets are but

3:38:23>> so there's the collection area and then

3:38:25the impact area and impact area is

3:38:27broader than the collection area.

3:38:28>> Absolutely. And councilwoman, something

3:38:31food for thought for you and W three,

3:38:33something that when we held a community

3:38:36meeting about this proposal before it

3:38:39became a reality, uh, affordable housing

3:38:42rose to the top of the ask of not just

3:38:45the Asian district, but the residents in

3:38:47attendance. And so we even carved out, I

3:38:49want to say it was about $10 million or

3:38:50something like this. So it wasn't just

3:38:51the infrastructure reinvestment, it was

3:38:53also housing as infrastructure as well,

3:38:55but specifically affordable. And we even

3:38:57were able to target the uh area median

3:39:00income at certain amounts too. So, and

3:39:01that was that was a bit of a new

3:39:03approach.

3:39:10>> Thanks, Kenny. We will then take up the

3:39:13item.

3:39:25>> [snorts]

3:39:26>> Mine's not loading. I'm a yes.

3:39:28>> Yeah, I'm out again as well. Okay, so we

3:39:31have a motion in a second. Cast your

3:39:32votes. I wish to vote I.

3:39:39Passes unanimously.

3:39:42All right. Item T is a joint resolution

3:39:44with the Oklahoma City Economic

3:39:45Development Trust allocating an amount

3:39:46not to exceed $12 million from Oklahoma

3:39:48City Economic Development Trust general

3:39:50obligation limited tax bond funds to the

3:39:53city and the Oklahoma City Water

3:39:54Utilities Trust to assist in the

3:39:55construction necessary infrastructure in

3:39:57the vicinity of I40 and Simmeron Road

3:40:00etc. There is a presentation.

3:40:02>> Okay,

3:40:03>> I'll just stay up here. There's a few

3:40:04items in a row. So Kenny Sudo at the

3:40:06Alliance. So item [clears throat] T is

3:40:09you we're considering today an

3:40:11allocation of G funds for 12 million,

3:40:14but I wanted to give you a a a

3:40:16presentation on kind of the bigger

3:40:18picture here. And this is for the BIES

3:40:20project. Um there it's a much bigger

3:40:22project here and I'm going to tell you

3:40:24some reasons why. There's also multiple

3:40:26bodies that would have to approve. Um,

3:40:28but I want to make sure I give you the

3:40:30whole picture as we're, you know,

3:40:31there's going to be kind of peacemail

3:40:33approvals uh that that will be policy

3:40:35questions you and other boards will have

3:40:37to take up. And also, [clears throat] we

3:40:40do have uh someone here from the company

3:40:42if there are other questions, but I'm

3:40:43going to do the presentation because

3:40:45this is really focused on

3:40:46infrastructure. So, again, kind of the

3:40:49on just some these are just some of the

3:40:50stats from the store that's proposed and

3:40:52this is at I40 and Simon Road. I'm going

3:40:55to talk about the location here in just

3:40:57a second, but again, just some of the

3:40:58highlights would be, you know, it's it's

3:41:00about a 74,000 square foot travel

3:41:02center. You know, 5 million visitors a

3:41:05year. Uh, you know, it would be in

3:41:07Canadian County and Oklahoma City, but

3:41:10uh you the company thinks about 90% of

3:41:13the comp of the customers would come

3:41:15from outside of Canadian County. If you

3:41:17go to kind of the next one, you know,

3:41:20you may or may not be familiar with

3:41:21these types of stores, travel centers,

3:41:23but you know, this is going to have, you

3:41:25know, around a couple hundred FTEEs,

3:41:29$20 an hour kind of starting uh wage and

3:41:32benefits. It's a $50 million

3:41:35development. So, you know, not counting

3:41:38and we put these stats up here that the

3:41:39company expects about $18,000 gallons of

3:41:42fuel to be sold here, but really it's a

3:41:45it the just the inside part, the retail

3:41:48store is expected to do about $25

3:41:50million of sales. And then we have here

3:41:53kind of if you base that on the 25

3:41:55million um which in our research might

3:41:59be conservative, but that's what the uh

3:42:01company wants to go with right now. It

3:42:03would generate about a million dollars a

3:42:05year of sales tax sales tax impact to

3:42:09the city.

3:42:10But what I want to kind of start setting

3:42:12the bigger picture story here is the red

3:42:15square on the northwest corner of Simron

3:42:18Road and I40. That's the location of the

3:42:21proposed travel center. The purple I

3:42:24wanted to point out just south is all

3:42:26the property that's owned by the city in

3:42:29one some form or fashion. C

3:42:31[clears throat] Page Airport and then

3:42:32the the Oklahoma City Industrial and

3:42:34Cultural Facilities Trust owns some of

3:42:36the property around it. Um where we

3:42:39began a process a few years ago to kind

3:42:41of acquire property to put together some

3:42:43large employment sites.

3:42:46We know that those large employment

3:42:47sites would need a lot of and the

3:42:50airport itself would need a lot of

3:42:52additional infrastructure for any future

3:42:54development. Um, so I did want to point

3:42:57out, you know, while we're considering

3:42:58this item today is 12 million, really

3:43:01this is a $57 million project when we

3:43:04look at we have to do $7 million of

3:43:06improvements on the roads. $25 million

3:43:10is the bridge and there's been an item I

3:43:11know that you all have seen already, you

3:43:13know, related to the agreement with ODOT

3:43:16um on the bridge and that's, you know,

3:43:18it's a two-lane bridge now. Needs to be

3:43:19widened, needs to be signalized.

3:43:22um sewer and water. [clears throat]

3:43:24There are improvements that would be

3:43:25need to be made to serve both some

3:43:27existing customers. For example, sewer

3:43:30on the northeast side of Simmeron Road,

3:43:33there are some sewer lagoons there. So,

3:43:35you know what's proposed here is this

3:43:36would help fund uh a lift station and

3:43:39running a line under uh the highway. Um

3:43:43and then, you know, water improvements

3:43:45as well.

3:43:46Uh these would be the capacities that

3:43:49we're looking at here would be large

3:43:51enough to serve the employment land

3:43:53site, the airport, the travel center,

3:43:57and some of those, you know, u current

3:44:00aquit customers. But I'm pointing out

3:44:03this would not be upsizing it to handle

3:44:06additional industrial development, other

3:44:08developments, things like that. So I'm

3:44:10just, you know, that's what this funding

3:44:12would get you to to that certain level.

3:44:14Um if you go to the next slide,

3:44:18while that's a big uh price tag and it's

3:44:20a big amount to improve in

3:44:22infrastructure, the benefit of this is I

3:44:25think the you know um the the excitement

3:44:29and and the support from the state and

3:44:31from the company itself really helped

3:44:34fund a large portion of this. So that

3:44:35$57 million price tag, which is

3:44:38something the city would have to come up

3:44:39with in the future to support

3:44:41development around that airport, we end

3:44:43up getting about 35 million of that um

3:44:46funded through uh 16 million from the

3:44:50state. So you already, I think, looked

3:44:51at the item that dealt with the bridge.

3:44:54There's in addition to that, there's a

3:44:56$5 million u we've been discussing with

3:44:58the state, $5 million from their P3

3:45:01infrastructure program. I do want to

3:45:04flag that because I'm going to come back

3:45:05to that in a minute. That's something

3:45:07that if they if approved, they pay it

3:45:10back to us over time. So, I'm going to

3:45:12talk about a little bit of the GT ask is

3:45:13we have to preund some of that money

3:45:15that will be paid back. Uh the company

3:45:19itself will contribute 9.2 million in,

3:45:22you know, for the bridge and some of the

3:45:25uh road, water, and sewer improvements.

3:45:27Uh, and then we I believe this was part

3:45:31of that previous item that was taken

3:45:33action about the $10 million of

3:45:35congressional congestion relief funds

3:45:38that would also be able to go into that.

3:45:40So again, we would not be paying the

3:45:42company any direct incentives. You know,

3:45:45they would make a contribution. we would

3:45:47make an infrastructure uh investment

3:45:50here and and that would really

3:45:52facilitate not only uh this travel

3:45:54center, you know, in their development,

3:45:57but really set the stage for kind of

3:45:59moving the needle forward on on C page

3:46:01and the the things around it. Um again

3:46:05pointing out there would be there still

3:46:07would be multiple things that have to be

3:46:09approved. uh if you all approve the Gul

3:46:12funding today. I did want to point out,

3:46:13you know, there's a little portion of

3:46:15this and we've been working with Jeff

3:46:16Moulder uh at at the airports

3:46:19department, you know, OKAT would have to

3:46:22look at there's about a 1.1 million

3:46:24their portion of it. Uh Aquit uh would

3:46:27have to fund uh 13 million. And again,

3:46:30Aquit can only really fund those things

3:46:32that are dealing with their customers.

3:46:34the pro prospective increased capacity

3:46:37and the you know the different upsizing

3:46:39on the pipes and things like that.

3:46:41That's what we have to fund through GOL

3:46:43funds or other economic development

3:46:44funds. They can't put that on rateayer

3:46:47uh the backs of rateayers. So when you

3:46:49look at that really the the delta is the

3:46:52$57 million looking at the the outside

3:46:54funding of 35 those other ones I just

3:46:57mentioned there's a delta there of

3:46:59seven. So really 7 million is what is

3:47:02needed for goal. However, as I mentioned

3:47:04earlier, part of that state funding is

3:47:07the $5 million from the P3 program. We

3:47:09have to fund that upfront and then we

3:47:11would get it reimbursed over a period of

3:47:12a couple two to three years. So, that's

3:47:15where we get to the $12 million ask from

3:47:17goal with the thought being that, you

3:47:19know, seven is really the balance that

3:47:21ends up getting spent here. Um,

3:47:25and so really just a summary of kind of

3:47:27the benefits. Again, it really enhances

3:47:29the competitiveness of that um

3:47:31employment site that that has been uh

3:47:34purchased and uh it it gets the outside

3:47:37funding. Uh that helps uh fund some of

3:47:39that. It does some improved uh water and

3:47:42sewer service at C Page Airport, removes

3:47:45those lagoons on the north side of the

3:47:46highway. Uh we think it creates

3:47:49meaningful tax uh creation for the city.

3:47:52And we're really, you know, haven't

3:47:53included in those numbers any of the,

3:47:55you know, there there could potentially

3:47:57be other tax generating uh developments

3:48:00around the Bucky store as well as we've

3:48:02seen in many other markets that, you

3:48:04know, sometimes attracts other retail

3:48:06and and uh restaurant other uses around

3:48:08it as well. So with that, be happy to

3:48:11answer any questions. Uh Stan Beard from

3:48:15uh the company, their director of uh

3:48:17development is here if there's any

3:48:18specific questions about the company or

3:48:20the project. But really this is this is

3:48:23a infrastructure thing. But I did want

3:48:25to be transparent, give you the full

3:48:26picture of what this would take and kind

3:48:29of all the different uses it would

3:48:30potentially be serving.

3:48:36>> Any questions, comments?

3:48:39>> I have a couple of questions, Kenny.

3:48:41>> Okay.

3:48:42>> Um so one of the things that um I think

3:48:45people ask about is you know what

3:48:47exactly is the gul fund? And the gul

3:48:48fund is pulled from our property taxes.

3:48:51Correct.

3:48:52>> Yes. These would be the economic

3:48:53development bonds that were approved by

3:48:55the voters and they are funded by

3:48:58property taxes.

3:48:59>> Perfect. And so the alliance handles

3:49:01both the Gul funds for housing and then

3:49:04for economic development. And those are

3:49:06two different things.

3:49:07>> So the voters voted on one proposition.

3:49:11Um the council we really have, you know,

3:49:14said that we're going to put 50 million

3:49:16commit to put 50 million of that towards

3:49:18affordable housing. The rest goes

3:49:20towards a hundred million goes towards

3:49:23uh economic development purposes and

3:49:25that can fund the the hundred million

3:49:27funds our strategic investment program

3:49:30which is our job incentives. It can fund

3:49:32infrastructure improvements. It can fund

3:49:34land purchases. There's also some money

3:49:36in there for film, small business uh and

3:49:40innovation things.

3:49:42>> Got it.

3:49:42>> And the affordable housing

3:49:44>> and the and the affordable housing.

3:49:45>> And yeah, the 50 million is the

3:49:47affordable housing.

3:49:48Perfect. And so we've already used all

3:49:51of our 2017 geo bond funds for go.

3:49:54Correct.

3:49:56>> There's still um

3:49:59we allocated 10 million of of the money

3:50:03for affordable housing which has I think

3:50:06been all spent. There are still some geo

3:50:09uh Gol funds there as well. And in

3:50:12addition, there are some things that

3:50:14we've invested that in such as like the

3:50:15577 park where as that money as the

3:50:19properties sell, that money comes back

3:50:21into the Gul program. I'd have to we'd

3:50:24probably have to get with Joanna and

3:50:26pull a report on kind of what's left

3:50:28over from that last one as well, but

3:50:31[snorts] there's some left. I don't

3:50:32think it's a lot.

3:50:34>> Um, so did we are so did we already

3:50:36front fund? Um, that's probably not the

3:50:39right word, but you know what I mean.

3:50:41Lot. So, in our first year of issuance,

3:50:43did we fully fund the Golt funding or is

3:50:46it incremental?

3:50:47>> No, it'll be incremental. Okay.

3:50:48>> As far as what we're selling, we'll sell

3:50:50that over time.

3:50:51>> Okay. So, because today we have almost

3:50:54$20 million and if we had 150 million to

3:50:58start out with, that's a little bit over

3:51:0010, what 15% that we're looking at just

3:51:03today in our Gulf funding allocations.

3:51:06Um,

3:51:09yes. But I think all of those things,

3:51:12one, a lot of them don't get paid out

3:51:14today. We're managing. We look at all

3:51:17these projects and manage them. And I

3:51:19know there's like some others today I'm

3:51:20going to talk about after this that will

3:51:23be repaid in May. And and so I think

3:51:25that's where we work very closely with

3:51:27the city and Joanna on like the cash

3:51:29flow situation there.

3:51:32There's also I would say quite a few

3:51:35even from the 27 there's probably still

3:51:37you know we make these a lot of these

3:51:39deals are pay for performance with the

3:51:41companies on their job incentives so

3:51:43those usually happen over four five

3:51:46years six years you know so there's

3:51:48still we're keeping track of what's

3:51:50committed and obligated we're also

3:51:52keeping track of the cash flow on that

3:51:54>> yeah on that topic it is worth noting

3:51:56how often we have approved things up

3:51:57here that were never paid and will never

3:51:59be paid um out of the vault funds. It's

3:52:01happened a number of times and nobody

3:52:03ever really comes back and makes a big

3:52:05production about that. But

3:52:07>> you obviously take that [snorts] off the

3:52:09books and now that's and then it becomes

3:52:10available again.

3:52:11>> Yeah, Joanna manages that very closely

3:52:13of you know there are ones that

3:52:15periodically come back and we you know

3:52:17it didn't materialize or they didn't

3:52:20generate their required jobs and so they

3:52:22didn't they don't get paid out that

3:52:24money that capacity sort of gets freed

3:52:25up for other projects.

3:52:27>> Yeah. Excellent. Well, I just think it's

3:52:29it's a really good opportunity for us to

3:52:31have a lens of interpretation of what we

3:52:33have to work with because it's kind of

3:52:34like the venture capital fund for the

3:52:37city of Oklahoma City to leverage a very

3:52:41very small portion of our overall um

3:52:45property tax funding to strategically

3:52:49align our city um around development

3:52:53that aligns with our core priorities.

3:52:58Um, okay. So then the and I have I kind

3:53:01of combine these questions since we have

3:53:03multiples coming up, so I won't ask many

3:53:06questions further on. Um, so whenever we

3:53:09look at the $12 million infrastructure

3:53:11allocation,

3:53:12um, can you I think you went through

3:53:14kind of the sewer, the water, did you go

3:53:17through um, roads and other improvements

3:53:19that are tied to that 12 million?

3:53:22So, I think there there needs to be a

3:53:24little bit of and we have a do we have

3:53:26the other little supplemental we could

3:53:29pull up and talk about some some of the

3:53:31road stuff is really some of the

3:53:32improvements along

3:53:34Simmeron between kind of Route 66 and

3:53:36I40 on Simron and then the entry and

3:53:39exit ramp. So, we we have this kind of

3:53:42is that the one I think there's one that

3:53:44has a diff some colored things if you

3:53:47keep going.

3:53:50Maybe that was it. Maybe that was the

3:53:52one you had. But go maybe go back. This

3:53:54is the water and sewer. Go back to the

3:53:56one you were on, I guess. Yeah, I think

3:53:59this is where you know, really. Yeah,

3:54:01this is it. I'm sorry. So, this I'm

3:54:03sorry, I can't see it on this tiny

3:54:04screen. My eyes are getting bad as I get

3:54:06older. Um, this this is really looking

3:54:08at some of the improvements kind of the

3:54:10hatched thing on Simmeron Road. And then

3:54:13really it's some of it's the kind of

3:54:15lengthening and improving the entry and

3:54:17exit ramps as this would have traffic

3:54:20coming in off you know on the bridge is

3:54:22if you've seen one of these in other

3:54:24markets you need to have some queuing

3:54:27distance there.

3:54:28>> So it's not tied to any infrastructure

3:54:30improvements in the surrounding area

3:54:33that would be impacted by the five

3:54:36million um visitors annually.

3:54:39>> No. And and really the thought is the

3:54:41majority

3:54:43come in go to the side leave you know

3:54:46that is some I don't we don't expect a

3:54:49lot of them to

3:54:51circulate to other you know north or

3:54:52south but I mean there is that

3:54:54possibility

3:54:58>> thank you

3:55:03>> any other questions comments

3:55:06>> I I do have some comments I just want to

3:55:08Um, I just wanted to make sure that I

3:55:10understood before I made the comments.

3:55:12And that is,

3:55:14um, anytime we have an economic and

3:55:17development project, I want to be

3:55:19mindful of what our mission is and how

3:55:20it's aligning with our city's goals. and

3:55:23we around the horseshoe horseshoe can

3:55:26have um discrepancies or disagreements

3:55:28amongst that but it doesn't mean that we

3:55:30shouldn't have lend voice to them and be

3:55:33able to have that same type of

3:55:35constructive conversation that we expect

3:55:37from our neighbors in day-to-day lives.

3:55:39So whenever I look at this application,

3:55:41it gives me great pause. And you know

3:55:43this, we've we've had multiple

3:55:45conversations around it. Not because um

3:55:48of BIES. Bies is exciting, right? Who

3:55:50doesn't love the Bucky Bucky nuggets or

3:55:52brisket on the board? Um but looking at

3:55:54the area of development and what we are

3:55:56proposing um and and looking at that

3:55:59through a lens of interpretation.

3:56:02So, um, running water and sewer to this

3:56:07location opens up access to a number of

3:56:10different, um, development puds that

3:56:13have been done over the last five years

3:56:16that had restrictions on them tied to

3:56:18water and sewer. And at the same time, I

3:56:21know that on the GEO bond, we do not

3:56:23have infrastructure development in the

3:56:25roads. We don't have um the funding

3:56:27mechanisms even from the you know

3:56:30roughly $185,000 that would go into the

3:56:33public tax or public safety tax. That

3:56:36doesn't come anywhere close to being

3:56:38able to fund a police substation.

3:56:39[clears throat]

3:56:40It doesn't come anywhere close to being

3:56:43able to support the roads around that

3:56:45area. It doesn't come anywhere close um

3:56:48to addressing drainage concerns that we

3:56:50have on the west side of Oklahoma City

3:56:52as it relates to the drainage basin. by

3:56:54the way, we have none. Um, and it

3:56:58doesn't address the unlocking of

3:57:01development applications that were

3:57:04expected and have been expected based on

3:57:06our own city studies to unravel or

3:57:09unfold over 20 to 30 years. And so we

3:57:12have school systems that are not

3:57:13prepared for a rapid scale development

3:57:16beyond what we've been experiencing over

3:57:18the last 10 years, which is the fastest

3:57:21growing in the city and the fastest

3:57:22growing county.

3:57:24And um and I would ask that we think

3:57:28about what what does it mean when we

3:57:31build on the very furthest edge of our

3:57:34city limits and we have fundamental um

3:57:39priorities

3:57:41further in what are we postponing that

3:57:45we don't that that we are making a

3:57:48conscious decision of postponing. And

3:57:49for me I look at the Midian corridor

3:57:51revitalization. I look at MacArthur um

3:57:54another location that that um was was um

3:57:58recruiting a BIES application that would

3:58:00make a lot of sense right next to our

3:58:02outlet mall. Um I look at Lariat

3:58:04Landing, I look at Mustang Creek

3:58:06Crossing, I look at West 10, I look at

3:58:08Stockyard City and so um obviously each

3:58:13of those are priority for us just like

3:58:16um just like making sure that we have

3:58:18good development here. And I want to be

3:58:21mindful of that responsibility and that

3:58:23we are leveraging it well. And I know

3:58:26that I'm in disagreement with some of

3:58:29the people around uh the council along

3:58:32this. But I think that um my my

3:58:35predecessor's predecessor

3:58:38used a phrase that has been very

3:58:40meaningful around the council and that

3:58:41is the unintended consequences. And

3:58:44until I feel not feel just am able to

3:58:48see the economic model, what is it going

3:58:51to take to be successful

3:58:54um in the development of West Oklahoma

3:58:56City? And we have um really addressed it

3:59:00from a holistic perspective, not just

3:59:02water and sewer. I can't be in a

3:59:05position of supporting this specific um

3:59:08proposal.

3:59:11>> Mr. Mr. C, if I can just ask a question

3:59:13real quick. What is the percentage of

3:59:17tax dollar revenue this will generate

3:59:19that's coming from outside of Oklahoma

3:59:21City? Do you know roughly? I'm not

3:59:25>> um

3:59:27You want to take a stab at that Stan?

3:59:31>> Because I I think it'll be high.

3:59:33>> Yeah,

3:59:33>> it's it's hard.

3:59:35>> It will be because you got the signs

3:59:36like saying it's 550 miles away. What

3:59:39percentage we think

3:59:40>> people stay on there?

3:59:43>> I'm Stan. I'm not supposed to tell them

3:59:45who I am.

3:59:46>> Stan Beard, director of development for

3:59:49BIES of the Ardmore beards, I might add.

3:59:54>> The question is, how much

3:59:57tax revenue that we generate comes from

3:59:59outside of

4:00:01>> Oklahoma City?

4:00:02>> Oklahoma City.

4:00:04Uh

4:00:07by our estimations

4:00:11about 75% of that comes from outside of

4:00:17even

4:00:19a a 30 40 mile range.

4:00:22>> Wow.

4:00:22>> So it's it's a lot. Um, and and I will

4:00:27uh I will make a point to say that the

4:00:31the numbers shared by Kenny are indeed

4:00:34conservative.

4:00:36Um, and I I just kind of had to say that

4:00:40out loud,

4:00:41but this is a, you know, we've never

4:00:44been referred to as a means to an end.

4:00:48Uh, I don't take it personally. Okay.

4:00:52Um, I I really do believe that this is a

4:00:56a worthwhile project and it it it

4:01:01will lead to intended unintended

4:01:04consequences. I I I just think that it

4:01:07I've seen it I've seen it too often in

4:01:10other regions where where we are the the

4:01:13kind of the stalking horse, so to speak,

4:01:16that that it catches up with us pretty

4:01:19quick.

4:01:20>> Yeah. I think it'll lead to intended

4:01:22good consequences and we really want to

4:01:24thank you for being here today, sir.

4:01:26>> Well, we we're we're excited to be here.

4:01:28Uh this is I this is the Oklahoma City

4:01:31Bies. Um

4:01:33>> Oh, did he tell you I want make sure the

4:01:35name is on the sign. Yeah.

4:01:36>> Made it very clear, mayor. [laughter]

4:01:39>> Uh

4:01:41and so yeah, we're we're excited to be

4:01:43here.

4:01:44>> Yeah.

4:01:44>> Cool. and thank you for being here today

4:01:46and and I hope that you can appreciate

4:01:48my math approach because the the tax

4:01:50revenue towards our infrastructure or to

4:01:53our general fund is about 500,000 is

4:01:55what the estimation is beyond the public

4:01:58safety tax which is 185,000 per year and

4:02:01about 335,000 to the zoo fund and some

4:02:04of the other um smaller portions that

4:02:06are tied to the tax. So for me, I just

4:02:08came off of a geo bond and we're way

4:02:10behind on our infrastructure development

4:02:12tied to roads. People are very very

4:02:15frustrated and $500,000 to me means half

4:02:18of a mile of resurfacing.

4:02:22I know it's so that's that's how I

4:02:25compute it um into today's environment

4:02:29or for police officers it's you know two

4:02:31police officers or one police officer

4:02:33and one firefighter and yet we're

4:02:35changing the the the traffic flow we're

4:02:38changing the the ecosystem there. So

4:02:40>> thank you for allowing me to share both

4:02:43my math concerns and recognize the great

4:02:46business that you run and the the um

4:02:49excitement that our community has around

4:02:52um the the promise of a BIES in OKC.

4:02:56>> I also think it's great that we're

4:02:59actually bringing in more supplemental

4:03:02funding for the work we're doing up

4:03:04there. I mean, that's that's amazing. I

4:03:06always love when that piece happens. So,

4:03:08thank you.

4:03:10>> May I request a uh this would come I'm

4:03:15imagining from the city manager's office

4:03:17or finance planning economic alliance, I

4:03:20don't care. Uh there's an article I'd

4:03:22like for you all to digest and then

4:03:24report back to this council. It's again

4:03:26from Strongtown.

4:03:28Uh it's called the surprising

4:03:31relationship between retail tax and

4:03:33property tax. And

4:03:37this is just in my mind this is just not

4:03:39even about Bucky's almost whatsoever.

4:03:42This is about how can we generate

4:03:47more sales tax revenue, more property

4:03:49tax revenue for our fire departments,

4:03:52for law enforcement, for our parks, for

4:03:54our streets, for our roads, for our

4:03:57public transportation, for drainage. I

4:04:00would not keep saying this if I weren't

4:04:03backed by facts.

4:04:06As I said last time and as I posted my

4:04:08remarks about BIES, there were people

4:04:10who commented on my Facebook and my

4:04:12Instagram and they said, "James, at

4:04:14first when you when I made those

4:04:16comments, they thought I was

4:04:17anti-development

4:04:20until they listened to the comments

4:04:21right at the end where they heard me say

4:04:23yes and I said bring Bies here and do

4:04:28these mixeduse developments. Do the

4:04:31transit oriented development. we get the

4:04:34you will generate we know you will

4:04:36generate what you will generate. What I

4:04:38am suggesting and what we know by data

4:04:41what we know from the American public

4:04:43transportation

4:04:44uh conference that both mayor and I

4:04:46attended this last weekend that I have

4:04:48attended since 2015. We know the data

4:04:51exists that property tax and sales tax

4:04:54revenue generation, you get a bigger

4:04:57bang for your buckies with these

4:04:59mixeduse developments with transit

4:05:02oriented development. So we don't have

4:05:04to pit them against each other. But what

4:05:06this council and economic alliance and

4:05:09the city manager's office, what we have

4:05:11not tried yet is this approach. Yes and

4:05:16do both. And I'm leveraging this

4:05:18conversation right now to ask us to do

4:05:21both, to be intentional in both, to take

4:05:26the list of places in our respective

4:05:29words. You just heard from the council

4:05:30woman from Stockyards to West 10, you

4:05:33know, my list. I'm guessing we all have

4:05:35one. and to actually start that outreach

4:05:38to those property owners and connecting

4:05:40them to the developers from the big

4:05:42developers in our city right down to the

4:05:45people who've been doing infill

4:05:46development. But the time has long

4:05:48passed for us to do this. It's why my

4:05:50predecessor voted no on everything

4:05:52related to economic development because

4:05:54he wanted this and he never heard any

4:05:57traction. So he just kept saying no, no,

4:05:59no to everything. And I have always been

4:06:01a yes and I have always been a yes and.

4:06:04And that's when I'm all but I'm

4:06:06imploring us to do that. And it sounds

4:06:08like we got some good traction earlier,

4:06:09but I just I couldn't let the

4:06:11councilwoman just say those remarks and

4:06:14not affirm her in that decision because

4:06:17it can be lonely sometimes to stand out

4:06:19and speak out when the majority is

4:06:21heading down a path of the familiar. And

4:06:24so I just wanted to add my voice and

4:06:26support for you. This is not anti-bies.

4:06:28This I just want to make sure that's

4:06:30clear. That is not anti- sales tax

4:06:32revenue generation. That's not

4:06:33anti-propy tax. But I would like a

4:06:35report back to this council about

4:06:38whether or not I am wrong. I know I'm

4:06:40not. And it is time we are all on the

4:06:41same page with this.

4:06:44That's it. Thank you.

4:06:47>> Okay. We have a resident who signed up

4:06:48to speak on this item. Uh Javier

4:06:51Theresus.

4:06:54If

4:06:54>> you'd state your name better than I did

4:06:57and uh your address and keep your

4:06:58remarks to three minutes or less.

4:07:00>> You're fine. Hello. resident of W 6 1237

4:07:03Southwest 26th Street Javier Terasas.

4:07:06Um, city council, all I ask is that you

4:07:08guys really really take the time to look

4:07:11at this situation that we have in front

4:07:12of us. Bies, um, you just heard this man

4:07:15speak about 57, you know, was the number

4:07:18and then he said 9 something million was

4:07:20the number. Guys, I cross I40 and I 44

4:07:25every day. I know it's a DOT state DOT

4:07:28and Oklahoma State issue when it comes

4:07:30to bridges, but we also, you know, we

4:07:33commute those bridges every day. While I

4:07:35pass that bridge, I look up,

4:07:38I see potholes, I see right through. I

4:07:41see wire. And for us to spend another $9

4:07:44million on a BIE bridge to renovate a

4:07:47bridge just so we can go to BIES when my

4:07:49my bridge that I cross every street

4:07:50every day going to work is crumbling.

4:07:54Yeah, we may have a a plan to fix these

4:07:57roads, to fix these bridges or whatever.

4:07:58We may have a plan set for the future. I

4:08:00get it, but right now is the time. Now

4:08:03is the time. Do your due diligence. Do

4:08:07your research. That's all I ask. I'm for

4:08:10the Bies, too. I like the idea bringing,

4:08:14you know, tax dollars and renov. But at

4:08:17what cost?

4:08:19If I remember correct, you pass down I40

4:08:22in West, you know, Simron Road, it turns

4:08:25into fields, it turns into oil field, it

4:08:26turns into farms. Next thing you know,

4:08:29you're in El Reno.

4:08:32Have we even decided about what, you

4:08:34know, the community thinks about it?

4:08:36I mean, have we took a, you know, you

4:08:38guys do surveys all the time. Have we

4:08:40asked the public of that area or our

4:08:42residents what they think about the

4:08:43buggies?

4:08:45I mean, I would I care. I care enough to

4:08:49stand here and and to tell you guys that

4:08:52the money that we're going to use on

4:08:53this is not I'm not for it.

4:08:57We have other issues in the city that

4:08:59need our attention. And I thank you guys

4:09:01for for for you know you guys know the

4:09:02issues that we have ahead of us. But I

4:09:06don't want to sit here and be 30 years

4:09:09down the road and the buckage is still

4:09:11standing and my bridge is falling.

4:09:14That's all I got to say. Thank you guys.

4:09:16>> Thank you.

4:09:18Well, there's no further comments. We

4:09:20could take the item up. This is item T

4:09:2511T.

4:09:29We have a motion and a second. Cast your

4:09:30votes.

4:09:35Passes 6 to three. Next up is 11U. This

4:09:39is a joint resolution with the Oklahoma

4:09:40City Economic Development Trust

4:09:42approving the allocation of general

4:09:44obligation limited tax bond proceeds and

4:09:46or investment proceeds an amount not to

4:09:48exceed $1 million for the provision of

4:09:50certain job creation economic

4:09:52development centers for the board of

4:09:53regents of the University of Oklahoma

4:09:56specifically in a project at the U

4:09:58Health Campus here in OKC. I think we

4:10:01have a presentation.

4:10:02>> Yes, Kenny Sud.

4:10:04>> Thank you, Mayor and Council. Kenny Sud

4:10:05the Alliance. I'm very excited to talk

4:10:08about this project and this is a a

4:10:10partnership and and what we're

4:10:12considering today is an SIP incentive to

4:10:15assist with this but and Matt Holver uh

4:10:18the VP of research and partnerships for

4:10:20OU is here going to give us a

4:10:22presentation but what we're looking at

4:10:25today is we've been working with

4:10:27[clears throat] Matt and OU and uh the

4:10:30innovation district for quite a while

4:10:33now and exciting he's going to tell you

4:10:36about project 200 which is the hiring of

4:10:38200 research professors and what we're

4:10:40doing here is we've been working with

4:10:42Matt and OU about how could we get a

4:10:45large portion of those to be here in

4:10:47Oklahoma City. So, you know, some

4:10:49portion of those are going to be in

4:10:50Norman, other places, but what's really

4:10:52exciting is we're looking at 150 and all

4:10:55the associated uh uh jobs around those.

4:10:58So this just to give you really quickly

4:11:01what this this would be a standard SIP

4:11:04deal that would be pay for performance.

4:11:06It' be a reimbursement up to a million

4:11:08dollars over uh five years for 500 520

4:11:13new jobs with an average wage of 100,95

4:11:17so six figure jobs. Um again this would

4:11:21be and he's going to talk about kind of

4:11:22the four pillars or industries where

4:11:24they're really looking at doing this

4:11:26research and uh you know this is a

4:11:28really really huge economic impact and

4:11:30to really have it located in the health

4:11:33science center area and the innovation

4:11:35district here in uh ward 7 of Oklahoma

4:11:38City is really exciting. So with that

4:11:40that's the deal. I'm going to turn it

4:11:41over to Matt to give you a presentation

4:11:42on what uh we're trying to create here

4:11:45and then be happy to take any questions.

4:11:50Thank you, Kenny. Um, so it's it's great

4:11:52to be with you all today. Um, I think

4:11:54what I'm most excited about here is just

4:11:56to really share I think the story of

4:11:59where univers University of Oklahoma is

4:12:01and um

4:12:05and really this impact focused vision

4:12:07that we're moving forward under uh

4:12:09President Joe Harris. Um, project 200 is

4:12:14the single largest investment that the

4:12:16university has made in itself probably

4:12:18in the history of University of Oklahoma

4:12:20and it it extends from this concept of

4:12:22this very impact focused um uh vision at

4:12:26this time. If you look at the health

4:12:27outcomes of Oklahomaans right now,

4:12:29depending on what health outcome you're

4:12:30looking at, you're we're between 45 or

4:12:3250 ranks among the 50 states. Uh so out

4:12:35of project 200 we're very deliberately

4:12:37focusing on bringing talent to the state

4:12:39that want to be in this state want to be

4:12:41in Oklahoma focusing on the key areas

4:12:43that we are advancing at the University

4:12:45of Oklahoma and 150 of those are on the

4:12:47health campus. Um if you look at other

4:12:50universities around the country right

4:12:51now Oregon Utah all of them are

4:12:54contracting and we are taking advantage

4:12:56of this to bring talent to the state of

4:12:58Oklahoma. Next slide. Oh there okay I'm

4:13:00sorry I didn't realize you back one more

4:13:02slide. Um, a little bit about the health

4:13:04campus. Uh, currently we're at about

4:13:06four uh just over 4,000 students. That's

4:13:09been about a 30% growth in students over

4:13:11the last 5 years. Uh, we're expecting

4:13:14additional growth. For example, it's the

4:13:16largest nursing program in the state in

4:13:18a time when we need more nurses than

4:13:19ever. Um, that's 400 um 4,000 plus uh

4:13:26employees. You know, that ranks the tops

4:13:28amongst amongst the top five employer in

4:13:30Oklahoma. If you look past Tinker,

4:13:32Amazon, and Walmart, we're ranking right

4:13:35now just under the top 100 of medical

4:13:37institutions as far as NIH funding with

4:13:39our sites on being top 50. Um, next

4:13:44slide.

4:13:46And so when I say this very impact

4:13:47focused vision, we're focused on areas

4:13:49that make a tremendous amount of sense

4:13:50for Oklahoma. They make a tremendous

4:13:52amount of sense for the University of

4:13:53Oklahoma where we have unique

4:13:54capabilities. And it's really advancing

4:13:56innovation around four key areas.

4:13:58extreme weather with the National

4:14:00Weather Center in Norman. It's been

4:14:01there 20 years. Any place in the country

4:14:03where you get a severe weather warning

4:14:05that's coming out of Norman, Oklahoma.

4:14:07Uh look at advanced radar capabilities.

4:14:09They're building advanced radar research

4:14:11center. We're building radar systems for

4:14:13the military for the National Weather

4:14:15Enterprise etc.

4:14:17uh national security. We're very focused

4:14:19on modern uh modernization and

4:14:21sustainment of of tinker aging air force

4:14:23fleet in the context advanced

4:14:25manufacturing and against uh sensing and

4:14:27detection in the context of um of our

4:14:30radar assets. Energy Oklahoma has been

4:14:33leading in energy for over a century. Uh

4:14:35we are continuing to grow that and

4:14:37looking at what secure and resilient

4:14:38energy looks like at a time where the

4:14:40country needs more power uh to fuel many

4:14:42of the things we're doing around this

4:14:44country than ever. And then finally in

4:14:45health. Um, again, we're very much

4:14:48focused on bringing the best of the best

4:14:49Oklahoma to advance health outcomes in

4:14:51Oklahoma. One example is that is we

4:14:53recently just hired a gentleman of mine

4:14:55by the name of John Kerwin from LSU. He

4:14:58has been leading the Pennington

4:14:59Biomedical Research Center. Uh, he has

4:15:01now come in to lead the Harold Ham

4:15:03Diabetes Center, one of the top diabetes

4:15:05research centers in the country. He he

4:15:06and his team are right now um amongst a

4:15:10group of individuals in the country that

4:15:11are on the verge of having a cure for

4:15:13type 1 diabetes. and we've brought him

4:15:15to Oklahoma. Next slide.

4:15:18A little bit about the numbers. Um, you

4:15:20know, the jobs here, we're talking about

4:15:21520. If we look at surrounding jobs, um,

4:15:24let me give you a little bit of an

4:15:25example. As we are recruiting

4:15:28individuals that come to Oklahoma that

4:15:31bring national institute programs with

4:15:33them. Um, your average inst your average

4:15:37NIH grant takes about three to six

4:15:40personnel to operate. uh as we look at

4:15:44three to five years, say we bring 150

4:15:46faculty, say just an odd numbers of 75%

4:15:49of those bring NIH dollars with you. If

4:15:51you start to do those numbers IH grant,

4:15:52the number of folks that it takes to

4:15:54actually execute one of these grants, uh

4:15:57that doesn't include graduate students

4:15:58that we recruit to the region. So the

4:16:00number really does compound beyond that

4:16:02um 520. And we're expecting um over the

4:16:06next three to five years that we'll

4:16:07increase NIH dollars flowing into

4:16:09Oklahoma City and Oklahoma Health Campus

4:16:11by hund00 million by this recruitment.

4:16:14Um major investment in infrastructure of

4:16:1760 million plus uh to build

4:16:19state-of-the-art labs, state-of-the-art

4:16:21facilities, state-of-the-art clinical

4:16:22trial facilities with the goals of

4:16:24bringing state-of-the-art drugs and

4:16:26treatments to Oklahoma City so

4:16:28Oklahomaans do not have to leave the

4:16:29state for the state-of-art treatments.

4:16:32Um and you see some other numbers there.

4:16:34Next slide. Uh so what this investment

4:16:37builds it in builds uh state-of-the-art

4:16:39research space. Uh we had the in

4:16:41director of national institute of health

4:16:44out here recently uh director B J

4:16:46Bacharia

4:16:47uh and he said we need to be building

4:16:49state-of-the-art facilities in places

4:16:51like Oklahoma. We can do it more co we

4:16:53can do more um costefficient. we can do

4:16:57it more energy efficient and it will

4:16:58attract state-of-the-art talent to

4:17:00places like Oklahoma where we need it

4:17:01most in the country. Um

4:17:05uh this allows us to recruit teams to

4:17:07compete for larger scale infrastructure

4:17:10and and the bottom line is it increases

4:17:12health outcomes. Um you are not going to

4:17:14find many universities around the

4:17:16country that are setting goals like we

4:17:18want to decrease the incidence of death

4:17:20u deaths associated with diabetes by

4:17:2230%. We want to be in a place where

4:17:24we're treating four out of four cancer

4:17:26patients in the state, not not two out

4:17:28of four. Um, and by doing this type of

4:17:31level of recruitment, this type of level

4:17:33investment will allow us to get there.

4:17:35Next slide. Uh, so why Oklahoma City?

4:17:38Um, Oklahoma City, we we're home to the

4:17:40only the state's only comprehensive

4:17:43academic health campus. Uh, the

4:17:45university is largely funding this

4:17:47expansion. local incentives like

4:17:50incentives like we're talking about here

4:17:51today uh are exciting and we're excited

4:17:54to partner with with the city on this

4:17:56nationally competitive recruitment again

4:17:58recruiting the best of the best of the

4:18:00city um

4:18:03and really we're striving for U Health

4:18:06uh U the the Heraldham um health campus

4:18:09to be really be the employer of choice

4:18:12in Oklahoma City. Next slide.

4:18:15impact on Oklahoma City. Uh high-paying

4:18:17jobs, uh I think beyond some numbers

4:18:19we're talking about here today, but uh

4:18:21all of the the ecosystem that it takes

4:18:24to build that. Uh major contributor to

4:18:27the economy, um discovery of improved

4:18:31outcomes, and then finally, education

4:18:34and care alongside the research

4:18:35training. Uh it provides the ideal

4:18:38environment for training new students,

4:18:40uh new medical professionals, etc. that

4:18:41the state I uh so um so drastically

4:18:44needs. And with that, I believe I will

4:18:47pause there and I'm happy to answer any

4:18:50questions.

4:18:53>> I'll say that I'm excited to see this

4:18:54investment and I'm excited to see the

4:18:56future and glad to see the innovation

4:18:58growing and and the U Health Sciences uh

4:19:00center continuing to grow, too. So,

4:19:01thank you.

4:19:02>> Thank you.

4:19:04>> Um thank you for this presentation. Um,

4:19:06I'm curious to know, I feel like my mic

4:19:09isn't on, but maybe it's just my

4:19:11speaker. Okay. Um, I'm curious to know

4:19:14because I've just, you know, watching

4:19:15the news and sort of I work in the

4:19:17health space. Um, the impact of like NIH

4:19:21cuts over the last few years. Have you

4:19:24all been feeling that? And I suppose if

4:19:26that continues, do you get the sense

4:19:28that those cuts are coming in areas that

4:19:30you all are

4:19:33seeking? I I just kind of like, you

4:19:35know, want to invest in health

4:19:36infrastructure, but also it's like if

4:19:38the sort of hope for investment um

4:19:42doesn't follow, like is there sort of a

4:19:43plan B? Um or or what is what you're

4:19:46setting up sort of able to um operate on

4:19:49some level or scale even without that

4:19:51NAH investment?

4:19:54>> Uh well, even with NIH cuts, um over the

4:19:58last few years, our health portfolio has

4:20:00been growing. Even this year, we're

4:20:01going to have higher uh record numbers

4:20:03of NIH dollars coming into the health

4:20:05campus even when when you're seeing on

4:20:08the news the NIH cuts. The other thing

4:20:10we're seeing at NIH is uh the current

4:20:12leadership is very focused on if you

4:20:14look at where the NIH dollars have went

4:20:15around the country, they go to a small

4:20:19group of institutions, right? You look

4:20:21at the Northeast, you look in the West.

4:20:23Um, and the current NIH director is very

4:20:26apt in making sure these resources go,

4:20:28they're spread across the country,

4:20:30especially in places like Oklahoma where

4:20:31we need to drastically improve health

4:20:32outcomes. Uh, we've had the NIH director

4:20:35out here uh I believe he he's been here

4:20:37once. We've had other uh leaders in uh

4:20:40Department of U Health and Human

4:20:42Services out to Oklahoma. So, they know

4:20:44what we're doing. They know the

4:20:45investments we're making. They know the

4:20:48uh the drastic needs to advance health

4:20:50outcomes in Oklahoma. Um, so we think

4:20:52we're well positioned even with the cuts

4:20:54um and recruiting the best of the best

4:20:56that can come here, be part of the great

4:20:58faculty. And this isn't suggesting that

4:21:00we all we all don't already have

4:21:01tremendous talent here because we do and

4:21:03and we've been growing. But um I'm less

4:21:06worried, you know, leading the entire

4:21:08research for the enterprise for the

4:21:10University of Oklahoma. I'm less worried

4:21:11about the NIH cuts. I think we're well

4:21:12positioned. we're growing in the right

4:21:14areas uh in cancer, diabetes and

4:21:17metabolic disease, uh neuroscience

4:21:20um etc. So I I'm confident and I um

4:21:25and we have a diverse funding portfolio

4:21:27from other resources as well. So um yes,

4:21:30we're always thinking about plan B, but

4:21:32I'm fairly confident of where we are and

4:21:34where we position within NIH priorities.

4:21:38I think one of the great things is when

4:21:39you're working on something that is so

4:21:41highly needed, there's there's a way

4:21:43forward most often. Um, so beyond the

4:21:46research, which I think is very much

4:21:48aligned with priorities across the

4:21:50state, across the nation, and the jobs,

4:21:52which 100% align with our priorities,

4:21:55um, I'm excited about the treatment and

4:21:57the the impact that that has um on on

4:22:00people's lives, on our on our neighbors,

4:22:02on our family, on our friends. Um, I'm

4:22:05so excited that you guys aren't just

4:22:06looking at medical treatment research,

4:22:08but um, new methods of delivery that

4:22:11would enable access to rural

4:22:13Oklahomaans, urban Oklahomaans that are

4:22:15homebound, so that you don't necessarily

4:22:17always have to be in the hospital to get

4:22:19the care that you need. And I think that

4:22:20that is very powerful as well and and

4:22:22deserves a shout out as um, you lead the

4:22:25way in innovative innovative research,

4:22:27innovative techniques, and innovative

4:22:29applications. I know um probably anyone

4:22:32around this room would have a story, but

4:22:35whenever my grandmother had cancer, I

4:22:37drove 45 minutes to go pick her up and

4:22:39then an hour and 15 minutes to take her

4:22:41to the hospital. And that had to happen

4:22:42every single day.

4:22:44>> Um so kudos. Thank you.

4:22:46>> Thank you.

4:22:49>> Thanks, Matt.

4:22:50>> Thank you both.

4:22:53>> Well, we can take up the resolution if

4:22:54there are no further comments.

4:23:01We have a motion and a second. Cast your

4:23:03votes.

4:23:06Passes unanimously.

4:23:08Next up is item V. This is a joint

4:23:10resolution with the Oklahoma City

4:23:11Economic Development Trust approving the

4:23:12allocation not to exceed $2,825,000

4:23:16from District A. Uh this relates to the

4:23:19South Oklahoma City Economic Development

4:23:20Project Plan, specifically the Historia

4:23:23Creek affordable housing project on

4:23:25Southwest 69th. We have a presentation.

4:23:28>> Yes, Kenny will continue the Kenny Sud

4:23:30shows. [laughter]

4:23:31>> We had a been working [clears throat] on

4:23:32a lot. Um, so yeah, excited about this

4:23:35project. This is in the southside tiff

4:23:38that we talked about earlier. So, this

4:23:40is contingent upon council, you know,

4:23:42creating this at the final hearing in

4:23:44two weeks. Uh, but what this is just

4:23:47very quickly and I'm going to have and

4:23:48we're going to have the developer come

4:23:49up and give a presentation. So, this and

4:23:52this is a little bit of a nuance. This

4:23:53is kind of a double, it's not double

4:23:56counting, but a a double allocation of

4:23:58go affordable housing dollars and tiff.

4:24:00What the plan is the afford, the

4:24:02affordable housing dollars will fund

4:24:05this upfront and then we're going to use

4:24:07the tiff to pay those dollars back so

4:24:10that they recycle back into the

4:24:11affordable housing program. So, this is

4:24:14215 affordable housing units on

4:24:17Southwest 69th Street. They're just kind

4:24:19of off Walker uh north of 240. And so,

4:24:23you know, excited about this project.

4:24:25It's a uh about a a $44 million project.

4:24:28So, um Donita Pierce is here with the

4:24:31developer and she's going to give a

4:24:33short presentation on what this project

4:24:35will will be and then we're happy to

4:24:37answer any questions.

4:24:39>> Thank you. Hello. Um like you said, my

4:24:42name's Donita. Um I'm with Atoria Creek

4:24:45uh Apartments. We are low-income housing

4:24:47right off of South Walker in 240. You

4:24:50can go to the next slide. Um this is an

4:24:52overview. We have two phases. Phase one

4:24:54is a singlestory phase. Um phase two is

4:24:57also um on there. It's a two-story

4:25:00phase. Go to the next one. Um phase one

4:25:03we're asking for 925,000.

4:25:06Um there are 92 affordable housing

4:25:09units. Um where' that go? Phase two is

4:25:121.9 million. Um and those are 123 uh

4:25:16housing units. You can go to the next

4:25:18slide. Um this is a little bit more. So

4:25:21phase one again 92 um we are part of the

4:25:24tiff

4:25:26our goal is to preserve that area if you

4:25:28guys are familiar with that area it is a

4:25:30little questionable you know we want to

4:25:33clean it up as much as we can so that's

4:25:35our goal here

4:25:37um we are 60% AMI on average our two

4:25:40bedrooms as well as three bedrooms that

4:25:41we offer um of course which is uh below

4:25:44the market value

4:25:46here's just our layout of um phase one

4:25:49so you can our two bedrooms. We'll have

4:25:5152bedroom um and 42 threebedrooms. We

4:25:56will have um our community focus with

4:25:58dog parks. We'll have a playground um

4:26:00our clubhouse. Uh we also have a

4:26:03community storm shelter that will be

4:26:04part of that as well.

4:26:07Um phase two, we'll have 123 units.

4:26:10Again, that's 21bedroom, 71 two-bedroom,

4:26:13and then we will have 32 threebedrooms.

4:26:16Again, we're 60% um AMI on phase two.

4:26:22Here's our layout on phase two as well.

4:26:24Uh 21 bedrooms, 71 twobedrooms um and 32

4:26:28threebedrooms, which which with a total

4:26:30of 123 units.

4:26:33You go to the next one. Um our community

4:26:35impact, which this is what I like to hit

4:26:37on. Um of course, our location. We are

4:26:39very close to all the amenities over

4:26:41there off of I240. Um and that area is

4:26:44really growing and so we we're excited

4:26:46to to bring this over there um

4:26:49conveniently accessible to um the

4:26:52shopping. We'll have employ the

4:26:54employment also our transits. We have

4:26:58the buses and and things right over

4:27:00there. Um it's also part of a really

4:27:02good school systems in Oklahoma City. So

4:27:05we'll have that. Um let me see.

4:27:09Oh, and is 5% of our units are

4:27:12designated as handicap units also.

4:27:16Okay. Um, our team experience, we've

4:27:18been doing this for quite some time.

4:27:19This is, I believe, our fifth or sixth

4:27:22uh low or affordable income project.

4:27:26You can go to the next one. Um, we are

4:27:28partnered with Meg, which is um our

4:27:31syndicator,

4:27:33and then Hans Thomas is our architect

4:27:35that we use.

4:27:39That's it. Thank you. Any questions?

4:27:45>> Thank you very much for coming into

4:27:47this. It's been a blighted area for so

4:27:50long and this is going to fill a giant

4:27:52hole and increase the

4:27:53[clears throat and cough] tax dollars

4:27:54getting spent on 240.

4:27:56>> Oh yeah. Very.

4:27:56>> I mean, even the Johnny's may open back

4:27:59up because you're going in there.

4:28:01>> I know.

4:28:01>> I'd be all for that.

4:28:02>> Yeah.

4:28:03>> Thank you.

4:28:04>> Thank you.

4:28:05>> Thank you.

4:28:07All right, we can uh take up this item

4:28:10then.

4:28:11This is item V.

4:28:16We have a motion and a second. Cast your

4:28:18votes. [clears throat]

4:28:25Passes unanimously.

4:28:27Now we're on item W. This is a joint

4:28:29resolution with the Oklahoma City

4:28:30Economic Development Trust Trust

4:28:32approving use of an amount not to exceed

4:28:34$4 million um from Oklahoma City's

4:28:37Economic Development Trust general

4:28:38obligation limited tax bonds to assist

4:28:40in the construction of a pedestrian

4:28:41bridge to be located across the Oklahoma

4:28:43River near I35 and Lincoln. And I

4:28:47believe item X is going to also relate

4:28:49to this as well.

4:28:49>> These two will relate together. Kenny's

4:28:51going to kick this off and intro because

4:28:53there's the Gul funding in the front as

4:28:55a financing mechanism and then uh Debbie

4:28:57will talk about the project.

4:28:59>> Can I actually provide an an even higher

4:29:01level just intro real quick just to

4:29:03remind everybody ODOT approached us a

4:29:05few years ago and said you know there's

4:29:07a necessity to replace the and it's

4:29:09actually bridges. You don't think about

4:29:11it necessarily when you're a driver

4:29:13crossing the river at I35, but it's

4:29:15there's multiple bridges and they need

4:29:18to be replaced out of necessity. And our

4:29:21contention has been and remains that

4:29:23some thought of the aesthetics of this

4:29:26project would be nice. That has not

4:29:28always been a priority historically for

4:29:29ODOT, although I would say in the last

4:29:3120 years that that has improved greatly.

4:29:34And that sort of evolved into a

4:29:39directly related project to have a

4:29:41pedestrian bridge where aesthetics would

4:29:43definitely be prioritized maybe at a

4:29:46more affordable cost. I still think

4:29:48we're going to push for some sort of um

4:29:51aesthetic touches to the automobile

4:29:53bridges, but the lesser nature of the

4:29:56pedestrian bridge gives us an

4:29:58opportunity to do something um a little

4:30:00more visually interesting. Then uh they

4:30:04got a grant uh I think nearly $20

4:30:06million from the federal government to

4:30:08assist with this project. That helps.

4:30:09Obviously that's not everything as we'll

4:30:11see here today. Um and then that bridge

4:30:14sort of migrated a little bit to

4:30:16actually where you see here. It's still

4:30:18obviously in the vicinity of I35, but it

4:30:21is now going to be uh and this what

4:30:23you're seeing right here is not a

4:30:24rendering obviously. That is the

4:30:25existing uh Lincoln Boulevard bridge,

4:30:27but I think there's going to be a a

4:30:29reveal here at the end of this

4:30:30presentation. But um but it is it is

4:30:33>> pedestrian bridge associated.

4:30:34>> Yeah. So the pedestrian bridge is going

4:30:37to you'll see it here in a few minutes

4:30:38is going to be just um to the east of

4:30:41that Lincoln Boulevard bridge and will

4:30:43actually create a pretty cool um kind of

4:30:46kind of stadium almost I think wrapping

4:30:49around now um our river course. Uh, a

4:30:52lot of spectators stand very unsafeely

4:30:55on this Lincoln Boulevard bridge and as

4:30:58you'll see in a few minutes will now

4:30:59have an opportunity for this pedestrian

4:31:01bridge which will also facilitate uh

4:31:04spectators on both sides of the river

4:31:06and obviously other uses on non-ra days

4:31:09but um all of this was probably context

4:31:12that I s thought I should share. Now

4:31:14there you go. I am only here to say this

4:31:17is going to be uh funded upfront with GT

4:31:20economic development bonds, but there's

4:31:23a listed GEO project that once it's sold

4:31:25will sort of replenish those funds. So

4:31:28that's why this item W is really about,

4:31:31you know, kind of the inner fund

4:31:33transfers of the different bond funds.

4:31:35But um with that, I'm going to turn it

4:31:37over to Debbie really tell you about the

4:31:38project.

4:31:39>> And then Debbie, the plan is to to sell

4:31:41those bonds in 27.

4:31:44Yes, it will be sold in 27. The funding

4:31:47will be available in June and we'll pay

4:31:49back the gold.

4:31:50>> So, the gold allocation that's included

4:31:51in this basically would be repaid by

4:31:54May, probably of this next year.

4:31:57>> Yes.

4:31:57>> Okay. Go ahead.

4:31:58>> Okay. Um, as the mayor said, we're very

4:32:01excited about this this bridge. Um, we

4:32:05uh the project team at ODOT and at Poen

4:32:08Associates have been really great to

4:32:09work with. They've been great partners.

4:32:11As you can see, there are all three of

4:32:13us listed here.

4:32:15So, this is the pedestrian bridge over

4:32:17the Oklahoma River. Um, it's a $23

4:32:20million project total the bridge itself

4:32:23along with the aesthetics. Um, it should

4:32:26begin construction in December of 26.

4:32:29It's the pedestrian and its bikeway. It

4:32:31It's a very wide bridge. Um, we have an

4:32:34aesthetic arch and colors. um and then

4:32:38have lighting similar to scissor tail

4:32:40that will be able to change colors. Um

4:32:43it should be completed by May of 28 and

4:32:46that's the bridge portion. The arch is

4:32:48everyone in Oklahoma is excited about

4:32:50the Olympics. They really would like to

4:32:52have all the aesthetics complete. So the

4:32:55arch they have question marks. They're

4:32:57really going to push to get it done by

4:32:58May of 28, but we may have to come back

4:33:00after the Olympics and finish that.

4:33:04So, here is a a plan view of the bridge.

4:33:07You can see where it's located in uh

4:33:10relation to Lincoln Boulevard. Um we'll

4:33:13have retaining walls. Um we'll have

4:33:16peers in the channel which line up with

4:33:18Lincoln. So, it does not affect the

4:33:20raceourse which is actually this is

4:33:22beyond the finish line. Um we're

4:33:25reconstructing the boat ramp. Uh we are

4:33:29uh looping in the bridge into the river

4:33:32trail. So, you'll be able to access the

4:33:34river trail through the bridge on both

4:33:36sides.

4:33:38So, this right here, I put this in here.

4:33:40I wanted you to see how wide the bridge

4:33:42is. It's 30 feet wide. Um, so it allows

4:33:45for a lot of access for pedestrians and

4:33:48bikes. So, part of it will be strike for

4:33:50bikes and then the remaining will be for

4:33:52the pedestrians.

4:33:55So, here's a a drawing of what we're

4:33:57looking for for the arch for the

4:33:58aesthetics. Um you can see it goes from

4:34:02one end to the other. Has some support

4:34:04systems.

4:34:07And here are some um form liners that

4:34:10we're going to put on the retaining wall

4:34:12and on the bridge railing. We really uh

4:34:15tried to stay with the whole river sport

4:34:17rowing. Um very excited about this. We

4:34:20kind of put this together and ODOT was

4:34:22excited about it. So here is what it's

4:34:24going to look like on the retaining

4:34:26wall.

4:34:28And here is the rendering of what we're

4:34:30expecting when it's complete with all

4:34:32the aesthetics. I will say that ODOT's

4:34:35grant will more than fund the pedestrian

4:34:39bridge. So the remaining amount will go

4:34:41towards the aesthetics and so our

4:34:43portion right now is at about 3.3

4:34:45million. Uh the Gulf funds will give us

4:34:47a little bit of contingency in case we

4:34:49need that. So um it is bidding. It will

4:34:53bid in October.

4:34:55uh they expect to be 580 working days.

4:34:59Um they have incentives to complete

4:35:01early and disincentives to complete

4:35:04late. So that's very good. So key dates

4:35:08to remember we start in December. We are

4:35:11going to lower the river so that they

4:35:13can go in and construct. Um May 2028

4:35:17Olympic takes over the site. So the main

4:35:20bridge and trail will be completed

4:35:21before that and then the arch is

4:35:24preferred to be completed by May but it

4:35:26may be after the Olympics

4:35:30and that's all I have. Um do I have any

4:35:33questions?

4:35:34>> No, it's exciting and appreciate the

4:35:36partnership.

4:35:37>> Thank you Debbie.

4:35:38>> Thank you.

4:35:40>> Any questions? Okay. Well then we can uh

4:35:43vote on actually first item W and then

4:35:45item X.

4:35:50We have a motion and a second. Cast your

4:35:52votes.

4:35:58>> Passes unanimously. Uh and then item X.

4:36:10We have a motion and a second. Cast your

4:36:13votes.

4:36:17passes unanimously.

4:36:20Vice Mayor Stone presiding.

4:36:24[clears throat]

4:36:25>> Thank you, Mayor. All right. brings us

4:36:28to item Y, a joint resolution with the

4:36:30Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust

4:36:32certifying that Project LongTable season

4:36:353, a proposed scripted television series

4:36:38project, is an eligible project under

4:36:40the strategic investment programs film

4:36:43incentive program. Yes, ma'am.

4:36:45>> Jill Simpson is here with us from the

4:36:47Oklahoma City Film Office and she'll

4:36:49actually cover the next two items.

4:36:50>> Yep.

4:36:51>> Good afternoon. Thank you. Um, I have

4:36:54two applications to present today and

4:36:56they are actually the ninth and tth

4:36:59applications just this year. So, we're

4:37:02having a very busy year. Um, this is for

4:37:05a project I've cenamed LongT and it's

4:37:08season 3. Um, 20 halfhour episodes are

4:37:13being produced of a scripted TV talk

4:37:15show and it's in its third season here

4:37:18in Oklahoma City. They don't actually

4:37:21hit YouTube until December and that's

4:37:24the original means of distribution. Um

4:37:27the series gathers agents, producers,

4:37:30editors and crew to talk about the

4:37:33experience of making movies and the

4:37:36filming of episode uh series 3 will be

4:37:39November 9th through the 13th. Um, it's

4:37:42produced by Oklahoma City based The

4:37:44Filmmakers Table LLC. 100% filmed at

4:37:48Filmmakers Ranch here in Oklahoma City.

4:37:50100% local crew with anticipated OKC

4:37:54expenditures totaling 746,973

4:38:00which is 93% of their budget

4:38:04for episodic series. if they spend at

4:38:07least 500,000 they can qualify for the

4:38:10full 10% which this one does with

4:38:13expenditures of 746973.

4:38:17Um the requirements for that would be

4:38:19more than 50% of crew members being

4:38:22full-time residents of OKC and in their

4:38:24case it's 100%. More than 50 50% of

4:38:27filming days in Oklahoma City it's 100%.

4:38:31more than 50% of contracts with Oklahoma

4:38:34City vendors and that would be 100% and

4:38:38visual effects re-recording sound mixing

4:38:40will take place at Apex Post at

4:38:43Filmmakers Ranch. They're pre-qualified

4:38:46for the state rebate. So, they're

4:38:47hitting a lot of the upticks and um

4:38:52based on these considerations

4:38:55and it's uh the third season of multiple

4:38:58seasons of this show, I'm recommending

4:39:00the full 10% which would be 74,697.

4:39:06Uh they are hiring 20 26 local crew

4:39:09members over 5 days and that's 130 days

4:39:13of filming, mandays of filming. uh 100%

4:39:17Oklahoma City residents. The qualifying

4:39:20labor income is 317,457

4:39:24and 100% of post will be at Apex Post.

4:39:29And the highlights as you see 100

4:39:31they're hitting 100% on every point. So

4:39:34that is good for us. Total economic

4:39:37impact for the project is 1.64 million.

4:39:41Job supported direct and indirect are

4:39:4372. Labor income $577,821

4:39:50and qualifying expenditures 746973.

4:39:55Taxable expenditures for goods and

4:39:58services are 32,982.

4:40:01Below the line salary and PDM for crew

4:40:05is 130,734.

4:40:08Above the line salary and pdium is

4:40:11186723.

4:40:14Do you have any questions on this one?

4:40:16>> Any questions or comments? Nope. If not,

4:40:19we can go ahead and take a motion.

4:40:25>> Oh, you

4:40:29Councilman Cooper was doing a yes vote

4:40:31on that. I have a motion. Second.

4:40:42The items passed. brings us to item Z.

4:40:46>> Thank you. Go ahead.

4:40:47>> Oh, sorry.

4:40:48>> No, you're good.

4:40:49>> This one is code name Project Woods.

4:40:51It's an independent feature film. Uh,

4:40:54I'll just read you the tagline. It's a

4:40:56rugged survivalist takes his aranged

4:40:58daughter on a backcountry river trip to

4:41:02reconnect, but when a raft accident

4:41:04leaves them stranded in the woods, their

4:41:06adventure turns into a nightmarish bid

4:41:08for survival. Uh filming takes place

4:41:11November 16th through December 18th. And

4:41:14in case you're keeping track, this will

4:41:16mean four feature films shooting in

4:41:18November in Oklahoma City, which is a

4:41:20really exciting thing. Uh the production

4:41:23team is the Effigy Movie LLC, 100%

4:41:28filmed in Oklahoma City Limits. Oklahoma

4:41:31City Oklahoma baseline producer is

4:41:34attached. She's actually from Tulsa and

4:41:3790% of the crew is Oklahoma City based.

4:41:40Anticipated Oklahoma City expenditures

4:41:43of 1,85,299

4:41:46or 60% of the budget.

4:41:50Uh I'm recommending this project at the

4:41:525% rate based on their local

4:41:54expenditures of 1,85,299.

4:42:01And their upticks are they are

4:42:05uh hiring 90% local crew,

4:42:08100% of filming days in Oklahoma City,

4:42:12uh I towards diverse companies and

4:42:15vendors, 90% is their projection.

4:42:18They're doing visual effects,

4:42:19re-recording and sound mixing in

4:42:21Oklahoma City, but they haven't yet

4:42:23determined which facility. um

4:42:25pre-qualified with the state rebate. So,

4:42:28I'm recommending 5% on their local

4:42:31spend, which comes to $90,265

4:42:34in rebate.

4:42:36They're hiring 50 crew members over 25

4:42:39days, which equates to 1,250 mandays of

4:42:43production. 90% Oklahoma City residents.

4:42:47Their qualifying labor income is

4:42:49936,821.

4:42:52And again, their post-production

4:42:54facilities to be determined.

4:42:57100% Oklahoma City limits filming, 90%

4:43:02uh MSA crew hires, 90% local vendors.

4:43:06And then the total local economic impact

4:43:09for this film is 4.3 million. Jobs

4:43:12supported direct and indirect are 186.

4:43:16Labor income for this project is

4:43:18$1,757,817

4:43:23and their qualified expenditures break

4:43:26down uh 1.8 8 1,85,299

4:43:32that breaks out into taxable

4:43:34expenditures of 350,125

4:43:38below the line salary and perdeium at

4:43:40816,821

4:43:43and above the line salary and PDM at

4:43:45120,000.

4:43:47Any questions or comments?

4:43:51>> All right. If not, we can go ahead and

4:43:52take a motion.

4:43:59We have a motion and a second. Please

4:44:01vote.

4:44:08>> The item must pass. Thank you, Miss

4:44:10>> Thank you so much.

4:44:11>> Thank you.

4:44:11>> All right. Item 11 AAA has already been

4:44:14taken care of. We'll move to uh item

4:44:1811AB,

4:44:20a collective I know we didn't request

4:44:23executive session here. It's a

4:44:25collective bargaining agreement with the

4:44:27International Association of

4:44:28Firefighters Local 157.

4:44:31>> Good afternoon and hello again. Amy

4:44:33Madera, chief HR Officer. Um before you

4:44:35I have uh the collective bargaining

4:44:36agreement for the International

4:44:38Association of Firefighters Local 157

4:44:40for our collective bargaining year. Just

4:44:42a few updates. Uh again, the pay plan

4:44:44adjustment for the for is a 3.75% across

4:44:47the board um cost of living increased to

4:44:50be retroactive to July 1, 2026. Uh we

4:44:53will also uh increase the longevity

4:44:55schedule accordingly. Um and then we'll

4:44:57increase u it will also increase the

4:44:58city's contribution to the health and

4:45:00welfare benefits um by from 16,674 to

4:45:0418,320

4:45:06238 and that is attributed to uh just

4:45:09the the medical inflation that we've

4:45:10discussed previously. Um it'll expand

4:45:12the the safety and health committee from

4:45:15three to four members. Um it'll

4:45:17acknowledge the the specifically

4:45:18recognized safety standards. It also

4:45:21adds eligibility restrictions for

4:45:23exchange time for certain types of

4:45:25leaves and incorporates theou from 189

4:45:2818-19.

4:45:30Um it will regarding secondary

4:45:32employment restrictions and eligibility

4:45:34restrictions while on certain leaves. Uh

4:45:36it expands the wellness and fitness

4:45:38committee from three members to four

4:45:39members. Um and it just has various date

4:45:41changes um for the contract. Uh the

4:45:44current with the increase for those is

4:45:46about it's about 6.5 million above

4:45:47current cost. Any questions?

4:45:51No questions.

4:45:52>> Thank you. And just again want to thank

4:45:53President Tony Morgan um and the

4:45:55executive team from IIAF for their

4:45:57partnership and council for your

4:45:58support. Thank you.

4:45:59>> Thank you. All right. We can go ahead

4:46:02and take a motion.

4:46:06We have a motion and second. Please

4:46:07vote.

4:46:14The items passed.

4:46:17Item AC is a resolution

4:46:22um sorry it's a resolution authorizing

4:46:26and directing the municipal counselor to

4:46:28enter into an agreed settlement journal

4:46:30entry of judgment in the Oklahoma County

4:46:32District Court case uh called the city

4:46:35of Oklahoma City versus Bidiel Osborne.

4:46:39If there's no questions or comments, we

4:46:41can take a motion.

4:46:48We have a motion in a second.

4:46:52Please vote.

4:47:00The items passed. Brings us to item 11

4:47:03A. It's a request to enter into

4:47:05executive session on advice to the

4:47:07municipal counselor to receive

4:47:09confidential communications from its

4:47:11attorney concerning the case of Mark

4:47:12Dunham uh versus city of Oklahoma City.

4:47:17We can go ahead and take a motion on

4:47:18that item.

4:47:22Thank you. Please vote.

4:47:29The item is passed. Item AE is a request

4:47:33to enter executive session on advice of

4:47:35the municipal counselor to receive

4:47:36confidential communications from its

4:47:38attorney regarding pending litigation

4:47:40the case of David Leer versus City of

4:47:42Oklahoma City. We can go ahead and take

4:47:45a motion on that item as well.

4:47:50We have a motion to second

4:47:58the items passed.

4:48:02brings us to item AF. Another request

4:48:06for an executive session on advice of

4:48:08the municipal counselor to receive

4:48:09confidential communications from its

4:48:11attorney concerning the case of Glenn

4:48:13Simmons versus City of Edmund and other

4:48:17different things as well. We can take a

4:48:20motion on this.

4:48:27Have a motion, a second

4:48:32that has passed. We'll take it into

4:48:34executive session as well. Brings us to

4:48:36item 11 ag claims recommended for

4:48:39denial.

4:48:42If there's no questions, we can take a

4:48:43motion to second.

4:48:48>> Yes.

4:48:53All right. Please cast your votes.

4:48:59The item is passed. Item AH

4:49:03is claims recommended for approval.

4:49:09Item A, we can go ahead and take a

4:49:11motion to second on it.

4:49:15I have a motion, a second. Please vote.

4:49:21The items passed. brings us to item 12

4:49:24on the agenda, comments from council,

4:49:27ward one.

4:49:30>> Yes, sir. Uh, last week I had the honor

4:49:32to uh go to do a little field trip with

4:49:35our public works department and fill

4:49:36some potholes and kind of see what it is

4:49:39in a day in life of some of the guys

4:49:41working out there. And I just wanted to

4:49:43give thanks uh to assistant city manager

4:49:45Brent Bryant, uh the assistant public

4:49:47director Brandon Bundy, um Mr. Lee

4:49:50Croswell as the supervisor, Mr. Charles,

4:49:52Mr. Lopez, and Mr. Peasland for allowing

4:49:54me to tag along, ask some really stupid

4:49:56questions and them not throwing me into

4:49:58traffic for it. So, it was a great deal.

4:50:01I recommend it. If you guys get the

4:50:02opportunity, go out there and kind of

4:50:03see what these guys do every day and and

4:50:06how they kind of keep us moving and

4:50:07running. So, other than that, I'm done.

4:50:10>> I don't think you did it close to my

4:50:12house, but that would have been cool.

4:50:14>> All right.

4:50:15>> I'm pretty sure your road's private, so

4:50:17I was

4:50:17>> Yeah. Oh, it is private. W five. It

4:50:20wasn't word five either.

4:50:23>> Word six, seven. Uh, just want to

4:50:25quickly say that word seven, we are

4:50:27having a town hall this evening at 6:00

4:50:29at Mount Olive Baptist Church. And I

4:50:31hope you'll join us. We're going to be

4:50:33excited to talk about um homelessness

4:50:35with Jamie Caves, affordable housing

4:50:37with Shannon Ins. Um, of course get an

4:50:39update about the Olympics, which is, you

4:50:41know, both events are being held in Ward

4:50:437. Um, and we're also going to talk

4:50:46about renovations in the streetscape

4:50:47project for Northeast 23rd Street. So

4:50:49hope that our residents will join us.

4:50:51>> Awesome. Hopefully we get done by then

4:50:53so you can make it eight.

4:50:55>> Nothing today. Thank you.

4:50:57>> Thank you.

4:50:58>> All right. That brings us to item 13,

4:51:01citizens to be heard.

4:51:06We'll start off with Leandon Kirkindall.

4:51:13If you can state your name and address

4:51:15and finish within three minutes, we'll

4:51:18be good.

4:51:24Um, good morning, uh, members of city

4:51:26council. I'm Lee Shondaanda, made a name

4:51:28Kirkind Doll, W 7 resident. Um, I

4:51:32actually wanted to offer my condolences

4:51:34to Mayor Holt for his loss of Dennis

4:51:36Hastard last week. Um, I know Mayor Holt

4:51:38worked as the aid and executive staff

4:51:41assistant for Dennis in the early 2000s

4:51:43where he managed communications office

4:51:46operations and and visitations near

4:51:48Dennis's office. Um, and just to add a

4:51:51little bit of context and historical

4:51:53relevance to my claim that Mayor Halt

4:51:55does not care about our kids, Dennis was

4:51:58convicted in October 2015 for felony

4:52:01bank structuring to conceal hush money

4:52:03payments, payments made to his victims

4:52:05of sexual assault. And I actually think

4:52:07it's a bit disturbing and somewhat

4:52:09disgusting that our mayor um was the

4:52:12office aid during Pastard's peak um

4:52:17prime. um involvement of his predatory

4:52:22acts. Um and I think the depth of my

4:52:25claims um they don't just start when

4:52:27Mayor Holt took office in 2018.

4:52:30Obviously, it dates back to at least the

4:52:32early 2000s. Um so maybe you guys can

4:52:35relay the message. Again, my condolences

4:52:37to Mayor Halt and his loss of such a

4:52:40vile associate and former boss. But I do

4:52:44want to stay on the topic of Mayor Holt.

4:52:45Um cuz something I've been trying to

4:52:47understand the very first time that I

4:52:48came down to speak with to city city

4:52:50city council. I've been trying to

4:52:52understand why Mayor Halt took such

4:52:54offense to me bringing attention to the

4:52:57fact that the I35 industrial corridor

4:53:00needs some type of adequate emergency

4:53:02response. And then I was listening to

4:53:05the governor's debate um on October 1st

4:53:09and Mike Maisie said something that I

4:53:12found extremely interesting. um he

4:53:14believes and he will advocate that data

4:53:16centers and well advocate for data

4:53:19centers to be built in industrial

4:53:21corridors and I don't think it's a

4:53:23coincidence and I think that explains uh

4:53:26Mayor Holt's inadequate information and

4:53:28mediocre response and opposition to me

4:53:31bringing attention to the fact that east

4:53:33of I35 and that industrial corridor does

4:53:36not have adequate emergency response. Um

4:53:40so that's kind of really all I wanted to

4:53:42talk about. Um, but I did want to um

4:53:46also remind Mayor Holt that his

4:53:48political career is like an onion. And

4:53:50so this is just the very very start in

4:53:52the beginning of me peeling and

4:53:54revealing

4:53:56>> 30 seconds onion. Um, and just a

4:53:59reminder for any constituents that are

4:54:02going to come into contact with this uh

4:54:04council hall meeting, early voting

4:54:06starts October 28th through the 31st.

4:54:09Um, just a reminder to vote no on the

4:54:11jail tax. um we will be taxed until 201

4:54:14because it is a regressive tax. Um I

4:54:18went to the chamber meeting forum last

4:54:20week and I think that as much money that

4:54:24was in that room, it's sickening for

4:54:28them to ask taxpayers to fund something

4:54:31that they're going to ask us to fund

4:54:33again because they're going to continue

4:54:35to need money. So,

4:54:38>> thank you, Miss Kirkindall. Up next is

4:54:41Crystal Little.

4:54:51Hello, I'm Crystal Little. I live in

4:54:53Ward 4, 5508 Keith Drive. And the reason

4:54:58that I chose to stay all this long time

4:55:02today and keep paying my meter is

4:55:06because I feel it's important that

4:55:08southeast Oklahoma City is also being

4:55:10addressed. I live um I would say east of

4:55:16I35 and north of I240

4:55:20um before Sooner and would be the cutoff

4:55:23I would say. um going east and it seems

4:55:26like no one really cares about us. We're

4:55:31kind of a forgotten area, so to speak.

4:55:34So, I did take a few notes. Um the

4:55:36southeast Oklahoma City area is being

4:55:38left behind in basic infrastructure,

4:55:41pedestrian safety, public transit,

4:55:44connectivity, and fresh food and

4:55:46pharmacy access.

4:55:49Pedestrian safety and street light haz

4:55:52street lighting hazards. We have really

4:55:54dark streets and high traffic risks.

4:55:58Severe lack of street lighting along

4:56:00hight traffic corridors, particularly

4:56:02the Southeast 59th Street corridor.

4:56:05Pedestrian safety incidents. We've had

4:56:07multiple pedestrian involved accidents

4:56:10um that have occurred due to low

4:56:12visibility or no visibility and missing

4:56:15safety infrastructure.

4:56:18We also have a lack of sidewalks,

4:56:20virtual absence of continuous sidewalks

4:56:23connecting residential pockets to

4:56:26transit stops or nearby commercial

4:56:29areas.

4:56:30We are also definitely a food and

4:56:32healthc care desert um in that area. We

4:56:35don't have any grocery stores

4:56:38whatsoever. Um like I said, Sooner would

4:56:41be the cutoff and that's where the

4:56:42neighborhood Walmart is. But the nearest

4:56:45uh other

4:56:47actual grocery stores would be in Dell

4:56:49City on Southeast 29th Street or on the

4:56:52other side of I35.

4:56:54So, and we don't have transportation to

4:56:57get there if you don't already drive.

4:56:59So, that's a big major issue. And our

4:57:03pharmacy is gone. They took out our CVS.

4:57:06I've lived in that area for over 40

4:57:08years. We started out with Eards back in

4:57:11my day. And I'm aging myself a little

4:57:13bit, but we have no pharmacy now.

4:57:16Thankfully, there is a clinic. They've

4:57:18turned our elementary school, which I

4:57:20attended, Highland Park Elementary, they

4:57:22turned that into a clinic into a clinic.

4:57:25>> So, that's helpful for the community,

4:57:27but we need more resources there. I also

4:57:31wanted to point out um our busing, we're

4:57:3545 minute turns on our buses instead of

4:57:3830. So, I don't know what we can do to

4:57:40try to get that resolved, but that is

4:57:42not helpful in that area, and we are

4:57:45already limited on where we can go from

4:57:47there. Um, something else that I forgot

4:57:49to write down, but is real important to

4:57:51me. We don't have any parks either.

4:57:54There's no parks for the kids to go to.

4:57:56There's nothing for them to do. It's a

4:57:58lot of crime in that area. It's trashy.

4:58:01There's a lot of walkers. We just need

4:58:03someone to take the initiative to care

4:58:06about our side. I'm really glad to have

4:58:08heard the things that are happening on

4:58:09the other side of I35 and uh around 240.

4:58:13So hopefully it'll come on to the other

4:58:14side. Thank you for your time.

4:58:16>> Thank you, Miss Little.

4:58:20>> All right, Steve Hunt.

4:58:23Is he here? Does anyone know?

4:58:27There he is.

4:58:29>> Steve Hunt 6300 Westbrook. It's a shame

4:58:31that Mayor Holt had to go return some

4:58:33videotapes and couldn't be here for

4:58:34these important uh notes. I want to

4:58:36follow up on what LSDan was talking

4:58:38about. Uh October 3rd, I woke up to get

4:58:42ready for my two jobs to be able to

4:58:43afford to live in the uh Renaissance

4:58:45wandering capital funny haven that we're

4:58:48in now. Um and I looked at my phone and

4:58:51I saw that Dennis Hassert had merged

4:58:52with the infinite. And it reminded me,

4:58:56and I want to put this in as evidence to

4:58:59the documentary record. Um Marhalt was

4:59:02not just a guy that worked with Hassert.

4:59:05He was, as it says in the congressional

4:59:08page 2002 yearbook, he was the speaker's

4:59:11page supervisor, literally facilitating

4:59:14the comingings and goings of young pages

4:59:16to Hassert's office. And I am not

4:59:19accusing Mayor Hol being a part of what

4:59:22was happening. Um, he did testify in the

4:59:25Mark Foley case in 2006. And I've spoken

4:59:28with a number of people that worked back

4:59:30then, Zack Stanton specifically, who was

4:59:32the man that disclosed the uh Foley

4:59:35allegations successfully. I just believe

4:59:38that this was the beginning of a pattern

4:59:40of turning his head to a extreme

4:59:42exploitation and in the wake of the

4:59:45Cornell revolvations, which is the same

4:59:47thing. people seeing things happening

4:59:50and refusing to comment it comment on it

4:59:53because it would disrupt their careers

4:59:56and their trajectory. Mayor Holt by not

4:59:58saying anything about that. Um and you

5:00:01know most recently the flock situation

5:00:04when he voted on that he turned his head

5:00:06to the fact that flock cameras

5:00:07disproportionately target people of

5:00:09color. Of course four days later he

5:00:11marched in the Cla Looper parade you

5:00:14know and I think people there were like

5:00:15wasn't this the guy? Well, all right.

5:00:18So, enough of that. A couple other

5:00:19things that happened in the past two

5:00:21weeks. Luchandon mentioned that we

5:00:22attended the chamber lunchon on the uh

5:00:26for the unaccountable private tyranny

5:00:28chamber of commerce to uh bring a jail

5:00:32bond which is going to be billions and

5:00:34billions of dollars. I spoke about the

5:00:37uh 80 basis points that the the bond has

5:00:41jumped in the last month. It's gone up

5:00:43ever since then. I mentioned to uh Parn

5:00:47Duncan who was on the panel. I think she

5:00:49was probably like their 15th choice but

5:00:50I don't think anyone wanted to speak on

5:00:52it. And I asked her about you know how

5:00:54the bond is going to cost so much money

5:00:57and she was like well it's a tax not a

5:00:59bond. She didn't understand that a bond

5:01:00would be issued.

5:01:01>> 30 seconds remaining.

5:01:02>> Pretty crazy that someone that makes

5:01:0498,000 a year didn't know what I was

5:01:05talking about. Um, and another

5:01:07[clears throat] thing about the that is

5:01:09that this

5:01:11jail vote is during a general election

5:01:14and that's never happened before. This

5:01:16kind of stuff is normally special

5:01:18elections and they always pass because

5:01:20not many people show up and I think the

5:01:22silenced majority out there in Oklahoma

5:01:24City are finally going to send a message

5:01:26that we're sick of this crap because

5:01:28it's going to fail and it's going to

5:01:29fail bad. um that I ran out of time, so

5:01:32thank you so much. And again, here's the

5:01:35uh

5:01:38>> Thank you, Mr. Hunt. Up next is Carrie

5:01:42Austin Kish.

5:01:47>> Good afternoon.

5:01:50My name is Carrie Kish. I live at 3308

5:01:53Southeast 89th Street. I am here uh to

5:01:57talk about animal welfare.

5:01:59We've been listening to all the exciting

5:02:01things coming to Oklahoma City. Bies,

5:02:04hosting the Olympics, the new arena, all

5:02:07very exciting. And people moving to

5:02:09town.

5:02:11I believe also that the Oklahoma City

5:02:13community deserves a fully funded budget

5:02:16for animal welfare that covers

5:02:19lifesaving uh programs. Currently, these

5:02:22needs are absolutely not being met. I

5:02:26drove here this morning and I

5:02:27encountered at least five stray dogs and

5:02:30at least two dead on the way. This is an

5:02:33everyday thing.

5:02:35Oklahoma City has an estimated

5:02:37population of 727,550

5:02:40residents according to World Population

5:02:43Review. About 5 65% of those households

5:02:47have at least one pet. Those figures

5:02:49underscore how important accessible

5:02:52animal welfare services are to our

5:02:55shelter. Oklahoma City Animal Welfare

5:02:58has a responsibility to serve its

5:02:59public,

5:03:02including providing clear, humane

5:03:04guidance when residents bring in strays.

5:03:07Telling people to return a dog to the

5:03:09neighborhood without a workable plan is

5:03:11not an acceptable response. In fact,

5:03:14every time they instruct us to do this,

5:03:16they're breaking the law. Now, if I'm

5:03:19wrong, correct me. What I have found, if

5:03:21an Oklahoma City resident abandon

5:03:24abandons an animal, whether by leaving

5:03:26it in a public place, failing to care

5:03:28for it, or relinquishing it with intent,

5:03:31they are violating Oklahoma statute

5:03:33title 21686

5:03:36and statute title 21691,

5:03:40both of which are criminal offenses

5:03:42under Oklahoma law.

5:03:45Friday. Last Friday morning, I sent an

5:03:48email to each of you regarding community

5:03:50member Lauren. I gave you her name on

5:03:53the email. She went out of her way to

5:03:54pick up a stray she noticed running in

5:03:56the neighborhood. She drove it to animal

5:03:58welfare where she thought she would get

5:04:00help. They instructed her to return and

5:04:04abandon the animal back into her

5:04:07neighborhood where she found it and call

5:04:10them if she saw it again.

5:04:13Now, what kind of process is that?

5:04:19>> 30 seconds remaining.

5:04:20>> The dog has been returned into the

5:04:21community. Now, it gets to face hunger,

5:04:24thirst, cruelty, extreme heat, and the

5:04:26list goes on. Returning a stray to the

5:04:29community without addressing its

5:04:30immediate needs is not acceptable or

5:04:32reasonable. and this animal may be at

5:04:35risk and residents should not be

5:04:37expected to leave an animal in unsafe or

5:04:39uncertain situations simply hoping

5:04:41someone else will report it. This

5:04:43irresponsible approach has been in place

5:04:46since April 2025.

5:04:48We've been dealing with this since then.

5:04:52It is time for Oklahoma City to pro to

5:04:54provide a more responsible process. It's

5:04:57time for you guys to hold them

5:04:58accountable. the current leadership, if

5:05:00they aren't capable of of fixing and and

5:05:04rearranging what they need to to make

5:05:06things work for us, then you need to

5:05:08replace them with someone who can.

5:05:10>> Thank you, Miss Kish. Appreciate it.

5:05:13>> Thank you.

5:05:13>> Up next is Priscilla Maddox.

5:05:19Maddock or Maddox.

5:05:20>> Good afternoon, Maddox.

5:05:21>> Okay.

5:05:22>> My name is Priscilla Maddox. I live on

5:05:242733 Southwest Marray Drive and someone

5:05:28came to me with a request and after

5:05:32reading the passage I knew that I was

5:05:34the perfect person to read this to you

5:05:35guys.

5:05:37So this is from Angel Fun OKC an animal

5:05:41rescue group.

5:05:43The past two weeks have been

5:05:45unimaginably tough in the rescue world.

5:05:48Honestly, we are tired. The veterinarian

5:05:50teams are tired. Our fosters and

5:05:52volunteers are tired. Not tired of

5:05:55helping these animals. We will never be

5:05:57tired of that. We have We are tired of

5:06:00why they need us. In just the last

5:06:02couple of weeks, we have seen some of

5:06:04the worst cases we have encountered in a

5:06:06long time. An anatonian shepherd

5:06:09suffering from heat stroke, severe HOD,

5:06:12and extreme emaciation.

5:06:15A tiny three-pound puppy attacked by

5:06:17another dog with fractures throughout

5:06:19its face, its little face. A sharpi who

5:06:23has been living on the streets with a

5:06:25fractured leg and eventually ended up at

5:06:27the shelter facing euthanization.

5:06:30A Frenchie who has clearly been

5:06:32neglected and starved and then shot

5:06:34twice in the head and left in an alley

5:06:37to die. Her name is now Mango.

5:06:40Her skull, her eye sockets and jaw

5:06:43fractured. with deep wounds throughout

5:06:46her body. A 10-week old puppy found on

5:06:49the side of the road in 100 degree

5:06:51Oklahoma heat with a huge infected wound

5:06:54on the side of her head. A 7-year-old

5:06:57pointer with a massive wound covering

5:07:00nearly 1/4 of her of her side and chest.

5:07:04Journey, Mango, Russell, Zucchini, Mayo,

5:07:08Flip, and so many more. We have so many

5:07:12new people following our page because of

5:07:14these babies. And we are so grateful for

5:07:17every single one of you who have

5:07:19donated, shared, prayed, fostered,

5:07:21transported, or simply cared about their

5:07:24stories. But guys, we cannot rescue our

5:07:27way out of this. We can save Journey. We

5:07:30can fight for Mango. We can repair

5:07:32broken bones, treat infections, clean

5:07:34wounds, provide surgeries, spend nights

5:07:37in ICU, and find fosters and homes. But

5:07:41if we don't start changing, why keep

5:07:43ending up here? Another one will take

5:07:46their place tomorrow. We are tired of

5:07:48the abuse and abandonment. We are tired

5:07:50of people not being held accountable. We

5:07:53are tired

5:07:54>> 30 seconds remaining.

5:07:55>> We are tired of inresponsible breeding

5:07:58and and backyard breeding. We are tired

5:08:01of shelters and rescue rescues drowning

5:08:05while litter after litter continues to

5:08:07be produced. Something has to change.

5:08:11That's my time. Thank you guys.

5:08:13>> Thank you, Miss Maddox.

5:08:15All right, that ends the citizens to be

5:08:17heard today. Uh we're free to go to

5:08:20executive session.

5:26:54All right, we've returned from executive

5:26:56session. Uh, item 14 on the agenda. We

5:27:00are adjourned.