good evening and welcome to city council Conference of Tuesday January 23rd 20 24 Michelle you have the floor the protection agreement recommendations thank you sir and council members and honorable mayor um I'm going to let you know that I'm still recovering from being sick last week so my energy level and my voice are not the same as they usually are and I apologize I can't tell the difference good cuz I can and I was like oh my God this anyway let's talk about this this is really exciting um we've undergone from about 2022 to now a review and update of the mayor's uh the mayor's climate protection agreement EAB really spent a lot of work going through each of the elements looking at what we've done in the years since we've re looked at it in 2018 to now and uh I think you're going to be impressed I want to throw out a huge thank you to lots of Staff in Norman uh your city staff is amazing cuz they were definitely available and willing to talk to the ecab members whenever they needed information or someone to talk to and that was huge um I also want to let you know that ecab members will be reaching out to department heads and probably you guys as well to talk about the recommendations and to see how we can make some of the recommendations go forward um with that let's continue so right here you know I always like to give you guys kind of a background of why we do and I got to stand up why we do what we do right so I put this slide on here to kind of because it it it was pretty dramatic to me this is from the um the National Environmental information center and what it is it's a list of all the billion dollars uh they're corrected for the day's dollars right they're all the same dollar CPI or whatever that is called they're corrected for to equal the same amount but these are all the billion dollar disasters that have happened from the 80s till now uh and what you can see is the trend right right in in the decade of the'80s we had 33 but if you look in 23 2023 we had 28 billion dollar disasters so that's just showing us the trend for these huge natural disasters which we see here right we have flooding we have tornadoes we have ice storms all of that they're increasing and they're increasing in money right um it it was interesting so I had to share but that's essentially why this happened um it began in 2005 the US Conference of Mayors endorsed this agreement this plan uh and it was based on the Kyoto Protocol I don't know if you guys recall that but that was also in 2005 uh this was under mayor harelson and he signed the document in 2005 as well and then you guys tasked ecap to review make a plan and update it over time uh the formal recommendations were presented in 2007 and then were adopted by Council in 2009 under mayor rosenvelt in um 2018 Mayor Miller said hey you guys you know it's been a long time it's been about nine years maybe you should review it again so EAB went back through the document again reviewed made more updates and that was in 2018 and that was under mayor Mayor Miller so let's jump into the document itself originally there were 12 elements that were put in there for energy conservation and to reduce um the greenhouse gas emissions uh now there are 10 the things have been pulled together to make it more efficient make it flow a little better you might see more updates in the next 5year cycle we'll see AC item one was the inventory or greenhouse gas emissions you may recall at One update that I gave was very excited because we had an intern who did our greenhouse gas emission inventory right um in your packet you have the mayor's climate protection agreement from this year you have have the one from 2018 you have the original document from 2005 and you also have the um the actual greenhouse gas emission inventory if you want to go in and really dig in this is just some basic stuff about it greenhouse gases are heat trapping gases if you will there are things like methane uh it could be nitrous oxide things like carbon dioxide those kinds of things we had our Baseline emission inventory in 2000 I want to say um I preface all of it with the fact that the 2000 inventory was a little basic right we didn't have the same knowledge that we have today about how to collect those metrics so the reduction that is shown here is actually probably greater because we did not include the traffic signals that uh actually we transformed into LED traffic signals by 2011 when you make that transition you can reduce your consumption by 90% so so the original number does not have traffic signals in it so as you can see on bullet point number two or one our emissions decreased per capita by 27% in that 2005 to 2021 uh it's way more and the reason it's way more is because we didn't include those traffic signals so that and but there are other there are other types that probably didn't get included uh the comparison of course was 2021 2021 why didn't you use 2020 who can tell me why we didn't use 202 it got a little it was a man house right so 2021 is probably more of a representative year for uh what we do and that's why we chose 2021 the forecast year is 20126 and that's also when we're recommended to do the next update for the greenhouse gas emission inventory um street lights and traffic lights like I said they it's amazing how much lower it is than other cities and that's because really your public works department hey Scott they're amazing they went in and they changed all that already and not just traffic signals because now we're doing Street lamps too right it's it's really good um the Water Reclamation facility this is huge they decreased their energy consumption or emissions by 88% that was huge and the reason for that is because we had those phase two improvements that you guys voted in thank you you know that's a big deal um the top recommendations are that we complete this inventory every 5 years with this methodology the intern her name was Rachel cotch not Coke it's cotch I accidentally called her Coke it's cotch Rachel cootch uh she created a methodology and she told us where to get the data and how to use it and how to put it in so that now when we'd come back in 2026 we're going to be Apples to Apples and that's going to be huge um we also want to continue the creation of renewable friendly dedicated part parking spaces throughout nor you guys have already made that a priority we passed the ordinance we've put in EV charging stations so that's that's really exciting um I do want to show you that the top graph right here these are the types of gases in the nation that uh comprise emissions so you have mostly carbon dioxide naturally right because we breathe out carbon dioxide but also methane which is 80 times more heat trapping then carbon dioxide and nox or nitrous oxides and other gases and here are the list of the the um the places the the places that they come from the sources thank you the emission sources this is from Norman's emission inventory you can see that the majority of our emissions are also carbon dioxide but we still have a pretty good substantial amount of methane too and remember what I said it's 80 times more heat trapping than carbon dioxide and then nitrous oxide and these are our sources the majority came from and again it's mostly because we do have this methane uh from the wastewater treatment and then buildings and Facilities luckily your buildings and Facilities folks are also on top of it and we're doing energy Audits and assessments to try to get that down to the action item two is to adopt and enforce land policies right and when they're talking about this what what we're talking about really are those land policies that encourage the use of things like nature-based Solutions um that encourage growth in a way that doesn't create sprawl that doesn't um uh it encourages low impact development and nature-based solutions that's what I'm trying to say so it it manages growth in a way that won't um create the same kinds of urbanization issues that we see uh in corn Norman for instance um you keep those ecosystem benefits these are pretty big words so what do I mean I mean that when you have grass and trees and the natural environment you get certain benefits from those things and those are things like storm water management climate regulation you get things like um wildlife and habitat and pollination Etc when we have land use policies that that value those kind of ecosystem benefits then it actually works all around um the top the the accomplishments the aim Norman that's a huge undertaking guys wow but but look at what we're going to accomplish when we finally get it done you know we're going to take these new ideas that we have put it into this plan for growth all over and throughout all kinds of stuff and then you know actually have a way to move forward um that helps us all and keeps keeps our resources so we can have that growth I'm sorry uh you guys also revised the SE the cent center city form based code uh and with that we found that to be a really good uh thing because you have a wide variety of housing types now that's allowed and you also eliminated uh the maximums unit maximums uh they also appreciated the fact that we've kept the real nature of East Norman with the lot size requirements because again like I said that that natural or nature uh vegetation really what I'm saying their top three recommendations to adopt and enforce land use policies that do reduce sprawls so that would be something that's more like densifying the urban area um that create and preserve open space so all the things we've been talking about in like strong towns or that kind of thing that's the kind of thing that that that we're talking about I'm sorry refine the center city form based code to enhance walkable and bikable areas of coron Norman you we've been doing that a lot already they just want to improve it with safety in mind too cuz sometimes people who are riding their bicycles it's a little more dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists right Deb so uh considering that and finding ways that we can keep safety in there so that thank you that thank you thank you maybe the cold water will hurt oh I'm sry you got the same energy level though do I I really don't you are doing great Mr H gave me one thank you I know I'm sorry and then also um we really want to expand it and refine the development rules to prioritize nature-based Solutions you know I say that word a lot nature-based Solutions before it was low impact development green infrastructure green storm water infrastructure whatever the words you want to use but really what it means is treating infrastructure like nature would okay so instead of throwing in traditional gray concrete and pipe maybe we do it a little different maybe we put in some bio swells maybe we have green parking maybe we have smaller whatever you there're many many many ways to accomplish it and what EAB is saying is just let's put that formula and and actually maybe require it on three promoting alternative transportation we do that great already and they did say we have some great uh accomplishments right we have great bike trails don't we um we also have a wonderful transit system I mean look at Embark right and we just went through that huge overhaul to optimize it so that's exciting um we have sidewalk improvements and installations that are expanding all over we see that all the way there's that huge sidewalk that goes all the way almost to Lake Thunderbird off Highway nor that's amazing um and then what about your commitment to to Embark you have we do uh and we should we should keep that right look at the cool Transit Center we have now where people can go and catch a bus and go wherever they need that's amazing I love it um so what can we do to keep going well continue supporting andark right that makes sense um maybe we find a way to bring routes out to Southeast Norman where we're having a huge amount of growth wouldn't it be nice to be able to get those folks to town without having to drive their cars uh continue bicycle like I said expansion with an eye to safety and then yes we have Legacy Trail within the 24th in ump area but folks would like to see an expansion of a bike trail along that especially as you move up North so that folks can access those those businesses so that was their top three all right renewable energy and efficiency this is this is exciting to me of course right cuz you saw well here can't see them right here we already have two solar projects right one's at the water treatment plant and one's at the Water Reclamation facility those are our two big consumers of energy right what a great way that was huge thank you um we have e EV charging stations throughout Norman you've seen them out before they're they're everywhere um we have oh yeah did you know this Norman Public Schools wow you knew they had put in a solar garden I know cuz I saw some of you there when we did the opening but they created an entire energy use guideline right and that's what they follow now to help them promote energy conservation and Reliance on Renewables that's huge they're expand that what did they recommend we need to they would like us to create and I could see this actually being a really cool thing CU what if we could employ our own people to do this and a renewable energy employment initiative you know we always talk about having jobs for for folks and good jobs that's that's a great way to do it um you know that uh well you know because we've talked about it we're going to do a solar uh a solar initiative in Norman you know wouldn't it be cool if we had workers who were doing it and we could they would be paid and kept all the money in our city yes that sounds good to me uh encourage the installation on solar panels on private homes businesses municipal buildings and work with HOAs to reduce the the laws that they can't put them on did you that's crazy right it just blows my mind or find a way that we can put them on maybe it's not this way maybe it's got to look this way how can we revise those how can HOAs revise this obviously we can't that's a private thing um I'm excited because I think we're going to hit this as we do the solariz initiative so that's pretty exciting uh and then requests this is this is important request utility companies to purchase back that power that's generated they don't do that now right your your bill goes to zero but they don't buy it back and then if we're going to do that we might as well talk to them about keeping an eye on the pricing structure right Smart hours you guys know that it's more expensive during the day well that's when we're creating energy so we should get paid more if we're giving it to them that's all I'm saying or that's all ecab is saying yeah Sustainable Building practices so these are those practices let me get a drink I can feel it is about to be one of the all right sorry these are those practices within buildings themselves right um so did you know in Norman we have 23 lead certified buildings 23 in Norman four of those are ours um this is fire station number eight fire station number eight number n the East Side Library and Central Library are all lead certified and then there are 19 others that are not us so other entities a lot of them are ou but some of them are private entities that went ahead and had their building lead certified wouldn't it be great if everyone did that well I know that's a little hyper hyper whatever it's out of it's a dream but what if we could celebrate that you know and that's some of the things I'm thinking about um you know that the engineering design criteria was updated because you guys voted for it and we have chapter 7,000 I love chapter 7,000 right that's green infrastructure storm water solutions I love it and you can see a copy of the the first page uh the building codes you guys you updated all our building codes right to 2018 or higher just one one notable exception uh the the energy conservation code is still 2006 but I will say well it's one of the recommendations so let me say that the recommendation is to adopt the most current energy conservation code okay I will say that uh talking with Greg and code uh hi Jan he said that um that he works they work with the uh Oklahoma it's the uniform building code yeah it's the state agency that does building codes and right now right now they are actually reviewing the 2018 International energy conservation code that's huge right because that means the whole state might be coming up to that and we would rather do that I I know and this me sorry guys but it's better I think personally this is my personal opinion if we don't try to bring our code up above what everybody's doing in the state because then you're going to tell people let's say a school they're going to build a school in Shaunie uh so they come over here and they want to build the school here well guess what now all your plans are out because you have to change the way that you put the insulation in and then you're going to have to do lighting design and all that I think it it it would just be a much harder task so let's encourage and that's what your code folks are doing did you know they sit on some of those boards even and they are lobbying and encouraging the adoption of these higher standards so that's exciting um encourage review and use of principles and standards from programs like lead the living building challenge an energy star Etc so what does that mean that just means maybe we say to folks designers Architects Engineers hey have you guys looked at these particular standards from lead or living B can you meet some of those and you know maybe we include an incentive with that like it doesn't have to be monetary what if we did recognition you know that's an incentive too anyway some ideas and then the second bullet point if we raise the code to the IEC 2018 it will be met but in the meantime we can encourage folks to do some of these higher standard stuff uh like putting in a higher R number on the installation or putting in a more efficient HVAC system or something like that lighting windows that kind of thing uh we do have the hers incentive that you guys know and that was changed so they actually increased that so that is a standard that we have that's increased The Benchmark was 65 now it's 57 the lower the number the better for energy conservation so that's that's something action item number six Municipal fleet vehicles uh guess what happened we got 15 hybrid police cars 15 added to our Fleet that's huge right now I will say only 13 are here so far it takes a while I can attest to this cuz I bought a hybrid takes a while to get one H so two are on their way all right but that's exciting um we also have and I cannot praise your Fleet group enough and why am I saying that because your Fleet head uh Mike White he is constantly looking for and at alternative fuel sources ways that we can make things more efficient what vehicles what technology he has his finger on that pulse and that's that's good you want your Fleet guide to do that if you're looking to reduce emissions from gasoline powered vehicles right we have an existing 133 CNG right it's amazing yes I agree we have 133 CNG Vehicles right now and the two EV buses right um installation of EV chargers at Fleet and other public places this is the map you saw it when we had the cost overrun um really hopeful we should hear from this an aside we should hear from ACOG pretty soon about whether or not we got the other grant for the other three EV Chargers but that's exciting I mean that's that's big guys all what are the recommendations continue what we're doing you'll see most of these are continue because you got we're already doing a great job um but continue to Monitor and explore alternative fuel Technologies there are other stuff coming there's other stuff coming it's not just going to be you know EVS or may what about hydrogen that's something that's on the on the horizon uh continue to implement or invest in alternative fuel infrastructure which you guys already do you know and Mike's already talked about how he wants to change the whole fuel Island to include ways of these alternative fuels if we can you know in the future and then Implement an internal education program so that you know we can talk to each other about reducing uh iring and reducing fuel consumption and how we can go about doing that so efficiencies at the water and wastewater now I'm going to just say that this says waste water but do you know how I feel there is no waste water right no there's one water so I would say efficiencies at water and Water Reclamation facilities okay anyway purchases of higher efficiency Motors I'm going to tell you you're all right I know I keep bragging on stuff but I am s every time I meet somebody well maybe not every time but most times I meet somebody it's like wow you really are amazing you really are great thank you for being in our city um but your two heads of your two plants they they really are they look at these things sorry Rachel I'm G throw you up they look at where can we find these savings and energy and you know it's because it's the right thing but it's also because they are fiscally responsible with our residents money you know that's huge um anyway really proud of them we have solar projects at both of the facilities uh the phase 2 plant upgrades at both I mean some of that changed and some of the changes were it maybe we don't need energy let's make it gravity brilliant yes gravity then we're not paying to do it right anyway top three recommendations installation a covered area for storage of dewatered sledge so let me explain what I mean by that we have a dewatering process it can do so much what they're recommending is that we have a place to store the sludge while it's being dewatered so that we can do a whole bunch of it before we s load for efficient transportation of the load all right um devise a new method for using devise a new method for using recovered methane at the as a primary fuel source for the boilers so we've used it but there problems with it right and right now we use it as we can but with you know when it gets cold you can or this happens or that so we primarily yes ma'am uh is it that flare recapture system yes okay yes yes so but sometimes we can use it sometimes we can't for the boilers and then we end up depending on natural gas instead what if we could just capture that and I know we've had issues but there's got to be a way people do it in other places right capture that and it please let's do it yes um if we can explore more efficient biog gas generation at the worth and alternative funding sources for implementation remember what I said about I keep saying methane but this is another thing right methane is 80 times more heat trapping than carbon dioxide it's even if it's smaller amount out there it's still a huge effect so if we can capture that methane before it goes into the atmosphere we're going to make a huge difference and it's going to show in our metrics we've looked at it I'm not it's not like we haven't investigated it we have with lots of different companies too at least three that I can think of off the top but there we can keep investigating I think that's the key and eventually I believe we're going to find a solution for it somebody's going to want that it's good gas it's gas never mind I'm recycling in the city uh and the community so what I want to say about this before Oh there's one other thing I wanted to say about water and wastewater and I should have said it while I was talking about it the biggest way that we can reduce the energy use there is if we reduce consumption right so that would be a huge thing too all right now back to this so when we're talking about recycling you know I love recycling I have the household hazardous ways facility I'm constantly in Brett's ear talking about it we're always working on cuz I love it it's exciting it's a great way to pull P stuff out of the waist stream but is it really panacy that we think is it really the end all be all you know it's not it's a tool but the end all Beall would be if we did what we should do and that's refuse refuse reduce our consumption reuse what we have then recycle and rot the rest rot by compost is what I mean anyway with that said let's get back to this um we've established the household hazard waste facility very excited about that it's it's pretty nice I think um and we're going to do some expansion so that's exciting uh 88% curbside participation rate in 2022 that's big a lot of towns don't have that kind of participation rate uh we had diversion of 275% of the entire waist stream so that means about a third a little less than a third of our entire waist stream was diverted from the landfill for use in other things whether it's compost or mulch at the household hazardous waste facility or recycling I know I'm sorry I can see your pain book I'm sorry workers [Music] come that was me falling on my butt yesterday in the par lot all right it was funny I'll have to show a video someday um top three recommendations we need to work to reduce our contamination rate our contamination rate in Norman is outrageous and I think a lot of it is actually wish cycling wish recycling if you will so what is that you know that we can take ones and twos Plastics paper and carboard bring it good gosh I can recycle all that you give me people there is a market bring it bring it bring it they're constantly eating it they want it want it want it we don't have a market right now for 3 through 7 we have a market for glass if you bring it to the kiosk at the at the transfer station but there isn't one for um like our contractor for big companies so what we need to do is focus on teaching people bring us what we can recycle bring us all that we can recycle and the rest don't don't even put it in there please and wash your Plastics before you put them in the uh in the can just a tiny bit of food or grease or something in there that contaminate it ruins the whole load the whole load's trashed you know if we can get that recycling our contamination rate down from what it's like 28% now to the national average of 18% think about the good that we're actually going to do you know um we need to explore and Implement opportunities for apartment and business I know you guys agree right we all want to do that hopefully we can do that you know we have some changes coming wouldn't that be cool I hope we can fingers crossed um and then work to improve recycling rates 88% is great what if we had 100 A Plus student right exactly it's okay 100 s A+ maintaining healthy Urban ecosystems I'm just going to show you look at the street isn't this amazing a't that beautiful that is a gorgeous street that is in trailwoods trailwoods Edition so what happened in trailwoods we had it we partnered with ou and ideal homes and guess what they designed a paired Watershed a street on one side designed exactly the same way with different types of infrastructure and then they monitored how cool was that and look it's beautiful and if you look at the final report which if anybody wants it let me know and I'll send it to you that it made a difference you could see a difference and what the the out the effluent the the discharge from each side and how they were different from the low impact or nature-based Solutions and those were just simply things like bios swells in the front uh rain uh rain systemns or rain barrels at the that that was about it it really wasn't that much involved no curb you see it runs right in so you hired a full-time Forester in March 22 and I tell you what I like the I like Colin he's really great he does a lot I've worked on a lot of stuff with him and he's excited um you have done oh well we've done several Capstone designs right you guys remember the presentation not too long ago from The Minnow ponds where they were trying to transform those into treatment Wetland we've also done a lot with graduate research efforts right I mean you guys know what's going on at the wor right have you been down there I know hell know she came anybody else have you seen the mesocosms you should come down sorry Miss gr I didn't mean to call you by your first name I don't mean to call anybody by their first name sometimes it just happens but come see them the mesocosms that's what Dr Bob nar's doing to see if we can treat storm water and effluent from our Water Reclamation facility to a degree that it's good enough that maybe we can go back to indirect pable reuse we've got to have M we've got to have water if we're going to have people and we're going to have people people are here people are going to come Norman's a great town who doesn't want to live here right um and if they never mind I think it's awesome what are their top recommendations update the forestry master plan and the community update the forestry master plan and the community Forest management plan now this is already underway so that's exciting I think we might actually meet this in the next year that's good uh redefine refine the EDC to actually explicitly call out nature-based Solutions and encourage their use if not require them in certain areas um and then increased and improved inter departmental coordination on projects so what does that mean that means you know sometimes we can get silent right you know utilities might sit over here in utilities Public Works might be over there planning over here what if we had a you you know in an interdepartmental collaboration to where we could say hey and we kind of do that now with DRT I think what they're talking about is just expanding that and making sure that when projects are done that everybody agrees that it's exactly the way that everybody thought and then finally public education because you can't get Behavior change if people don't know what they're supposed to do right that's huge you will say that we've had a lot of pretty good successes right we collaborate a lot with outside experts these F I love these pictures so this is leaf remember Leaf the um learning and environmental advancement facility out by the Worf and right here at the top that is a compost bin Workshop that we did at leaf with um uh well the guy's name is Leaf how about that but anyway so we could teach residents how to build their own compost bins we did both a hot bin and a cold bin and it was a good experience they got hands-on experience and we got we got a compost bin right so that's exciting below guess what that is yes they're the bees right okay I feel better right about bees um we haven't done classes yet but that's coming this spring so that's very exciting oh and I may have honey to share all right um what are your re whatever the recomend oh have you looked at the website cuz we have a lot more environmental content on there as well so they they appreciated that and then boy Tiffany Vera right can I get an amen let me just say she's really increased the amount of presence that you see social media wise with environmental stuff yay um so what do they recommend employ or contract with a public education professional to expand uh and enhance current efforts that I do a lot but you know I'm only one person and I only have a small time so it' be nice to have you know somebody who's good at it and could do it all the time yeah um expand environmental content on website constantly working on that it is that's a work in PR right because somebody's got to sit there and do it so but I do but yes that's that's good and I'm going to listen uh and then develop and Implement a strategy to utilize social media to promote environmental content and I think with this action item what they're talking about is to actually sit down and have a written strategy like a marketing Strat these are the things we can do this is the kind of of content Etc um and guys that's about it that is your Mar's climate protection agreement with that I would entertain some questions go ahead um so how much of this do we work with or could we participate with our neighbors at OU since we're in the backyard of you know big Energy building and a lot of knowledgeable Minds 100% And that I'm glad you said that Miss bman because a lot of what they were saying with the collaboration with those outside experts they're the ones right they're the outside Leif Leif Olson he's from OU right okay Dr narn we work with him a lot he's from OU Dr Vogal OU Dr schusler she's from OSU so yes 100% I know but they still do a lot I understand but no that 100% And in fact uh we do have for instance talking about Wetland treatment systems we have a call monthly call where we all get together and talk about that kind of stuff so absolutely does that answer your question does indirect pable reuse like enter these updates too uh or are we still do they recommend working towards that so what they said I don't think they said it directly in the top threes but it's in the it's in the document because we need water um it does fit in and why does it fit in because the treatment Wetlands that we would put in place to help treat some of that effluent um coming out of the Worf would actually help with the other ecosystem benefits to do we compare ourselves to any other cities do we have a compared scale I know ACOG has one on emissions but it's not by individual City it's by the MSA it's the MSA exactly and so if we're participating are we helping we think we're helping no we are and that's the why that's why we tend to be looked at favorably um when we apply for Grants at AOG because we do contribute yes sir yes sir um um to you mentioned the Water Reclamation facility decreased emissions by 88% from energy from energy but it still makes up 48% of our total yes sir which is yeah almost half of all um so impressive but still a lot work to do yeah sure but interesting to know that's the number one source though um especially since there are neighborhoods down there and there are projects osed in that area for residential that's true um so I think that some to think about you know what is the impact on residents to be located next to a high emissions place like that so do you mean odor emission well uh that was one of my questions but just like other health effects potentially living next to a PL a facility like that that adits a lot of emissions but um with the uh the sludge cover covering was that something that would address smell or help with smell not necessarily because dried sludge when once you dry the sludge the the odor is minimal um really what it would be is more of an efficiency thing because you're collecting more before you haul it off to get rid of it um you have you guys been a lot of you been to the Worf right yeah um it's it's really to go back surprisingly not very odorous I mean you know I mean some days you get there and you're like oh yeah smells like money think the compost is the is the one that's more of a compost definitely has a an interesting almost I would say Nitric Yuri kind of smell to it but much again money smells like money much fewer complaints than I used to get about it um the like that's not what money smells like that's far away for a Water Reclamation facility operated the um the 15 hybrid police cars does not include the 19 that we approved a budget for this past June correct and those I assume those will all be the same type of hybrid vehicles probably so we'll have 19 more so that be getting close4 it's getting close to probably half the fleet of police cars the 55 there are 55 police cars5 avability canoe to be manufactured here in Oklahoma uh they brought over a vehicle for Mike White and our Fleet folks to uh evaluate and uh they're going to have offerings that cost less than your typical you know like a S10 pickup or a Ford Ranger pickup uh in the service interval you you check tire pressure and brakes every 12,000 miles and that's kind of it so we can gain capacity in the shop um save money on the purchase of the vehicle and have a lot more flexibility most of the fleet never leaves town and never hits 50 miles an hour so we we definitely are looking at different solutions that are more cost effective and more fitting to the task at hand and we track how the hybrids compare to our existing fleet vehicles as far as uh gas saving fuel savings and things like that so we know so Fleet collects all of that data which was very helpful thank you again um with the greenhouse gas emission inventory perfect and then um I think that's yeah that's all the ones I had sounds like a pretty good report to me though making lot progress I was so glad that we actually had cuz you know we haven't looked at greenhouse gas emissions since 2000 I was like oh no and um if you look nationally the it went up for a while and then it finally came down down but um I was like oh no I hope I hope we have anything 27% per capita that's that's a deal I'm okay with that I'm good with that we need to do more I mean we need to do more but that's that's a path and was were you the intern that did no it was a different Rachel this is Rachel Croft okay Rachel coach okay okay perfect yeah cotch I said it almost said cotch she she now live was in New Orleans she got J did such a good job that they hired you on permanent staffs she's in perfect all right anything else for Michelle thank you Michelle J well keep your eyes open guys cuz A lot's coming I'm very excited all right we all get bronchitis no you won't CU I am not contagious those are famous last words stay home promise good evening and welcome to the city council Norman Utilities Authority Norman Municipal Authority and Norman tax increment Finance Authority meeting of January 23rd 202 24 Adam clerk will you call a role please council member ball present council member Sher here council member Montoya present council member Grant here council member Nash here council member Foreman here council member Holman here council member peacock here mayor hiac I am here thank you would you join me uh oh I'd like to make an announcement before we get started no I'm not let's do the Ali I'm read I pledge Al to the of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you uh now I'd like to make an announcement before we get get started item 26 the purchase of the property on hutner drive has been withdrawn by staff so there will be no discussion of it tonight next item on the agenda is the approval of minutes approval of the city council Community planning and Transportation uh committee meeting uh minutes of March 24th 2022 as follows uh I need a motion to approve the minutes so move second I have a motion and second the motion on the floor is to approve the minutes ccil members you may cast your vote all votes have been cast and the motion to approve the minute passes unanimously thank you ma'am item number two Proclamation mayor of the city of Norman Oklahoma proclaiming the month of February 2024 is Black History Month in the city of Norman I need a motion to acknowledge receipt of this Proclamation so moved second I have a motion and second the motion on the floor is to acknowledge receed of the Proclamation council members you may cast your votes all votes have been cast in the motion to acknowledge receed of the Proclamation passes unanimously thank you ma'am I'll read the proclamation a proclamation of the mayor of the city of Norman Oklahoma proclaiming the month of February 2024 is Black History Month in the city of Norman whereas since its origin in 1926 by the father of Black History Dr Carter G Woodson in his pursuit to raas awar awareness of African-Americans contribution to civilization black history week began and evolved into black history month and whereas 2024's National theme African-Americans in the Arts in the fields of Visual and Performing Arts literature fashion folklore language fil film music architecture culinary arts and other forms of cultural expression and whereas the black liberated Arts Center in Oklahoma city is using art and history to provide the total community of Oklahoma with an exposure to the African African black culture with the emphasis on educating Oklahoma's youth is celebrating 50 years of community service and whereas the nationally Black Arts foundation in Atlanta Georgia is celebrating 35 years of providing quality artistic and educational programs that support the Arts and artists of African descent and is a champion of equality throughout the Arts and whereas the alliance of black employees a city of Norman employee Resource Group established in 2021 also provides support and representation to the black community in in Norman while providing a non non-black communities an opport opportunity to learn the black experience to better understand diverse perspectives and whereas the Norman Human Rights Commission continues to work to dispel prejudice and discrimination and to advance fairness Mutual understanding and appreciation for the worth of all people now therefore I mayor of the city of Norman Oklahoma do hereby proclaim the month of February 2024 is Black History Month in the city of Norman and invite all citizens to join me in celebrating the diversity and character of our community I'd like to recognize Mrs SAS o to join us up in front please would you like to say some words yes thank you uh good evening everyone um once again my name is sasia O I'm the president of Norman he VSU I want to thank the city council and I want to thank the mayor for giving me this opportunity and my officers um Norman highb officers extend your greetings to everyone um in accordance of Black History Month uh black student union is going to be hosting a showcase to Showcase black culture and diversity and we're going to invite the schools around the Metro the metro area and we're going to have the Divine n so we're also um extending our invite to everyone here today and it's free to the community and um thank you again and good evening thank you I would also like to recognize recognize Sher Duncan and Nick Lillard from uh the Norman Arts Council who are with us here tonight are they here oh in the back thank you for being here all right next item on the agenda is Council announcements council member ball would you like to start sure uh don't have many I've talked to Chief King and chief Foster over the weekend um been an extremely busy time for them um yeah I was trying to find my email here but I think my laptop's not working so but just a few safety tips that they asked me to share um I think they responded to close to 500 emergency calls just over this last weekend dealing with everything from slips and Falls to exposure to just everything they do to keep our citizens safe so if you see them tell them thank you U and just a few of the safety tips they asked me to share um if you haven't already signed up on the city website you can sign up up for emergency weather alerts uh street closures traffic accidents things like that um let's see you can always go to OK War for your National Emergency uh emergency manage management officials advised layering clothing and protecting skin and eyes from extreme elements um and make sure you keep your animals safe I looked at the 10day it doesn't look like we have any extreme weather coming up so but it's Oklahoma so we'll probably get our biggest ice storm about March 1st so just keep keep all these things in mind and I know they're looking forward to that know so but that's all I have so council member sh I have no announcements thank well good evening Norman Oklahoma and W 3 um I just have a few things mostly you know calendar items so um this Thursday is going to be an exciting busy day so one there is the 48th annual chili supper benefiting Cleveland County Christmas store and if you've not had our First Responders Chile it is absolutely amazing then also on Thursday the League of Women Voters is hosting the city council Forum here in these Chambers and then we have an election coming up February 13th for the Norman school board so even though word three it is not our time to vote for city council members but you do get to vote for the Norman school board so make a plan to vote on February 13th then absentee in person voting starts February 9th and February 10th I believe from 8:00 a.m.

To 6:00 p.m. at the Cleveland County election board so and that's really all I have thank you all for being here good evening W foreign city of Norman Friday January 29th is the last day to request an absentee ballot to vote in the February 13th City Council election and that's for our even words uh do you have a voting plan if not you can go to ww. vote411.org to sign up for personalized voting information you will be sent info about what's on your ballot check your voter registration find your polling place discover upcoming debates in your area like the one we'll have on Thursday um we also have an art walk on February 9th um and those run from 6:00 to 9 p.m February 10th we have our annual Norman Marty Gro parade at 7M this year's theme is Dancing with dragons and then we're in a budget cycle so budget requests can be sent to W 4 at normanok.gov by January 29th that's this Friday um already I've received some uh requests for sidewalk and colorful crosswalks among other things and uh while there's only so much in the general fund still please send your requests because there might be alternative ways to fund that thank you council member Nash no announcements this week thankk you council member Foreman okay just a couple things word six as you know I'm not seeking reelection so on Thursday I will actually be here for the league of woman voters um to see our candidates for w six kind of talk about City issue so it'd be a good opportunity for you to watch um on YouTube or come into the chambers at 6:30 p.m.

And then the election is February 13th and then Chief Foster I see you out there if you're listening Chief Foster hey um so I just I want to give a little story um just follow me for a second so last month I everyone knows the intersection of tumsa and flood right that's how we most of us get on the interstate I was taking my daughter to school it was like 20 Dees with like 30 mile per hour freezing winds and I was working from home that day and was a little flippant and I had on some Nutcracker pajamas and some fuzzy house shoes and a Harry Potter jacket and my car died and for fortunately there was a cop a couple cars behind me and then he called someone and they put like his Cruiser in the middle of that intersection at 8:00 in the morning and they pushed me across the street in on Q horrifying they were very kind not to note um the pajamas so I appreciate that and I just wanted to acknowledge them publicly it was Sergeant Jason brage and master patrol officer Spencer steel so thank you for coming to my rescue my daughter thought that was the most amazing thing on the planet that you pushed us you pushed a car um so you were superheroes that day to her and to me so thank you ccil member holl thank you just a few things um also wanted to encourage everyone to attend the well Thursdays there is a few things going on so in addition to the uh chili supper benefit at Norman High that happens every year at 5:30 and the council Forum at 6:30 definitely encourage everybody to attend those and participate if you you can uh but at 4:00 here at City Hall we'll be having the community planning and transportation committee meeting as we do the 4th Thursday of every month uh where we get an update uh from City staff regarding public transit um writers ship numbers the budget projects that we have upcoming for it um we also get updates from City staff on road construction projects um so if you have any comments or questions suggestions concerns about those typ YP of things U please feel free to contact me directly or anybody on Council um the meeting is also public and open to anybody and is live streamed on the city of Norman's YouTube channel and again that's every month the fourth Thursday um of the month so 4M so Thursday is a busy day and then um also wanted to mention the uh February 10th the Red Dirt collector Mutual Aid fair I think we had a pretty successful Mutual Aid Fair last week um there'll be another one coming up at Irving Middle School on the 10th that's hosted by RDC so if you're somebody in the community uh that is in need of those types of things uh getting connected with Services uh ID Services um any of that type of stuff this is this uh nutral Aid Fair can help you out with that again that's on February 10th and then as others have mentioned election day on the 13th um for the even numbered Wards in Norman um and as I've mentioned before in local elections every single vote can absolutely make the difference we've had multiple elections for City Council in Norman over the years decided by a dozen or more in that range votes so in a city of 130,000 people um less than a thousand votes total usually decides elections here so it is vitally important that everybody uh go participate in that a local election literally takes probably less than five minutes to walk into the polling place cast a vote and walk out um it's not like what you see on national elections where it's you know lines around the block so um it's quick it's easy and it makes a really big difference um locally and then also mention uh everybody to uh put the Marty gr parade on your calendars um it is the only Marty gr parade in the state of Oklahoma and it's their 30th uh anniversary from what I understand so get ready for that in um downtown Norman on February 10th uh 6:30 p.m.

So it is a night parade which makes even more fun and then um also wanted to mention uh there was a pretty large fire in w 7 last week on Friday at an apartment complex uh multiple units were uh destroyed and um very quick response from our fire department there's a fire station right near there thankfully um and also some quick action by uh people that were around there uh but some families were displaced um including a student at Madison which is in w 7 so the Madison PTO posted on their Facebook page a GoFundMe link uh to help the mother and the uh student at Madison help recover from that um from what I understand they lost everything including some of their pets so um difficult time for them and would encourage everybody to if you are able to contribute anything um uh Financial wise or just in material things that they may need I think they would appreciate that a lot and then lastly I just wanted to mention uh encourage everybody because we' been going through the strong towns process um it's a publication I followed for a long time but um an article that was published recently U by local Norman resident Adam Ross uh about the value per acre of land um from a retail standpoint and how a downtown parcel can compare to a Suburban Big Box store so um and what that does for a community as far as Building Wealth um and addressing things like housing shortages so definitely encourage everybody to check that out thank you counc P thank you I just want to draw special attention to item number eight on tonight's agenda uh that is actually a contract to design and install a pedestrian Crossing at Ruby Grant Park uh across 36th Avenue and I know this is something that w 8 residents have been asking ever since I was sworn into office and it's something that was kind of waiting on the widening of 36th Avenue but uh staff went ahead and found a way to fund a crosswalk here and so I just want to give them a lot of Kudos and a lot of thanks for the hard work because I was something they've really had had to Rack their brains on figuring out so appreciate it thank you now all I'd like to do is is thank were you were done okay uh is thanks staff and the employees and all the Departments for doing a wonderful job during this last Ice event and keeping sometimes pushing cars sometimes uh doing other things that that just made life keep on going and that's one of the wonderful things that I've always noticed about staff and and the employees is they're always here to help us and keep the city going that's that all right next item on the agenda is a consent docket this item is placed on the agenda so the city council by unanimous consent can uh designate those routine agenda items that they wish to be approved or acknowledged by one motion if any item proposed does not meet with the approval of all council members then that item will be heard in regular order staff recommends that item three through item 20 be placed on the consent docket I need a motion to place items three through 20 on the consent docket thank you motion on the floor is to place items three through 20 on the consent docket council members you may cast your vote all votes have been cast and the motion to place items 3 through 20 on the consent docket passes unanimously thank you man I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent docket to approve second I have a motion and second are there any comments from Council regarding any item on the consent docket hearing none the motion on the floor is to approve the consent docket council member cast your vote all votes to approve the consent docket passes unanimously all right item number 21 on non-consent an ordinance rezoning property located at 463 Elm Avenue from R1 single family dwelling District to Spud simple planned unit development District district is there a motion on the floor to adopt we have one on the floor okay thank you ma'am is there a representative of the applicant ah hello Mark good evening I'm Mark Kitt Brink with kitten Brink architecture my address is 428 West eala this uh proposal is exactly the same as it was before after our last meeting I visit with Council Grant and the concern was the um uh Airbnb being allowed on both sites and so we adopt it adapt it we Chang the Spud to remove the Airbnb status from the four bedroom so that's what you have in front of you I can show you anything from that proposal but that's the only change is that the four-bedroom will not be allowed to be an Airbnb and the three-bedroom will remain as that opportunity although the owner questions whether he'll ever do it I'm happy to answer answer questions that was easy awesome thank you uh this is an opportunity for members of the public to speak on this item are there any members um I have one person Paul Wilson okay no never mind all right any final comments from Council yes ma'am um I appreciate that the applicants were willing to renegotiate so that the house on this property or at least one of the houses on this property and the Spud uh will be anchored by a long-term resident um and uh while it didn't really concern the neighborhood it is something that this council is looking at long term and I don't think that uh getting rid of airbnbs and all the spuds makes the most sense if we have fears about airbnbs we will be revisiting the Airbnb ordinance so there will be opportunities there to address some of the fears that our community have around ones that may not be managed well or that are taking away from affordable housing stock um and you know I really appreciate that uh throughout this process that the applicants worked with the neighborhood that is something that this Council also likes to see and I feel like we get the best projects and uh some of the better conversations that you can have during this process with open and transparent um negotiations so thank you anything further no the motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on second reading section by section council members you may cast your vote all votes have to adopt the ordinance upon second reading passes unanimously thank you ma'am item 22 a resolution amending the Norman 2025 LAN did I skip a page I'm trying to sorry item 22 okay I guess we got to do that I need a motion to adopt the uh ordinance on Final reading so moved second motion and second all votes have been cast and the motion to adopt the ordinance on on Final reading passes unanimously thank you 22 a resolution amending the Norman 2025 land use and transportation plan to remove property located at 2281 36th Avenue Northwest from commercial designation and place the same in high density residential designation I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the resolution motion to adopt second I have a motion second is there a representative of the applicant to make a presentation good evening Mark grubs 1800 South Sarah Road on behalf of the application um items 22 23 and 24 are all companion items um this uh this is the adoption of the uh change in the land use and transportation plan is associated with a very small U multif family project 36 units located just south of uh Rock Creek and on the east side of 36th Avenue at the Planning Commission uh there was discussion um we agreed to add uh trees along the east side of our project on 20ft centers as well as uh change our unit mix um there was a request to add some one-bedroom units uh within the project which uh my client did agree to he modified his plans we have Incorporated those into the Spud which is your uh item number 23 I'll be happy to answer any questions or show you any more about the project if you're interested um otherwise I'd be happy to answer any questions we'd ask for your approval council member homman thank you um so the um currently the property is just a vacant empty lot grass lot um there is a storm water Channel Creek behind here or between here and the the neighborhood along Buckhorn Drive um and you mentioned the trees U if I saw correctly it's a 30 foot uh 30 feet between the creek and the parking yeah there's a 30ft easement on the east side of the property that will will uh remain in its natural state there are existing trees between the residential neighborhood and our property that will not be disturbed and we are just adding additional trees along the east side of our parking lot are you adding a fence to there at all or on the edge of the parking or anything like that or just leaving it open just leaving it open okay and then um I think I had seen I'd seen the comments and planning about the unit mix um so I definitely appreciate the willingness to adapt um and go with a few one-bedroom units we seen that that seems to be a big deficiency we have a lot of four and three bedrooms but not as many on the two and one bedroom um was there anything else that was considered for this property that you know of um we were not asked of anything else so no sir okay okay thank Youk peacock I'm just skipping down here to item 24 real quick I know they're all related um it says that you guys are going to vacate a portion of an alley on the property can you just speak to that a little bit there's an existing alley it runs along the east side of our property it um it hindered the uh it hindered the site as to not make uh the parking workout layout so what we've done is just relocated that we've obtained a additional alley from the property owners to the North and South to transition that over through our parking so that that remains open and we still allow uh 36 in Rock Creek to connect okay excellent thank you welcome council member Schuler uh yeah so I'm looking at the overlay of the site plan on um kind of the current existing properties that are adjacent um and it looks like um I know that there's a gym that's just um to the West um it looks like some of your property is being used for parking like are you working with yeah we work we're working with um the health club the health club is very aware that they developed parking onto this lot and we have coordinated with them and they're aware aware of the changes okay and then um just on the kind of the east side of their building there's you know probably 10 or so um parking that's going to be I see I don't just don't know how they're going to get you're going to get access with the building so are those going to go away from they will go away okay just trying to understand the flow um of the space yeah understood anything more Madam clerk is nobody assigned that excellent thank you sir thank you um the motion on the floor is to adopt the resolution council members you make cash oh you want to speak I'm sorry um I just want to mention this is a example I think that we'd like to see more of um sort of odd shaped pieces of property that are behind current developments don't have the greatest access uh but develop developing them into higher density housing um and making better use of the space so um this is definitely something I'd like to encourage uh others to think about and hopefully we see more of thank you thank you okay the motion on the floor is to adopt council members you may cast your votes all vote have the resolution passes unanimously thank you ma'am item 23 an ordinance res zoning property located at 2281 36th Avenue Northwest from C1 local commercial District to Spud simple planned unit development District I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on second reading section by section second motion and second this is companion item to the previous item are there any further questions Council seeing none uh any public comments I do have one um from Paul Wilson okay thank you okay the motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on second reading council members you may cast your votes all votes have been passed and the motion to adop the ordinance reading passes unanimously thank you ma'am I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on Final reading so moved second second motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on Final reading council members you may cast your votes I'll vote the ordinance upon final reading passes unanimously thank you ma'am item number number 24 an ordinance closing a portion of a platted alley in Lots four and five AKA lot 5A block one Prairie Creek Edition and acceptance of easements accommodating A New Path for the alley I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on second reading section by section motion to adopt second motion second this companion item to the previous two items are there any further questions anybody from the here ain't none this is excellent uh the motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on second reading section by section and accept the easements council members you may cast your votes all votes have been to adopt the ordinance upon second reading passes unanimously thank you ma'am I'll entertain a motion to adopt to reject the ordinance on Final reading and accept the ements so moved motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on Final reading and accept the easements council members you may cast your vote I'll vote T the ordinance upon final reading and accept the easements passes unanimously thank you ma'am item number 25 an ordinance granting special use for a bar lounge or Tavern in C2 General commercial district for property Loc Lo at at 1235 West Main Street I'll enter I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on second reading section by section motion to adopt second motion second is there a representative of the applicant blue Greenfield 1809 Oak meows drive I'm here to apply for a special use permit for the sale of wine and beer for our locate our location at 12:35 West Main Street the cruising car was wash the car wash CH landscape has changed so so much in the last 5 years when I started in 2003 we were one of two car washes in Norman Fast Lanes and auto valet both were locally owned through the years the corporate Car Wash chains have moved into our area auto valet went out of business years ago leaving us the last locally owned Tunnel Car Wash in Norman we've managed to S sustain success over the years by being a part of the community and trying to offer more and more options as the competition has gotten bigger and tougher each year we strive to set ourselves apart from them with the sale of beer and wine as well as putting a nail salon in the near future we are striving to be a special place that customers can go and relax while we take care of all their Automotive Maintenance needs many different business models have introduced alcohol cells in the past 10 years we all know that the theater chains have implemented alcohol sales very successfully into their revenue streams Whole Foods is one of several grocery stores chains that are adding bars and brew pubs where Shoppers can drink wine and beer while they shop Albertson and Kroger are among other companies testing the bar within a grocery store concept at select locations more and more it's becoming common place to be able to enjoy drink responsibly at many businesses I humbly ask for your approval on the special use doning thank you are there any questions from Council councilman Michelle Schuler yes hello again hello um so I know at the predevelopment meeting there were a couple of neighbors that were concerned they had some issues with um some things maybe not related to the special use so I was just one uh specific Ally about lighting um were you able to work with them to address some of their concerns around that or just like maybe explain what the the lighting is because I think there was some light they were thinking there was some light pollution coming from the property I actually invited them to come by the lot so we could discuss where their properties were in location to my lighting because I went and viewed the back alley of my property and all my lights on the back of my building are directional lighting down but I did notice that Bank of America when they did away with their drive-thru Lanes um they installed bright LED panel lighting that literally points to the back and they never came by and we could never discuss it but I was thinking it it might be Bank of America that is causing their issue but they never came by and and spoke with me or my managers so but I'm still definitely open like anytime they would like to stop by we'll I I'll gladly go through the light yeah I appreciate that and I I know that you were very open to to working with them and addressing concerns so I just was wondering where that stood um so I know there were a number of questions that were asked at Planning Commission but um and this actually might be for Miss Hudson um can you talk a little bit about the special use and how this might um transfer to a new owner I know that that's not the plan that you're planning to be here and to be in the community and do this but um I know that was some of the concern that people had was that this was going to potentially turn into you know a bar or something like that in the future um so can you talk about the restrictions around special use and how that might might transfer to a new property owner um if that were the case sure Jane Hudson director get it closer to but the video can't the video can't hear you if you don't talk into the microphone can you hear me is it better [Laughter] yeah I know right okay better so the special use stays with the property should uh somebody else come in and want to operate the business there we would uh do they would come to us and we would do a site inspection and make sure that the use that's on the property is is consistent with what's adopted there's a fee I believe it's $150 I can look at that but uh that would be transferred and then that is also filed at the county no different than this would be filed at the county once that's transferred it would be uh filed with the new uh Property Owners as well so so um the new property owner would be beholden to what is currently outlined in this special use document like you have with the hours and the way that you're going to provide the services and there's also a site plan added to that so any kind of substantial changes to a site plan would also have to come back to council correct I think they actually asked that also at the meeting and and yes any changes to the site plan would would have to come back for approval okay appreciate it thank you council member ball um on a personal note one of my very first jobs here in Norman was working for Mr Dwayne Hall alongside Mr Greenfield here at Fast Lanes in 2003 so just knowing that you've done so much to keep that place alive and going and what it takes to innovate and just stay competitive I'm proud of you guys so you guys are doing great um I was looking at the protest letter and the only protest letter or form of process I see is they're worried that you're going to try to extend your hours and turn into a bar do you have any plans of doing that I put limitations on our hours in our application um and and uh and then uh on top of that our our sales numbers will always it will be automa based um that'll have to be the main um sales income for our business and I put that all in the letter um for them them to check it out perfect thank you council member Grant um just kind of some questions as to anticipated uh average visit so the person being served would be somebody who is getting a car wash or whoever is riding with them um what is the average length of service for Car Wash Detail Services all that about 30 to 45 minutes on average so obviously we do have some detail packages that last a little longer and you know we've um I I don't want to assume where you're going but serving people too much alcohol um we still have to go through the able commission and we're building to all the laws the able commission sets for as far as over serving any customers we have even talked about setting company policies about a two drink maximum um just to because we're trying something new and we want to be safe about it um you know and and just like anywhere you go to lunch you know you might have a beer with your launch or whatever that's what we're trying to um trying to do here and we don't want someone to come hang out all afternoon and drink um yes that's kind of where I was going with that got but uh I'm glad to hear that you're looking into some company policy and that would mean training for you know whoever is serving yes um that's it thank you thank you this is an opportunity for members of the public to speak are there anybody sign up all right thank anything else from Council council member hman yes I was just going to note that um when I was a kid growing up here uh in the 90s early 90s this location there was a restaurant there um I cannot remember the name of it I've been trying to Google it I remember somebody posting about it not that long ago but but it always stood out to me because the outside of it looked like a castle like it had a castle spire on it so I know that it was popular and it definitely served alcohol so just noting that it wouldn't be uh out of uncommon or whatever um for this piece of property to have been used for a similar purpose before so thanks if somebody in the audience remembers the name of that restaurant so yeah council member Montoya said just a comments of the location I think the the restaurant it was either called steak and na or Applegates Landing but inside of it it had this little wheel that would turn water and it was really cool as a kid but so my first job was actually valet Wash and Lube oh okay I'm really heartbroken that that's no cloth I had so many fun memories as a 16 17 18y old working there so it's a lot of fun I enjoyed working there yeah that's remember Sher um yeah I don't have any like anecdotal things to say mostly just to say like thank you for working through the process and being willing to work with the neighbors um as much as possible and really hear hearing their concerns definitely during the predevelopment meeting and then you know going above to to make sure that you're addressing all those things to be a good neighbor ABS we really really appreciate those types of um applicants and people that come forward um in front of us so just want to say you know thank you and very welcome and we've been there a long time so we try to keep the neighbors happy thank you all right the motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on second reading council members you may cast your votes I'll vote adopt the ordinance upon second reading passes unanimously thank you ma'am I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on Final read motion to adopt second motion and second the motion on the floor is to adopt the the ordinance on Final reading council members you may cast your votes all votes have been cast and the motion to adopt the ordinance upon final reading passes unanimously all right and as we said prior to the meeting item 26 has been withdrawn this is time this is an opportunity this is miscellaneous comments it is an opportunity for citizens to address city council due to open meeting act regulations council is not able to participate in discussion during miscellaneous comments remarks should be directed to council as a whole and limited to three minutes or less Adam Clark do we have anybody signed up yes we do mayor we'll start with Danny Miller is there a Danny Miller okay we'll move on to Diane Wheeler I don't see her John Gorn good okay margarite lson Margaret Larson W 6 so um I appreciate the fact that you are seriously reconsidering item 26 it is not the ideal location for an unhoused shelter it is too far away from Services there is no Transportation there is people that have not been contracted as to how much it's going to cost you to bring people in how much it's going to cost you to build the building but what I did notice is this property was assessed for $674,000 but yet council is happy to pay 940,000 for it so my question is why and I know you can't answer me but you guys can think about it thank you thank you ma'am Diane hudel good evening Diana hudel W five um tonight I want to talk a little bit about uh 2023 crime in review I know chief of police is coming up to speak next month but I wanted to discuss concerns from citizens last year Norman Police Department daily arrest summmer documented the arrest of 2,464 different individuals for 20 or for 5,227 criminal offenses tonight I'd like to break down some of that data to help you better understand citizens concerns in 2022 the Norman Police Department arrested 527 different homeless individuals last year that number was 639 that's a 21% increase in 21 2022 the Norman Police Department documented 1785 homeless criminal offenses last year that number was 2118 an 18 or 19% increase last year 71% of the individuals arrested in Norman were housed while 26% were homeless that's a 3:1 ratio that's alarmingly disproportionate given that the homeless Community represents less than 1% of the total population of Norman the types of offenses the Norman Police Department arrested the housed and homeless for in 2023 were extremely similar were you to be provided with the list of the 5,000 plus offenses minus the names and addresses of the individuals who committed those you wouldn't be able to distinguish who did what both groups had offenses for trespass drugs intoxication and outraging public decency and other misdemeanors and tragically both groups had offenses for assault and battery arson burglary rape and kidnapping and other violent crimes last year 59% of criminal offenses were committed by housed individuals and 41% by homeless individuals what makes these percentages significant is that a lesser number of homeless generated significantly more crime on average each housed indiv individual committed 1.7 offenses however each homeless individual 3.3 the 639 homeless individuals arrested last year were arrested by the Norman Police Department 1,366 times the majority of homeless individuals arrested last year have significant criminal records and I'm not anti-homeless I am anti-me the com combined they over 1500 felony and 2,000 misdemeanor convictions amongst that group of 639 over 120 vpos and over 400 felony and misdemeanor trials that are pending all of this data indicates to us that there's a growing element of criminal homeless in our homeless community that puts everyone at risk including the law-abiding homeless I also looked at the available data for 2024 177 criminal offenses have been documented thus far as of the 21 January daily arrest summary 89 of those are attributable to homeless individuals that's 50% we're already 9% higher than last year I look forward to the chief of police speaking and addressing some of the issues as to how we're going to make this better thank you very much thank you man Paul Wilson good evening Council um I just wanted to address one thing that's been on the topic a lot on social media is the local businesses that are locally owned operated that are closing down I know just in the last week one closed down and another announced it a lot of it is the rise of rent on these commercial properties it's also affecting not only commercial but residential I know there was an apartment complex I believe it's in w 7 that somebody just got evicted because they withdrew or stopped paying their rent because they wouldn't clean up mold and water damage this is ongoing issue with out of state investors moving in buying up commercial property residential property hiking up the rent to these locally owned businesses and even the residents of of Norman can no longer stay in business or no longer afford the rent I desperately encourage Council to come up with some kind of solution to this problem because if not Norman is going to turn into nothing more than Corporate America owning all of the restaurants and it's it's not going to look good I love going to local restaurants local establishments local places cuz I know that it actually feeds into the community more than going to a chain restaurant or a big box store I mean I even went to as far as I no longer shop at the box stores for groceries I now go to Crest it is in Oklahoma locally owned uh grocery store prices aren't that different but something has to give because if not like I said nobody's going to be able to afford rent businesses will shut down it's going to become a ghost town you think I mean just look at downtown Norman Oklahoma I believe 21 openings and closings have gone over the last few years if I'm not mistaken and that's alarming because yeah 21 leave 21 come that's a high turnover and it's just not fair to the residents it's not fair to these business owners so I implore you guys please come up with a solution before this gets way more out of hand than it currently is thank you thank you sir stepen Ellis stepen Ellis 633 Reed Avenue W four um what I wanted to to discuss tonight was uh the item 26 and and how glad I am that the city council is actually looking for a place uh for a permanent shelter uh I don't think that the hutner uh address was a particularly icious place for that especially given uh the sort of uh lack of attention at least current attention and hasn't been very much talk about this so maybe I'm missing something uh about providing services at the location and the real issue with that location is uh getting people to services and I think we all know that if people can't be adjacent to services and where they need to be they're probably not as likely to stay there as well so it doesn't solve anybody's problem um the second thing that I wanted to point out about this though is that I I I think it's important that as a city we sort of um come together on our way of thinking about the importance of of finding uh sort of shelter for our unhoused friends uh part of the issue is just making sure that we're putting their interests to the four because there the people are really suffering in this kind of situation I I fear that there's uh some tendency in the community uh to think of unhoused persons as as the problem rather than as the people who are suffering from the problem and prioritizing the people who are sort of worst off I think makes the most sense in this uh particular circumstances uh as somebody who teaches ethics I could go off on that for an hour but I won't uh I the the last thing that I want to say and this actually uh uh touches on a point that was raised earlier I I am looking forward uh to hearing the chief of police talk about the crime statistics in particular in uh relation to the unhoused but I think it's really really important to remember that um when you don't have a permanent habitation you're pretty much always violating the law there is no point in time during the day when you are not suspect are subject to uh a potential violation for trespassing at a very minimum uh so you've you've got to take care of your needs right you've got to go to the bathroom you've got to find a place to sleep you've got to get something to eat and that requires being places we're technically not allowed to be except at the at the pleasure of the person who owns the place and we tend to drive homeless individuals out so I think it's important remember when we look at these statistics is we've made being homeless criminal no wonder there are a lot of thank you sir Michael Blanc I didn't see him I just want to make sure I wasn't missing him um Caitlyn Whitten everyone um I'm Caitlyn Whitten Ward 6 31 woodrest Creek Drive some of you um May notice my last name Whitten I hope that you do um we have a real problem and um his name is Eric Hudson he lives at 3104 woodrest Creek Drive I don't know if you guys are familiar with where I live but I'm a block away from the vineyard is everybody familiar with the vineyard is being a prominent staple here in Norman it's where a lot of people live but in between me in the lovely neighborhood of Vineyard lives a nuisance there's been over 50 calls to this house to law enforcement multiple made by me and my husband there has been drug addicts outside my home I have three children they all go to school here in Norman I love Norman we wanted to grow our family here but this house is awful we have prostitution we've been woken up in the middle of the night with a storm with a woman on our porch who we thought was arguing with somebody and we open the door and she is talking to herself because she's so high on drugs she tells us that she just came from the house next door where she was being raped and she was trying to get away we called 911 but before the police could get there we had flooding we know how Norman does we had flooding happen and they couldn't get there fast enough she left and went back to that house they could not find her they couldn't talk to her they came to our porch we tried everything we could I don't know when is enough both Eric Hudson and Daniel Owens live at that property they have City tickets against them I know that you guys can have a hearing where me and my husband my neighbors can come to you guys and say shut off their utilities there are needles at our playground across the street The Vineyard Park playground has found dirty needles and has found human feces homeless is that where you guys want your kids to grow up cuz I don't my kids can't go to the park across the street because of this nuisance I didn't come here to get emotional it just happens whenever it involves your children Daniel Owens came outside shooting what looked like an AR-15 at a vehicle and my husband had to rush in and we all got into the bedroom my son refused to sleep in his bed because his window is by that house he sleeps on the floor cuz he's terrified s emails to you guys I'm coming face to face this is my faceit neighbors thank you thank you ma'am please Sue Sanders hi I'm Sue Sanders a retired RN I've owned my home at 148 eight Reed Avenue for 30 years until food and shelter was built directly across the street in 2018 I've loved my neighborhood and Norman my daughters could walk safely to elementary school because of the huge influx of the unhoused I'm now un outnumbered 100 to one I've been physically assaulted with a Lethal Weapon my daughters have been sexually molested there have been many crimes on my property people knock on my door day and night gunshots ring out we lie on the floor I see fights and domestic abuse through my living room window 9% of this population is reported registered sex offenders since last spring I've been told by police not to report trespassing nor crimes that wouldn't be ongoing when they arrived as they don't have enough money and Manpower disturbances have gotten much worse with the notable increase in guests to food and shelter and share Center my family and I are receiving verbal physical threats and property disturbances daily Norman has attracted 4,000 new homeless during The Last 5 Years there's an abundance of no threshold free services and assistance easygoing law enforcement there are ambulances and fire trucks every other day I've called in reports of drug deals I've witnessed overheard from my property names and descriptions I see people shooting up the receptionist always says I'll tell an officer nothing happens people displaying all the behaviors of methamphetamine and psychosis have increased greatly since the holidays I don't want tax money spent on things that make Norman more of a mecca for the unhoused even downtown is more dangerous than before food and shelter at the city council meeting that voted in food and shelter the reason given for moving it to my neighborhood was that it would improve downtown that backfired as well as making Reed Avenue a dangerous slum at this time my house is unsalable my property was turned one of the two most adversely affected by food and Shelter by April doer and City officials have discussed buying it I desperately want them to follow through as a petite 64-year-old pending back surgeries I need to be safe there are three lots on my property bordering the alley so it has many uses I need a safe place to live in my old age thank you thank you ma' Jack [Applause] Dawson Jack your turn Mr Mayor my buddy Steve and I know you don't like Steve you like Stephen but hey I'm from New York and it's all about nicknames in New York my real name is John but please don't call me John um I live in uh Ward one um I'm looking at my council person for the first time because I didn't know who it was I've only been in Ward one for a year H and what I am about to talk about is not really city of Norman business it's basically a state problem but there is stuff that the city of Norman can do in her years of being mayor there was only one thing that Bria Clark ever did that I approved of and that is uh early on it may have even been her first day in office or the first council meeting um she was advocating for something I can't even remember what it was uh but it was a kind of liberal proposal that I didn't even agree with and it wasn't city of Norman business it was State business but I really approved of the fact that she would advocate for it uh because I realize you guys aren't much and I'm not insulting anybody at least not intentionally but you're not full-time uh you don't get paid much you could probably make more working at McDonald's part-time than you make here um but the problem is headlights and this isn't just because it was a foggy day today you know uh when I first set foot in Oklahoma in fact I don't think I'd set foot in Oklahoma yet I I set four wheels in Oklahoma I've been driving all the way from Rola Missouri um and when I'm coming down Route 35 approaching what they call the what do they call it the Dallas interchange or something uh that's pretty tricky for somebody uh who's never set foot in Oklahoma before and um and it was about 1:00 in the afternoon and the sky was as dark [Music] as you've run out of time sir me you've run out of time sir I know that's that's problem yes it is thank you for your comments okay two weeks Mark Wagner Hiag five uh mayor city council staff uh congratulations I guess you guys should be really proud of yourselves it looks to me like y'all have been working really really hard and you've accomplished quite a few things uh what I noticed on the consent docket uh you guys shouldn't hide your your accomplishments on a consent docket uh you should be proud of what you've done uh I'm seeing here we've authorized an expenditure of almost $8,400 a month for the electric bill for the Trey young family athletic center so that's $100,000 congratulations you spend $100,000 of taxpayer money there's another $900,000 going to um equipment and services and or I guess equipment and furniture for there so the the round number makes me a little suspicious kind of like when we had that $50,000 bond issue for 35,000 of repairs for Bridges and Roads so we're up that's another million so we're over what about 44 million on this project so far we could have fixed a lot of bridges and roads for 44 million if we had prioritized our infrastructure and things that we desperately need in the city instead of something that's really really it's nice to have I don't see maybe I just don't see the return on investment of over $44 million in my lifetime and if we're going to pay for the elect the U I'm sorry the custodial service the $8,400 a month for custodial service are we also going to pay their electric bill are we going to pay their water bill pay for their security it sounds to me like it's a city facility more than it's a private uh Enterprise anyway I encourage uh city council to prioritize the things that we really really need ahead of the things that are nice to have thank you thank you sir Bill hutler hsel I'm sorry good evening Bill Hut w 5 back in October I watched the city meeting there was only about five council members there someone mentioned an account with $900,000 in it it was for a project in which the city ended up getting the money from El W so this was not being used and was available all of a sudden a council person quickly asked if the money could be used to renovate three City buildings for a shelter all of a sudden blueprint showed up and everyone went to Executive session the reason I mentioned that is it seems every time there's a meeting I attend or watch spending money on shelters always mentioned the finance me meeting last week revealed we have a $4.8 million shortfall for this year and if we don't stop spending we will be broke in 5 years the point in time report last January showed 213 homeless Norman police report show 639 homeless individuals were arrested last year alone I am not against the homeless I am against the criminals I'm also against City Council Members giving Mis information to the public about this issue if only 10% of the homeless are criminals then we have 64 homeless 6,400 homeless in Norman if 50% % of the criminals if 50% are criminals then we have about 1300 homeless I would like the city manager mayor or Council to provide the public at the next city council meeting the dollar amount Norman spent last year on this problem from January to December shelter food transportation for the homeless cost of city employees cleaning Parks sidewalks working on blueprints studies calls to the police department for the time to arrest book transport to detention these people Court calls for the public defenders the officers who have to go to court to testify and the fees that cannot be collected this is a problem that needs to be addressed thank you all right that's all the speakers that we have we are adjourned

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