good evening and welcome to the city council conference meeting of Tuesday February 13 2024 there are two items on the agenda I'm going to take the second item first uh this would be discussion regarding the purchase of fire trucks Chief all right thank you mayor hello Council uh city manager pile wanted me to come before you this late afternoon and talk to you about the $37,000 appropriation we're seeking in tonight's meeting uh and that would go toward the purchase of two new fire apparatus I want to give you some background there and answer any questions so um from a historical perspective as you know the public safety sales tax put a 10-year apparatus replacement plan together for us with which was approved by the voters I believe back in 2014 2015 we just finished in this fiscal year the last year of that and that's typically each year how we bought our big fire apparatus so you have the public safety side of that and then you have the regular budget Capital Fleet replacement we still had apparatus coming out of that such as brush bumpers staff Vehicles support Vehicles which would be bought out of that when possible we would buy those out of PSS as well um but generally there were two kind of rails running there on how we got our apparatus replaced um there were large apparatus that came up on the regular Fleet replacement and like I said we would get them over in psst or delay them delay them to the next year where it fit into our program for replacement so this year we got the midmount aerial apparatus I gave a presentation last year to you over that and then um back in the early fall we were notified by Fleet that actually two more Pumpers were approved on the Capital Fleet replacement side not in psst so we assembled our team started uh putting putting together some ideas on what these look like uh we were notified by Fleet and by finance that $830,000 were appropriated for each of these apparatus we got with the manufacturer and realized very quickly that was not going to be enough money uh the price that you'll see tonight it came in at $999,000 uh with our 80% pre pay that got it down to roughly $938,000 so we're about $107,000 short on each apparatus and then we figured about $45,000 per apparatus in loose equipment and when I say loose equipment all the hose your nozzles anything that's not permanently fixed to the apparatus in general we also have to buy out of that so that totaled up to $7,777 we're coming to you tonight um uh I was talking to the mayor before the meeting you know we've reached researched other options uh we've gone down some of these roads before when you start talking commercial apparatus more of your assembly line fire Tru they just will you can get those cheaper but they just will not stand the wear and tear that we put on them generally those are suited for volunteer type departments much smaller departments uh we've been approached by and looked into demo Vehicles so kind of used apparatus there's many challenges there and they they were coming in between 7 and $800,000 we were told um I talked to suin themselves and if you'll recall um kind of on that note you know we were buying Pierce apparatus and as I've told you before I kind of like the 737 model that Southwest Airlines uses you know we try to get a brand that our mechanics know that our staff knows turn around when you're trying to repair them on a fire scene they're set up similarly so we're much more efficient in all aspects of service when you do that however they started getting pric so I had my staff do more research and found suin we buy those also off the hgac uh they were much they were very competitive substantially cheaper than the Pierce rig that we were specking out uh and just as a reminder there you know uh they don't they try to build everything here in America that they can during Co we were having issues getting parts in from China as Pierce was Outsourcing quite a bit they also cross referen their parts through nap there's a Napa shop inside of our Fleet Maintenance facility a lot of things were making sense our Fleet folks went on trips up there to do prebuilds and everybody was very satisfied with with uh that apparatus and we're very satisfied with the one we have in running out of station one so that's why we went with suin um I I talked to them and I'm like you know it just and I heard this earli kind of feels like goui like can can you walk me through this can let's talk about this and they said well Chief good question I can guarantee you that's not happening and we have done the research these prices are industrywide but right now and during Co when you had the shutdown that you did well that didn't stop fire trucks from wearing out we were still in business we didn't shut down here in Norman and that's something we're we're very proud of but but the rest of the world did so steel they couldn't get steel you couldn't get engines you couldn't get all the components well orders kept coming in and they said we actually saw an acceleration at orders cuz people kind of start panicking let's get an order in now right and so it could take up to 40 months to build these trucks so you've got the planners at these apparatus manufacturers looking ahead 28 to 30 months before they actually start production because that's how far back in the line we are and they're looking at prices to this point how much has steel went up to this point how much have Cummins Motors went up and cummin Motors are going up more because of EPA regulations they're cracking down more and more on the efficiency of them so prices go up everything going up so they look at past pra the past history which they base future things on and and that's where they come up with these pricing things they're they're they're not gouging us but they still are in the business to make a profit and they're certainly don't want to lose money so that's why we see the increases we are fleet has done a research on the two apparatus that these will be replacing we talked to them about that I thought one of them might be able to we could avoid one of them but they dug down and and we we trust their research uh they said no chap both of them need to be replaced and by the time you get them in you know again it could be 42 months before these things go in service by the time we outfit them get them it could be that long so uh they said we just don't feel like we can take the chance on that and every day we wait the you're going to spend more money replacing them next year we need to go in and do it that was their recommendation so I forward that on the city manager we got this before you to consider and as I said city manager pile wanted me to come and give that context and that background to you and then answer any questions that you might have question yes sir how old are the two that we're replacing they're going to be uh in that these Pumpers generally are 12 to 15 years old when we look at replacing them so they're both in our Reserve they're both reserves now so they will continue to serve as Frontline apparatus and that's generally what we do you replace the reserves and then a new one goes in and something will go then go to reserve that has three four five 8 years of life left in it so possibly the two existing ones could be 20 years old by the time the new ones actually AR I can get you that information I'll have Fleet somewhere around that exactly but let's let's say they could definitely be 15 years old by the time they're being replaced and you know that's a a pretty long life I mean we we fell under 25,000 total call Volume last year here so that's our demand keeps going up call volume keeps going up and and uh we we got to have reliable apparatus they that's what we rely on that's what the public relies on so cious business got Sho oh um so if I was Chief if I was following you correctly I was trying to um understand all the numbers that you were throwing at us so about so each of these um apparatus would be about 938 th000 and so the Delta was about 300 something did you say 30777 is what we have for you to consider tonight okay um 30777 okay um and that's we're taking that from the general fund to supplement fund balance to supplement for the capital yeah okay that's right okay that I just clarifying in my brain what the that's what Finance okay told us would happen okay and this is yeah okay that was my question other questions for chief further discussion all right good it thank you for your time and your consideration thank you sir all right move the wrong page item number one discussion regarding renovations to 109 West gry Street I'd like to start this discussion before we start with you sir uh if we may uh council member Foreman made a a comment that stuck in my mind last time we met about this and she made the comment that we're we're moving around and we're we're checking things that we don't have a basis to check yet we can we do this can we do that can we do this my suggestion after reading and a report that was done by the downtowners I if you don't have a copy we'll get you copies pretty quick uh a report that was done by the downtowners that basically has data that they collected and the questions they collected that data with uh in there and the answers to those questions and and in general what it seems to me we're doing is we're arguing all kinds of hyp uh uh not possibilities rather than looking at a solution in the end how are we going to do whatever we're going to do do we want to rebuild a shelter and do something and then spend money on something else I think we need a plan to be able to do this and what I'd suggest to you is that we put out an RFP and have somebody who can do an analytical plan that sits down and looks at available land looks at do they want to sell it uh what the price of that Land is What kind of structure would you put on that land and and how would you do that and come up with a plan that we can tell the public this is what we want or don't want uh one sort or another thoughts questions yes ma'am me to it me uh I know been firing this gun for four years uh Catherine yes the feasibility of that I guess my question is that I'm doing an RFP yeah everything do one I I don't know um you know I want to be careful about how we flesh it out to make sure there are firms out there that would that would submit a proposal but yeah that's something that could be done it would probably take um 30 to 45 days to draft then get it out on the street for at least we do three weeks and then do interviews and try and get back that back in front of council and I would imagine it would take to to interject 90 days something 60 days to do a a land survey is my thought and then we'd have to go back to questions again to the public is is this feasible to them and then we talk about it would that be is that reasonable yeah I don't know what kind of proposals we would get or how long they would they would submit you know for a land survey of of norm and obviously you'd want a firm that's familiar enough with their war and that they can be pretty efficient with that but uh that's probably about the right timeline it could be a little bit longer uh we would have we wouldn't know probably till we got the RFP responses for sure but yeah that be close Okay um I'm a yes and so I know that the Oklahoma County uh the Commissioners hired a land specialist to help them find a location for a jail because it's also unpopular um so wouldn't be opposed to that but I am going to still be for the improvements on 109 West Gray because we are talking about removing asbestos uh making it a more open space that's usable and putting sprinkling in there and I know in the future that that shelter is not going to be there forever and when I think about potential tenants that come next it could be people like engageed learning that are doing stem enrichment programs in there so I see improvements there as an asset longterm long after a shelter moves out okay we disagree I would think I think that thing is going to end up being a commercial building of some sort but that's that's all that's part of The Whimsy of the whole thing yes sir I agree we should definitely delay it U I was going to say that when we walked in just due to the fact that with everything we've done to find a permanent shelter with what's going on downtown why waste the money on this it can go to something a whole lot better and as far as that building goes I mean compared to the rest of buildings in this city that's not going to be there that much longer so why waste the money it can definitely be upgraded and be turned into something a whole lot nicer yes ma'am uh this questions for lence what's the condition of that building and its future lifespan I can't speak to lifespan um we probably have another I'd probably say seven to 10 years on the roof uh the structure of the building seems sound um so whatever that would run out to be maybe the same time period 10 15 years maybe longer maybe 50 um you know it's it's a it's a brick building um hva system is is upgraded Rec recently on it so um it's an old building um as far as how long it'll live I I don't know but it still has some life left in it are you just talking about the east no excuse me the West end of that or the whole three buildings uh the West End is one we we we have there red some HVAC on the rest of the buildings are I still think are are our structural sound they're just old I mean they're they're always going to take a lot of uh a lot of remodeling you know to get them up to Old what things want you they're old so it uh um I mean those are the the questions I didn't see which one picked up first council member home um has anyone approached the city offering to buy that property from us um not it was private property in the city acquired it a few years ago and used it for storage and for some I think line maintenance was in there for a little while uh but has anybody expressed interest to the city about if we're willing to sell it and if and that they're interested in buying it from us it's been a few years okay um so we don't have any I agree that U I'd like to see that property redeveloped into uh high density housing actually with commercial on the bottom and all that stuff um but I haven't seen any interests come forward either all these years that we've owned it um so I guess my concern or thought on it is um if we identify the location we purchase a p piece of property we put a question to the vote of the people to fund construction of a shelter we're looking at like how long to do that to build a new shelter from the ground up get voter approval and build it you're 18 to 24 months in that time you have to don't need a tajal we don't need a right you know marble you know uh facade or anything I mean a pretty standard yeah most likely similar what we've seen in Oklahoma City I would say with their new shelter the entitlement process you're probably 90 days and depending on what you bought what we need to have it zoned if you wanted to have an spu put on it to kind of set out the Rules of Engagement uh and then uh architectural work uh checking to see where we have sewer water uh capacity um just all depends on the piece of property we buy I would say yeah 18 months in many cases I think we could do steel construction and still make it look great on the outside but really get the speed and the efficiency in the spans uh using steel construction and then before we chose that site City staff explored multiple existing buildings in Norman to try to locate a shelter in and we were unsuccessful is that right correct we even looked at an abandoned or unused building in the middle of Griffin Hospital not near anybody and we still had significant protests to it correct yeah and so we have are there so for me if we had any other existing building in Norman to move this to I would be very open to doing that I've stated that multiple times on the record I'm open to any solution possible the only thing I will not do is I will not support closing that shelter with no option no alternative that's not an option in my opinion it's not a solution and I I strongly believe it will absolutely make the situation way worse if we put 55 more people out on the streets of Norman downtown every night they're not going to go away I've seen no evidence anywhere that just closing it down and hoping they wander off that's not going to happen and it didn't happen before when we closed down the commane shelter and we didn't have a shelter for 5 months the homeless in downtown did not go away in fact they were more visible in front of people's store fronts in the morning because they were having a sleep on the sidewalks so without an alternative solution I cannot support moving that one and if buying a piece of property and getting voters to approve of funding and then building something is going to take a year or two I'm thinking about okay what is the most efficient use of this building in its current condition consolidating it from three buildings into one but they're currently using three storefronts consolidating that into one moving the entrance to the side adding fire suppression so we don't have to pay for a fire watch um and making it easier for the staff to oversee and manage it are pretty positive things that I think would make the the place operate better and um would be a better environment for those staying there so that's kind of where I'm stuck is yeah I don't I agree I don't want to it's not a permanent shelter it's not a permanent location for me it's not where I want to keep it um but also realistically if we can't find any other existing building to move it to and we've been unsuccessful at doing that so far and it will take a while to build a new one out of the ground if voters should approve uh funding for one it's kind of like do we if we do nothing we're just going to keep the same situation we have right now and nobody likes that right so that's kind of where I've been back and forth on this is we can consolidate it move the entrance we can save some money on fire walk watch make it safer and according to our building official would make it more desirable for resale or reuse um whichever happens to be the case so that's things that have been going through my head about that shelter um and its location so I'm like I said I'm for identifying a different location and literally if if anybody we've talked to some of the downtowners about you know a group of people getting together and trying to evaluate different properties and criter IA and and and giving us some options that we can consider uh and I'm all for that I would absolutely welcome that any help that we can get cuz like I said I would move it yesterday and objective help is is is a thing because it's it's and buying from the community and it's it's hard to make a decision we're trying to make a decision for 130,000 people who all differ in opinion and so when we do that we want to make the best decision for as many of those persons as we can I agree with you uh I don't don't think you could shut it down shut down the shelter tomorrow that that would be that would not work but to get somewhere to go uh somewhere where we're not just flailing about is is my thought if I may add one more thing my concern about like expanding the capacity of it is the fact that we are still having to let them all out at 7: a.m.

Without I know Caravans take some of them and whatnot but it is problematic to have them all be released at the same time in the same area and not they can go to food and shelter and hang out there maybe or whatnot but that is problematic in in my view is not having it be full around and you know 7: a.m. it's released and you know kind you know like that so I'd like to have some way to address that if we're if we are considering expansion of it too so okay council member peacock did Houston yeah I definitely share that last thought that he just uh explained uh I I would support an RFP and a land survey and all that I would think I my prefer my preference would be to look for a an existing building first uh you know the lead time of finding land Building designing building all that it's just too much runway I think if we could find do a an existing building survey instead of a land survey almost like go out there and see what properties are available I would have more interest in doing that um I think my biggest question was I don't even know who to ask if we if we were to demo that building and sell it we would have to Abate the asbestos first am I correct in that okay so that's something we have to do regardless of what path we take forward right okay just making sure it it I think it just make a difference in in some of the um changing air conditionings doing we haven't heard what you were going to say Lance but all those kinds of things so let me get council member ball first and then I'll get you ladies um I just to say that I think holding our downtowners the residents and the business owners hostage until we can force the voters to pass some kind of bond to build a shelter isn't it fair to them or any other taxpayer in the city and acting like we can't stop the problem we created it by picking the shelter right there disag we can stop the problem just by closing it and then we can figure out what to do from there but if you want to help these people you got to put a stop to it you got to turn the faucet off or you're just going to keep cleaning up a mess and it's going to keep getting bigger and bigger that happens everywhere that's what I like thank you sir council member um so I share um kind of the same thoughts that we heard from council member Grant council member Holman council member peacock like I'm for doing some kind of RFP for I mean I would even say like land and sure building like have a land survey and a potential building survey like um but I mean we've looked for several years now for buildings and property um so maybe somebody else can do it better than we can I don't I don't know um but I don't think that it's a solution to the problem that we have right now so I think it's an uh a yes and like this per what uh council member Holan said um I think there's a lot of potential positives for an expansion right now I understand um that you know that is not what some people would like to see happen um but let's remember that we are still turning people away from our shelter every single night so there are more people that could be safely housed under a roof where we know where they are um in a safe location um than we currently are able to provide right now um and I I know we have a presentation too and we're kind of talking about a bunch of different things I I'd like to at least see the presentation that staff has put together and then we can maybe continue the conversation around um does this make sense and what is the cost and kind of what are we paying for um if we approve understod and I agree with you council member mon Toya I agree that we need a plan in place so we have our homebased study from 2021 and you it outlines you know implementing a permanent shelter you know and whenever I joined Council you know and trying to get an understanding on how did this shelter come to be because you know just being a normal a citizen you I remember it being you moved and moved and moved and moved and I vaguely recall and I could be wrong on how I remember this but it's been a few years but I think back in 2018 19 we had a major storm coming in and it was oh my gosh we have a lot of people outside we've got to get them inside and then it just seems that this 109 has just kind of morphed into a weird snowball and another strange snowball and it's just it's not going anywhere so I do think we need to get a plan um as far as the improvements that are being made which one are just general improvements to the building like the asbest and maybe the fire sprinkler system versus ones that would that are specific to renovating it to be an expanded shelter like which which ones do we need to do for just resale improvements versus specific to the remel because I I had the item I meant to bring that itemized budget but I forgot it we have it on the presentation okay one thing we looked at when we looked at the building was what if we just go in an ad sprinkler to the building as is as as the interior looks the cost on that because of the asbest not removing the aestus but working around it was close to $440,000 estimate so that was leaving the the old pet that that's it's it's you know outdated in there adding sprinkler system 40,000 just to work around the ASB bestus then I came back all right with the state contract guys what would it cost to completely get the building it was 60,000 so to me if we took the as best as out that means we get the whole building and it's it's many better spent now now everything's out we can start coming back with basically a um a sh to to that point um we know when we were doing the remodel of the former Central Library we started off under the impression the asbest had been removed in Prior remodels and they actually did asbest testing on the building before they started and none was detected and lo and behold they're in there pulling off ceiling tiles and 22,000 Square ft it it's a personal philosophy that darn it let's be the group that solves that problem forever when we find it in our facilities if not us to clean it up when we kick that can down the road the next group who discovers it one they're going to think badly of us but two it's going to cost so much more money in the future to get rid of such a thing it it's never going to be cheaper to really get rid of a a hazard than it will be right now this is trauma for Brenda and one thing to add on that that the that whole row of building that the city owns we had all those buildings checked uh for asbest and that's a one-time deal we paid for that one time once we remove Theus out of 109 if we do that then that building gets a clean bill of heal then all those buildings have that so to be able to sell the buildings or for somebody to rent it remodel we we already have that certificate in hand is the as best is only in 109 only in 109 well that was lucky oh yeah just so yeah so um in closing I do I am in favor of getting some kind of plan whether it is buying land or a building but instead of Reinventing the wheel it is my opinion that we should speak to those and talk to those that are working with these populations like let's go talk to Oklahoma City homeless Alliance you know like maybe a few council members are have a small sessions just so we can get an understanding of what we are trying to accomplish because I don't know what this population needs at all I mean I know that it's a very wide and varied population of people with varying challenges so I don't know how to solve it but those that work with the population do so instead of rting we let's talk to people so that we can get a plan or and go to the voters and um yeah that's all ask for money that's the hardest part well if I may interject before if you read this from the downtowners you'll find a a a a good deal of information that's uh pretty unadulterated there are some very funny comments in there um as to as to their opinions on on how things work I would agree to with you that if we F if we put out an RFP uh for a site selector to choose a term that that site selector also contact all the providers those that are food providers those that are shelter providers those that are medical providers and get everybody working on one page at least 80% of the time to go up to one goal and we say again not the Taj Mahal but this would be acceptable to all of us we can have Services we can have this we can have that because there's all kinds of stuff that that people will ask for that that won't fit down here this is a whole separate discussion I think that that the 109 discussion is as you say it can't be shut down right now um it would be my my thought but we want to get it out of there as quickly as we can because if you if you read this report from the downtowners it is very damaging to them and and they can prove it uh I I think it would be a good idea for us to sit even if we had to do a special session and just listen to the downtowners uh on an afternoon sometime that we can do let me see if we can work that up and so that we can better understand what they want they're not mean people but they're they're they're trying to make a living and and are we are we making it the easiest we can as a city to to to be good neighbors and to prosper them and my answer would be no uh we we are not doing the correct thing so I think we need to change our Behavior you may differ uh but I'd like to at least have an analytical not emotional discussion on how to do that and it may take 90 days to to be able to get thank you sir yes thanks I mean I did just want to note that this situation is not new and it was not created created by this Council there has been a shelter in downtown Norman since the late 1980s early 1990s as long as I've been as long as I can remember there has been a shelter in downtown Norman it used to be where the well is which is right behind the most popular restaurant in Norman uh several businesses in downtown Norman opened their business when that shelter was still there which is interesting to me um the city funding a shelter was a response to a situation that was already happening multiple people died and froze to death in downtown Norman in front of businesses so you think about what looks good for business people freezing to death and finding dead bodies in front of your business is that good I don't think so and that's what happened because they had nowhere else to go and the churches couldn't do it and the nonprofits couldn't do it so who was left to do it the city had to do something we had the empty Library 50,000 ft so that's where we did it for two years no issues that I can recall I mean maybe been some but none that I can recall in those two years that we did it there and then we had to begin construction on the development center we had to move it and we had to move the only place we could find then was uh you know the the one on commanche which was again not ideal and it wasn't set up for that situation um and then we couldn't do it there anymore and we had to scramble around and try to find somewhere else and we looked at Griffin and we looked at multiple other properties and every single option we've run into a roadblock every single one and so you know I mean one of the questions about is downtown more vibrant than it was three years ago during Co when Co started was downtown vibrant then I would say probably not uh we didn't have noral Music Festival that year we didn't have Fall Fest that year and we weren't having artw walk so I just this idea that it's a brand new thing that it's exclusive to Norman that this city council any of us you a former mayor are responsible for homelessness which is a national issue in every single City our size and larger whether they have a Republican mayor or a Democrat mayor they're all having it and they're all having these same conversations about what to do and you know I've seen nobody that said no that's a great location that's where it needs to stay permanently and I'm all in we've all said if we could move it right now yesterday we would we would there's been nothing offered by the public for where to move it to and City staff has been unsuccessful at finding anywhere that we could move it to so we are stuck it's not holding hostage there's nowhere there's no other option what are we supposed to do you have not come up with a alternative plan that I've heard so if we're holding a ostage please propose a policy and we can consider it but so far no policy's been proposed well that's why I'd like to do the RP and I think that's a good idea yes ma'am yeah just to add to that I talked to Salvation Army last week I can't believe it was last week they said that they've been operating in this area since 1960 and they're expanding their shelter aren't they yeah they're expanding I haven't heard complaints about them sent my entire time on Council and former council member Hall says she's never got complaints about it um I would also say I would really love to hear Lance's presentation yeah because we do have to do 5:30 on time too we we've got he's got 45 minutes so what I know we're going to talk after yeah and and and and that's right and and frankly Salvation Army has done a wonderful job and will continue to do a wonderful job and have since 1860 or whatever it is whenever Booth was out there and so uh and then that's that's something that could go as part of us asking in the RP is that something we want to do is not us building but them building you know those are questions that can be asked and answered so but anyway if nobody has any more input Lance would you take the floor please I do but I'm going to wait you can have your turn one M West Gray it's the city on properties um one way we got here is we looked at all the City properties on there knowing the shelter was you know using the front par of part of them already and trying to figure out which one would would fit the needs the best and that's how we ended up at 109 um and of course anytime you do a remodel or anything anymore you have to have chest for asbest things like that so that that brought us into that testing to see what we could do and like I said we checked all the city buildings uh owned and the only one that had ESP bestus was 109 and and the only thing that I brought numbers on is for 109 is just for the interior of that of that building um this is our current layout um we're kind of using the south end of uh these buildings currently um kind of the existing layout and we found ESB bestus 109 which is this far left one in every aspect of some part in either the sheetrock building boards the ceiling tiles uh there was a false roof above the ceiling tiles so there's just different areas throughout that the building that we found this Festus um and that's that's what kept us from just going in and adding this sprinkler because the cost to uh to to work with this Festus and leaving it in place was was just as high as taking it all out um the interior like you said their old buildings are outdated the Interiors are outdated uh the outsides are outdated um and of course the building we picked uh or fits the needs the best has asbest um so we want the State Contractor to to find out the price of asbest and removal and uh $660,000 to completely get the building so they would come in we' Kill the power they would take everything out so it would just be uh stone and mortar building when they got through so we'd have a clean slate to start with um and then we'd be added in the fire suppression system a system will go into this building and then Branch out into the the building's next door to it how long would that take uh the speci this part would take about 3 to 4 weeks removal um as soon as they got done it would be about two weeks to uh to bring in start bringing in the uh um uh the fire line and at that time we got have to start doing other construction work during that time as best is would actually go pretty quick okay is there a fire Line run to the building like fire service already to the building or we have to bring that no we'll bring in there's the water main is uh in the in the road right in front of the building okay so we' be bringing there then bring the riser in um this is kind of design we came up with male and female uh side adding uh another door on the uh on the east side of the building so that the men could come in on one door the women in the other that would clear the Main Street area which is it's you know with the parking the sidewalks pretty narrow um that would just be used for emergency exit and then the north side of the building there's an Overhead Door there where we'd take it out add another still door just for for exit only uh then the center part um open area for uh observation uh two little intake offices janitor closets and then adding the bathrooms which uh I think putting them on that wall if the building was ever used for something else that would it would it would work out well for a future layout and we're looking at just basically a u the center kind of freestanding wall uh some uh walls on the walls U some open brick and areas where it's feasible try to keep the cost down and so basically an open floor plan and then we'd go with a a 10ft drop ceiling tile and lighting LED lighting the pretty simple layout pretty easy if it was ever used for something else for that center part to go away yeah oh that's okay just waiting to be right which one was La so the areas that are kind of like in the boxes like the six kind of checkered areas is that what we're proposing is like the bed space like the bunks yeah the the bed the the longer six uh pieces there those those would be the where the bunks would go um each area would have kind of a common area where they have a table if there was a TV in there or something to entertain them or or have a a common place to set which they don't have now and then just the regular beds uh some some limited storage um I think most of the storage for them would be totes underneath the beds I think it's what April desired the rest would be for Linens and and cleaning supplies um and so how many on each side so on the men's side and on the women's side um I just kind of went off what the the farm Marshal thought with the beds we we could have about 100 uh in there so we just kind of did a 6040 and and that could be that could be changed back and forth depending on needs and all I was going off of was was what the fire Marsh would say I could all low to have in there so okay thank youa uh is there insulation on the roof or do you have to put a drop sealing at the condition the space uh i' have to put a drop of ceiling in now I kind of looked at spray foam instulation but the price it's gone too high op here yeah it's tough anymore Ste building kind of just kind of goes through um got the interior adding the fire expression um our breaker panels look pretty good so we'll just be bringing in new wiring from the breaker panels in for um to set all of our receptacles and for the lighting um Center space for offices uh I think the big part is adding some bathrooms to that building um and then we'd close up the electrical room in the end which would be another thing if it was ever rented for somewhere else you'd want to do um and just bringing the interior of the building up to code for electrical and plumbing it's an old building so like said once there's nothing in there worth saving we'd have to pretty much gut um current like I said we' got everything um the H system is is good uh there's a smaller unit that runs part of the building that uh is in in pretty good shape we had to replace the main unit on the roof um it it completely went out um it was non-reparable uh new pluming lines we run in and this this assessment is on Runner PL lines inside hopefully the sewer line out there is fine we we didn't check yet but I don't think we've had any any reports of problems so uh adding our new lines electrical inside the building brought up to code and drops for our lights new bathrooms janitorial closets storage areas and then the entryways on the east side of the building is our main goal and these are I got estimates they non-contractual estimates it was basically I brought some contractors out give me some prices I can work with so I could have actual numbers in hand um so I think all these are for right now really really good numbers um it came up with a total of of 300 ,000 U to get and then bring something back inside that building and and that's pretty basic it's a uh some exposed stone or brick um shrock um white you know drop ceilings LED lights um and just your basic bathroom so it's it's no frills but it would it would work uh for this or for you know a future renter and then the floors we're just going to have those sanded and sealed build so it's just a basic shell buildout nothing to the exterior to make it look better no this is didn't include anything exterior just look like an old building out there it's kind of the the floor plan with the with the lighting system put on top kind of gives you a little more feeling of what it would look like um I did reach out to O see if I could get any extra on the on the lights but it was what they call one of their free Serv services on the so um they said we weren't eligible but they were going to look back at it since it was a shelter they might be able to work one of their programs in which usually 40 to 60% off on each light picture so if you'll send me the contact person to talk to I'd be more than happy to talk to them yeah cim I'll send it to you okay thank you so they were they were open to the idea of still trying to help some way good this is a little bit more of a layout just kind of showing the size and uh uh the building finished design so pretty basic you still got half an hour yeah questions comments anything for Lance you got it there you are I didn't know you Brenda was hiding okay it was me Jason if you remember it was like the fall of 22 or something I was like what's that building you got stuff in there can we use that was never meant to be a longterm solution however it's the best we have I don't know how to say this without it sounding bad but I didn't have to vote for myself today so how long could we kick this game down the road before we would have to like make a decision on like doing something I'm not saying like for a long time but it's like if we don't want to keep it here if someone feels moved today to be like come byy my building then we would want to do that right like what what's the timeline of like when we would have to start getting this going I think this could be the second you approve it we can start with improvements um second you find a different building there's always is going to be the us acquiring the property paying for the property uh then getting an architect involved and um getting a plan to redo that and then we have to bid construction and then do the actual Construction in there so I'm just talking about yeah if you were picking using another facility this one's ready to go we can start on this anytime no architects involved in in this process our architect is Stant by Lance he's not really an architect but he's stting manager is this ever a building that we would sell or unload at any point um that is really a philosophical question for Council to consider um there is value in controlling the block that Municipal services are provided on I think the post office is probably going to be a fixture there for most of our lives in this room um but it is an asset and when Council thinks about how to help influence what you'd like to see happen in the downtown more housing in the downtown it's got a really great address it's across the street from another asset you own that is a really great address to look at for uh Redevelopment and and the infusion of mixed use and high density housing um so Council have to think long and hard so it's something we would want to hold on to it is it is definitely an asset on the balance sheet we don't owe any money on it paid for free and clear um it it its highest and best value could be a vacant lot as opposed to an existing building so um but yeah it's it's it it looks really good on your balance sheet right now yeah I'd rather have it earn in at least ad vorum taxes so even though we don't get any yes sir that was actually going to be my comment um the upside of letting go of it as we put it on the tax rols and now it's in the center city Tiff um generating increment so just something to one day I was going to say the last time I remember discussion about anyone being interested it was Factory Obara and they couldn't get the funding for it and I think funding for projects like that is going to be hard for a while we're not in exactly a great economic time for people who aren't fabulously wealthy right so um yeah I could see us using it for other things in the future while we wait for conditions to be more favorable for mixed use and that could be a a situation where Council might consider a short-term lease versus a really long-term lease just recognizing that market conditions could change and you could have somebody with a checkbook show up and knock on your door and and propose something of of great interest now in hotel similar yeah yes so knowing oh I wasn't actually done earlier mom no um knowing us knowing that it has these issues like Katherine is this something that we could as is if we were to sell it we didn't whatever would we be liable and responsible for taking care of it before sell we would certainly have to disclose the asbest um of course if you sell a property but known asbest that's going to impact the purchase price so it would likely be something because we can take advantage of the state contract prices that we would want to amili orate that regardless okay so I guess the question is do we find Value in fixing it up which I do but again we don't want to stay here forever if anybody's watching yeah just please God just please help us okay sorry man I was just asking if we have a current appraisal on the building do we know what it would be worth if we did look to sell it I haven't done one recently was trying to remember the prices from iice minus right right yeah we don't have one I don't think now we could do one okay I think it would be smart to know what we what we have want to include that in the RFP I would think we'd probably want to have that information before we did an RFP so that we could knowing what the value is with and without asbestos make a decision there things and and to that point your honor we could also have it appraised as is recognizing the S bestest number that Lance has for us and what it might be worth as vacant land sure just to provide that I just think having the full picture I mean you know where are we having that's easy to do is kind of a oneoff so we don't we wouldn't have to put it with the other sure RFP we have enough that we can use that perfect thank you um so if we made if we did approve the changes to the building and the consolidation into one building as proposed here um I know it makes it so it could have higher capacity but what is what would that mean would we need to renegotiate a contract with food and shelter or would we need to issue a new RFP and take in proposals um what would be the funding needed to for I think we talked about it before it might not need a whole bunch of new Staffing but what would an additional maybe security officer cost um the additional beds so I think there's two parts to this like just doing the renovations to to me isn't a given that we expand the capacity it allows it to be done but there's still a cost to that expansion and so I don't know what that expansion of capacity is and like I mentioned I do still have concern about expanding capacity and still having the issue of we have to let them out at seven and where are they going from there and so um though that's why I've been thinking it's a two-part question really um and I just I just want to make sure you know cuz those of us that attend oversight every month we get the data we have the discussion with April and you know since we opened that shelter in November 22 about 200 people have been transitioned out of homelessness in Norman into housing they're they're no longer homeless in Norman because of that shelter and the services and resources that it provides doesn't have to be in that location but I just want to be clear that what's being done there is having a lot of success at getting people out of that situation and off the streets of Norman who would otherwise be there right now would would would it be best in your opinion to find out what the land's Worth to start off with that's step a b put out a uh RFP to find somebody who will work with the the providers to find a place that works with them and then make thec decision on this is that what I'm understanding I mean I think appraise it and then find out the cost of expansion at the same time so put that in the middle yeah together that makes I was just trying a bigger picture cost and then get and then go to the RP and and site assessment or site procur while we're doing that we're just continuing with what we have yeah you know um so nobody's dying nobody's hurting right so it's there and would just stay the way it is for now now um but I mean like I said I am I am willing to consider any option for this I mean there's nothing that can be off the table here um when it comes to this so any locations any sites like we've talked about the hoot there none of us like it but it's the only thing we've come across so far you know uh also I'll just say that when we do find a permanent 24/7 shelter it will not be the Silver Bullet to the issues we have downtown we still and a part of the homebased study and action plan need to work out transportation and I can tell you from personal experience there are people that did not interact with that shelter whatsoever that have cost this city thousands of dollars in Services um would have been great if they connected with the shelter though because that would have saved us um so we'll need to still talk with Cleveland County Detention Center and whoever is doing mental health and health care in this community so that those people do not have a psychotic break in front of lazy circles do not come in to scratch and literally scratch someone um and otherwise cause issues downtown and in neighborhoods throughout Norman actually um I Heard a a conversation earlier today about you know the service providers in Cleveland County be it Red Rock Griffin um Cleveland County Jail that yeah there really is no return to home when your time is up or your services have been rendered you just leave and that means you're leaving in Norman and there is work to be done on getting people back from whence they came uh to provide them with the greatest opportunity for long-term success so that's absolutely a thing that needs to happen and and contemplate the scope of that land and building survey um the homebased study is not a city of Norman study it is a study of Cleveland County M it is a Cleveland County Continuum of Care if that helps us determine the scope of what is to be evaluated we'll show you that RFP before it goes out but yeah it's we've got more partners that need to participate too are you advocating that we put the shelter in more wherever the wherever the study says it should be it should be and all of our data is driven countywide it's driven by the city and that's right exactly right um Lance so we have an estimate for $300,000 right now what is the likelihood that that will increase as we punt this down the road potentially several more months I think our numbers are probably good for for six months unless something drasic happens in the economy I think they're good for a while just wanting to understand the full picture further questions or comments well thank you sir an interesting conversation uh as of now we are now adjourned half an hour we start back up here we go good evening and welcome to the city council Norman Utilities Authority Norman Municipal Authority and Norman tax increment Finance Authority meeting of February 13th 2024 Madam clerk will you call a rooll please council member ball present council member Schuler here council member Montoya here council member Grant here council member Nash here council member Foreman here council member Holman here council member peacock here mayor hia I am here would you all please join me in Pledge of Allegiance I pled alance to the flag of 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 it's time for Council announcements I'm going to start on that side this time council member ball okay uh just two real quick uh first I want thank the Downtowner Association for putting together a very in-depth questionnaire in survey about what problems they're facing and how they feel about it uh we just got it before our study session so looking forward to looking at that much more in depth and the only other announcement is um a Norman have been having a series of workshops throughout the city uh if you are interested the next one will be well there's one tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 um the next one will be February 15th at Lake View from 6:30 to 8:30 and then uh there's a few more March so you can get on the city website and find out all about those and uh just good luck to all the candidates and that's it council member schuer all right uh the only announcement that I have tonight is um that it is an election night for the even uh Wards um as you all know I'm not seeking reelection so I uh give um I guess encouragement and congratulations to all of the candidates that are um on the ballot tonight and so you have until 7 p.m.

Uh to go ahead and cast your ballot um for my replacement so good luck council member mon Toya good evening Norman Oklahoma and word three I hope this evening finds you all well um tonight's announcements are so first good luck to the awards 2 four six and eight candidates tonight this is an exciting evening for you then we have two other elections coming up March 5th we have the OG&E franchise agreement then April 2nd is the Norman Public School Board District Four seat then secondly so we have a variety of Seasons we have summer and we have winter then we have football and then we have tax season that's everybody's favorite season I'm sure so two things that I want to highlight about this to our older taxpayers in our community that have low to moderate incomes if you're not aware of a program that the AARP has it is called the tax aid program where they offer free tax preparation assistance for you and they generally hold these at the Norman Public Library but due to the circumstances they are going to be held at the well and you may call to set up an appointment at 405 292 7275 so these are volunteers that are trained credentialed and IRS certified so the other item I want to highlight please please whomever it is you are hiring to complete and prepare your federal tax return please make sure they are qualified and credentialed please avoid the ghost tax prepar so you're probably wondering what is a ghost tax preparer well here is the form 1040 and on the second page and on every tax form there is a section called the paid preparer use only section a ghost preparer will not sign the tax return a ghost preparer does not have a P1 there's this little box right here where they are supposed to put their P10 a P10 stands for prepare tax identification number this is a number that those that are qualified and credentials obtained from the IRS every year so the other way if they happen to have a website and if you go to their website and they do not list their education and their credentials and if there's some kind of disclaimer about buy request only they will provide their credentials I do not know one professional that does not have their education on their website that does not list their credentials please protect yourself I see tax returns that are prepared coasta Coast all over the nation I have seen botch tax returns and the people that are ultimately responsible is the taxpayer not the tax preparer so the three people who are credential and authorized to prepare a tax return for compensation is a CPA that's a given is an attorney they practice law IRS code is law or an individual that has gone through the IRS enrolled agent program and so here is a lovely website where you can find if you want to verify where if your current tax preper is credential qualified or what have you or if you are looking for one you can go to the IRS directory of federal tax return preparers with credentials and select qualifications and that that website is https colon SL SLS dot treasury.gov slrp SL r p do JSF please protect yourself from Ghost repairers who are not qualified and that is all I have tonight thank you all for being here member Grant yes good evening W four and greater Norman uh it's still black history month until March 1st and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the life of aah Lewis SLE Fisher who was born February 8th 1924 and jet Oklahoma she would have been 100 this month um but she passed away from cancer on October 18th 1995 in her honor of the University of Oklahoma dedicated the ad Lois Fisher Garden on its Norman campus which is located in W 4 at the bottom of the bronze plot commemorating Fisher's contribution to the state of Oklahoma and inscription reads in Palm uh 118 the palmist speaks of how the stone that the builders once rejected becomes the Cornerstone if you have no idea what an understatement that is consider that the University of Oklahoma and the state of Oklahoma did everything in their power to Bar her admission to law school uh even creating a dupe of the OU law school just for her um she did not accept that thankfully and when they did finally admit her into OU law school they forced her to sit in the back of the class but in the end Dr fiser went on to have far greater impact and she also served in a sweet cycle of Justice uh on the University Board of Regents so I highlight her impact on the world today just to say as we think about Black History Month let's reflect on the ways that Jim Crow white supremacy and patriarchy will not always have a strangle hold on our Collective Futures these days those days are not quite completely pasted us but slowly those institutional biases and power and balances will become relics of a less civilized civilized age next um happy Marty gr as that is also today uh if you celebrate it I had the honor of judging the 30th annual Marty gr parade last Saturday with Andrew couter and Lance Grant and Danza esta killed it overall that's who we awarded uh for best and show and I have to say all the judges were impressed with the diversity of entries this year so good job to the Norman Marty gr pre organizers volunteers participants and other supporters it's also election day and all the even word council races polls close at 700 p.m.

So you still might have some time um if you have a window of time and you are near Jefferson Elementary there is an a Norman neighborhood Workshop from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. if you can't make tonight's session go to am norman.com and look up available dates we have two months of public engagement and review of the work that is happening on our comprehensive plan if you are not serving on the steering committee or subcommittees this is an opportunity to take a look and weigh in on the future growth and sustainability of Norman uh last I don't know if anyone one saw this news item but on February 9th the City of Tulsa had selected City Lights Foundation of Oklahoma to operate a long awaited low barrier shelter for the homeless the city has yet to secure a facility for the shelter and has not announced when it will open but the 247 non- congregate shelter will serve 50 to 75 households um according to a request for proposals issued last year um a household could be a single person a married couple or a family low Berry shelters are designed for for those individuals who otherwise would not be able to access a traditional shelter due to substance abuse mental health problems or other factors um the program which will include Case Management Services is intended to resolve the root causes of each person's homelessness and to help locate and prepare that person for permanent housing within 120 days according to the city's request for proposals uh I've also noticed that OKC is making the news as a model for other cities in our region um for their holistic approach to solving homelessness I think if we continue to follow our homebased study and action plans outlines to be collaborative find solutions for transportation housing permanent Supportive Housing and emergency shelter options we will make a huge pack on homelessness in Norman especially for those who fall into the chronically unhoused category thank you council member Nash no Anns misses we thank you council member for well now I'm really worried about my use of H&R blog we're going to have to talk about that council member Montoya it's got me nervous okay especially because I oh okay so um as council member Grant was saying it is still Black History Month and if you had tickets to the MLK Interfaith breakfast that had to be rescheduled from last month due to the weather and it's this Saturday so if you haven't got your tickets you go to the city website and look for it and get some tickets and then to also note like council member Schuler um today is the even Ward elections um two and four might retain some familiar faces but six and eight are definitely getting new faces so good luck to everyone tonight I'm really nervous to see how it goes I don't know I'm it's it was very weird voting for my replacement and so towards six I'm just really thankful uh for the two terms that you entrusted me to serve you and I really appreciate that so we'll see how it goes tonight so that's all I got council member hman thank you um also want to Echo the comments from council member ball and Grant about the aim uh committee and the meetings that are coming up um if you have an interest in how the city of Norman develops over the next 20 years if you're concerned about how it developed over the last 20 years this is the opportunity to weigh in on the plan that will guide uh this Council and future city councils for the next couple days decades uh when it comes to development and housing commercial industrial all those TP types of things so uh absolutely agree with them it's an opportunity for the entire public to be Hands-On involved you can attend the meetings you can provide feedback answer the survey questions every month um and it's just a really good opportunity and it's going to have a long-standing impact on the city so uh definitely get involved in that um also wanted to thank um the princip polls at Kennedy and Reagan and Madison and Norman High for hosting me this week um I'll be visiting Irving on Thursday but uh the reason I why I wanted to do this is that I went to Kennedy and Irving and Norman High so I was kind of interested in seeing the vast amount of changes that have happened I've I've been in and out over the years but I hadn't really gotten a whole look at everything that's changed and so it was really uh it was really wonderful to see it made me a little bit jealous uh actually because I was just thinking man I if this stuff would have been here when I was a student what I could have done um it was very impressive um and I really appreciate the principles uh taking the time uh to meet with me the reason why I picked Reagan and Madison is that those of the two schools where most W seven student or kids go to school um in Norman so and I had never visited Reagan since it opened and I had only been in Madison one time a very long time ago so um I appreciate that they they would love to have any of us uh come visit I'm going back to Madison tomorrow morning I was invited to they're doing a mock election of some kind and so asked if I could come back and I was like sure yeah it helps that I live like one block from the school so it's it's nice um and so I appreciate them and uh Dr Nick for arranging that for me and and setting that up and then also um just a reminder that next Thursday is community planning and transportation committee again if you're interested in transit issues uh public bus system uh road construction projects that's the committee where we discuss those issues every month and uh get updates from City staff on passenger ridership budgets uh progress on projects and how they're coming along so uh four o'clock uh next Thursday here at City Hall it's on YouTube um you can watch it there or you can attend in person but if those things are of interest to you um that's where to come and can feel free to email me or text me or call me or any of us uh and if you have questions or comments we want to make sure that we address in that committee uh we'll make sure to do that um when we're meeting with City staff so next Thursday 4M and then the last thing is just uh that you have a little over an hour left to go vote um in the even numbered Wards and um like I've mentioned before every single vote can really make a difference in these elections um you when I first ran I lost by 21 votes and then I ran again two years later and won by 28 votes um I've seen some city council elections decided by fewer than that um just last year we had one and uh the uh Oklahoma Natural Gas franchise agreement in September passed by 34 votes Citywide so every single vote can make all the difference in a local election it really does matter and it literally takes just a few minutes to walk go in cast a vote and leave you don't have to wait in line for an hour nothing so you got plenty of time about an hour and 12 minutes so that's all I got and also just um a thank you to all the candidates that are running it's just by putting your name on the ballot is uh takes a leap of faith um putting yourself out there exposing yourself for people to look at everything you've ever said ever done um and then the reward if you get elected is you get $100 a month and you get to be up here to make these really difficult decisions um that some are somewhat under your control and some are not uh but there is a lot of reward to it when you're able to vote for something uh and watch it go from an idea on paper to a building that gets constructed or a new park that gets done or um some policy that addresses an issue in the neighborhood you know that makes it very rewarding um outside the low pay and all that stuff so I appreciate every candidate that's willing to take the leap and again encourage everybody to go out there and exercise your right to make that vote thanks as member peacock yes so I won't belabor the point too much as already been said get out there and vote um if you don't vote you can't complain so you've got about an hour and 15 minutes not in this city but yes mayor has not all right next item is the consent docket this item is placed on the agenda so the city council by unanimous consent can 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 uh needs to be heard in regular order staff recommends excuse me staff recommends that item one through item 20 be placed on the consent docket I need a motion to place items one through 20 on the consent docket second I have a motion and second uh motion on the floor is to place items 1 through 20 on the consent docket council members you make cast your vote all votes have been cast and the motion to place items 1 through 20 on the consent docket passes unanimously thank you ma'am I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent docket second I have a motion and second are there any comments from Council regarding any item on the consent none the motion on the floor is to approve the consent docket council members all votes have been cast and the motion to approve the consent docket passes unanimously thank you ma'am okay council member peacock do you have a statement for the next items yes sir uh regarding items number 21 through 25 and pursuant to section 2- 103d of the city's code I to recuse from the discussion and the vote on these items because I have an actual conflict since I have worked professionally on this project thank you sirow I need a motion I need a motion to allow second motion second any discussion hearing none council members you may cast your vote he stepped out oh all votes have been cast in the motion to allow council member uh peacock to abstain passes by a vote of seven I voted 7 Z council member of all has stepped out of the uh temporarily stepped out of the chambers start with uh item number 21 a resolution amending the Norman 2025 land use and transportation plan excuse me to remove a portion of property located ated east of US Highway 77 South of East Cedar Lane Road and North of Post Oak Road from mixed use designation and low Destiny residential designation and place it in a mixed use designation and remove to remove another portion from the future urban service area and place it in the current urban service area and remove from special planning area 7 designation I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the resolution second I have a motion in second is there a representative of the applicant Mr Gunner mayor and Council Gunner Joyce with rer Law Group and I'm well aware it's election night the Thunder play oh you plays Baylor Fat Tuesday Marty gr and I'm the only thing standing in your way so I will go very quickly here uh we are at the corner of class and Boulevard and Post Oak Road as you see on the screen just to the south of this property line is the city of noble so we are the southern tip of City Limits there's a zoomed in uh imagery of the site as exist today we have five items tonight so the first one will be a vote on 2025 and I have stolen a trick from City staff to show you what is currently there is that yellow that is low density residential and on the right very proud of myself you can see it's all purple now that is the proposal for mixed use throughout there's also a piece that is currently future urban service area and the request tonight is to take it to Cur current urban service area the next is the zoning item right now the entire site is zoned i1 light industrial and our proposal is take it to PUD like the surrounding properties that you see already colored in pink the next one as as part of the zoning the Pud is the site plan and I'll show you a few changes that have been made since Planning Commission the night of Planning Commission uh the neighbor to the east the farani family uh essentially protested the development and then to the developers credit kale streer here with wig and properties the applicant tonight uh they met with them for about an hour and a half before Planning Commission and agreed to many changes those obviously weren't implemented at Planning Commission but were discussed so tonight I'm going to show you these changes this was the voted on site Planet Planning Commission this is the new one so it's very subtle changes but you can see a couple of them the landscape buffer on the East was originally proposed at 100 ft to the east uh they've added 50 ft to that so it's 150 ft from the Eastern property they have reduced the number of curb Cuts along Classen Highway 77 and the cabins if this cursor I think you can see there the cabins that are down there on the southern Edge have been pushed to the west to again add a little buffer to the east there's additional agreements that aren't shown on the site plan kind of items that are either in the Pud or handled privately between those two owners those are listed on the right side of the screen there's private quality control measures in place for the types of uh RVs and vehicles that can come in uh We've re revised the Pud language to ensure this project can never be converted to a mobile home park it is a uh high-end RV luxury resort so we've added language that this is not a long-term stay RV V mobile park uh there's a mutual sewer easement has been added to the preliminary plat that'll be a cross sewer easement with the property owner to the East and there's been an agreement that a water line will be installed all the way to the southeast corner of the property so all those items were discussed at Planning Commission and now have either been shown on the ponary plat shown on the site plan or added to the Pud document so this is the fourth item we'll vote on tonight actually the third item excuse me it's a relocation vacation of 24th Avenue so you can see 24th Avenue as it exists today in the northwest corner of the property and this is the proposal so this is future phase the very first phase of the project is the Eastern portion of the RV Resort uh but Forward Thinking the plan is commercial office Frontage along Highway 77 in order to do that uh to the the way it is laid out on the site plan which we believe is the best use of the property lining Highway 77 with commercial out Parcels that would be relocating that little piece of 24th that kind of cuts through the very North tip so as you can see there we're relocating 24th will take a hard left turn up there and connect to 77 which allows for more commercial out Parcels along the frontage uh as we went through the process we received pretty typical objection letters from the utility holders that essentially say why while our lines and utilities are in place we need rights to those lines so that they can work on them uh the applicant of course agrees to that and so until those are relocated at applicant expense the utility companies will retain All rights there'll be No Interruption of service until relocation just a comment on the overall low impact of the site it has been commended throughout this entire process there's approximately uh 58 Acres now that's an old number 54 before the added extra uh Green Space to the east it's over 38% of the site which is substantial especially when you consider the current zoning is i1 industrial which is 0% required impervious so this is a substantial commitment to Green Space and low impact to the natural features and then a comment from the staff report says the landscape of the area is going to be used as an amenity it's one of the main amenities of the project much of the proposed development will be low impact use on the land and it'll be left in its natural state so really one of the main features of the project is how green how environmentally friendly the resort part will be this is a picture from that Lake piece that's out there right now it's a very beautiful body of water that will be amenitized and utilized uh in the resort that's a list of some of the planned amenities I'm going to show you some conceptual images on what it could look like these are taken from other similar Resorts throughout the throughout the nation uh what this is the type of Resort you could expect to see here with many Resort style pools uh fire pits restaurants clubhouses many many amenities on site and of course uh we've met with some of you and talked about um one of the main amenities that they're excited about is a aerial Park and so that will be featured and this again is a way to use the space in a fun active way without having to remove any trees and not have a high impact on the landscape and the vegetation that's out there this is a great site very close to the U football stadium and I think some of you maybe are aware I don't think it's breaking news we're going to the SEC uh so college game days I think could expect more traffic more RV uh type of traffic and this is a a much needed spot that can accommodate those Vehicles those Travelers the last item four and five you'll vote on is the preliminary plat and a lift station agreement so just so you can see those items this is the preliminary plat that shows the breakout into the various lots and then a quick summary right there is listed out like I said it's a highly amenitized Resort destination 10 minutes from the football stadium it will require realignment of 24th Avenue to accommodate the future phases very low impact to the National features substantial buffer to the east that was when it was 100 feet and it has been added on to to make it 150 ft very substantial uh the second phases build out Mixed use commercial office uses Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval very proud to say no protests through the work of the applicant and we've had multiple statements of support throughout the entire project including predevelopment which we don't usually get so pre-development neighbors did show up in the staff report notes some of those commented on how excited they are for the project the minutes from Planning Commission are filled with very positive comments from planning Commissioners and the farani family themselves who are originally protesters stated at Planning Commission that they are in support of this project and they believe it'll add quality of life to Norman so it's a very impressive project it's been an impressive effort with the applicant uh and happy to take any questions I just one comment from me it it to start I did speak with the mayor of noble Phil Freeman and he's excited about this idea it's it's a good idea in his and we have if you look in the budget there's a a signalization of the intersection at Post Oak 77 Road thinking about all these vehicles coming out out whether no matter where they come out in there we're going to increase traffic on 77 but the engineers have already done the done the workforce and and and done everything else we have the request in for that signal so that may help if that becomes a question does anybody else have a question council member Homan yes um I also spoke to Mayor Freeman last time I filled in with you at ACOG actually and he asked me about this and one of his questions was if we were going to do any improvements to postto Road and we didn't have any that I am aware of that we're doing or planning U no projects I know of to widen it or anything so I don't know if this project will generate enough to even Merit that but maybe might speak about that briefly CC member Scher certainly so is that on I was answered so uh we have been looking at this area uh we do not have any uh projects at this time to improve posto Road uh however as with all development as a final plat that area they will be responsible either half Road widening or we can look at taking deferral at that point if we do have a future project in place and as the mayor said we are uh currently looking at going for some ACOG funding to be able to signalize that intersection at 77 in post Stoke uh for safety because the amount of development that is going on within this area and we were planning to put a traffic signal there anyway even before we knew about this I mean we've talked about it probably the whole time I've been on Council this location does meet warrants to put a signal in at this location uh so we' like as I said we'll be applying for those AOG funds and what we're requesting is the design fees and the matching funds that we can go forward with that project how does that work when the half of the street is in a different city limits it it really doesn't work very differently than any other roadway it's still a half roadway um you know we recently did a project up where actually we had a mile roadway and Oklahoma city was the full West Norman was the South half on the East and then more was on the the North East portion of that and we worked in together uh to get that project completed uh with the county so it was kind of a four-party agreement to get through that one in this case we would either work in conjunction with them with a an agreement or we'd each do our half Road widening and our requirements that we would need on that okay and then um for the applicant um the we talked about this when I met with you Gunner the you're not clear-cutting the whole where the white space is right that's kind of it's not it's not going to be concrete right uh where the little black marks where the RVs I guess would park is not necessarily going to be concrete but right exactly correct I think here this is the best image that I could have that would give an expectation that bottom right um essentially on the preliminary plat and the Green Space exhibit it's not shown as green because it is not basically just straight open space but yeah it it'll be extremely green throughout um it's uh to your point 38% of the overall side is basically designated green open space think you can expect much higher uh than 38% overall once it's developed and it'll be natural materials I guess that are good for storm water runoff and all that absolutely um and I think the goal the way explained it was the preservation of I mean there will be some trees that are removed I'm sure but for the most part the whole like part of the project is the the amenity of the trees so U for those that may be concerned about it's a very nice wooded area for sure in that pond so I want to just make sure that was on the record um and then the commercial that faces Highway 77 um that's all done with our not having parking minimums in place so it takes that into account that's what they think they may need absolutely right and there's nothing that requires that amount of parking that's shown now at final plat stage right so when an end user comes in it could be less uh very likely couldn't be more right because site plan essentially locks in a maximum density and maximum intensity and so when a final end user comes in if they wanted less parking wouldn't be an issue and would they be able to build mixed juice in those spaces multiple story if they want to yeah we have the allowance of uh mixed use residential in the allowable use section we did not go to Parks Board because no residential units are planned currently so if we're going to propose that at a building permit final plat stage I believe we're going to have to go to Parks Board to show that we've got open space a you know active amenities uh to meet that requirement which I think you'd be able to yeah pretty easily here something that could be done though y right okay and then um the the drive that connects to high 77 right there at the angle in the circle is that at at the same point where it currently intersects Highway 77 and would line up with 24th Avenue on the other side of the street it's a good question I think it's pretty close it looks like it's Chris you think yeah Chris is the civil engineer on the project and I've got a headshake so yes okay um I think that's all the questions I have about it thanks gor thank you council member Schuler yeah so um how many proposed RVs are we thinking about spots for parking on here we got about 530 spots um phase one is roughly 300 um and then 200 I say 530 230 could be added on in a second phase okay plus some cabins correct right okay which would also have potential vehicles that are traveling um so we have two Ingress egress access points to the whole property for all of those I understand they're not all going to be coming in and going at the same time but you know maybe on those game days that's going to be a little tight first uh kale corrected me that number includes the cabins so my apologies U but we've got I believe a third access point down on Post Oak okay with then an access all the way at the very North tip I'm scrolling with the mouse but I don't see it so we don't see it okay perfect thank I think yeah okay I see the one on the top one to the roundabout um and then where's the one that goes on the south at the point of the lake the mouse is broken okay thank you um there's that parking area and roundabout in the cabins M um I don't know if I can see there might be going right up the that little square block that's not part of our project going up there is that a road okay yeah go ahead good evening kale streer applicant um there is currently two access points um it was approved by fire they have looked at it and um based off our density uh they approved it okay um my other question is is there storm shelter proposed for this site I'm just thinking RVs not tied down you know Oklahoma weather um and that's a lot of people that are potentially in an unsafe situation if SP weather comes through uh so we have bathouses located throughout plus the clubhouse and we plan to um those will not have Windows or or um glass of that sort so we plan to increase the structure structal Integrity of those um but I they will not be designated like approved tornado shelter not just specifically for that purpose but could be utilized for people to come in safe safely um from their RVs and and have a solid structure to shelter in place yes okay um yeah just I'm just thinking about what what's happening there and uh council member Moman addressed the other questions around um the parking on the commercial um parts of the parcel so I think those are all the questions I had okay thank you C uh don't leave um I was going through the list of approved uses and a lot of them made sense but some kind of a question mark do you plan to put a hotel or motel in any of this uh in the mixed use because it is so far down the road um we don't know what the end use might be but we plan to do phase one which would be on the east side of the pwns first then phase two and then the commercial on the West Side that's how that this would progress um that was really just my question because it is a long list of uses so um and a lot do actually make sense but then some are a little off so thank you you're welcome and I'll do Kyle thank you okay all right this is an opportunity for members of the public to speak on this item Madam clerk has anybody signed up uh we have one uh Stephen Ellis yeah we'll keep it item by itemis at Reed Avenue Ward for um on the initial item uh I wanted to say that I'm in favor of the land use plan to mix use uh I'm not very sanguin that this concept won't make anybody any money since that's a huge amount of a ticket allocation for uh for OU football so my guess is that uh it won't fill but you know I'm not investing somebody else has taking the chance so if it does that's great but I want to look Beyond uh what this particular program is to what the land use and Zoning implications are and I think it's a good idea to have uh mixed use down at that end of uh Highway 77 and uh so getting that uh sort of into the current service area uh I think is a good idea I'll have different comments about the Pud but I'll get back to that later thanks thank you sir all right are there any final comments from Council regarding this item one comment for me is this is the only Ponder or lake that I know of in central Oklahoma that is clear absolutely clear like it's spring water and and I don't know if that's ever been why but it just amazed me when I saw it motion on the floor is to adopt the resolution council members you may cast your vote all votes have been cast in the motion to adopt the resolution passes by a vote of 8 to zero with council member uh peacock abstaining thank you ma'am item number 22 an ordinance excuse me an ordinance resoning property east of US Highway 77 South of East Cedar Lane North the Post Oak Road from i1 light industrial district to PUD planned unit development District I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on second reading section by sections second motion second this is companion item to the previous item there any further questions from Council regarding this this hearing none there we have anybody signed up Mr Ellis Mr Ellis probably just want to stay down front Bo four uh as I've mentioned before in this forum I'm not a giant fan of the way uh the city of Norman does puds because I think it needs to be a lot clearer in the material sort of who's getting what uh for what purposes but with this uh particular PUD I think we need to be really careful because the original proposal the proposed development is is one that's clearly uh catered to a certain clientele I mean they're thinking of it as amenitized and high class and if you have a lousy SRV or what's the RV that's what I'm trying to say I want to say SUV I don't know what the hell I'm doing uh but if you have a lousy RV you can't get in so there's a certain kind of uh uh you know economic class distinction in the proposal and I think we need to be careful to make sure that that doesn't make its way way into the Pud that doesn't have any role to play in Norman's uh zoning rules uh I think you can write a PUD for this that doesn't include those uh sorts of class distinctions and I also think it's important uh given that I'm a skeptic about whether or not this is going to work uh that we have uh the zoning ordinance uh that will allow this to develop in a lot of possible ways way because I mean one of the things that you could clearly do with this area because it's even closer than the place out uh North close to Moore is maybe think about a a second tiny house Village down here or something like that would fit really well there the mixed use works great for that um you're thinking about cabins and impermanent uh RVs anyway would be a great place to do tiny houses for affordable housing purposes essentially so I think the Pud needs to be written in a way that you don't have to have a you know goldplated vehicle to get in there uh so if you're you guys are satisfied that that's the case I think that's good um but I think we need to be looking Beyond this particular development proposal to what the Zoning for that area should be mixed use good ability to build you know smallish houses motels mean know cabin type uh motel rooms for for people who are not permanent uh residents I think that's all would work out great it's a great place for it so uh because partly because it's beautiful it's a nice place to be right so uh I am skeptical about this P put I hope you'll ask questions about that thank you thank you sir cheryan Deno and I apologize cheryan I missed you on the last one I that um I want to reiterate uh what Stephen had said it it seems to me that um there's a lot of people that Focus their development towards um U football games and the possibility of having people come here to to hang out and and en just enjoy the uh events at the games and um yeah this city has uh higher needs than just that and I want to uh just remind you that our needs are much greater than just that and keep that foremost in your minds thank you thank you ma'am that's all the motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on second reading council members you may cast your vote all votes have been cast and the motion to adopt the ordinance upon second reading passes by a vote is 8 to zero uh with counc member peacock abstaining thank you ma'am I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on Final reading to adop Second have a motion in second motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on Final reading count yes your vote all votes have been cast the ordinance upon final reading passes by a vote of 8 to zero with council member peacock abstained thank you ma'am item number 23 an ordinance closing 66 ft of 24th Avenue Southeast statutory right away I'll entertain a motion to adop adopt or reject the ordinance on by section motion to and motion and second this companion item to the previous two items any further questions from Council when are you expecting to start the project and when is the estimated completion construction dirt we have we obviously have building permits to have to file and then with the hope to be finished by early summer of 25 perfect and you guys AR planning on having any kind of income or social class minimums for not at all I mean OU makes this project work obviously the the fans coming in but those are the shoulder Seasons right we're obviously catering to Oklahoma with an RV I have an RV um and it's yes perfect perfect thank you so much you're very wel good luck to y'all hope it works out well Stephen Ellis step bis Ward four again uh if As I understood the proposal uh the the portion that's going to start being built the first two phases as a matter of fact don't require movement of the road and I wonder why the the city is authorizing the the moving of the road well before we get to the third phase of this proposal wouldn't I think it would be prudent to to wait to see if the parts that are going on now we're going to make so I want to suggest that you guys like postpone this until it becomes relevant thanks Sheran so I I'm uh trying to figure out how um the city's going to make any money off of this you know um when you put in a hotel we get um hospit Hospitality tax off of that so what kind of taxes are we going to get off of RVs um you this is a Hos kind of a Hospitality plot so my question is how do we gain anything besides a lot of traffic right right not uh a proposal for the city to make money is proposal to get the land okay well um I'm those are the kinds of things that we think about when we rezone property in Norman um how we can we can it can benefit the city MH okay and so you know having um spaces that attract people but we there's no direct you know Hospitality um and I would assume that the um the the hotels in town might have a problem with this you know because they do have to pay mhm thank you thank you command that's M sh um yeah a question regarding the timing of having to close this um my assumption would be that um since we are platting it and we have a site plan that if they are drawing new streets then this is something that we have to do at this time we cannot wait until I'm looking at City staff um I think maybe Scott or Jane um to answer this on the timing of the road closure and rerouting yeah you you are correct so they have a site plan and without this vacation the site plan can't be done so it wouldn't be a valid site plan so they aren't necessarily saying they're going to vacate and do that work today what they're saying is that this is part of the plan when we get to that section and that final plat all that work will be completed at that time along with that final plat right so we're not doing we're not changing this road until any of that comes to further fruition that's correct okay um and then I would just like to ask a question of the city clerk um when we have public comment are we supposed to be answering questions back like is that allowable under um Robert's Rules or do we have to ask the question as Council um to staff or to the applicant any item that's on the agenda can be discussed um so since it's on the agenda yes you can answer questions vice versa during public comment well that's not part of Robert's Rules okay that's typically been a norm correct usually yes that we we don't answer questions directly from the podium from residents I'm just trying to understand because I feel like we've been told that in the past um and that has been different recently what you have been told in the past is you can't answer question questions or have comments under miscellaneous discussion because those items and topics are not listed on the agenda anything that's listed on the agenda um you have the right to make comments on or answer questions on or you know there's nothing against Robert's Rules there if it's more of a policy of procedure then you know that's up to council to set that but um okay she was the last pug speaker sure no I'm just trying to ask um because then there was like how are we um regulating like the amount of time that the public has then if like we answer a question like do you stop the timer because I want to make sure that like the public still gets their full three minutes yes ma'am stop the timer and restart it when they start talking again perfect thank you you're welcome council member Foreman uh my question was about the timing so it's been answered m h okay so the that I think that was a good question even though it's about the vacation but the question about the hotel motel TX I find interesting it seems like a little gray area that it is sort of a hotel as then it's a short-term rental so would the facility itself remit a hotel motel tax or does it not qualify for that or the excuse me RV spaces uh would not qualify the way the tax is worded it is a tax on occupancy of a rooms in a hotel and so when you go and look at the definition of room and the definition of hotel that's where you are um renting out accommodation so if you were renting out RVs for people to stay in that would be that would qualify but if you're renting out a parking space for an RV to park in that would not qualify okay but airbnbs do remit they they do it's not a hotel you're renting rooms or you're renting the whole house okay renting a space does not that's interesting okay that was a good question I'm glad it was asked um and then maybe for gunner I think the the other part of this development the part facing Classen is it can it's mixed Ed so it could be residential but I Envision there's probably a lot of commercial um I don't know that we need any more fast food in that area but I'll leave that up to the free market to decide but um I assume there will probably be things like that that would maybe cater maybe not cater to them but businesses may want to open in that area if there's if this RV park is successful I could see you know there probably being quite a few sales tax generating businesses that pop up around it that absolutely correct I'm going to jump real quick to an item we already voted on but it answer sort of this question and discussion is uh 2025 has this area special planning area 7 which essentially required a cohesive master plan for the entire site and so that's where we come and have that you know vacation of the road moving of the road today because we're showing you the full master plan at final buildout to satisfy that special planning area 7 and that is that's correct it's basically a a a self-serving cohesive District to where Food Services entertainment retail can all be in those out parcels and you know the guest of the resort will be those targeted consumers thank you council member Grant uh yes uh gunar could you come back exercise um there's cabins on this site correct absolutely I meant to mentioned that earlier you you probably threw me a softball there but those cabins will also be part of the uh Hotel Motel tax and I also saw short-term rentals in the uses plus that hotel motel situation so there are future opportunities absolutely in the resort area as well right okay thank you thank you that's all all right the motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on second reading council members you may cast your vote I'll vote to been cast the ordinance upon second reading passes by a vote of 8 to zero with council member peacock abstaining thank you ma'am I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on Final reading is there a second second did I get the first first I got ahead myself now we got a I'm jumping the gun trying to get out uh 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 in the motion to adopt the ordinance upon final reading passes unanimously with council member peacock abstaining thank you ma'am item number 24 a preliminary plat for Liberty Point addition a planned unit development generally located east of Classen Boulevard one half mile south of Cedar Lane Road in north of Post Oak Road I'll entertain a motion to approve or reject the preliminary plat approve and motion second this is companion item the previous three items are there any further questions from Council regarding this item hearing none uh any we have stepen Ellis actually you didn't sign up for the last one you signed up for this one I kind of got that out of order since you already did yeah we'll do that uh cheryan okay okay um motion on the floor is to approve the preliminary plat council members you may cast your votes all votes have been to approve the preliminary plat passes unanimously with Council M peacock abstaining thank you ma'am item number 25 a contract between the Norman Utilities Authority and wiggin's properties authorizing collection of a monthly lift station fee from developed Lots in the Liberty Point development for the operation maintenance and replacement of the Post Oak lift station I'll entertain a motion to approve or reject the contract motion to approve second have a motion and second this is a companion item to the previous four items are there any further questions from Council regarding this item seeing none any per public stepen Ellis Steve Ellis W four I just wanted to say that I'm very enthusiastic about this proposal one of the ways in which uh Norman absolutely does things right is uh when we have a lift station we portion the cost to the people who create the need for the lift station It's actually an absolute model for how we should be doing lots of development costs uh so you know I'm a big fan of uh sort of use fees of various kinds because they serve to internalize the cost to the people who are creating the need for the cost so uh when when we get it right I want to cheer very loudly so yay team vote for this this is cool thanks thank you sir sherlan would you like to speak okay any final comments from Council hear hearing none um the motion on the floor is to approve the contract council members you may cast your vote I vot motion to approve the contract passes unanimously with council member peacock abstaining thank you ma'am Lous comments this is an opportunity for citizens to address city council due to open meeting act regulations council is not able to participate in in discussion during miscellaneous comments remarks should be directed to council as a whole and limited to three minutes or less Madam clerk do we have anybody signed up uh start with Richard Baxter I don't see him okay um Stephen Elis stepen Ellis W 4 uh I sent the council an email just informing you what I learned about uh the pending destruction of a homeless encampment uh down by the river just to the east of the I35 bridge this is actually a site that's sort of Infamous in Norman history because it's the place where uh Sherwood construction dumped all the construction debris that uh came off the the bridge when they rebuilt the bridge in the last decade or so so uh we're we're talking a site uh that I think the city is still monitoring uh for for pollution potential uh the last uh bit of newspaper information I could find out about about that came in uh 2018 so I don't know whether they supposed to drill a bunch of Wells to make sure that it isn't actually uh sort of polluting the the Canadian river uh but the I contacted the police department and uh uh city attorney's office on tues or I guess Monday and uh turns out that the they've postponed in order to make it more convenient for the property owner uh the destruction of this encampment until 11 a.m.

Tomorrow uh so this is going to be an all day event so I want to invite all the city council members out to come see what it looks like when uh people who have no place to go are uh evicted from their current abodes uh to basically into space because they still have no place to go right now uh the concerns that I've heard about this encampment uh are are largely aesthetic which is kind of funny since it's on a landfill but uh I I do think it's important uh for everyone who's involved in the process to see how the tools that we currently use actually end up just being mechanisms for punishing people who really have no alternative to do what it is that they're doing uh you know so come out uh I'm sure there will be lots of people trying to scramble to get their worldly Goods such as they are off that property because you know what's going to happen is everything's going to get thrown away if they leave anything there because people think it's trash even though it's their like a bode so uh you know come have a look see how this system that we have right now grinds down actual human beings and maybe that will provide people with the motive that they need uh to try to really work really hard to find some alternative to this sort of like playing whack-a-mole with people's lives by just chasing them uh Terrence Wht okay um chery and Deno um different subject the oak at 5101 North Pennsylvania Avenue is being developed by Ryan mcneel and Everett Dobson and and is set to open later this year this development includes a 32 room Boutique Hotel 30 320 apartments and array of upscale restaurants Etc the stage and art pieces will anchor a 7,000 Green Space that will be named Hartwood Park it's suggested um that the the name be the oak that refers to the oak trees on the properties Now notes live is a music venue and hospitality company that plans to bring a 12,000 seat theater to Mustang Creek cross development and that's just off John kpatrick Turnpike and I40 notes live hopes to bring break ground in early 24 and have the amphitheater open in time for the summer of 25 brand new Coliseum is underway at the State Fair Park it's half half done um and that's roughly going to see 5,000 to 8,000 depending on how they can figure each event um this modern Coliseum it's going to be very Hightech and um it it's going to house just about any kind of event that could possibly be housed in Oklahoma the city with lounge Suites full service restaurants Etc um the construction of the Coliseum began in January of 23 and it'll be done by about April of 25 and the current Jim noric arena is still open during this construction and lots of events are happening right now um most of the coliseum's construction will be funded by voter approved maps for measures with $63 million and another $23 million will come from Oklahoma City hotel tax revenue it's earmarked earmarked just for the fairgrounds improvements paycom Center on Reno in Oklahoma City and conveniently downtown um is in the process of uh being redone the state of art venue was completed in uh 20 uh 2002 with $89 million um and there's no no uh plans to demolish that building to date um it may be repurposed and used for another event center um there's new numerous other event centers in Oklahoma City metro area and um that can seat anywhere from 1500 to 2500 different uh events or seats basically like huberg Event Center has 1500 and the Civic Center Music Hall has about 25 Chelsea gravel good evening Council I'm Chelsea gravel Ward 4 thank you for being here tonight to listen to us um I would like to talk to you guys about council tonight I would like to talk about Norman Oklahoma we have several measures in place to prevent City councilors from monopolizing their position and ensure fairness in hearing our citizens this includes term limits Norman has a term limit for city councilors which prevents them from holding the same office for more than three consecutive terms this ensures new voices and perspectives can have a chance to be heard however there was clear um knowledge in 2022 whenever this was discussed for um Council to be able to be held accountable that there would be no way to hold Council accountable if they broke any of their own rules that they gave themselves this isn't a public meeting that was held um online uh another topic of conversation would be shortening our meetings so that way that they never run to 2:00 a.m.

Or midnight as most of us have to get up the next day creating a time limit that allows citizens to talk up until a particular time maybe an hour before we would be done for the evening and postponing any other topics of discussion for another time so all citizens can be involved moving meetings back like this one so citizens cannot be involved who are at work at 5:00 p.m. that is shameful for our community and very much against an open records act makes everyone up here look like they're hiding something citizens don't appreciate that thank you for your time carinda carinda gravel W four Council mayor like to speak with you this evening about our voting system so today we have Ward votings Ward for 246 and8 very specific to those Wards we know that whatever the results will be they will be specific to those wards we have some elected officials that are spreading rumors around our city both on social media campaign forums out in public that a Citywide vote is not a Citywide vote a Citywide vote that um somehow gets a no vote if there is a majority in a ward that is a yes vote then that Ward is now accepting that vote as a yes vote that is not how Citywide voting works when we have the SRO program if we had certain wards that they had a higher yes vote even though the majority or a no vote and the majority voted yes we do not take those ws and say you are excluded from a higher tax and we are not going to allow SRO in your public schools because we have decided that this Citywide vote is going to be used and applied to Wards in the way that we see fit as Council that is a complete misuse of our vote voting voters are uh losing confidence in our voting system because of this manipulation that's being spread rumors around our city and it doesn't look like we have a reliable trustworthy Council when that's being spread rumors around our city so if you know that people are listening uh people are listening people are watching that those votes are being manipulated to pass in certain WS when they did not pass as a Citywide vote thank you thank you man ready Council we are adjourned

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