City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the January 26, 2026 meeting of the Stoer City Council. This time I'll call the meeting to order and I'll ask that you all stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thanks to the crowd for braving the cold temperatures and spotty roads. Counselors, first up, consent docket. Questions, comments, action on the consent docket. I move approval of consent. Second.

We have a motion and a second on consent. Please vote. Consent dock is approved with a vote of five to zero. That takes us down to section six, ordinances. On first read, we have ordinance 3591, an ordinance amending the store city code by creating a new chapter 34 public art program creating section 34-1 purpose. Creating section 34-2 definitions. Creating section 34-3 fund established. Creating section 34-4 administration. Creating section 34-5. Stillwater public art committee. Creating section 34-6 display of public art. Creating section 34-7 infrastructure art sponsorship program. Repealing all ordinances to the contrary. And providing for severability. Miss Dodson.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. This item is about formally establishing Stillwater Public Art as an official city program. We already do this work today through the Stillwater Art Integration Initiative. This simply provides structure, clarity, and longevity while establishing a donation fund. A little more than three years ago, we started Stillwater Art Integration. Our goals were simple. to add art in our community, encourage local exi, local local existing and new artists, and also increase public awareness of existing art spaces and installations. As you can see, some of our existing art uh is being highlighted now in pictures. Our initial project began with a small group wanting to beautify Chrisman Plaza by adding murals. We pursued a grant to fund the project. And while we did not receive the funding, we found another solution and strengthened partnerships with our talented OSU art students and professors and also Prairie Arts. Since that project, we added the utility art box program and have another fun project regarding storm drains to be shared soon with the community. We initially began as a small group but quickly grew with current partners including Prairie Arts, Medela Art Gallery, Stillwater Public Schools, OSU Museum of Art, Stilly Arts, Career Tech, Visit Stillwater Chamber, Stillwater History Museum, Still Wonder, Community Center in Block 34, and many local businesses. This broad representation would continue. Establishing Stillwater public art will help us identify and catalog existing public art across Stillwater. Increase public awareness of our art spaces and installations. Thoughtfully identify future public spaces where art could enhance placemaking. Establish a formal process for art donations, acquisitions, and related funding. We believe that people and businesses want to invest and grow in beautiful

places where they feel safe, a sense of place, community pride, and enhances their quality of life. This in turn enhances economic opportunities. This is a foundational step that positions Stillwater well for future partnerships, donations, and thoughtful growth of public art. I would be happy to answer any questions. Counselors, any questions?

I would just say that I am thrilled that we are formalizing our public art program. I think um the murals, the stat the statues, the statues, the sculptures, everything around town is just fabulous. And I think it's um important for a town and a community like Still Water to have that type of public art. So,

thank you. And I'll say I do want to take a moment here just to share my appreciation for Dawn and all the work that she's done with storewater art integration now becoming more of a formalized program for the city. Um, and we have a community partner who has agreed uh to a a sizable donation to to help kick this program off and we hope to be announcing that at a city council meeting soon. So uh help uh give some momentum to this new project. I will just uh note for the council that I did have a brief discussion with um CFO Clark and there are probably some considerations that we'll have to formalize by guidelines or other um processes approved by the council. Um this ordinance really just does establish the program, establish the fund, establish the committee. um we still probably need to um work through the process for council to accept those donations before they're um deposited into the fund and then work through how we would appropriate those funds for expenditure um as those decisions are made by the established committee. So we are um working through all those fine-tuning. Yeah, I mean we'll have to appoint a committee and then it does talk in here about the at the committee itself will develop a sponsorship program guidelines and all that kind of stuff. So is that

what's our timeline do you think on if we had adopt the ordinance? How how soon till we have committee people that were

we have comm committee people ready now. Um and and that is um part of what's been so great about this is we've been doing this for over 3 years with the Stillwater Arts integration. And when we started it was just whoever wants to have a seat at the table. So art, public art, all of this is for all of us. We're, you know, build a bigger table. And that's how the entities started coming in together as this great partnership. It was just, hey, tell a friend, tell a friend. And then you started getting these great um folks coming in, you know, uh Still Wonder, Stilly Art, our history museum. It that's that's really how it began. And then it just took off. I mean, even into one of the pictures was Matt with Stonecloud um with the you are beautiful and it's just continued to expand. And I would just like to include that it's been pretty incredible just seeing our own staff. Um so that's pretty awesome. anywhere from our public works staff to others who were like sending in suggestions of where public art would be great to see. It's just been it's been really nice. And if you go to uh stowwater.gov/art um you can check out where uh Billy has done an incredible job uh developing this page and there's an interactive map on here. So if you click on there then you can see uh the art piece um the artist and and more about that. So here's our latest with Valvar. So

cool. So this is step one, first read this evening. Um it will have a second read and then it will not actually uh go into effect until 30 days after the date of publication. So that gives um us some time there. Yeah. Thank you, Don. Thank you, counselors. Further questions, comments, or action on the ordinance? Motion to advance ordinance number 3591 to second read.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Please vote. We vote five to zero. Ordinance 3591 is advanced to second reading. Item seven's appointments on the board of adjustment. We have two open seats and two people willing to fill them, which is a wonderful coincidence. Uh I would like to move uh the appointment of Mike Woods and Jansen Harrison to three-year terms on the board of adjustment expiring in January 2029. Second. A

motion and a second. Please vote. Those appointments are approved with the vote of five to zero. We certainly appreciate their willingness to serve. The board of adjustments been short a couple people for a while now. So, it's nice to get that board back up to full strength. We also have uh an opening for a youth representative on the sister cities council and I'm happy to move that Anna Bos Bosma be appointed uh to the store sister cities council. Second.

We have a motion of second. Please vote. We vote to five to five to zero. That appointment is made and we appreciate Anna's willingness to serve on the sister cities council. This time I will move that we recess the store city council meeting prior to item eight on the agenda. No, let's not do that. Let's do item eight. Any reports from the city attorney? I would like to request an executive session pursuant to 25os section 307B1 for the purpose of discussing employment, hiring, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining, or resignation of city manager Brady Moore and um under the same authority for city attorney Kimberly Carley. Thank you, Mr. Moore.

Yes. Uh city offices will be closed on President's Day, which is Monday, February 16th. However, trash, recycling, and yard waste will still be collected on that date. Um, so it is one of those holidays that we still collect on. So I appreciate all those employees working uh and and uh carrying out those services. Make sure to set your carts out by 6:00 a.m. because collection routes can vary. Uh I will brag on waste management. They were able to hit all the neighborhoods today and commercial sites as well. Um we know that some customers may have not known that they'd be out or weren't able to get their trash cart to the curb. So they can contact uh Waste Management and arrange for a pickup later in the week. So, uh, for more information, you can go to stillwater.gov/wastemanagement.

Thank you, sir. Vice Mayor, it's that time of year to file taxes, and the Stillwater Library is offering assistance. Community members can schedule appointments for free tax preparation assistance from the American Association of Retired Persons by scheduling an appointment online at stillwater.gov/ GV/ library taxes or by calling 4053723633 and extension 8103. Appointments are available now through April 7th. The Stillwater Public Library is located at 1107 South Duck Street. What a great service for people to take advantage of.

Longtime service. When I worked at the library in 1999, they were doing that. So, it's a great great service for our community. Councelor Hawkins,

please join us for the annual Meet Your Legislators event this Thursday, January 29th, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Stillwater Public Library. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, build relationships, and share concerns with your elected officials, including city councilors and paying county commissioners. Many thanks to the Stillwater League of Women Voters and the Friends of the Stillwater Public Library for hosting this event. We hope to see you there. This is always, I will say, a great event. always interesting um interesting to see what's going on with the legislature this session and so I would encourage people to um come out for that and just see what's going on in our community. Excellent. There will be a couple of us there, right? Councelor Clark. [clears throat] Yes. And you council. Yes.

Awesome. Councelor Clark, the past few days of severe winter weather. A reminder to follow Stillwater Emergency Management on Facebook and to check the city's emergency page at stillwater.gov/emergency. You may also want to opt in to receive important notifications on your phone. This will will provide you with the latest emergency notifications, warnings, and watches. Uh be sure to make sure you're prepared, weather aware, and connected. I want to thank Rob Hill and Brendan Pope and the SEMA team for all their efforts to keep us informed and safe throughout the past few days. We all benefit from their expertise and leadership. And I'll also add that I had a chance over the weekend to do a ride along with Rob and Brendan. We had a good time.

Always fun. the highest rated show in Still Water. Absolutely. Council Harden,

a couple of reminders that could help our residents best prepare in case of emergency. Number one, please remember to apply or renew your burglar or fire alarm permit with the Still Water Police. Permits are $6 per alarm and free to government entities and also residents who are 62 years of age or older. Number two, if you live outside the limits but within Stillwater Fire Department response area, please consider purchasing a rural fire service contract. The annual fee is $200 and the contract provides assurances that could save you thousands of dollars in the event of a fire. We want to help in all ways possible to keep you and your family protected and safe. For more information, go to stillwater.gov.

Excellent reminders. Thank you. Uh I'll just throw in my uh additional comments on the severe weather this week. Uh the employees across the city, public works, waste management, electric, water, so many others uh here at the city have been working tons of hours uh in difficult conditions. I I can't imagine trying to repair a water line when it's 14° outside. That's uh no fun at all. But they've kept essential services running, restored outages, make repairs, and keep our community safe. We're incredibly grateful for the work that our city employees do. um certainly during severe weather events like this weekend, but every day to keep uh city services running. So, thank you so much to City of Still Water for the work that you all have done this weekend. For sure. Um I also want to just throw out there because I got a couple questions about it and I drove down 12th Street on my way in today, the Washington Street School, um that is partially demolished. It's the part we wanted to demolish. uh those newer sections around the edges of it. Uh you can now just see the original 1938 um what we call the T structure, the original sort of gymnasium and the administrative building in the front. Uh I'm really excited about that. I think it's going to be uh just a great visual for folks to sort of see that original structure um and see the possibility of what it can be for our community uh as we continue to work towards funding hopefully uh raising money uh to uh to turn that back into a community asset. So, um, for those of you that are wondering that that part is not being torn down, the rest of it is down. All right. At this time, I will move that we recess the city council meeting prior to uh prior to item 10 on the agenda.

Second. We have a motion and a second to recess city council. Please vote. With a vote of five to zero, the store city council will be in recess. And while we're in recess, I'll call to order the store to utilities authority meeting for January 26, 2026. Trustees, questions, comments, or action on the consent docket. Motion to approve consent docket. Second. We have a motion, a second to approve consent. Please vote. With vote 5 to zero, the consent docket is approved. We have nothing else on the SUA agenda. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. We have a motion, a second. Please vote.

With a vote of 5 to zero. The store utilities authority is now adjourned. And at this time, I will call to order the store economic development authority meeting for January 26th, 2026. Trustees, questions, comments, or action on the consent docket? Motion to approve the consent docket. Second.

We have a motion and a second on the consent docket. Please vote with a vote of five to zero. The consent docket is approved. [clears throat] Takes us to item five. Consider recommendation from the store reinvestment plan downtown campus link project plan implementation committee regarding the application submitted by Republic Properties LLC. Rachel Berners is here to tell us more.

Hi, good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, I'm excited to talk tonight about a significant impact project located at 206 West 6 within TIFF 3. Um, it's going to be called the Bookend Hotel. This will be a 15 room boutique hotel with a public facing bar. Um, event space that's available for rent and a small curated retail component. Um, I had the opportunity to walk the project with the owner and developer, Leighton Johns, and with city manager Moore. Um, this is a really cool project to bring to Still Water. I'm really excited to see it. It's going to be very, very curated and very special. Um, unlike anything we have here. Um, one of the big things that has stood out to me after meeting Leighton and working with him is he really jumped into the community and he's partnering with a lot of local businesses to provide food and catering for his restaurant. Um and I think that he's going to be a great partner moving forward. Um the implementation policy committee met on the 12th and they have recommended $1 million paid in a rears over the lifetime of the tiff. Um Leighton is here tonight. I know he has a video and um wants to be able to talk to you guys and answer any questions. I'm also here to answer any questions if you have any. And I'm going to call Leighton up.

Thank you. Thank you council for considering this project. Um my name is Leighton John's. I'm a transplant of still Potter. I've been here just over a year now. So I got to experience last year's storm. Was a little bit prepared for this one. I come from California and there's not nearly as much snow. I know that you guys don't get it very often. Um but my family and I, we moved here a little over a year ago and Still Water felt like home when I came here for school. We always knew we wanted to come back and just so many things kind of lined up for this project to kind of fall into our laps. And so I'm going to share this video and then I'll share a little bit more about our project. Welcome to the original Stillwater Public Library. A building shaped by architecture, history, and generations of community stories. For decades, this was a place of learning and connection. In recent years, it has sat quiet, waiting for its next chapter. That chapter is the bookend Hotel. This project will thoughtfully restore and reactivate this landmark, creating a library inspired hotel that pays homage to the building's original purpose, a place where people gather, reflect, and share ideas. More than a hotel, the bookend is an investment in Still Water, generating new economic activity, long-term tax revenue, and a renewed life for a historic building that deserves to be a part of Still Water's future. With your support, this story continues, not as a memory, but as a living part of our community. I mentioned this in the uh TIFF committee meeting. I can't stand the sound of my own voice. I know most people are probably that way. Um, you could see from the video that we we had some inspiration photos of what we

intend to uh finish the building out like. Um, as it was mentioned, this will be a 15 room boutique hotel. We will have a bar in the basement as well as about a,200 foot event space in the basement as well. Conference room that can be rented out as well. And then a small gift shop that will be a little micro bookstore uh within the building. We have done an amazing job partnering with a lot of local contractors. I've uh been blessed to be introduced to so many locals. I think about 90% of all the subcontractors working on the project are local to Still Water or at least within the the surrounding community. Um and then like it was mentioned, we've uh we're planning to partner with PCmen Hill to provide a lot of the pastries and coffee that we offer in the mornings for our guests. uh we will not have a commercial kitchen and so we're going to rely heavily on local uh caterers to provide for our events that we host. Um really hoping to provide something unique that the city doesn't currently have. I have a lot of respect for what the school has done with the Athetherton, but we're trying to provide the city with a truly elevated uh hospitality experience for guests to come from all over, not just for Oklahoma State related events, but you know where we really hope to play off of uh the Midsouth. uh concerts at Block 34, uh other events, and even hopefully become a place that people seek to travel to Still Water just to stay. Um and we think that it's going to have a great impact on the local surrounding businesses, restaurants that are all walkable. We really feel like the the location is perfect. Um you know, being right there on 6th and kind of right in between downtown and campus is just an amazing spot. Uh truly feel like it's going to be a wonderful project. Um, as was mentioned, uh, the tiff is something that I feel very passionate about. The the city I came from, my old downtown is dead. The city didn't invest in

businesses. And so, what you guys have done with this uh, this TIFF is truly amazing. I feel like it's you guys have had some great projects that have come out of it, and I hope to be the uh, the next project that is a success for you guys. So, I'd like to open up for any questions. Well, I'll just say that I'm excited about this project. I I have always loved that building. I'm I'm a transplant. I've been here 23 years or so, and I've always loved that building, and it's an important part of the history of our community, and it's just sat there dormant. And the fact that we're going to see this revitalized and become an important part of the downtown connection, I just think it's a terrific project. Thanks for taking it on,

Leon. Could you talk a little bit about the timing for your uh opening and your construction things that you're doing right now? I am very thankful to know that the first home game is not till September 15th. So, that bought us a few weeks, but we plan to be open for the first home game. Um, you know, full speed ahead. Hopefully, we have enough time for a soft opening the weekend prior, but that is what we're shooting for. So, it'll be a very fast and furious project.

Yeah. Well, I'm I'm not a transplant. I grew up here and I grew up in that building and I I had a chance to walk through it um with Leighton and and uh it's it's uh it's quite nostalgic to be back in it and it is incredibly exciting to see not just a reuse, but such a uh I think impactful reuse for for downtown Stillwater.

Um certainly as an office building, it's a a reasonable thing. Um, but to have a hotel there and to have visitors coming in and, you know, spreading out and and seeing the restaurants coming down to block 34, that kind of thing. also that connection. I mean, it's it this project to me serves so many of the things we wanted the TIFF to be able to do in restoring an old building that's expensive to to go do that project and and helping provide some uh some assistance there, but also this core redevelopment and connecting downtown to campus, all of that. Um really this project is kind of the the the best example of what of what the TIFF was designed to to encourage. And so I'm uh thrilled to to have the opportunity to partner uh as a city um with you and and to make this a reality. So we're super pumped.

Thank you. The official term [clears throat]

and and I'll add a little bit of context on the financials. Um the total investment on the project is as you can see in the application is 5 million. Um that's including the purchase of the building and uh all the investment and personal property that's going to go into the hotel. Um with the we always when we have these tiff projects come before before they go to the tiff committee we have our attorneys at center for economic development law do a full evaluation of the project based on the projected revenues uh for proforma for sales tax and with the calculated increment that would be uh from the base 2018 value uh for the investment of both real estate and personal property and potentially the two pennies of uh undead dedicated sales tax that can be uh committed to the project per the terms of our project plan. Um the through the life of the TIF, which is uh through 2043, it does show that it's projecting about a million dollars in increment that could be generated to the TIFF. And so under the significant impact uh project within our implementation policy guide with projects that end before 2028 um or the December 31st of 2028 the uh kind of max in that column is 20% assistance. So the 1 million in a rears is exactly um what that program allows to be a max and is what um the applicant has asked for. Um and so the the tiff committee as Rachel mentioned did award or did recommend uh to the trustees 1 million in a rears.

I know I would like to briefly bring up that the initial request was potentially 600,000 upfront or a million in a rears. The delta between that is just truly the extra interest that we're going to end up paying to the bank over that uh the course of that tiff. Trustees, further questions or comments? Thank you for being here. Appreciate it.

Is there action on the recommendation? I move approval of the application submitted by Republic Properties LLC requesting assistance for $1 million paid in a rears for the redevelopment of the building at 206 West 6th Avenue to create a new boutique hotel, bar, and public meeting space called the BookN Bookend Hotel. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve the recommendation. Please vote. Let's approve with a vote of five to zero. Looking forward to it. All right. Nothing further on the CEDA agenda. Is there a motion to adjurnn CEDA? Motion to adjurnn. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adjurnn. Please vote. With a vote of five to zero, CEDA is now adjourned. And at this time, I will reconvene the store city council pardem 10 on the agenda. Councilors, is there a motion to enter executive session as requested by the city attorney? So moved. Second.

A motion to second. Please vote. With the vote of five to zero, the store city council will now enter executive session. Is there a motion to reenter uh or normal session? Regular session. Open session. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second to reenter open session. Mayor Joyce, yes. Vice Mayor Jalowski, yes. Councelor Hawkins, yes. Councelor Clark, yes. Councelor Harden,

yes. We are now back in regular session as a s city council. Uh there are no recommendations for action after executive session. Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. We have a motion to second to adjurnn. Please call the role. Mayor Joyce, yes. Vice Mayor Gowski? Yes. Councelor Hawkins? Yes. Councelor Clark? Yes. Councelor Harden? Yes. With the vote of five to zero, we are now adjourned. And that concludes our meetings for the evening.