City Council - Regular Meeting

Good morning. We're going to get started this morning with an invocation led by the Reverend Wendy Astor at St. Luke's Methodist Church. And that'll be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Brett and Luke Santiago representing Scouting America Troop 226. Please stand as you are able.

Let us pray. God of us all, we give you thanks for this beautiful day, a gift created by you, full of opportunities. Help us to make the most of each moment. Give us eyes to see the needs around us and then fill us with your loving kindness and courage so that we can respond in the best manner. Let us embody the values that have made our community so successful. Help us to be innovative in the face of difficulty and respond with empathy and respect. We give you thanks for the Oklahoma City community for all of its diversity and strengths. Give each one of us the resolve to continue to work for its success now and for the future. We give you thanks for Mayor Holt and the Oklahoma City Council leadership. They are committed to a brighter future and we are grateful for their hard work. Please bless them and their families, ease their worries and meet them at their deepest point of need so that they can have clear focus on the greater good for this community. Fill them with compassion and resolve, tenderness and strength, and an appreciation of the past while they dream of the future. Be with us all and help us to live lives of joy and purpose, amen.

Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag 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, Pastor Lambert, and thank you, Brett and Luke. All right, I call this meeting of the City Council to order and I do have one presentation to make and I will make my way to the front for that under Office of the Mayor. So if you guys wanna go ahead and join me up here at the front, all of you please. All right, well, June is National Safety Month, and to learn a little bit more about that, I would ask the clerk to read this proclamation.

Whereas the City of Oklahoma City is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment in all forms for its employees. And whereas the City of Oklahoma City has taken a proactive stance in providing a positive, secure, and healthy workplace through partnerships with organizations like the National Safety Council and observation of National Safety Month. And whereas the city's risk management division has worked to ensure the safety of all city employees by setting standards and delivering training courses designed to enhance employees' awareness of risk while continually improving workplace health. And whereas the risk management's The city's risk management division successfully conducted and will continue to conduct a variety of safety-related activities for city employees to promote a culture among all employees that allows them to start safe, work safe, and finish safe. Now, therefore, I, David Holt, Mayor of the City of Oklahoma City, do hereby proclaim the month of June 2026 to be National Safety Month in Oklahoma City.

Now, of course, safety means a lot of things. It's a broad word, but in this context, we're very specifically talking about the safety of our 5,000 employees, and nothing captures it better than that phrase, start safe, work safe, and finish safe. We want everybody to go home at night. We are joined here by most of the risk management division as well as their fearless leader. Although if you're the risk manager, maybe there's a little fear in your job. But we would love to hear a few words from you. So I would hand the microphone to Lavita Brath.

Thank you. So the city has participated in National June Safety Month for about 10 years. And every year, risk management seeks to provide meaningful and relevant training to our employees. This year, through our internal partnerships, we were able to provide training on fire extinguisher training, how to recognize the signs of a stroke, Through our external partnerships, we did training on dog bite safety, work zone safety, and trenching and excavation safety. We had 21 working days in the month of June, and we were able to train about 411 people. employees, so we're really proud of the work that we did during the month of June. We also had an opening in our safety team, so we were reduced in staff, but the rest of risk management jumped in, made swag bags, hundreds of swag bags. They signed for donut and coffee deliveries, passed out lunches, introduced speakers, and they even moved furniture. They did a phenomenal job in making this a seamless and wonderful experience for all city employees. And I wanted to publicly thank them today.

Very good. And we want to publicly thank all of you. So let's show our appreciation. Thank you all so much. All right, that concludes Office of the Mayor, which brings us to item four, items from council. And there is a resolution here, resolution 4A, approving travel expenses for council members Stone, Hinkle, and Pennington to attend a technical tour of the Utah Transit Authority in Salt Lake later this month. And we do have a resident who has signed up to speak on this item, Tom Elmore.

Thanks for the time here, folks. You may all have a map of the rail system that was extant surrounding Oklahoma City Union Station in the year 2008. 14 years before that, Some of your citizens began battling, teaching, cajoling, begging, pleading for preservation of Oklahoma City Union Station's 12-track-wide, eight-block-long rail center, which happened to lie at a strategic confluence of an 866-mile state-owned railway network managed by ODOT, but unlike anything else managed by ODOT, it always more than paid for its own maintenance. So the highway boys at ODOT set about to destroy it. In 1989, Union Station, which had been fully restored from dereliction with vagrants building fires on the terrazzo floors of the grand waiting rooms, the great Thurman Magby, late lamented Thurman Magby, bought the property, made it the headquarters of his Zenith Electronics distributorship. He would never reveal how many millions of dollars he poured into the meticulous reconstruction and restoration of Union Station. Three rail platforms in the yard serving six tracks with underground passages from the great hall waiting rooms to each of those platforms including underground passages from the express room where they used tractor trams to bring the revenue-sustaining express freight and mail to the trains minute to minute every day. It was all there. It was all there. It was all there. And it was given by the Federal Transit Administration to the City of Oklahoma City to be our transit center in 1989. Immediately, the Department of Transportation set about to destroy it. I battled ODOT. And we told the truth to this body for 15 years. You may know that every time you buy a gallon of motor fuel, 2.86 cents of the federal fuel tax goes to the Federal Transit Trust Fund. It's going to buy transit somewhere. I was asked to sit on the original citizen advisory panel for the MAPS 1 project for a 2.7-mile trolley circulator downtown. Before the bombing, that's how far back it was. Unfortunately, our Congressman Ernest Istook had other interests, and rather than providing the 80% federal match to the 20% we provided through MAPS 1, He gave us some short-lived cracker box motor trolleys and took money to build a new light rail line in Salt Lake City, Utah in time for the 2002 Winter Olympics. By the way, he now lives there. So we also battled congressmen, as took all of those years, and we tried our best to get the council interested in backing what we were trying to do, and recognizing the overwhelming value. Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City told the- Mr. Elmore, we're over time now.

Okay, very good. Is there a concluding statement you want? Okay, thank you. All right, well, item 4A is in front of us now, and we could take a motion. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously and with the necessary six affirmative votes. Item five, city manager reports. Mr. City Manager.

Thank you, Mary. We just have a couple of items on today. The first one is the June sales and use tax. It's the final sales and use tax for the year. We did finish as we had discussed previously about 5.8M dollars over target for both both sales and use tax finished strong with sales tax at about 4% use tax was, I think, 14% for the month. Overall, for the year, sales tax ended up at 2.95% growth for the year above what we had targeted. Use tax ended up at 6.52% growth. In both cases, they were over target. We finished with $5.8 million over. Due to some of our expenditures and other revenues being below target, some of our expenditures being over target, we do right now expect to use a little bit of fund balance in this year, but with sales and use tax, we finished really strong. And then we have the claims and payroll on, and that can be found on OKC.gov. That's all that I have.

All right. Thank you. Item 6, Journal of Council Proceedings. We have Items A and B we could take with one motion. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes.

I'll vote yes.

Passes unanimously. Item 7, request for uncontested continuances. Item 11C is listed on the agenda to be deferred to September 15th. Is there anything else, Mr. City Manager?

Yes, we have several items on today, beginning on page 21. Item 11 B PD 2105. And then item and that will be deferred to August the 4th. Then item 11 D is PD 2124 that will be deferred to August the 4th as well. And then item 11 E PD 2134 will be deferred to August the 4th as well. And they continue on page 23 with the lapidated structures all the items I list on the lapidated and unsecured we will strike from the agenda beginning with item a And this is 1.24 North Allen Street. The owner has removed. And then item B is 6900 London Way, along with other addresses. We're reworking that for a new owner. Continuing on page 23 on 1101, unsecured structures. Item A, 1.24 Allen Street. The owner has removed. Item D, 17.017 Crest Valley. The owner has secured item E4812, Dimple Drive. The owner has secured item F2612, South Harvey Avenue. The owner has secured item N1416, Southwest 28th Street. The owner has secured an item R1500, Southeast 47th Street. The owner has secured. On page 24 with abandoned buildings, item 11P1, item A6900, London Way with additional addresses reworking for an owner. And then on page 24 as well, item 11T, we have an executive session that was on there that we no longer need. We'll bring that back at a later time, so we're gonna strike that from the agenda.

Okay, thank you. Item eight are revocable permits and events. There are none today, and so we'll recess the council and convene as the Oklahoma City Municipal Facilities Authority. We do have a resident who has signed up to speak, Steve Hunt.

Steve Hunt, 6300 Westbrook Drive. Good morning to the Oklahoma City Municipal Facilities Authority. Good to see you all today. I'm just going to be brief. Item B, Amendment 5 to Professional Services Agreement with the City of Oklahoma City and Baker Tilly Advisory Group for additional support for annual comprehensive financial report processes. Estimated cost, $1.395 million. And if you turn to the consent docket, which was originally supposed to be for things like renewing toner for the printer, there is a duplicate Amendment 5 to professional service agreement with the Oklahoma City Baker Tilly. So it looks like this agreement is for $2.8 million with the double dipping in the OC MFA and the consent docket and I just want to make sure I understand what this is for. There's not a lot of information out there but what I saw is that a few years ago we signed an agreement with nice guy Larry Ellison's Oracle software to do some work for the city and we were unable to get the city employee folks trained properly so we reached out to Baker Tilly and like, you guys want $5 million to come do this? I think that's correct, isn't it? City Manager Freeman? No. No? What is it for?

We don't, this is not a Q&A, but I'm sure staff can meet with you out in the lobby afterwards.

Okay, so, and I also would like to know why it's there and why it's also in the consent docket. I guess that's It's a joint contract, so it's one contract. Is it two, it's not 2.8, it's, okay.

We don't have time for this.

You have your minute and a half, use it as you wish, but we're not doing Q and A. I'm not gonna waste your time.

All right, that concludes residents who've signed up to speak on MFA, so we can take items A through G now with one motion. We have a motion and a second, cast your votes. passes unanimously. We'll adjourn OCMFA and convene as the Oklahoma City Public Property Authority. We do have a resident who signed up to speak on items I and L, Robin Jones.

I am at this place in the agenda because these are PPA funds that are from MAPS IV for beautification, and we may be applying for that project. And I'm also here representing the West 10 and Windsor District as our CDRP contract has started for FY26. And just wanted you to know that your funding for that in both West 10 and Windsor has gone to preserving our history, which hardly anyone in the city seems to know about, which is the beginning of Oklahoma City. And we are doing that in the West 10 district. There's very limited public green space and no public canvas, so to speak. So we are using the traffic boxes. and telling our story of the history through your funding. And that has helped create an identity that West 10, to a great degree, didn't have prior. And we are doing multiple other things in West 10. And then in Windsor District, we are continuing to enhance beautiful streetscapes that we inherited from previous leadership in the Windsor District, but Windsor and West 10 District has come together and been collectively known as West OKC, and we host community conversations. Several of you have been to these meetings, and they're on everything from homelessness to civic responsibility to the children in the community. They've been very successful. We had some extra funding from the Arnall Family Foundation, which was of a great help. And basically, this part of town, central west Oklahoma City, um has a lot of challenges but we focus on the bright spots and our bright spots are very diverse and a very large number and just one example is we recently almost finished not me personally but a contractor almost finished a 7.9 building contract that will house one of our oldest companies in the state And we discovered that and then the next day I'm walking on my morning walk and four deer run across in front of me. So our area is very diverse and has nothing but opportunity even though you have to be kind of creative. Thirty seconds remaining. I'm done. Before I get whooshed away.

Thank you, Robin. All right, so that concludes the residents who signed up to speak on the PPA docket. We have items A through M we could take with one motion. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. We'll adjourn OCPPA and reconvene as the city council. We're on item nine, the consent docket. We have no scheduled presentations. Is there anything that a council member wishes to pull out for separate comment or separate vote? Yes, Mayor, could we pull out item A? Okay. For, do you want to make some comments or do you want a separate vote? Comments. Separate vote. Okay.

And then, Mayor, I have a couple of questions on items AL through ALAP. Okay.

Mayor. Uh-huh? I would just like to hear a bit of an update on item V, as in Victor, please. Okay. Thank you.

All right, we'll take them in order. Councilman Pennington, we do have a, what? Councilman Stone-Seifer's gonna recuse on item A. Oh, okay, very good. Councilman Pennington, we do have some residents who signed up to speak on item A. Do you wanna start with their comments? Maybe we should hear from the assistant city manager first, you think? Okay, sure.

Jason, why don't you go ahead and give us an overview on this item? Item A, the wrecker contract.

Sure. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Jason Fairbrush, Assistant City Manager. Item A, as you can see, is a contract with Farrington Towing for Zone 4 wrecker services. This item has been to Council previously. Just to remind council of the process, we issued an RFP for Zone 4. We received multiple proposals. We had an evaluation committee consisting of myself, members from the police department, finance department, city clerk's office. conducted site visits to the top proposers. And going through the process, reviewing the proposals, doing the site visits, staff is recommending that the contract be awarded to Farrington Towing. And so that's what you have before you today. City Manager would you like me to elaborate any more or just hit the history there?

I think that's good here. We did have an appeal process that was filed on this after it was deferred. We went through the appeals process. It goes through the purchasing agent, through the finance director, and through myself. Those have all been now returned and resolved or addressed. We're ready to move forward. Our recommendation still is to move forward with this contract.

Thank you, let's hear from our neighbors. Okay, so we have a bunch of people signed up. So what I'm gonna do is first remind everybody to say your name and address when you come to the microphone and that you have three minutes or less to make your comments. At 30 seconds, you will be warned that you only have 30 seconds left by the city clerk. I'll remind you that if the comments are redundant, I mean, you have every right to be redundant, but know that there is a point of diminishing returns. If other people have said what you've already said, you know, you don't have to use your entire three minutes. And I will announce each name and then the next name, so the next person can maybe move down to the first row and be ready to go. All right, we'll start with Randy Serite, and that'll be followed by Denevetta Davis.

Good morning.

Randy Seawright, Farrington Towing 3307 Northeast 10th Street. Some issues have been brought to our attention that I would like to address. The first one is the zoning of our location. We are zoned I-2 with two unique PUDs. Oklahoma City's Development Service sent out a superintendent to confirm our compliance. Our zoning is correct. Like many businesses, we have had some minor code violations that have all been addressed. At the previous city council meeting on May 5th, we discovered that we needed to be a part of the Garden Oaks Neighborhood Association. We found the Northeast Oklahoma City Neighborhood Coalition online, which covers the garden neighborhood community. We filled out the online application and mailed in our check, which was cashed June 1st. We had a meeting with Bobby Thomas, the president of the Garden Oaks Neighborhood Association, on May 18th at Farrington Towing's office. This meeting was an attempt to establish a good working relationship. We informed Bobby that we had already submitted our application with the Northeast Oklahoma City... neighborhood coalition to join the garden oaks neighborhood association she made no mention of the fact that the garden oaks neighborhood had their own association july 2nd we discovered that garden oaks did have their own association when i spoke with bobby thomas and requested to become a member she informed me they are not taking new applications we have made a full faith effort to join Farrington Towing has 18 acres of one of the larger impound yards in the state of Oklahoma. There is one pud, approximately 5.7 acres, that requires us to be a member of the neighborhood association. We do not use any of this area for storage of impound vehicles for the city. We have made our best effort to be fully compliant and a good neighbor. Issues have been addressed and it is in the public's best interest to award this contract to Farrington Towing to minimize the current wait times for the constituents of this district. There have been some questions regarding two companies at our current location. We did not buy the company for a wrecker service. My wife and I did buy the property at 3307 NE 10th. We have three trucks that are branded as for a wrecker service. This is for OHP rotation purposes only. Both yards have been inspected and approved by Oklahoma State Trooper Heath Ragland. There are 15 other companies in the state that have the same situation with the Department of Public Service. Our operating authority is based off of one DOT number and all of our business is conducted under one EIN number, Farrington Towing. We have one business. I would like to add that the previous comments to the city council, they had no issues with 4A wrecker service at the location. 4A wrecker service at that point in time did have the district wrecker service. So it shouldn't be an increase in traffic at that point in time.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Denovetta Davis, who will be followed by Bobby Thomas.

Good morning, Council. Denveretta Davis, 721 North Kellam, Oklahoma City. I am here representing the Northeast Oklahoma City Neighborhood Coalition. The Garden Neighborhood Council is a member, and we are an organization that collaborates with 18 neighborhood associations in Northeast Oklahoma City. And so Farrington did submit an application, as well as Metro Towing, to the Northeast Oklahoma City Neighborhood Coalition. We have not, it's an approval process, and we have not approved either application, even though the check might have been cashed, it will be returned if it's not approved. So we just wanted to make that clear that they did apply, there is an approval process, they have not gone through that approval process, we plan to do that this month, and then if it's not approved, then that check will be returned. We are, it's not personal. We are just in support of metro towing because they are not close to a neighborhood. That is our main reason. We understand that Farrington is already in existence. But it will expand They are right across the street surrounded by neighbors and will just expand their services And that's what we're opposed to we know they're already there. They're already providing record service, but this will greatly expand their services and will greatly affect the neighbors and environmentally with a, you know, 24 seven service with the amount of vehicles in and out. So that's why we're concerned about that for this particular neighborhood and we support them in their opposition to this contract being awarded. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Bobby Thomas will be followed by Burt Woodring.

Good morning. My name is Bobbie Thomas. I live at 1409 North Standish Avenue. I am a resident of Gordon Neighborhood Council. Our interest is right at the interest of Farrington's Record Service. They have been there for over a year. They made no effort to join our neighborhood association. They made no effort to. because cut their grass. And when they moved in, we started getting complaints. Since they bought 4A Record Service, the traffic down there at 10th and Standish has been terrible. When we try to turn into our interest, we run into Farrington's. They not only impound cars, they tow 18 wheelers. We can see them from the fence that they have. Now they tried to remove them. but they were there. We never had a problem with 4A Record Service, and the men that used to own 4A Record Service, the cars there were fine, but since parenting has come, we have had heavy, heavy traffic to the interests of our neighborhood. Also, I want to give you an example. Three Saturdays ago, Lost Lake had a entertainment at their Lost Lake. The traffic overflowed into Farrington's and I drove down there and I was a man standing out in the street. He directed me into Farrington's Randy Seawright came out and he told me, Ms. Thomas, if you want to have, if the cars are parked in your driveway, I will impound them. Well, why will you impound these cars and you let some traffic come on your property and sit there when it was a traffic jam right there in our neighborhood? And we went down about two weeks ago and we did talk with Ferentz's He has never made an effort until now. When he wants to contract with the city for Zone 4, now he wants to be a member of our neighborhood association, but it's not benefiting us not one bit. We're on the northeast, far northeast Oklahoma City. Why do you want to put that there? You knew when you bought for a record service, you were right near a neighborhood association. So, I will say, we're not for Farrington's. We will go with Metro if necessary. Thank you.

Thank you, Bert Woodring, who will be followed by Izar Al-Zubi.

Burt Woodring, 1400 South Robinson, Oklahoma City. I'd like to address the issues on the two PUDs of this. And Mr. Cooper mentioned this before, but I'll bring this up to deal. The 920 SPUD, which was back in 2003, is 140 pages. They went through quite a lengthy deal to even get this SPUD even approved. There were 29 people that protested it. It went to the council without recommendation from the Planning Commission. They never could even get it approved. Finally, after several delays, the council nearly approved this five to four. That was 23 years ago. Everything is changed in the city now. There are several violations that's been happened on this spud. 9-0 of the spud says the following conditions in section 11 through 34 shall not be changed or amended in any way without action of the city council after review of the planning commission. Several of those items has been violated and nobody's done anything about it. Now the 1479 spud to the west I looked at that deal and back in the day when they pulled that in 2013, they got a fence permit. The fence permit was never completed. The landscaping was never completed. They never got a final on it. The gravel was never, they said there wasn't enough gravel on the land to start with. But to my knowledge, I never found anything at the city that this was even completed. So they could even move on it and even start working. Furthermore, they're talking about there is two record services on that property. 3307 Northeast 10th has 4A Record Service operating out of that location. They also have Farrington Record Service operating out of that location. I've checked with the Department of Public Safety. Both licenses are there at that address. They're working out of the same building with separate offices in that building. so there is two record services though i have double the business there already and actually farrington's record service is far much larger than for a record service so it is definitely an issue there that they have definitely done that and by giving them a city contract they're even going to double it even more i've had a city contract there for 15 years remaining and they average about 250 more calls a month So that's what's fixing to happen over there if they're given this permit or they're given this license. Thank you. Thank you.

Iser Al-Zubi, followed by Joe Crotele.

Good morning City Council, Mayor, City Manager. My name is Acer. I represent Metro Towing. My address is 13415 North Santa Fe. I'm here to talk about the process that we went through in this project. First, we had a piece of property that was zoned I-2, but it was nearby a residential neighborhood. It did not work out, so we worked hard to find another piece of property where it was zoned I-2. And everyone was involved in this process, was satisfied with the new site, the community. So after we secured the property, we went to the city and talked to them. They say even if you are zoned I-2, it does not allow you to open your door and put your sign up. There's a lot of process you got to go through because record service is a conditional use. So we went through the process we pull up building permit, you know after you pull up building permit you got to go through planning and zoning review after we pass that we there was a lot of requirement from the city to me the code and we spend the money and we had to pay for all the permit to the city. So we had a lot of visit from the city to make to make sure that we are in compliance. They give us the green light. They give us the occupancy permit. We made sure all the requirement was completed because the RFP, it clearly required the property to comply with the city code and have all the necessary permit in place in order to qualify for the bid. Staff had a meeting about the RFP before the deadline of the bid and they surely say that you have to have all the permit and all the licenses in the place before the deadline of the bid. Everything we had done, all the building permits that we had done, it was last year. and it was submitted last year in June. So the process has been ongoing for more than a year. It has placed a significant financial hardship in us, as well as create a significant stress through the process. It will be difficult to understand awarding the contract to a company that did not complete those same requirement. Today, I respectfully ask that your decision be based in fairness and in the integrity of the process. We follow every requirement that was asked of us. We invested the time and resources to make sure everything was done correctly before moving forward. If one bidder is required to meet all the RFP requirements, then every bidder should be held to those same standards. I simply ask process to be applied fairly to everyone. And I want to say thank you for giving me a chance to speak, and thank you.

Thank you. Joe Crotele, followed by Bailey McKay.

name is joe crodel i represent metro towing and recovery 100 north broadway um you've heard from some neighbors that near live nearby the farrington and 4a record service lot you've heard from the owners of metro towing and recovery who was a co-bidder on this city contract um back when both of these puds on the lot where 4a and farrington are now um when those were getting negotiated with the city there was significant issues with the neighbors that were had to be addressed and due to those issues in their very close proximity to residential neighborhoods The PUDs include some very unusual language, and some of that is joining the neighborhood association. 4A back in the day was a member of the neighborhood association. Farrington apparently did not know of that requirement until we brought it up. This is designed to keep harmony with this very noxious and disturbing business that happens that is a necessity in every city. But when it's next to a neighborhood, proper balance needs to be struck. Farrington seemingly did not even know of that requirement. They do not seem interested in coexisting with these neighbors. part of the city's duty is to look at all these factors and to see that, you know, these PUDs that were put in place that were strongly fought for and against by these residents are not being adhered to. The essence of these PUDs are not being respected today. I would be happy to answer any questions about these PUDs if you have them, but it's hard to hear from a citizen that has gone through the process and made sure everything was done correctly when he submitted his bid. to then see another company get recommended, or their bid get recommended, that's fine. But when you see that they didn't go through those same steps, they didn't spend the money, they didn't spend the time, and then they get coached through the process after the fact, after we've brought these issues. to your attention. It's very frustrating and I share my client's frustration and that we just want what's fair and we hope that you guys see that there are serious issues with Farrington's bid and their property that they're on and that you consider that when you vote to approve or disapprove and we hope that you vote to disapprove this contract. Thank you.

Thank you. Bailey McKay, followed by Rita Freeney.

Thank you, counsel. Bailey McKay on behalf of Bad Day Towing and Recovery Company, 100 North Broadway Ave. I will not belabor the points that have already been made to this council this morning. I would just reiterate the objections and the reasons to disapprove this contract that have already been stated today in our May 6th, 2026 letter filed with this council. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Rita Freeney is our final speaker on this item.

Good morning council. We say thank you for all that you do. My name is Rita McNeil Freeney 1313 Stat Drive. And one thing I can say I learned a lot about this whole process. I am a novice about all of this but I have learned that What is right is just right. And I am here representing the coalition. Carver Dale been in the community for over 50 years working in all capacities. And this is something that will affect the neighborhood on a long term basis. So we're just appealing and you'll be heard a lot already. But the appeal is just to to do what is fair and right for the community. It's an old community just like ours Carver Dale and we've been able to protect our community. So we want to protect on the long term. There'll be a lot of detrimental to have a company that will come in the neighborhood and have even more negativity. So we're just asking that you make the decision for the right company. And of course, I am in favor of a metro. And I know I have seen a lot of towing companies. But in this process, I've been to each of the companies. I've seen what they've done. and i have also learned a lot about the integrity of metro and the staff so just asking that you make the right decision in this concern so i am here to appeal and to ask that you do the right thing in this case thank you so much for your time thank you um councilman pennington i don't know if you have any other comments or if any other council members do as well on this item and then we'll take a vote on just this item

Well, if my colleagues have questions, stop me. But just a few things quickly. One, this is a long time coming, as I think we've been dealing with this issue for the last year. And so I'm hopeful that we can get to a resolution. But I'd like for it to be a resolution that is satisfactory to the neighbors and to our need to make sure we have a record service that can service Zone 4. First, I want to say, I cannot support this application because of some of the reasons that have been stated here, but before I get into those reasons, I want to say I have nothing but respect for Mr. Seawright and his business and their operation. I have no reason to doubt or question his integrity, and so I don't want any of my comments or my vote to signal a lack of confidence in them or their abilities. I do think that this area is not appropriate for us to put the record service for a very simple reason and I think that you all know that I've spent a lot of time on the planning commission and there is a line in PUD 1479 that was pointed out that I just think is worth noting. It says that the density and or intensity of the PUD shall not be increased. And that was done PUD 1479. That is where this location is. So while the I2 use is allowed, while the record service use is allowed, the intention when this was negotiated was that there not be any increase in the density or intensity of the use. And so to me, adding an additional contract is increasing the density and intensity of the use. And so I understand that others may have a different interpretation. of that because there is an existing record service there. But I think that that is compelling language knowing how difficult it can be to try to square different uses being near a residential property. So I'm not putting my thumb on the scales of which record service should be picked. But I do hope that as we consider this contract and others, we'll look at what surrounds these properties because it is disruptive to have a wrecker service with lots of cars coming in and out and how that affects neighbors. This neighborhood has also been challenged because of Lost Lakes, which is an event venue that, as you already heard from Ms. Thomas, brings a lot of traffic to the area. Because of those reasons and in support of my neighbors, I'm going to oppose this and I'd ask my colleagues to really take into consideration the concerns of our neighbors.

Councilman, can I ask you a question? Please. Since you were on the Planning Commission as well, how do you determine increase so that you can add that line into that PUD?

It is admittedly subjective. And I wasn't on the planning commission when this PUD was negotiated.

So this company, though, bought it from a previous wrecking company. So they've been there for a number of years. I believe it was stated that that record company had a contract maybe with the state or with the city or something.

I don't know if it was with the city. I'm looking to the city manager.

He had said that he had a contract previously, had this contract. Is that correct that they did? They previously had this contract.

Oh, it was the same contract with the city. So it won't increase then if it's a continued contract.

This isn't continuing the existing. They haven't had it for a while. But they had previously.

But they have had it previously. So it's still going to be within reason on that aspect. How long was 4A a record service in this area by the residential?

This is 2003, I think.

So we're looking at 23 years prior to this. So the community is well versed in the fact that this is a record service yard. And that they acknowledge that they know that even if I'm just trying to make sure we line things out and I and I have a clear understanding. Like you said, we've been going through this for a year. Yeah, we we've had to rebid. We've had to redo. We've gone back and forth to all sorts of different selections. And we gave some pretty specific instructions to the the committee whenever we redid this rfp and what we were looking for and what we were doing and they've guaranteed us that each one has been met so i'm also a little curious as to what one certain bid may have done that another bid didn't do and some of the accusations that were put in that jason could you help us with that one

Sure. So the question is, I think the question is essentially like, how did we get to award Farrington perhaps over others?

Well, so Metro just accused Farrington of not doing everything that they had to do in this area. So I'm just curious of what were those things that one did that another didn't do?

Okay, well... So having been involved in the process and having some awareness of Metro's journey and Farrington's journey to this point, I think the clear difference is that my understanding is Metro Towing essentially found a location and established their business at that location, right? And so there's, as we know, many requirements that go into starting a business at a location. So, Farrington, on the other hand, purchased an existing, and I obviously don't want to speak for Farrington. However, to me, it seems like it would be, there'd be less situational awareness of all of the intricacies associated with a PUD if you buy a property, right? I mean, you buy a property, there's an existing record service. So, So I guess where I'm going with that is I think Metro perceives there be a lot more requirements on them, and perhaps so because they're establishing a new business versus Farrington purchasing an existing. However, when it comes to the review committee, Those weren't considerations, right? I mean, whether it's a new business or an existing business, the evaluation committee simply evaluated the proposals based on the requirements of the RFP. The requirements of the RFP spoke specifically to making sure they had the proper zoning. So as the evaluation committee met, we confirmed with planning department and others that they had the proper zoning to operate a wrecker service. And That's different, in my opinion, from code violations. Some of the objections or protests had referenced code violations. And I think with any business in the city, there's a potential for code violations. That's why we have code inspectors. And when we identify businesses that are operating in good faith, but yet they have some code violations, we give them an opportunity to cure. And so that's the way we handled these issues or a few of these issues with Farrington when they were brought to our attention. As the owner of Farrington mentioned, we had our code inspectors go to their site as part of the protest process to make sure we did our due diligence.

Okay, so in regards to the RFP, there is not one company who checked a box that another one didn't. Everybody has met the same expectations that we lined out in that RFP.

Well, there were a few of the proposers that did not make the basic requirements. I can't remember if it was one or two, it was very few. The majority of the proposers moved on in the process to the point where they were scored and we did site visits. So I think that's maybe an important thing for council to know or to remind you is we went and visited these locations to make sure they met those requirements that were in the RFP. And quite frankly, the top scores were very close, but that's why you have a selection committee. Ultimately, the committee comes to a consensus and awards a contract. And it's not to say, through the process, that only Farrington could do it and nobody else could. The process is we identify hopefully multiple proposers that could provide the service and we select the one we think is gonna do the best job for the residents of the city. And that's where we ended up with Farrington. And last question, Farrington is located in zone four.

Yes, they are in Zone 4. I know that was a big issue with us last time. So as long as we got that one answered, too. Thank you.

I appreciate it. Jason, before you sit down, how long does this contract run? This contract, Clea might have to help me with that. Is this two remaining years? Oh, I'm sorry. They're 2020. Yeah, April 2027. Thank you. Thank you.

Again, before you sit down, would you be able to share or maybe you don't know right off the top of your head, but what was the deciding factor that scored Farrington higher than other proposals?

Well, you know, again, they met the criteria of the RFP. So once they met the basic criteria, then part of it came down to the site selection. making sure that they met the requirements of having a secure location for vehicles that were towed under the city contract to be secured. Part of that was inspecting their paperwork in terms of their operators and their licensing, making sure You know that was all available And again, it's not that Farrington was the only one that complied with that but at the end of the day the selection committee felt like Farrington was the best equipped To be able to provide the service Again not that this was the deciding factor but the lot Farrington has is larger than the Metro lot Metro was at a brand new location I'm not saying they're not a proven business or they're not capable of doing the business but at the site inspection it was very clear that the business was more or less a Generally speaking kind of a startup. We didn't see a lot of vehicles there a lot of activity again Not to say that they aren't capable of doing it, but we did I think the committee has some assurances that Farrington was Established and had plenty of storage room. There are other factors, but those are a couple that come to mind I hope that answered your question councilman I

I mean, maybe it's because I watch the Lord of the Rings, the two towers and the answer in my head where they have a conversation. But I would like to hear from more of the council on this. Like this is complicated for me because on the one hand, there's neighbors who are, I think, rightly concerned about a business beside them that they do not find compatible. And initially, when an earlier business went in there, they helped craft some parameters, right, that Farrington would not have known, because I think it was to ACM's earlier point, sometimes you take over something that's already zoned, you don't know the backstory. So I understand the neighbors' concerns. At the exact same time, though, there is a process that ACM is describing that seems, I don't know, there is just a process. And I worry about what happens, and I actually really mean this equally. I hear the neighbor's concerns. I am also a very process-oriented person, a very data-driven person, and I worry what happens if we look at this process and go, well, we're not going to adhere to it. So I worry about the legality of that decision. Maybe that's something city manager and Mr. Jordan can speak to. But those are those are my concerns. And I think the third concern. So the neighborhood. So I hear what Councillor Pennington is saying. The process is very much on my mind. And the third I alluded to this maybe last time. There is just something that feels like I don't know that we're all being direct about what we're really wanting here. Like some of the people I feel like the neighbors are being direct. They don't like this business there. But I also feel like there's business interests here that are happening that get There's a filter, rather than saying, I'm going to make a lot of money if this comes to me, there's this filter. Well, there was the PUD, and then there was this and that. And that just makes it really difficult for me to suss out what the right thing to do is here. And I just want to be that direct and blunt about this. I hear what the neighbors are saying, but I also feel like there is some interest who are using the neighbors. because it benefits them. I'm sorry, I just have to be that direct. That's just where I'm at now. That's just where I'm at. I just think we have to speak very truthfully about things. I hear what the neighbors are saying, but I also feel like there are people who are using your voice to get what they want. And so I need to better understand the legalities facing us as a body. I'm inclined to go with Councilor Pennington here, because I hear the neighbors' concerns, but I just don't like when people aren't being direct with me.

If I can, real quickly, is that okay? I'm not an attorney, though. I don't wanna, I think those are great points that you brought up. If I'm reading this correctly, now the contract goes through April of 2027, so nine months, right? And nine months, we'll know more. But we've been going around with this thing for a year. So I personally, I mean, we made some changes to the RFP, went back through the process. We've done a lot of things there that I thought were going to ensure the fairness of the decision that was made. So, I mean, now it's a nine-month contract. and if it has the impacts the negative impacts that we're hearing about then if we know that in nine months then hey we can always the committee can always change things but to fight this for over a year and now it's down to a nine month contract i just go ahead and move for its approval

I'm going to weigh in, too. I was on the Planning Commission seven years prior to being on the council. And I remember when the Lost Lake, is that what it's called, the entertainment? They came to the Planning Commission and wanted to expand. And the neighborhood came out against it. And they're horrible neighbors. on a weed fest or whatever it was they had there they had cars packed all the way back out to i-35 and music going on late in the evening and and that venue wanted to expand and it was a unanimous decision to not let that happen because of how negatively it impacted the neighborhood and that's what a planning commission's supposed to do right This is a heavily industrial street. Right across the street from this is a metal recycling place. Three or four blocks further to the east is huge oil field storage tanks. You have the Canadian River that runs through there. And the neighborhood's been there forever and ever and ever, but if you can't put industrial use in an industrial area, where else do you put it? You see what I'm saying? And I hope I never need a wrecker. But if I do, I'll call whoever's closest and can come get me the fastest, but I realize the city can't operate that way. But to deny an industrial use in an industrial area is not good planning, because where else do you put it? You know what I mean? So that's my two cents.

I guess I'll say in conclusion, we've had to make difficult decisions on the commission. And yeah, that was a challenging case. But I think it's important for us to remember that sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes we've made decisions and we got it wrong. And it's up to future planning commissions and councils to correct sometimes the mistakes that have been made in the way that we've made zoning decisions. And so I just ask you to keep that in mind as we get to a vote.

Anyone else from council want to speak before I say? Go, please.

I was going to add something. Oh, did someone over there? So I think that you made a great point, Councilman Stone, in that we're at a nine-month contract. And there's a lot of politics that... Politics, I don't know if that's the right word. A lot of... a lot of business that's tied up in this conversation. And being able to reevaluate PUDs if there is decisions that are made and we look back and say, hey, how do we do this? How do we fix it? Those are all great observations that I think are all true. At the same time, what I hear is two different things. We have a PUD that was approved over 20 years ago, a business operation that's had this contract and this approval and this business use for over 20 years. And we have a new city contract that's worth a whole lot of money and we've had protests of every decision that's been made over the last 12 months tied to the towing contract. So before this protest, we had a different protest. And I think at some point we have to trust that there has been due diligence, that there has been documentation of process, and we have a window of assessment, a short window of nine months to see what impact would be. actually think that there's something that we need to consider in the future and I would throw this out there for our city manager council to consider and that is some municipalities are no longer using a four quadrant process but they actually have a call-out and that improves speed to the speed to the officers speed to the the person that needs a road road cleared from a scene which is really what we're responsible for as a city, is speed of clearing roadways, safety, security of assets that are secured. And if there is a way that we can approach that that improves competitiveness across our businesses consistently throughout the year, and is amenable to our process, I think that that would be a really wise thing for us to consider so that we aren't in a situation where we have a protest following a protest following a protest around one contract for a year or two years when it really could be distributed work because we have many, many great companies in our area.

I, thanks for that perspective. I'd love for us to explore that. And also I hear what both counselor Stone and Hinkle, what you're saying about the nine months. I think those are really, Those are fair. But I think for that reason, in terms of nine months, I'm happy if nine months from now, if this council approves this today and nine months from now we find there has not been an increase in the traffic problems, then my mind might change. I really actually think both of you have made a pretty reasonable point. For now, though, it's just going to be difficult for me because of what I'm hearing from the neighbors. But I want to be on record about what I said earlier. And let this be a note to other residents. I do not appreciate when people speak and double speak. I want people to speak directly about things. It really bothered, and I know that's happened before at this council where people have come and they're speaking out of one side of their mouth, but they're actually meaning something else. I know it's happened, but there's just something about this issue that really rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's the amount of time, to your point, Councilor Stone, that this has drawn out, the amount of staff time that this has drawn out. the way this has muddied the process, because even if Farrington doesn't get this, what, Metro's gonna get it suddenly? That doesn't strike me as what's going to happen, even though it seems like that's what some people would hope would happen. So I just wanna be on record that while I'm supporting the neighbors in this moment, I have a lot of issues about the process and some of the other people who were speaking in opposition here. And also to the neighbors, I do understand some of the trepidation around Farrington joining your group and maybe once I vote, no, maybe they won't want to hear me on this, but I drove by the business on the way home from my mom's out in Midwest City. Like I like to take back roads instead of interstates. And I took that back road and I think a question I would have, I still think it would be nice for you all to sit down and actually have them join your neighborhood association. I just do, you know, there have been more bitter divides in this country where people didn't think they could reunite. There just have been, and we know that. So I would encourage you all to do that, because I think one thing I would like to see from when I drove over there is there's some trees, some real tall trees, that are on one side of the property and I wonder if those trees couldn't exist within the neighborhood. There's like a street that abuts the neighborhood and I wonder what happens if you actually put some trees up to do some of the blocking. And then I think another thing is we're kind of known for murals these days. What if you all painted that fence and it spoke to the neighborhood history? You just heard Robin from Windsor talk about what they're doing with utility boxes. So regardless of whether or not you all get this contract today or you don't, you're still going to be there. And this, I think, is an opportunity to break some bread, do some public art that speaks to your willingness to be part of the area. I can't force you as the council. We can't force a private business to do that. But I think those are two things. If the neighbors are worried about sight, what they're seeing above the fence, then find ways to put some barriers up that are aesthetically pleasing and provide a service in terms of shade. You've already done it on one part of the building. And then the art, like you just heard Robin describe. Those are some ideas. I hope you all can do that. It's just for now, I can't join. It has nothing to do with your business, best I can tell. So it's just, I have worries based from what I'm hearing from the neighbors for now. So I'll see you in nine months is where I'm at.

I think Councilman Stone moved for approval. Okay. All right, are we ready then? We'll take a motion to vote on Just Item 9A. There we go. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes five to three. All right, now we are back on the remainder of the consent docket. The next item up was item V. Councilman Cooper, you wanted to speak to that item?

Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I just remember this being a pretty important item for residents across the city. And I just wanted to hear where we are. This is a renewal like to kind of hear a little bit more about what we've accomplished. where we're heading and then maybe even outside of the update right now, maybe a presentation at a future date. Yeah.

Regarding what the service is doing and.

Absolutely.

Yeah. You know, I don't have a lot of numbers with me, but what I can say is that this is a renewal for the contract that we started last year with Decker to do the home sharing to make sure people are getting their license and that they're becoming legal in the city. I do know that code enforcement has been working heavily with them. I have the code enforcement superintendent here too. He can kind of address those, how that process works and all of that. But I will share a little story that Decker did find a home share on this one property in our city and it was through Airbnb. And we contacted the owner. We actually issued a notice, a violation. And the owner contacted us and said, hey, I don't have a home share here. And what we found out was someone else had created a home share through Airbnb to share their property. And I think it was an existing owner of the property. They just never took it down. And so we were able to get that off of Airbnb for them. So that was kind of a success that Deckard allowed us to be a part of. But Chris, if you got do you have any information about how many how that process works and if you want to come up and share.

Yes, good morning, thank you. We use Deckard as a frontline tool in our toolkit to help us identify properties that no longer have licensing for proper home share in Oklahoma City. basically that process where we're alerted. They're also kind of sorry to step back a little bit about what Deckard actually provides for the city. So they they are our frontline responders, so to speak. So they take the initial calls from the complaining parties of the the party's too loud or it's operating illegally or it's just not operating correctly. So they make the complaint to Deckard. Deckard reaches out to the property owner that has the listing directly and tries to resolve that issue prior to the city getting involved. Depending on what the issue is, they basically enter a complaint for code enforcement to investigate we'll go out to the property, verify the existence of the listing, the rental activity, and then we will proceed forward with either a notice of violation or a citation for operating a home share without a license.

Yeah, and I think that's good work. A follow-up is my understanding of what the technology that exists would also be able to do is to actually go through and look at properties that are presenting themselves as this is a home share and then kind of Venn diagram to see who has an actual license to operate as one. Is that happening as well?

Yeah, so that's spot on, Councilman. So essentially what the software does, it's proprietary in nature, but essentially what it does is it does a data scrape of all listing sites. So VRBO, Airbnb are the two most common, but there's others out there as well. So what their software does is it goes through and it scrapes through all of those listing agencies and it compares that data to water records and current licensure statuses and if they find an anomaly to where you you let's just for an example you are operating at an Airbnb and you've listed the property on Airbnb and that data software finds that you are not licensed with the city it will create a case for us to go out and and provide you the opportunity to come before the Board of Adjustment and receive your proper license for that for that activity

So what I would request is just, I mean, I like this. I'm not trying to pull this out for a separate vote or anything like that. I think it's great. I think my request is I'd like to know, A, how frequently is the latter happening? Because that was the complaint I hear from Belle Isle to you name the Ward 2 neighborhood is operating as a home share without a license, right? So I'd like to better understand what those numbers are. B, and maybe this has already happened, but I'd like to know what kind of educational outreach is happening to neighborhood associations or just residents generally whenever they have the suspicion that an entity might be operating in such a way, right? Is it maybe that's already happening? But I'm wondering about water bills. I'm wondering about, in terms of putting a note in there, I'm wondering about outreach to the Neighborhood Alliance so that they could communicate to neighborhood associations. But this was just a, i hate to sound dramatic but for a lot of neighborhoods they felt like this was an existential threat the home share to their neighborhoods the the community itself right so i really would like to have not just a behind-the-scenes briefing i think that the public would uh benefit from um knowing what work we're doing, what we've discovered. And again, that outreach to the residents singularly, but then to the neighborhood associations as entities. I'm seeing nodding heads.

Councilman, I'll second that request. And specifically, just sort of, you know, maybe I sort of got a little over my skis with sharing about this when maybe the city wasn't ready to sort of take it public. But in a monthly update from the city manager, you know, saw that, oh, they're up and operating, you know, Deckard's operating. And so I shared that in my monthly newsletter and very quickly got a handful of responses of like, what should, you know, like I submitted all these things, I'm not seeing any action, you know, in a few weeks later and come to find out kind of like, you know, that we kind of probably need a plan of like how we're communicating about what the expectations should be of, you know, it's not that we can immediately go and like, you know, board up the house or something, right? That's a little extreme example, but just helping people understand what the process is, what their expectations should be based on different types of complaints, if it is like loud party versus I think this, is operating as a short-term rental without a license and kind of what that process is. And I had a long conversation with Kelly Williams where she sort of walked me through some of the delay that people were experiencing in that initial few months ago. maybe it was the end of last year, was that there was a flood of submissions, and it was like, whoa, we've gotta process three, 400 submissions, and so there was that, but then also I think there was sort of a disconnect in sort of the expectations of what the software should do and how quickly people should be able to see a response, and so I think it'd be helpful to have that presentation during council so that it can be public, and you know, One of the folks that has been in contact with me about this does operate short term rentals and is, I think, trying to do it as compliant with the city as possible. And so I also worry about some of those folks that are trying to do it the quote unquote right way, the way that we would like them to do and be in compliance. And that it feels sort of like other people are getting away with stuff when we're paying a lot of money for the software. So I think I would just sort of uplift that request, given that there's been just a lot of confusion, I think. And again, I take my part of that of, whoops, maybe I shared a little too quickly when maybe we weren't ready to kind of publicly roll it out to avoid 400 whatever requests in a matter of days. But I think that does demonstrate that there is a lot of pent-up energy and frustration around this issue, and the better we can be proactive and really clear about what people should expect would be really helpful.

Absolutely. We would be more than happy to do that. I'll work with Kelly in Office Innovation, and we'll get something together, and we'll bring it to council.

Yeah, I think we'll try to start with a briefing to the council, get the information together, start with a briefing to the council, and then discuss some options of how we can best communicate this out to reach the most people. Yeah.

Can we add to that list? I think it's also time for us to look at the Board of Adjustments decision making with regard to non-compliant properties. So how are they authorized to take any punitive actions against non-compliant properties? Can people correct it? What does that process look like? Because I think they're pretty inundated with cases right now of people who are not performing the way they should be. And so I think it's an opportunity for the planning department perhaps to make some additional recommendations. Last year we made some changes to short-term rental that I think were improvements. Maybe it's time to reevaluate those changes to make sure they're aligned with our current goals. So it's a big list of short-term rental stuff, city manager. We'll add plenty of that then.

if you have nothing else to do on a Thursday afternoon watch a Board of Adjustments meeting there's like 30 cases per meeting on people trying to get right with the Airbnb permitting issues and they do a good job of penalizing them is not the right word but if they're blatantly ignoring the rules then they are paying a a time penalty, they don't get their license for six more months or, or, or. So the Board of Adjustments is inundated with people trying to get right with this new ordinance.

Thank you, appreciate it.

Okay, next up in the batting order was Councilman Stone. You wanted to inquire about items AL through AP.

Thank you, Mary. I saw this come up and I really had some questions. I want to start off by saying, first off, I appreciate what these groups do. I think they do great work. I'm not questioning that at all. What I noticed is there's like, out of all these lists of different organizations that we're providing money to to help with their district, there wasn't anything Southside, so I was hoping someone could explain to us which Southside districts, and are they given considerable amounts?

Donna's with our planning department and manages it, as many of her other duties, helps to manage the community development revitalization program, and I'll let her give us an update.

Thank you, Donna Cervantes. It's a commercial district revitalization program in the planning department. And thank you for the opportunity. There's a new process this year. You'll be happy to know. And as you know, we have 10 districts that are receiving general funds through our CDRP program, and there's an annual renewal. So we've ended FY26. They will be coming in, it's kind of a rolling basis as they prepare all their documentation. Today you have five of our CDRP contracts up for renewal. This year we've been blessed with beautification funds through MAPS IV. This is the new beautification funding route 66 is a named kind of program that will is able to receive the beautification funds and several of our districts were also named as recipients as well and So to help manage the funds through that beautification program, we found an area to focus on. Through Route 66, this being the centennial, the Route 66 Centennial Commission has gifted many locations across the state, and Oklahoma City is receiving four large monument signs that are in the shape of the Route 66 Emblem and they are customized to represent the districts that will be receiving them and that was done with district input The signs are quite large or basically six by six and they sit on a large concrete base so while the signs were gifted The installation fees were not. So there's installation and permitting and all that would go into that. So a recommendation is to use the maps for funding, which is now under your OC PPA. to include in the district contracts so that they can pay to install these signs. The four districts that are receiving the signs are 39th Street, Asian District, Britain District, and Western Avenue Association. Western Avenue Association Is under is a business improvement district so they do not receive the same CD RP contract But they are managed in our department and they will be receiving a sign as well We've allocated $15,000 per sign for this installation. So that's a known Project that needed funding For those that we knew were ready to receive the funds, it's been added into their FY27 contract so this can proceed. We're trying to get this done within the centennial as soon as possible. What we've included in the other district contracts is kind of a placeholder, additional PPA funds, if you will, so that PPA becomes party to their annual contract and at such time as the district will come in with a proposal for another beautification effort, perhaps it's some installation, art, Improvements, perhaps it's maintenance that had been deferred that needs to be managed These can these funds can be approved through a staff process and we would come back with an amendment to their CDRP contract at that time to approve the project So in order to create that placeholder, all of your CDRP contracts this year you'll see have PPA as a party, and it's either the placeholder of $100, knowing that they'll come back for more at such time as they might have a project, or the four districts, actually three CDRP that have a known project right now, they need their $15,000 for that sign installation. So I hope that helps. These are the 10 districts that have been in the program for a number of years. Councilman stone well knows our Southside districts are Capitol Hill, but they're bid Stockyard City again is a bid so you won't see Southwest 29th is also our Southside district and they too will be receiving the opportunity to apply for the additional beautification funds. So I hope that helps explain it.

It does. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay. I think now all we have remaining are citizens who signed up to speak on different items on the consent docket. We have three who signed up on item B X and we'll start with Steve Hunt.

Thanks again for the opportunity to speak. This particular item is something that I hope we can have quite a bit of discussion on. In 2009, I came up here to speak on some log-rolling issues regarding MAPS 3 and then started getting into the unaccountable privateer in the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, and here's what transpired.

The Chamber of Commerce gets $5 million from Oklahoma City citizens, and I thought maybe some... The Chamber of Commerce doesn't get $5 million from Oklahoma City.

That's Jim Couch saying it's not true.

Yes, they do.

No, they don't. I've got the documents to prove it. It comes from the hotel tax. From the hotel tax for the CVV? Yeah.

There's a pause and then I... So this was 2009 and it was an embarrassment to the horseshoe that we were giving five million dollars to the completely unaccountable Chamber of Commerce. And today they're asking for that number to be quadrupled. They're asking for 19 million dollars from Oklahoma City taxpayers via the hotel motel tax which they ran the campaign for the election which was held outside of primary season. I don't. I think that was very smart. But the breakdown of their contract is interesting because $3.751 million of this contract goes to executive salaries. I think you all know that Christie-Gillenwater makes $620,000 a year, all the while we have a temp agency bringing in day laborers to work in wastewater because I guess we don't want to hire full-time folks to do that and it's not wastewater, whatever, it's not cool and vibrant. but also on top of the 3.7 million that we're asked to give them for executive salaries of this, this is crazy. There's a $390,000 administration fee direct to the Chamber of Commerce for the trouble of receiving this money. I mean, how the hell does 3.75 million in salaries not cover administrating that money? Um, I have a lot of concerns about it. Um, chamber obviously very unaccountable. I went in there yesterday to ask if they could clarify and they called security and then they called the cops. I reached out to one of my officer friends and they just laughed about it. Um, so they came and, and I'll, I'll put a video up on it for the people out there in channel 21 and watching on youtube that want to see it. But one of the big concerns I have, uh, is the, uh, the quality of work that they produce. If you go to visit OKC and go to search, type in the word vibrant, you will come up with 375 results. Elevate your event with the vibrant energy of Oklahoma City Thunder, Britton District. Elevate your neighborhood with vibrant murals, LGBTQ-owned businesses. Support OKC's, LGBTQ-owned businesses, and welcoming vibrant bars. My gay friends would never want to be called vibrant. They're much more fabulous than that. And it goes on and on and on. And it just shows that they're just dialing it in and not even trying and taking $19 million I mean, we gave 80 million to the Omni and taxes that come from that go to these guys. Thank you. We can't do this. I would prefer a flight agency get this. They would do it for half and they wouldn't take an admin fee. All right.

Mari Williams.

Good morning. My name is Mari Williams. I've lived in the OKC Metro for my entire life, and I currently reside in Ward 5. $19 million is a lot of money. On the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce website, under their What We Do page, they state, the education and workforce development team promotes higher education in a high-quality workforce in OKC through a variety of programs. They list key legislative issues they work on, such as fundamental education reform and increased curriculum standards and graduation requirements, but with no elaboration. Of course, Oklahoma needs education reform. We all know this. But how would increasing graduation requirements and overpacking curriculums help our students with the current resources that our schools have? Some of our middle and elementary school children in our city are testing as low as 10 and 12 proficiency in math and reading. Why are we not funding these schools directly more so that we're not cramming 45 kids into classrooms where our overworked and underpaid teachers don't have the physical resources or time to help all of their students understand the curriculum? The Chamber also, of course, puts a huge emphasis on attracting new businesses to our city and tourism. But I'd like to ask, why is making our city a better place for the people that live here not a bigger priority? I personally have been doing outreach with unhoused people in OKC for almost every week for a year now. And I've met so many incredible people who would love to be an accepted member of this community again. People who have had awful life experiences that led them to where they are. And people who have been set up with nothing from the beginning. I know a man named David who has been homeless since he was six years old. He's in his 50s now. Another man whose wife passed suddenly when he wasn't able to quickly recover from the grief, he lost his job, then the house they shared, then their dog, then his vehicle. A young woman let go during COVID who subsequently lost her apartment and has been on the streets ever since. I also know a couple named April and Shane who have been trying to get housing and employment while sleeping in a tent. But this past Friday night, something terrible happened to them. In the middle of the night, two cars were driving past the median where their tent was where they were sleeping. A car collided into a truck which jumped over a median and ran over their tent, crushing April and Shane. I spoke to their neighbor who described April's screams while under the truck as gut-wrenching. I have photos of the skid marks on the curb and the spot where their tent and all they owned used to be. Now April is in a wheelchair from her injuries. So I would like to ask the council, would it not be of economic interest to actually help people like this get back on their feet and have the opportunity to reintegrate into our city and be off the streets? Would it not benefit tourism if our most vulnerable people had help and weren't left to do what they had to do to survive? Would it not be in the city's best interest to start getting unhoused people into housing programs now before we have the Olympics being hosted on our river right next to downtown and running through South OKC? I'll end by saying that I know that our city having a Chamber of Commerce is absolutely necessary, but an almost 400% budget increase from 2009 when the majority of our hardworking people are living paycheck to paycheck is deplorable. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Jessica Scott.

3017 Del Mar Road, Del City. I'm here to ask why a $19 million giveaway is on the consent docket. $19 million of taxpayer money is just thrown in the consent docket like some small insignificant afterthought. Is it because we wanted to hide this exchange of money to the Chamber of Commerce, or is it because $19 million of taxpayer money is unimportant to the council? I don't come here often, but I see these giveaways to the Chamber of Commerce pretty frequently, executive bonuses, fees to process bonuses or whatever charge people come up with for the month. And time and time again, it just seems to get passed without pause, for concern, without any pushback or questioning of the countless absurd and unnecessary charges. The people of this city who are working two jobs to make ends meet would like to know how giving the Chamber of Commerce 19 million more dollars of their tax money will help improve their lives, or will it not? Is that why it's in the consent docket? So I'm asking you to vote no on this, asking you to stop hiding these in the consent docket and informing you that Oklahoma City residents are becoming aware of this. And also, you know, just to add on to what Steve was saying earlier, you know, as Oklahoma City Council, it's your job to be careful with the taxpayer money that you're in charge of and allowing Allowing charges to process a bonus is insane It's just like it's not fiscally responsible. It's not Being careful with taxpayer money and to not only give them these huge amounts of money, but then they charge They charge the city to take the money and And I've never seen anything like that before. And so I hope that you would take into consideration these things before doing this. Thank you.

Thank you. And the final item that a resident has signed up to speak regarding is item DN and Steve Hunt.

This is just a quick statement on this item in this contract renewal to ADG Blatt. First I'd like to say I'm grateful that we're using a local firm for administration of MAPS IV. I spoke recently about the administration of the arena. Contract being a CAA icon, which has an office in Colorado, but their ownership is in France. Artemis, I mentioned that the guy that owns it is married to Selma Hayek, which is, he's living pretty good. and we're helping. So I noticed that this is the seventh iteration. The original contract was 1.475. The second was 1.199. The third was 2.463 million. The next one was 1.562 million. The next was 2.784 million. The next was 2.193 million. And then the next one was $2.924 million for a total of $14,601,761.98. So just kind of wanted to get that out there. People are wondering what's up with these contracts. You know, the $390,000 on the... Chamber of Capitalism's contract is actually 2% of the total. And I had mentioned that the French private equity firm was charging 2% of the total arena costs. And the dude with the long hair came up and talked about how it was for additional things. And I said it was for keeping up with the 2% charge of the overall arena. And it turns out after study that both are true. So put those extra things in and then charged an extra 2%. just want to get that out there that we're paying this again thanks for giving it to a local firm i don't know if 14 million this is a lot of money if we need to be more efficient but yeah thanks and great discussion so far it's been a good day that concludes um everything we've uh got in front of us for the consent docket and now we could take up all of the remaining items except for item a which was previously approved

We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Next up is item 10, the concurrence docket. And we can take items A through AA with one motion. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Item 11A, well, item 11 are items for individual consideration, and item 11A is an ordinance on final hearing that is recommended for approval rezoning 4912 North Bartell Road from AA to RA2. Councilman Pennington, no one has signed up to speak.

Thank you, Mayor. This is just a simple application to add some more residential housing on Bartell Road, and I happily move approval.

All right, we have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Okay, items B, C, D, and E were all previously deferred, which brings us to item F, an ordinance on final hearing that was recommended for approval rezoning 2331 Northwest 18th from R2 to SPD 1798. Councilwoman Hammond, no one is sent to speak.

Thank you, yes, this is an application, originally I believe it was for a little bit higher density, but after some meetings with the neighborhood, the applicant has amended it to be just two single family residences, and I think they were able to come to a happy compromise, so I will move for approval.

We have a motion and a second, cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Item 11G is an ordinance on final hearing that was recommended for approval resounding 501 Northwest 30th from R2 to SPD 1823. Councilman Cooper has stepped out. We'll come back. Item H is an ordinance on final hearing recommended for approval resounding 14301 South Rockwell from AA to SPD 1824. Councilwoman Aver is known to sign or speak. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Item I is an ordinance on final hearing recommended for approval resounding 111 Northwest 14 from C4 NHL to SPD 1828 NHL. Councilwoman Hammond, no one is signed to speak.

Yes, can the applicant please just come give us a little bit of an overview of this project and kind of the, I know it's been through a lot of process with various commissions, so just like a little description.

Absolutely, Jessica boy with Johnson and associates representing the applicant the application before you today is for a multi-family development So this block is very interesting. There are no residential homes on this block So what we are looking to do is to redevelop it redevelop it add this building architecturally it will be in line with the surrounding structures and we are currently it is Most of it's vacant, and a lot of this is zoned C4, which is very interesting. That's our highest density commercial use in Oklahoma City, and it's also a zoning district that is not approved today at all. So what we are looking to do is to redevelop the site. We have a day spa immediately adjacent to us, and the HP and Planning Commission both recommended approval.

Thank you. Yes, I'm happy to move for approval.

All right, we have a motion and a second. Cast your votes.

Thank you.

Passes unanimously. Now we'll go back to item G, Councilman Cooper. This was rezoning 501 Northwest 30th from R2 to SPD 1823. No one has signed up to speak.

Thank you, Mayor. Would the applicant mind...

visiting with us and describing this project and then I'm going to have a couple questions and comments sure David box 525 Northwest 11th Street here on behalf of the applicant this is a small multifamily project at 30th and Walker it's a three-story we limited the uses of Planning Commission as well as the the total number of dwelling units There was discussion about the seventh dwelling unit, and so that seventh dwelling unit is limited to a certain use unit, and that being ground floor. So we believe it to be compatible with the area. It is the same developer that is developing the apartments at what would be the southwest corner of 30th and Hudson. It's in an area obviously with the Paseo and the commercial exists to the east and to the southeast that we believe density to be appropriate, not just because of what the area represents, but also it is fully in line with the comprehensive plan.

Thank you. Would you mind going back to, yes, this image right here. There's gonna be a series of questions. This might be a good time for Public Works Director Miller to join us. Council, you might recall there's a streetscape that's under construction in this area. I'd like to hear a little bit first about that streetscape, and then I'd like to hear about where should council approve this item today? What is its next step? Where would it go from there?

Debbie Miller Public Works director and the Walker streetscape is under construction it goes from Northwest 23rd up to 32nd and we're putting in sidewalks and lighting on both sides and a couple of rain gardens as a trial so that is under construction and this is within the area that we are doing the streetscape so what we would do is we would just resurface up to where their parking starts I mean there are some Questions that will need to work out with them or some issues with the parking on how many spaces and the angle and the distance out. And then also there may be an issue with the sidewalk. We may need an easement for that to be a public access sidewalk.

And then is it is my understanding correct that should council approve this proposal. The next step would be a visit for the applicant to our city's traffic commission. yes they would have to take it to traffic commission for angle parking and for the ada space okay thank you so let me preface my uh remarks by saying that um Density, especially gentle density, is something that I advocate. I'm excited when I see it. I think this location makes a lot of sense for it. My concern are about threefold. One is process. It's confusing to me. this item would appear at Planning, then City Council, then Traffic Commission. In my mind, because this proposal is putting forth here's where parking is going to go, I really feel like that should have been worked out at the planning commission maybe level or after planning go to traffic commission before it comes to city council. And so I'm just very confused why that is the process would be my first question. I can answer that.

Go ahead. We can't get approval for parking as part of the project without entitlements to go build the project, because if we don't get approved to build the project, the city council to an ordinance on a zoning case, we don't want to independently build parking for nothing along Walker. This is the way the process works every single time. What you see in this image is simply we're forecasting what we'd like to see on Walker. The bold black line is the outline of the property. The legal description is just that. Nothing about the approval here does anything as it relates to the parking along Walker. that will be a wholly separate discussion at the traffic commission but in terms of process you would never go forward and get parking approved for a project that isn't a real project because it's not approved to the city council

I hear what you're saying. I don't know if city manager would like to speak to that as well. I would agree.

I think I think the issue would be if the project isn't here that I mean, you could go to the Planning Commission to get parking, but there wouldn't be a purpose for it at that time. And so I think I think it's just it's the order that I understand it creates a confusion here of like, what happens if you don't get this parking? Right. Do you approve this first and that parking doesn't happen? Do they have sufficient parking to meet the requirements?

Right. And here are my concerns about and again, I think Matthew is doing really smart work in terms of infill and increasing the density where it's appropriate. I think this area is an appropriate area for that entity. I think my concerns, and I do hear what both of you are saying about the process, but now here at the council level, I have to decide whether or not to approve this when there are a couple factors. So one, The streetscape is trying to make this street safer for pedestrians, vehicles, and people riding a bike. And so I'm worried that this sort of parking, this angled parking across from where you have the parking on the east side of the street, I'm worried about the safety for someone on a bicycle. And I know this council has had some discussions, we'll call them, about bicycles and where they are appropriate on which streets. But if they're not appropriate on Walker, between neighborhoods, and I don't even know what we're doing anymore. This is my neighborhood. I bike here all the time. all the time. So it's just kind of difficult to, you know, just sign off on this project right now when in my mind there should have been a conversation prior to this council about where parking should go here, particularly as it relates again to someone on a bike who's not just doing this for recreation. I live in this area. I biked here today. I live in this area because of the biking possibilities to get to work or to school. It's not just a recreation thing. Secondly, on the right night of the week, parking in this area, if you have a bunch of cars that are parked at that intersection on the east side or the west side, I worry about congestion. I'm just saying that there are some concerns here. The additional thing I would say is bike safety, car safety, or rather people in cars are more concerned about their safety than the car itself. The other thing that I'm concerned with is with the streetscape, the whole purpose of this streetscape is to make this area more pedestrian friendly. If I'm understanding this right, to accomplish what you all are wanting to do with the 60 degree angled parking, we would have to reduce the sidewalk from what is to be six feet to five feet. And when possible, I'd like to see the wider possibility, especially on a street called Walker, right? If there was ever gonna be a street where pedestrian and walking are important. So again, I think Matthew's doing great work. I would have preferred there had been some way for this to have been worked out before it got to this body. because it all ultimately matters. The literal proposal that Councilwoman Hammond just had in front of her, you all saw. My preference would be no parking on the street. Let me just say that, maximalist. That is my position here. There should be no parking on the street. And I keep hearing people say, we can't do away with parking in these sorts of places. Maybe the day will come where people won't drive a car, but that day is not today. Well, not with that attitude, right? Like we have to start building for the city that we want. And we are sending council members from this body to Salt Lake City to go research their transit system so that we can have a better connected system by public transit, whatever your options are, bike, car, et cetera. And so, you know, adding parking here on the street just sort of worries me where in the previous proposal you saw that the parking was behind the building. And so I don't understand why that's not happening here. Maybe my only option is to voice all of this so that when it goes to the traffic commission, my commissioner and that body are aware of these concerns. But I've already spoken to him and one of his concerns is the order of the process here and that this is not the first time that something like this has happened. So this is not just my concern.

We do have parking on site. We're getting hung up on the parking that is nothing about the vote today touches in any sort of way the parking on Walker. It is outside of the legal description. It is not part of the SPUD. It's simply showing that if we're gonna have retail that is successful, we think some element of parking in a manner that's safe with pedestrians, safe with bicycles, safe with vehicular, would be appropriate, similar to what is existing to the east of us and to the southeast of us. All of those commercial businesses have parking. But whatever it looks like through your public works director, through your traffic and transportation commission, whatever they say the rules are is what we'll have to follow. But absolutely nothing about this touches or dictates the parking if it were to occur along Walker. The question before you is, is a multifamily development that is consistent with the comprehensive plan appropriate on this site?

I hear that and you and I talked about that yesterday. My note of caution here is that this rendering puts forth a parking plan. I hear what you're saying, David, but it puts forth a parking plan. It says this is how we will meet the demand of the residents who not just shop here but live here. You have four onsite parking on your private property and then you have these on the street. So clearly this proposal is relying on the on-street parking to help meet the needs of the people who live there.

We think it would make it a successful, at least the retail component of it. So this is spud number 1,823. The reason that there's a conceptual site plan is because the ordinance requires it. If you looked at all 1,822 SPUDs, my guess is Almost all of them have site plans that once fully developed weren't perfectly consistent with the site plan that was approved as part of it. The ordinance specifically calls it a conceptual site plan. So yes, this is what we'd like to do, but of course it's subject to perhaps your public works and perhaps the traffic commission say, no, we don't like it. Here's what the rules need to be. And we'll work within the confines of that.

And the only thing I would add to councilman is once we go to traffic commission that item will come to the council and the council also has the authority to make a decision that's contrary to the planning committee, the traffic commission, if the traffic commission approved it in a way that the council didn't agree, the whole council didn't agree with.

See, I didn't even, that step, so that's another step. So I didn't even know that that was part of it. Okay, that's fine, fine enough. But I would encourage the city manager's office to, again, if it's not just my concern, if my traffic commissioner is having this concern, if my planning commissioner is having this concern, and both of them are, then I just think that that's worth rethinking I don't like having to negotiate parking up here for a zoning case. And I would challenge any developer going forward, applicant, and I hear what you're saying, David, when we are doing infill, missing middle housing in the urban core in Ward 2, It is really worth our time to rethink the parking location. I biked here this morning from just a couple blocks away from this proposal to the BRT on 31st and Classen. It took me four minutes to do that. It was no time at all. Hopped on the BRT, got to City Hall. They were even making fun of me because I got here before the council meeting started that way. It was better than me driving. So I'm just saying we've got to rethink how we're positioning parking. And the applicant in Ward 6 just did. So that's just a challenge that I would put forth to anyone watching, thinking about infill and missing middle development. And then Craig, city manager, to your point about this coming back to council, part of my concern is if the traffic commission comes back and they're like, oh, this is fine. And then this council's like, well, the traffic commission said this is fine. I live in this neighborhood, and I was literally just looking at notes from the losing campaign and my two winning campaigns. And I am telling you, Walker, when I knock doors, the concern is about pedestrian safety, people with strollers. And I don't know, there's no shade to the rest of the council members, But I know this area. I know it like my DNA. And I worry that people might go, well, the traffic commission and robs my commissioners already thinking the way I am. But maybe the other commissioners don't because they don't live in and represent some of the most densely populated parts of town. And they might think, yeah, well, when I go someplace, I drive. And I'm just, that's my worry, is that there are just limits on what I can do in terms of representation of this part of town when people are asking me. I think of Councilwoman Abers, I would never, I'm not for like street widenings, that's not something I love, but that is something her residents say that they want out there. You see what I mean? And so that's something she hears, and that is something that a majority on this council also has a lot of their words that think about street widenings. But a majority on this council don't think about, because it's not their part of town, narrowing roads, the necessity of sidewalks, the necessity of parking that's behind buildings and putting the sidewalk and the building right up against each other the way grandpa and grandma did during the Main Street days 100 years ago. So that's my concern, is that this is gonna just come right back and then we won't have, like I'm just gonna be outvoted if the traffic commission, I'm sorry, I'm just taking time on this because it's just something I hear from my residents.

But I think the same issue is true right now, that if you had concerns with this, the rest of the council would have to vote with you on this if you didn't want to move forward with this because of parking concerns. The same issue would be there when you come forward if there's a parking item. We don't typically have a lot of debate on the parking items, but we just haven't had an issue like this. that was sensitive, that was raised with the council and brought to their attention. So I think in fairness, you're right. It has to be the whole council. And there's nothing in our process would ever change that it's not going to be these bodies approving it. But I do think it's like sharing what the concerns are and why the concerns are there and trusting the judgment of the body.

well hopefully and i appreciate the way you're saying that hopefully council the way i'm articulating this by noting what i hear your concerns within your words about the necessity for widening roads that i would never in a million years use funding to do but because you all hear that i end up going along with it and i am imploring this council to hear me when I tell you that the residents in Central Park, Jefferson Park, Paseo, Edgemere, they tell me that Walker needs to be safer for pedestrians, and having an intersection here where you have all of these cars, just park, park, park, park, park, and then people biking north and south here, while, meanwhile, the city is investing millions of dollars in a streetscape, I go to weekly update meetings about the streetscape. And we are doing such important work over here. And I just want to make sure, again, it's important for Matthew to know, I support this project. I just want it to be done as responsibly as possible. We hear you.

councilman i would wonder if they if maybe the applicant could provide some conceptual renderings and maybe consider parallel parking along that space because i'm not one to like let's take out landscaping but it does seem like if you if you did alter the landscaping that there'd be a little extra room and you could probably fit some parallel parking there so i just wonder if that's an option to explore

i think there's recognizing you might not be able to make promises right now all options are on the table i mean we'll have to go through civil engineers and draw it out and all that but again this is just kind of shown as conceptual when we get to that phase of it we'll we will work with traffic staff traffic commission and whatever is deemed to be the the safest and best, that's what we'll move forward with.

I think Councilwoman puts forth a good idea, and then I would just encourage you and the applicant to revisit this rendering to rethink where parking could go in a way that fits with a street that is getting a streetscape that is prioritizing walkability, bikeability, and the safety of vehicles.

What I am convinced of is it'll be much better done than the developer to the east with no landscaping.

Oh, look. Hey, trust me. I have my critiques. They're quite there. But that would be my encouragement. Absolutely. And keep me involved as appropriate. Yeah, we can do that.

What is there now? Just a curb?

What's that?

What is there now?

Just a curb? Yes, sir. Okay, well thank you for hearing that David, thank you city manager, thank you council for hearing that as well. So with those noted concerns, I would move for approval.

All right, we have a motion and a second. This is item G, cast your votes.

Thank you.

Passes unanimously. Now we're back in order on item J. This is a ordinance on final hearing that was recommended for approval rezoning 5235 North Lincoln from 02 UD and HNO to SPUD 1829 UD and HNO. Councilman Pennington, no one is signed to speak.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm excited to bring this new medical manufacturing facility right here on Lincoln in Ward 7, and I move approval.

We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Item K is an ordinance on finally airing that was recommended for approval rezoning 225 North Indiana from R2 and I2 to SPD 1833. Councilwoman Hammond, no one decided to speak.

Yes, this is some infill development. Yeah, off of 2nd Indiana and I am happy to move for approval.

We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Item L is an ordinance on final hearing recommended for approval that rezones 1107 Northwest 42nd Street from C4 to SPD 1836. Councilman Cooper, no and a signer to speak.

Is the applicant representative or applicant here? Okay. Well, this was recommended for approval, so I will go along with that.

the motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously item m is an ordinance on final hearing it was recommended for approval closing a single bypass portion of north bartell road uh near northeast 50th councilman pennington no and assigned to speak thank you mayor um this is i think an improvement to this intersection and i move approval We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes.

Passes unanimously.

Okay, 11 in one is the public hearing regarding the dilapidated structures here listed, except for those previously struck. Amy, has anyone signed up to speak?

No, they haven't.

They have not, so we'll advance to the resolution, found in two, declaring that the structures are dilapidated. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Item 1101 is a public hearing regarding unsecured structures here listed, except for those previously struck. Annie, has anyone signed up to speak?

No, they haven't.

So we'll advance to the resolution then, found at 02, declaring structures are unsecured. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. 11P1 is the public hearing regarding the abandoned building here listed. One of them was previously struck. Amy, has anyone signed to speak under this public hearing?

No, they haven't.

They have not. So we'll advance to the resolution declaring that the building is abandoned. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. passes unanimously. All right, item Q1 is an extension of our collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 1, 2, 3. Executive session is not requested by staff. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes five to one. Item R1 is a resolution authorizing the firm Pierce, Couch, Hendrickson, Basinger and Green to represent municipal employee Chance Alexander in the case of Iwayode versus City of OKC. Executive session is not requested. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes five to one. Now we have item S. This is an executive session to discuss collective bargaining negotiations for fiscal year 26-27 with the FOP, IAF, and AFSCME. We'll just take a vote to go into executive session, but we'll handle that at the end of our other business. So for now, the vote. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. Item T was previously struck, which brings us to item U, claims recommended for denial. Executive session is not requested. We could take the claims as a group. We have a motion and a second. Cast your votes. Passes unanimously. All right, item 12 are comments from council, word two.

Thank you, Mayor, and congratulations on your, well, oh no, you did drama when you were in high school, I believe, somewhere in there, but I'm to understand Lyric Theater had you. I walked the boards again.

Yes, thank you.

So thanks for paving the way, because I got to join former State Senator Kay Floyd a couple days later. I was not a theater kid. It was film. So I got to join that, have that experience with her. And her experience I learned. So we did a Q&A. I'm guessing you all did prior. And during the Q&A, I learned that State Senator Floyd, working with a Republican colleague in the legislature, they were able to designate Oklahoma's Lyric Theater as the official theater of the state of Oklahoma. And so that was some cool history that I did not know. And judge me as judge will, I had never seen Annie. So that was my first, I know. I knew the Jay-Z song and that was about as far as it went. But I just wanna thank Lyric for that experience and for inviting so many elected officials to join them for that. I also wanted to say thanks to Crown Heights and Edgemere Heights for inviting some electeds to their 4th of July parade that Saturday morning. I got to sit in as a judge, which I've done every year since I've taken office. And then also to Edgemere, because right afterwards they had a neighborhood barbecue. And it was just really nice to get to hang out with those two neighborhoods. And that's all I have for you. All right. Word three.

I'll just give a quick shout out. Robin Jones here representing the West 10 district earlier today. And I just want to give kudos to that district and the investment that our communities made in beautification and improving areas. And I really appreciate the leadership that she and her sister have made in the West 10 district and the whole board. But she did make an allusion to a history series that they've been hosting at Castle Falls and they're typically running around a hundred people per event and Just some great cool Oklahoma history of Oklahoma City and its infancy So I would encourage you if you're a history buffer interested in that to check out Castle Falls in the West 10 district work there

thank you thank you mayor thank you for calling her out because I was as she was speaking I was very appreciative of that and I had some questions but it had nothing to do with what she was doing so I just wanted to apply that and then councilman Cooper evidently you didn't see me look theater you did it too yeah it was like 50 years ago okay You might have missed it, but congratulations, Mary. That was very awesome. So thank you. Wait, wait, wait.

You were in a show 50 years ago? What?

Oh, yeah. I worked at Lyric Theater, Oklahoma Theater Center, Jewel Box, all of those. It was fantastic. Really fun.

All right. Well, we'll have to explore that. I don't think we had videos back then.

It was probably a Super 8 or something. Ward 5?

He was the third mushroom from the left.

Is that it for word five, word six?

That's it for word five. I'd just like to thank the Housing Authority, their staff, Lilly Field Family Services. I think it was last Monday I had the pleasure attending their sort of celebration for their Early Action Project through the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. for those not familiar and maybe a refresher if you are familiar the choice neighborhoods is a housing and urban development program that the Housing Authority has applied to for Will Rogers courts I believe we're still waiting on a response about how that grant is going but we did get a planning grant through them and over the last few years have they have been working with a consultant and some local putting together a lot of local partners who were also present last Monday. And one of the components of the planning grant is an early action event to invest in the area to do something that shows that That action can happen based on what they've heard from residents and neighborhood groups specifically they Wanted to sort of improve the this parking lot area at South Road repark where a lot of folks tend to do like burnouts It wasn't really like well maintained or kept up, you know, just sort of the regular mowing that happens through the parks department, but now it has some art, some color, a new sort of median space that can be a gathering space as well as sort of a deterrent to that kind of doing those donuts activity, as well as some space for like food trucks, different partner, you know, Goodwill's mobile van was there parked in that space. I know the city county health department's food truck van pantry van goes around and that's one of their sites. So now they'll have like a really nice queuing area and space that works a lot better for that sort of activity. And it was just a really lovely event. Lots of folks out and about. It was very hot, so I was amazed that they had the turnout they did. But it was really nice to see that space activated as well as get to tour Lily Field's new community center that's just across the street, which is also a a part of that early action project. And we're crossing our fingers that we get the grant, but really just appreciative of the implementation grant, I should say, but really appreciative of the Housing Authority and all those partners that are really coming together to support the neighbors there, find those ways to support folks getting into different types of employment, supportive services like through family supports. all the youth programming that Lilly Field has is really exciting for the area. So just want to share those appreciation and if you go look at the housing authorities social media, you should see some pictures from the event. It was a really, really great time.

Thank you, Ward 7. Thank you, Mayor. Just want to say quickly addressing some of the comments that were made to this council earlier today regarding the hotel motel tax and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. I'm not going to address whether or not the Chamber is the appropriate person to administer our Convention and Visitor Services. Seems appropriate to me personally, but I think it's up to debate if you agree with that or not. What I do want to address is the comments from one of our residents that is concerned that our spending is not towards other purposes or spending on this hotel motel tax is not towards other social services that both me and the speaker think are great expenses for this city. We are expending the funds of the voters to said we have to spend it this way. That's why. So I just want to be clear. I appreciate that there are a lot of people who are hurting in our city. I also appreciate that our city does a lot of work to try to make it better and improve it. And that's why we're here. That's why all of us serve. And so in some of these more in these challenging times, I think it's important for us to remember what commitments we've actually made. The voters told us to do this. So that's why we're doing it again. I know that there are other priorities that are important, and I think we're trying to work towards how we address those social concerns, too. So. Just worth noting.

Okay, thank you. That concludes comments from council. We're at item 13, citizens to be heard. And I'd remind everybody to state your name and address, keep your remarks to three minutes or less, and you'll be warned when you have 30 seconds left. First up is Steve Hunt.

Steve Hunt, 6300 Westbrook Drive. First of all, I want to say, Mayor Holt, it's an honor for you staying for citizen presentations today. You don't normally do that, and it's great to see you. I want to thank you all for bringing up Deckard. I didn't see that on the agenda. I've been noticing a lot of SAAS meddling lately with specifically Granicus that owns PrimeGov. They are now owned by a private equity firm. The initial contract with the city was 50,000. It is now 300,000. And also the consent docket. I was looking at the municipal charter to see what was allowed to be put in the consent docket. And basically the way it works is you can do whatever you want because the mayor dictates how it works. And I noticed that Municode is now also owned by private equity. So this $75,000 to Deckard is going to probably be $150,000, $200,000, $300,000 in the future. So I thank you all for mentioning that. Awesome, I'm still at three minutes. Okay, yeah, and what I wanted to talk about regarding the chamber contract is that, yes, it was voted on by the people, but the campaign was run by the chamber. And it was held during a time of year that was outside of primary season. They always have special elections when they don't want the masses to come out and vote so they can specifically target their people. I thought it was funny that the Oklahoman had an article about me and Matthew Poyares saying that, and it was Dave's friend, Pat McFerrin, it was not verified or denied by the Oklahoman reporter, but it was Pat McFerrin said, Steve Hunt cost the taxpayers $350,000 by forcing an unnecessary election. And I was like, what the hell? You all had a special election for the hotel tax? For the Fix the Jail campaign? For the arena? That's over a million dollars, but I'm the one that gets mentioned in the Oklahoman. And it's like, oh my God, what planet is this? Lastly, I'll try not to mess with the time there. Last thing, my main concern is that This brings about an enormous inefficiency when the chamber dictates who gets what contracts. And the greatest example is the Thunder TV and radio. I spoke about Main Street Sports, which was the revived corpse of Diamond Sports, is now insolvent. They no longer exist. They thought they were going to be able to sell to a UK Saudi group, but it was such a piece of crap. that it's dissolved. Now, Cumulus, who does the Thunder Radio, is handed over to their creditors. I spoke with people in the FCC. They're not gonna renew the licensing for the creditors until after Thunder starts. So again, we need to think about giving the Thunder rights to Perry Broadcasting or another local group. I know that you all don't dictate that, but you do influence it. I could go on forever, but thanks so much for the time.

Thank you. Mari Williams?

Good morning again. My name is Marie Williams. I've lived in the OKC Metro for my entire life. I currently reside in Ward 5. I'm here to ask the council to please not renew the Flock contract at your next meeting. At the meeting on June 16th, I detailed multiple instances in which Flock and its AI made mistakes that traumatized innocent people and cost cities money for lawsuit settlements. There have also been several cases where law enforcement has used it to stalk romantic partners. The company claims they perform 20 billion scams of vehicles every month. All of these files are held in a database for at least 30 days, but it does not just detect license plate. It detects people, 30 days of your life at every intersection, every errand, every predictable pattern is stored, searchable, and shareable globally. No warrant, no probable cause, no knock at your door, you're not a suspect, you're just driving and going about your normal day. But Flock doesn't care. It takes pictures anyway. It records you, it tracks your movements, because it can. Because someone sold the majority of this council three years ago on the illusion of safety. It's government overreach to have this private company holding all of this warrantless data with full access given to police and certain federal agencies across 49 states and other countries. Over 40 municipalities have canceled or paused their contracts with flocks since early 2025. This system gives the illusion of safety, but it's also used to stalk ex-wives, harass protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, and target certain religious communities with discriminatory searches. Either these cameras are undermining the freedom that they claim to defend, or they were never about safety in the first place. They were really about control and turning every public road into a data corral where your movements belong to belong to whoever logs in first and can access them. Our innocent people are being actively logged, branded, and filed. Please vote to not renew the flock contract at this next upcoming meeting. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Lance Gill. Abraham Maralza. Brady Harrell?

Hello. My name is Brady Harrell. I live at 424 Colbrook Drive. And I'm also here to talk about Flock cameras. ALPR, or automated license plate reader surveillance technology, such as those paid for by taxpayers in Oklahoma City by Flock, taking photos, videos, and capturing audio from microphones attached to these pole-mounted cameras have proven a tool of potential extensive abuse, not just from city's local officials who Oklahomans could expect to monitor. Oklahoma City has seen a dramatic increase in law enforcement activity particularly in collaboration with federal agents such as ice I'm confident the City Council knows that ice agents have repeatedly performed numerous arrests in Oklahoma City reaching 10 to 15 arrests a day multiple times June 27th, Oklahoma City saw reported 30 ICE arrests, which was also reported to be the first wave of an escalation going into this month, July. These are people with no criminal records except for crimes such as seeking asylum. They are unconstitutionally ripped away from families and lives that often support the rest of us here in the community and then sent over to crowded detention centers for months where they are in very confusing situations, forced to work and provided little opportunity to afford calls to their families and lawyers. Flock cameras, particularly the more advanced Condor camera with AI-controlled pan, tilt, zoom functions have been used to log behavior and movement data of persons beyond the vehicle they drive. These cameras will follow a human presence whenever detected. That means tracking personal movement, people on the streets, audio of anyone and everyone who has traveled around the technology. Everyone physically in Oklahoma City is experiencing an increased surveillance.

30 seconds remaining.

That is putting our neighbors in harm's way and tracking data from immigrants to citizens, drivers, and the unhoused. We are all being monitored rather unnecessarily. Our neighbors are being taken away just for being driven to work or getting groceries. All flat cameras and ALPRs should be removed from Oklahoma City streets. buildings the flock cameras contract should not be renewed I encourage the City Council to respect the privacy of our neighbors in Oklahoma City don't renew the flock contract with the city do not allow this increased surveillance of Oklahoma's people please doubt please take down every camera thank you for your time Thank You Jessica Scott

Jessica Scott, 3017 Del Mar, Del City. I'm here to also talk about FLOT and ask you to not renew any contracts next month. This is a bipartisan issue. Republicans, Libertarians, Democrats, Independents do not want the government surveillance tracking every movement they make and the bumper stickers on their car. I have not really seen Anybody let alone a big crowd of people that are advocating to be surveilled And also I just want to note that this doesn't even just affect Oklahoma City residents I mean those of us who live right out of city limits pretty much have to go through Oklahoma City all the time and so it's affecting a lot of people in this state. Right now, we're in the early stages of AI and have no idea how it will affect us. There's almost no regulations or protections against AI as it begins taking over almost every aspect of our life. The newer flock cameras use AI. What protections does the city have in place for that? Oklahoma City PD seems to have zero protections for that. No use policies, almost zero oversight. It's not only reckless to renew these contracts with the AI and everything that we have going on, but it is extremely unpopular. I'm sure you've seen around the country residents retaliating when city council goes against them to vote for data centers. I view this very much the same way. with how unpopular it is. And also the crazy thing is if you are to use your power to go against the people to do this, you'd be giving your power away because it's my understanding that flock can change their capabilities and add new features without your approval without the city council's approval. So you wouldn't be able to guarantee that you're able to keep that in check if they can just go around you to rewrite those contracts. And these issues, especially in the current political climate, and like I said with AI, should be more than enough to vote no on this at the next meeting. But if you still choose to, I hope that you really take time to Ensure that there is going to be oversight and policies put in place because as of right now there's seems to be almost no oversight or Protections for the residents of the city. Thank you. Thank you. Kristen Schubel.

I

Hello.

I'm Kristen Schubel. I live in Ward 2. I wanted to show you guys this. You might recognize it. This is Flock's logo. I work in marketing, so maybe that's why this catches my attention. What I find fascinating about this is if you didn't know any better, you would think this was Kashi or Patagonia or some all-natural brand good for the whole family. But it's actually surveillance cameras, soon drones. And that tells me a lot about how they want to be perceived. And it makes me very suspicious of them alongside all the actions they've taken in recent years. A lot of people have made really good points, so I don't want to belabor those too much. I did want to jump to... I was recently reading a speech from 2006. I fell down a wormhole on the internet by Senator Wyden. He was talking about the careful balancing act of protecting civil liberties while fighting terrorism. He was explaining how there were certain just-in-case mechanisms built in to make sure we were checking back and making sure we were safely approaching this tightrope walk of checking against civil liberties and fighting terrorism. He said, if civil liberties are not prominent in our thinking and our governing, our efforts could result in the demise of the uniquely American freedoms we seek to hope and maintain. Now our nuisance surveillance technologies aren't reserved terrorists. They're just normal, mundane, day-to-day tools used against American citizens without nearly enough respect for the liberties at risk, in my opinion. And like the woman who spoke just before me said, it's just getting started. This is just the beginning. There's a lot more coming down the pipeline. As someone who grew up feeling very optimistic about digital technologies, seeing the internet as a place where you can meet people from all over the world, learn all kinds of things, I feel like it's becoming completely corrupted and purchased by people who don't have people's best interests at heart. I do think the council here is different. I think I'll just summarize by saying I really think we should consider modifying or canceling our tract with flock. I also want to make a note about state question 830 30 seconds remaining. I'm going to read this real fast. I wanted to catch up with some of the criticisms of why people didn't vote for this because I am a supporter. One of the criticisms was that it's connected to the national consumer price index. That made me wonder well, what if we had a local CPI one for Oklahoma City Pittsburgh Kansas City and Milwaukee who have less residents than we do all have their own CPI if that is one of the things that's preventing us from coming up with a minimum wage that That is actually won't cause stagnation among our essential workers. Sorry, I've got so little time. I'm just trying to rush it all in there at once. I want to say why I supported this. 33% of Oklahomans make less than $15 an hour. They include caregivers, bus drivers, janitors, retail workers, receptionists. All these people deserve the dignity of an independent family life where they don't need to constantly worry about one surprise upending all their hard work. I've been there.

and i don't wish it upon anyone who's still stuck there i i really hope we revisit this question locally thank you all right thank you that concludes citizens to be heard we will now go to the executive session we previously approved and then we will return thank you We have concluded our executive session and return for item 14 adjournment and we are adjourned.