City Council - Regular Meeting

Third guy's a pastor at uh good evening Methodist Church at welcome to the March 23rd 2026 meeting of the store city council. At this time I will call the meeting to order and I'll ask that you all stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Pretty good crowd here tonight. Thanks for thanks for being here. If you're here to speak on any of our public hearings or other agenda items, you do need to sign up. So, if you're planning to speak and you haven't signed up, please head over to the table and do that.

All right. First up tonight on proclamations, we have a proclamation recognizing store arts month. And I will read this proclamation. And then Megan Brazzle is here from Prairie Arts Center uh to accept it. Whereas the arts enrich the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of the Stowater community and contribute to a vibrant quality of life for residents and visitors alike. And whereas Startwater is home to a thriving community of artists, performers, educators, and cultural organizations that inspire creativity, encourage innovation, and strengthen community connections. And whereas throughout the month of April, local organizations and institutions will host a variety of events and programs celebrating the arts, including visual art exhibitions, theatrical performances, live music, and community art activities. And whereas the Oklahoma State University community will contribute to the celebration through events and activities during the OSU Arts Week on campus and at the OSU Museum of Art. And whereas community arts organizations such as the Prairie Arts Center will host Stowwater arts festival workshops and collaborative arts sessions to provide opportunities for all ages to participate in creative expressions. And whereas the store public art celebrates Startwater Arts Month and encourages residents and visitors to explore galleries, attend performances, support local artists, and engage with creative opportunities that make our community unique. Now therefore, I, William Joyce, mayor of the city of Stillwater, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as Stillwater Arts Month in Stillwater.

We'll get to have our first store arts festival on block 34 this year, which is going to be lots of fun. All right, counselors. Next up, item four is the consent docket. Questions, comments, or action on consent? Motion to approve the consent docket.

Second. We have a motion and a second to approve consent. Please vote. We vote five to zero. The consent docket is approved. Don't have anyone signed up to comment on items not scheduled for public hearing. So, we will go to public hearings. Item 7A a receive public comment regarding a request for a specific use permit for property addressed at 415 4115 North Perkins Road to operate a chemical manufacturing facility in the Industrial General District CC-26-46. Did we have good notice on this item? Yes, we do. Mr. Belelheimer.

Yes, sir. Good evening, Mayor, counselors. Uh my name is Henry Bbleheimimer with development services and we're here tonight to talk about a specific use permit to allow chemical manufacturing facilities in the general industrial zoning district for the property located at uh 4115 North Perkins Road. Here's the aerial view of the property um outlined in pink. This is at the northeast corner of Perkins and Airport Road. This is going to be um proposed to be on the north side of the existing Kingspan facility. Um, and then as we can see this, not as we can see, it's not on the aerial, but to the south of this is the hub, which just recently opened on the southeast corner of Airport and Perkins. Here's the street view of the property. This is from Perkins looking east. Um, and this is on the northern edge of that existing Kingspan facility, which is where they're proposing to build the chemical manufacturing um, plant, we'll call it. Um, here's the zoning map of the property. Um the property is zoned IG or general indu ind industrial um which is also found on the northeast south and west. Um in the general industrial zoning district which is our highest intensity zoning district um it allows chemical manufacturing with a specific use permit which is why we're before you tonight. Chemical manufacturing is not allowed by right in any of our zoning districts. So it's only allowed in the general industrial with a specific use permit. Here's the site plan um showing the Cynthsia property which is proposed to be on the north side of that um Kingspan property. A very small laser corner. Um two things I'm going to point out on the site plan. The applicant come up and give you more of a deep dive on what's being proposed where. Um one is the sidewalk along Perkins. This was a recommendation from both staff and planning commission to add a sidewalk for the full length of Perkins. Um the reason that was kind of questioned was the Cynthia is only proposing to develop

the northern portion of the site. So it came to question whether that considered development of the site and whether that would require the sidewalk for the full length of the full frontage of Perkins. So that was one of the recommendations. The second was a reduction in the parking requirement. The way our code is currently written is that in the if you're using the use of warehouse, which is what the majority of this site is, um you're allowed to do one and a half parking spaces per employee at the largest shift or one per 2,000 square foot, whichever is largest. That last bit, whichever is largest, requires the applicant to calculate it as one per 2,000 ft². which means if they were to park the existing site, if they had to build a parking lot for the existing facility, um it would be significantly larger than what's there right now and larger than what they need for the employees that are actually on site. So, the applicant is requesting to uh make the parking requirement as one and a half parking spaces per employee at the largest shift. That would be for the largest shift on both Synthesia and um Kingspan as they would be doing a shared parking facility. There are eight parking spaces being proposed right here. And then the rest of the parking would be in this large shared facility here. Staff and planning commission are both um supporting this recommendation or this request. Um as if more parking were to be built, it would likely be either north of or south of the existing parking facility. Um we think it's in the public benefit for that to remain green space if it were as long as there is enough parking on the site for the facility. It would be better for that to be green space and to not increase impervious area if not required. I'm open to answer any questions if you have any.

Counselors, any questions? Um talk a little bit. I I think there's something in the um uh planning committee's notes. Um when you hear chemical manufacturing, there's residential across the street. um talk a little bit about um the chemical ma manufacturing and if something has been studied to ensure that that's not going to be harmful to the people that are living in that area.

Yes, ma'am. I do think the applicant might be best to answer that question. Um but as we can see in the zoning map, we do have this residential neighbor um to the northwest of the property. Um this is community space on this corner right here, which meant the HOA was part of that 300T mailing notice that was sent out. Um, and there was there was no um comment at planning commission from any of the HOA. No, ma'am. And we haven't received any um on the staff side either. If there is something that the applicant can speak to in terms of um that that would be great. Yes, ma'am. And the applicant is present. Okay.

Other questions for staff at this point?

Thank you, Henry. This time I will open the public hearing and I'll ask the representative uh for the applicant to come forward. Good evening, mayor and counselors. Steven Ghost with Ghost and Associates 113 East 8th Avenue here on behalf of our client Cynthsia and the property owner Kingspan Roofing. um seeking approval of this specific use permit that Henry went over uh with planning commission's recommendations for both the approval of it, the parking reduction, and that sidewalk along 6th Avenue. Um Synthesia, just real quick, was founded in 1964. They were purchased by Kingspan in 2018. So Kingspan's the parent company. Both Synthesia and Kingspan Roofing and Waterproofing are owned by the same entities. Um they employ over 300 people and have three production sites in Spain, France and Panama. And their primary focus is the production of polyester poly oils which is a base ingredient in the foam insulated boards that Kingpan roofing and waterproofing uh makes as well as some other companies use them for adhesives and things. So one of their deals is um environmental and energy conservation. So, the primary ingredient into what they're producing is recycled PET or polyester. A lot of them are water bottles, Coke bottles, and stuff like that. Um, they kind of pioneered that in their industry, and it actually has a better fire rating resistance for those foams than some of their competitors. And based on the information they gave us, since 2024, they've used the equivalent of 1 billion plastic water bottles and and soda bottles in their um production. So, it's a gly glycolysis process. So, fairly low heat for manufacturing like this. They said to

about 280°. They've got thermal oil boilers on site. They they'll start adding the ingredients into these vats and what they're calling a reactor tower. And so it's all gravityfed. Um so they add the polyester, they add some bases acids and things like that. The glycolysis creates water and other things. So the off gases are some low concentration VOCC's and there's water. There's waste that goes through a filter process. The solid waste is all inert material and can go to the landfill. The water that comes off of it is held on tanks on site and taken off site for treatment. So, it will not be discharged into the city system. They're working with a consultant to process the air permits and other environmental permits through the state right now and they don't anticipate having any issues with those. I don't know if we can get um I'm going to mess this up. Henry, how do I get to the site plan?

Yeah. So, this site plan, if they can pull it up, may be a little easier to see. So, this is um start driving other people's cars, you get lost. Um so, this is on the north 270 ft of the Kingspan property. We're proposing one driveway onto Perkins Road. There'll be a little gate house and then what you see, I know the cursor is not going to really show up, but the prime the first phase of the building will be this eastern half of what looks like two big warehouses and the truck dock parking. The what we're calling reactor towers that have the vessels in them are on the east side. There'll be three of them ultimately. It's a three-phase project. Um the second and third phases are just additional capacity and the western warehouse, but those towers are 95 ft tall. As a point of reference, there's a um product tower out at Kingspan right now that's 103 ft tall. Based on the research I could do, the the mill towers are about 110 ft tall along with the um stair towers at Boonpick and Stadium. So just as a point of reference, the reactor towers will be less. There are three tank farms to the east for each of the three phases on this. And the tallest tower there is 40 ft tall. So one driveway off of Perkins Road, circular um flow through the site sharing the north fire lane with Kingspan. Just trying to make sure I cover everything. Uh Henry covered the parking pretty well with that reduction. Uh the building is going to have two roof heights. There's going to be a two-story piece for some of the

manufacturing as well as there will be a two-story office within the building and then the rest of it probably a 20 22t roof height for just storage of all the dry materials. Uh they our client has prepared a sound study uh that was in the submitt packet and that shows really the the loudest noise generator that's out here or the truck traffic. Everything else is relatively quiet and those towers are going to be skinned to protect sound light as far and as well as the weather for the employees because their primary towers in Barcelona don't have the weather we have here. Sorry. And the extreme swings that we have uh construction, they're planning on starting this summer with the groundwork. We should be submitting for an earthwork permit in the next couple weeks. Lambert construction was selected last week as the general contractor for this. So, they're trying to keep it as local as possible. Um with phase one, 90% of the output will go to the Kingspan facility here and a site they have in Little Rock. And then when phases two and three come online, phase three will require rail service. So they're working with Kingspan right now to get that and that will be where most of their products come in and out is on the rail. So there's any questions I can answer now or later on.

Stephen, you mentioned truck traffic. Could you talk a little bit about about what you um what the expectation is for that traffic? So their expectation for phase one and into phase two is really two trucks a day coming in and off of Perkins Road. So and then again phase three requires the rail just to get the production volume they need. So as much of that traffic's possible will go go to that. Was there a traffic study necessary for this on Perkins Road with the curb cut?

Not based on what we found. It's not going to generate the 100 peak hour trips or thousand a day. And they are at full buildout, they'll have 27 employees working in three shifts. So probably, you know, 12 to 18 person shifts. So this might be a question for staff, but I'll ask you anyway. Okay. Um, so we've got to do an SUP here because it's a chemical manufacturing plant. Correct. are the issues of uh the tower height, would those be allowed by right if it wasn't a uh SU if we if an SUP wasn't required because of the chemical manufacturing?

Well, as far as I can tell, what's going on at Kingspan, they haven't had to have an SUP and theirs is an ingredient. Those are ingredient towers. They're getting that stuff shipped in and it goes into the production of what they're doing because this is producing a chemical that can be shift shipped off site. We had a lot of discussions with staff of do we need to do the SUP, do we not? But it doesn't have anything to do with the towers and the towers too. They've made preliminary submitts to the FAA for clearances on the towers, but again, they're shorter than what's out there now. So, uh, and you did mention that there are state and I assume some federal permits that are required around the air and and discharge and all of the environmental protection that has to be

Yeah. And they've got a consultant working on that. So approval of the SUP doesn't give them approval to build it. No to build it. They still got to go get environmental approvals for the and Henry. So So neighbors usually look at three things. Sight, sound, and smell. You've talked about the site. So you're going to put a a um wall around this tower. The sound you've addressed. What about the smell?

So the smell they say it's low the low VOC. They smell it. that say it smells like a just a polyester resin. Real low um output. And if we can pull this up more on the the site of it. Here's there's a rendering of what it'll look like. This is with the first tower and not the second warehouse, but there'll just be three of those towers. And the emission will come from the top of the tower.

Yes. Okay. If we keep it up, there's a cross-section in here. That's kind of what if you took a slice through the middle of it for perspective. And again, we won't see the equipment inside the tower. No, it'll all be behind a skin. Further questions? Thanks, Stephen. Thank you. I don't have anyone else signed up for public hearing tonight.

Uh, if you were planning to speak on this item, let me know. Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing. Henry, what was the planning commission's recommendation on this? Yes, sir. And I can confirm there is no height limitations in IG. So, um, with or without the specific use permit, the height would have no restrictions. Um, on March 3rd, 2026, planning commission voted unanimously to recommend that the city council approve the proposed specific use permit subject to the following conditions. Construction of a 6ft sidewalk for the full parcel length along Perkins Road frontage and the parking requirement being based on one and a half parking spaces per employee on the largest working shift. Thanks, Henry. Counselors

move to accept planning commission recommendation including the two um conditions. Second. We have a motion and a second. Please vote. Items approved with a vote of five to zero. Item 7B, receive public comment regarding a text amendment to the Stoer City Code, Chapter 23, Land Development Code, Article 6, Land Use Classifications, Division 4, Commercial Districts, Section 23-152, CB Commercial Business District, repealing all ordinances to the contrary and providing for severability CC-26-47. Did we have good notice on this item? Yes, we do. Henry.

Yes, sir. So, this is um a text amendment to allow vehicle sales in the commercial business or CB zoning district with a specific use permit um in those sections as you listed. So, first I just wanted to go over the definition of vehicle equipment sales, rental, and service, which is the use that we would be allowing by specific use permit. So, I'll just read that definition real quick so we know what we're talking about. Um it means the establishments primarily engaged in the sale or rental of personal or commercial vehicles and equipment and which includes incidental maintenance and repair facilities and establishments that sell, install and service vehicle equipment and parts including body repairs and painting. So that is what is being proposed to be allowed with a specific use permit in the CB or commercial business zoning district. Now the CB zoning district um when I think of that district I think of our downtown area. Um it does expand further than just that main downtown area south of six. So it'll go east and west along six as well as further south along Maine. Um so that's the zoning district that we're looking at allowing it with the specific use permit. Um whenever we were looking at the existing CV zoning district. We found five properties that are currently operating as vehicle equipment sales rental and service. Um so this would bring them a path towards compliance. Um would not require them to if you're an existing use. you would be allowed to remain. You wouldn't be required to go get a specific use permit, but if you were wanting to expand or to move locations and stay in the same zoning district, this would allow you to do so. Um, additionally, it allows city council to um add in those appropriate safeguards because a vehicle commitment sales, rental, and service is not appropriate in all of our downtown area. Like, you don't want something right on Main Street primarily because one of the key things of the CB zoning district is that there's um a reduction in the parking requirement because you're able to use the public parking that's provided in the area. Um, that becomes a lot more tricky whenever you're doing something like vehicle repair. So, this allows it to be allowed

in certain areas with the appropriate safeguards the city council would be able to approve on a case- by case basis. I'm open to answer any questions if you have any. Counselors, just curiously, one quick question. If one of these existing businesses were to transfer ownership, would they then have to apply for an SCP? It would not. I don't. I believe you would still be considered illegally non-conforming as long as the use remains consistent. Okay.

If the use stops for it's either three or six months, then you're required to come into compliance. But if you transfer ownership and it continues would be allowed to continue. So, you mentioned that you identified five current businesses that are legally non-conforming. Yes, sir. Uh within within this district. Okay. So, we've and that I would assume are mainly service rather than sales. I can't think of any car lot kind of places. I think there was one vehicle sales which was west on sixth if I remember right. It was like used car trucks for sale. Okay. Yes, sir.

So, these are I mean we're doing this now. We just they don't technically have the right to do it. And if they wanted to move or um expand at all, they'd have to do this. Okay. Yes, sir. Um can you clarify what the are there limitations? You said by the discretion of council when we approve these things, right? Are there factors that we can consider or can't consider? Because I I mean I would think if if we did get an application for somebody who wanted to build a massive car lot on Main Street um you know we would be able to talk about things like traffic and size and lights and all that kind of stuff. Are any of those factors things that we wouldn't be able to consider

the code? I don't have that paragraph in the presentation but it is a pretty broad paragraph that says what city council is allowed to put conditions on. Basically anything that pertains to the use city council is allowed to make a condition of approval. Um, so I I think you do have pretty broad authority to add in limitations um or together. Yes, sir. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Counselors, further questions for staff.

Seeing none, I will open the public hearing. I don't have anyone signed up for this item. Was anybody here to talk about this item? Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing. Henry, what's the recommendation on this item? Yes, sir. On February 24th, 2026, planning commission voted unanimously to recommend the city council approved the proposed text amendment as presented. Thank you, Henry. Counselors. Motion to accept planning commission's recommendation. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Please vote. Uh that item passes with a vote of five to zero. Item 8 A under general orders is a wildfire wildfire presentation one year later and Don Dodson will kick this one off. Good evening, mayor and counselors. In March 2025, wildfires swept through our community and there were four large active fires in Payne County located in Uchi Valley, north and south Harmony. All three of those areas are on the eastern side of Payne County and then on the western side of Pay County, Stillwater. All of these desperately needing the same local resources and mutual aid support. In the state, there were 1,043 properties impacted with 539 homes destroyed. In Payne County alone, 229 were impacted and 180 destroyed. And in our community, 223 properties were impacted and 98 families and friends lost their homes. In Stillwater, there were zero deaths and minimal injuries. Unprecedented and historic fire weather conditions served as fuel for embers to ignite multiple pop-up fires and the winds ensured they were continuous. One of our firefighters described it as a war zone. It was sudden, powerful, and devastating. Yet, the aftermath revealed even more strength, compassion, and resiliency of our Stillwater community. The emergency response and recovery efforts were not limited to one

department, but to the entire city as a whole. One year later, our community continues to support each other, rebuild, mitigate against potential future fires, and some are establishing their new normal. 55 homes in the city limits were burned. 34 of those have single family residence permits for rebuilding. 17 of the 55 have demolition permits but have not yet started rebuilding and four homes have no permits for demo or rebuilding. At the city, we have identified areas for improvement in effort to serve our community more effectively, safely, and utilizing better tools and methods. During the wildfire crisis and those days following, we had more than 42,000 interactions with a reach of more than five million on the SEMA Facebook account alone. The wildfire response tested every communication system we had and revealed systems that we needed. Strategic improvements were made to ensure that notifications are accurate and swift. In fastmoving events like wildfires, minutes matter. Redundancy is essential. We must layer notifications across multiple platforms including social media, website and alerts. Notifications must include clear visual maps with details when at all possible. Since that time, we have created a unified social media uh communications. Invested in social media platform manager to have the ability to post simultaneously across all city accounts. This helps eliminate delays and ensures consistent messaging. This platform allows us to have an even greater reach and include simultaneous messaging across all emergency response accounts and the city, including SEMA, police, fire, and animal welfare. During a

crisis, there is little time to post individually on multiple department pages and social media accounts. Now, one message can go live on every city affiliated platform instantly. This ensures no lag between information and reduces the risk of conflicting alerts. But social media is only part of the equation. We developed a web page for emergencies at stillwater.gov/emergency. It serves as a single source of truth in the central hub. Real-time updates are provided with maps, instructions, and important information. It will be used during emergencies and afterwards to include guidance. It reduces confusion and increases transparency. We actually utilized this with the severe winter weather we recently experienced. Also, with Midsouth, we had the page ready with preset information in case we needed to update and utilize it. And thankfully, it was not needed and the event was an even greater sess success than ever before. At this time, I'm going to tag in Rob Hill so he can share some information about mapping alerts and more. Good evening. In a disaster situation, emergency management is tasked with multiple tasks, but two primary tasks. One is supporting public safety in the city of Still Water as a city government. And two, supporting the community, ensuring the safety of the community as well. And one of the things that we identified that we needed the most was something that would allow us to track our resources and allow us to see where an actual incident is occurring, but also relay that same information to the community. And so we took a deep dive and we looked for something and with

Aaron Kelly's help out of our IT department, um, we come up with a digital mapping capability through ArcGIS. Argis mapping gives us um the ability to geoence and real-time mapping information. Allows for public safety mapping systems to track resources and event locations. It allows us or allows for community dashboard that shows event locations, threat areas, areas to avoid and areas of concern. It also identifies evacuation zones, shows shows road closures, shows ingress and egress routes, shelter locations, and evacuation sites. Recently used during this winter weather, we implemented a digital mapping feature, and this allowed us to visually mark areas of concern within town. During our recent winter weather event, we used it to show impacted areas and road conditions that we manually updated daily um from with from reports from um public works and the police department. In a wildfire scenario, this tool allows us to designate evacuation zones quickly and clearly. Visual information reduces panic and helps residents make informed decisions faster. And we prepared for what happens if technology fails. This is plan B. Markers and laminated maps. And believe it or not, Dawn was recently in Enid when we had a threat of wildfires and a lot of the counterparts that she was sitting with saw this so that she could track if we had something happen and asked if they could duplicate it for their communities. So, um, we're not alone in this. So redundancy, plan B, right? Dry erase markers and maps. In a fast-moving event, connectivity can be compromised, power can be disrupted, and systems can

slow down. So we created a low tech backup. Try erase emergency maps. We marked the evacuation lines, road closures, fire movement on the map, take a picture, and post it quickly. This is simple, not flashy, but will work until we can get plan A back in place. In addition, we see a counter component um and we are implementing iP integrated public alert warning system which functions similarly to an amber alert, silver alert or a blue alert. Mis many residents are already familiar with rave alerts where individuals can sign up to receive notifications by text, phone call or email. Residents can opt in at stillwater.gov/beinformed. iP is different. It does not require residents to sign up in a major emergency such as a wildfire threat. Alerts can be sent directly to a cellular device in the affected area through geo fencing. This allows us to reach people immediately even if they are not signed up for our local notification system. Once we receive final FEMA approval, our team will begin training and implementing the IPA system. Unfortunately, FEMA is currently on a government shutdown which has slowed our progress in implementing this process. All these improvements are part of a much larger effort to strengthen our preparedness for disaster preparedness and readiness for the community and excuse me for public safety across our community. In addition, the city has met with many different groups from around the state of Oklahoma and state assistance with red cedar eradication is taking place. We partnered with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and Director Trampus Trip to support wildfire mitigation efforts in our area. Through partnerships, residents have been able to volunteer and participate in

mitigation services designed to reduce wildfire risk. The invasive woody species cost share program closed its application period on December 1st, 2025. In Payne County, 21 applications were approved, resulting in 1,657 acres of cedar removal currently underway throughout the county. One of the current project areas is near 19th Avenue and Country Club. Prescribed fire is also becoming more widely used in Payne County with approximately 1,800 acres completed or planned for fiscal year 2026. The wildfire mitigation brush-free zone program focuses on creating defensible space around the perimeter of the city to help prevent wildfire from spreading into populated areas. Another important part of this effort is the leadership we have in place. Since the wildfires, Stillwater has welcomed two outstanding public safety leaders, Police Chief Chris Hassik and Fire Chief Dwayne Helberger. Chief Helberger will now share more about the mitigation work and training happening within the fire department. councilors. Thank you for having us. During this event, I wasn't here with the city of Stillwater, but I did live here in this town, and many of my friends on this department that I've grown to know and love took part in the efforts on that day. The information they've provided me in the time I've been here has been great in helping us improve and continue to strengthen our abilities for the Stillwater Fire Department in the community. After the event, we conducted a compre comprehensive afteraction review with the entire team, identifying areas of success and areas for improvement. We are focusing on community community education and awareness using both social media campaigns and in-person

events to engage residents within the department. We are enhancing training programs and implementing what we've learned to better respond during crisises, including enhancing our SOGS standard operating guidelines. Mitigation efforts also involving infrastructure planning such as ensuring sufficient water storage and hydrant access, optimizing administrative roles, and maintaining equipment readiness, including the addition to two additional brush trucks with a total of six now in tow. Water nozzles on the front and rear of these trucks allow the driver to spray water and fight fire as the firefighters in the back are doing the same. They have higher ground clearance and a more rugged frame. And they are designed specifically for wildland and grass firefighting capabilities. These units also come with headphones for the you the firefighters in the back. So we no longer have to just yell through the window as we're fighting fire. Working with the Oklahoma Forestry, SFD was able to identify six to 10 city properties for mitigation efforts to include land clearing and prescribed burns and and enhance wildlife wildland firefighting. We are also helping community members with mitigation efforts such as controlled burns, brush removal education, and practical tips for their homes and properties. For example, some homes that were affected in March had fire spreading from the privacy fences to the side of the house or the roof. We worked with HOAs and showing the importance of metal fencing closer to your home to help with non-combustion. During the wildfire response, most communications in the field relied on cell phones since the new radio system was not yet in place. With the new digital radio system, communications are more reliable and prevent overlapping transmissions. Approximately 28,000 acres burned from Maroy to 80th Avenue and Highway 86 to Western Avenue. We had more than 120

firefighters respond, many of them working two, three, and even four days straight. And they never wavered to do what was needed. I'm incredibly proud of our team and deeply appreciative of their dedication to protecting our community. I will now turn it over to police chief Chris Hassig who will share more about what the Stillwater Police Department experienced and dealt with during this extreme event. Mayor counselors, at the time of the wildfires, I was still in Houston uh and not officially within my role or starting my role with the Stillwater Police Department. On a personal level, on this day, Friday, uh I don't know if I've ever felt more helpless being 500 miles away with a city that my family and I had just visited less than two weeks prior and was beginning to fall in love with, beginning to look for a house, and paying attention via text messages and phone calls with my soontobe new leadership as well as the social media sites uh and just seeing the area of the fires expand. It was uh truly a pit in my stomach and I was not even here. So I can't imagine what my officers felt that day. I am very proud of my team who immediately stepped in to assist with evacuations and support the community. Stillwater Police Department did door-to-door evacuations and collaborated with OSU to provide transportation and safe passage for residents affected by the fires. Officers secured perimeters, initiated curfews, and assisted with damage assessments. They also provided routine patrols to prevent looting. all in the

face of a few of the officers losing their homes during this time while they were actively assisting the community. A few statistics to provide, but uh for calls for service on that Friday, March 14th, from midnight to 11:59 p.m. we had 354 calls for service. There were,277 calls made or received in dispatch. Comes out to a little over 53 an hour. Yeah. Perhaps in Houston that would have been a drop in the bucket, but coming and living here in Stillwater. 53 in an hour is uh is something. As far as wildfire calls, that Friday, from 1 pm to midnight, we received more than 160 911 calls in that first hour alone. 650 calls were made on the business line. Truly something that our dispatchers had never experienced before, but they handled it with amazing professionalism and grace. And for that, I am beyond appreciative. I also want to ensure we acknowledge and honor all who responded. Not only those who fought wildfires and helped get people to safety, but also those who served in the immediate and long-term aftermath, assisting residents with devastation. At this time, I'm going to invite Ruth Cavins, executive director of United Way of Payne County to join us. She helped lead with Vice Mayor Jalowski and others with Stillwater Strong Relief. Hello. So, there were many efforts to provide resources to our community members directly after the wildfires. Uh, Vice

Mayor Jalowski, Rachel Connley, Carolyn Walstead, Becky Taylor, and many staff members and countless volunteers established a relief and resource area at the armory. Due to the generosity of many, many, it was a central hub for immediate support and much needed basic essentials. The resources continued for weeks afterwards at our daily bread. United Way of pain county developed the Stillwater Strong Relief Fund to establish to assist with mid and long-term recovery challenges. This included an application and review process focused on helping those affected. A tremendous amount of time went into making sure this process was clear, accountable, and responsive to the needs. In addition to the local uh relief funds, we also work closely with partners to help residents and businesses connect directly with FEMA and the Small Business Administration. FEMA and SBA provided one-on-one application assistance. Uh these opportunities were hosted at the community center with the help of Stephanie Kender and Barbara Bliss and then at Meridian Technology Center thanks to Dr. Doug Major and his team making sure people had access to guidance and applications during what was an incredibly stressful time. Over overall about $6.3 million in financial assistance were distributed to families. The numbers on the slide um represent more than dollars. They represent people coming together to support one another and help Still Water recover. United Way of Pen County collected a total of $568,798 in monetary donations for the Stillwater Strong Relief Fund from approximately 1600 donors across 46 different states and three other countries. Dollars were coming in from everywhere. Um because the Midsouth was happening the

weekend of the fires, participants and vendors went back home and had rides and fundraisers to raise money, reaching a total of $55,363. Some of the top contributors to the Startwater Strong relief included Bank First at 50,000, Wyatt Flores at 47,000, the Walmart Foundation at 25,000, Simmons Bank at 10,000, and Mason Rudolph at 10,000. By the end of August, 100% of this money had been distributed to 83 Stillwater households. This experience showed us that in difficult moments, Stillwater shows up for one another. I'm incredibly grateful to be part of a community that cares so deeply. This just shows a glimpse of what we experienced at that time. and everyone who who immediately jumped in to help in some um capacity. But one year later, we're stronger. Every emergency will teach us something new. We evaluate, we adjust, and we improve. When we know better, we do better. Public safety and trust will always remain our priority. If you have any questions of us, we'd be happy to answer.

Thank you, Don. And thank you to everyone uh for the updates tonight. I I know this is not why you're here. But before we ask questions, I would like to take a second uh just to thank you all uh for the work. I I mean those of you here and representing the teams that you represent uh certainly our firefighters, our our first responders, our police department, uh all of those folks that that were doing the work that we just uh you know saw and and heard about it. It is um a year later difficult to uh put into words how much we appreciate the work that um your all's teams uh did and our community the folks. I mean it's just a it is it's overwhelming to to really think about what uh people did for each other in those days and weeks uh after the fire. So thank you so much uh for the work that you have all done uh to help Still Water recover from this tragedy. With that said, counselors, questions about response, about um follow-ups, about improvements, anything we've heard tonight? I don't have a question, but I would just say I also remember um that Saturday morning um after they had had the press conference and they said that there were going to be supplies at the armory um I'd run to Walmart to get some things and I pulled up and there was a line of cars dropping off things. And so in addition to the thank you to all of our first responders, our emergency management, our city manager's office, just a big thank you to the community of Stillwater because I think we um as a community had so many people step up and contribute and try to help others. just to add to that. So, there were many of us that were up all night and then

when we, you know, the governor came in, which great elected officials, um, Senator Hall, uh, we had so many that just immediately jumped in, but, uh, county commissioner, uh, Seth Conley stayed with us all night. But then we sent a text to our citywide communications team. You know, the folks at Payne County, SMC, SPS, OSU, art visit, chamber. We have a vast group that we've been meeting together um for about four years and I sent an all call about the press conference. They came in here. So, everyone's going through this and at the end of the day, going to that armory and just seeing the hugs,

um it really it hit differently. I think I think we needed that.

I do also really appreciate the thought that's been put into kind of the response and thinking about um where there are opportunities to um fortify our communications and our ability to to talk with our community about what's going on. And I know um on social media and we have a lot of friends that were impacted by the fires just their um I think that brings a lot of comfort to people knowing that we've kind of um strengthened those systems and have the ability to kind of to pinpoint our communications and um just talk to the community more directly about and specifically about where um those uh emergencies are happening. Um, I I appreciate the work and the time and the thoughtfulness that's been put in by staff on on those things. It's it's so important not only to see that kind of emergent response at the beginning, but to really look back and think, you know, where do we need to where do we need to strengthen now that we have, you know, the time to think about it and um and to make those changes. So, I appreciate that as well. It was um just so remarkable to see our community come together. so many people to thank from um people in the community that brought their therapy dogs. Uh Grand was there helping from a mental health perspective and just just countless and countless numbers of friends and um people coming. I think also the ability to have the armory as a location for families to um receive resources and support in person and then be able to gather together as um people that had been impacted by the fires to to talk to their friends and neighbors and check on them was um maybe not the intention of the armory to begin with, but I think provided that um service as well. So, thank you again to everyone. Thank you.

Item 8B, presentation and discussion of a proposed improvement project for Strickland Park Ball Fields, including the current status of Strickland Park ball fields, a current needs assessment and discussion of the needed improvements for the complex and continued and expanded use of a sports facility capable of hosting large scale tournaments, and discussion of economic impact brought by current and expanded use of Strickland Park football fields. Man, a lawyer wrote this, didn't they? Goodness. In a report to city council on the tourism advisory committee, recommendation to CEDA to authorize the use of funds from visitor amenities fund for the improvement project and the purpose of development and maintenance of visitor development amenities in the city. That's a lot of words. That was just part one. Christie,

that is a hard act to follow with that presentation. So, um, I am doing this up here tonight with support of my friends. In the audience, you'll find Carolyn Walside, who is the Startwater Area Sports Association, also known as SASA executive director, and Barbara Bliss, our parks and community resources director. So, if there are any questions this evening, you will see me quietly sit down while they come up to the podium to help a person out. As we go through this, we are talking tonight about Strickland Park. You can see a current image of Strickland up here. So, a little bit about SASA. SAS is a nonprofit organization divided devoted to providing league sports to youth and adults of Stillwater and our surrounding areas. SASA reached out to the city specifically to discuss improvements that needed to occur during to rain outs um of their tournaments and the impact that this has on their ability to schedule and pull in teams that are interested in committing. With current all grass fields, the likelihood of a negative impact due to Oklahoma weather is high. Numerous rain outs occurred during the 2025 season, which I'll touch on more information in just a minute. But when faced with an allgrass option or a turf infield option, parents and coaches are much more likely to select turf. This helps to guarantee that their hotel reservations and tournament fees won't be lost with rain. One thing is clear, people want to play in Stillwater. They enjoy this town and this is a place they want to select. This renovation we're discussing tonight includes turf in fields that could be the positive deciding factor when selecting which tournament to enter. These upgrades will give our players safer top quality fields and enhance the experience for families and volunteers and better positions still as a premier destination for youth tournaments across the region. Part of what we need to answer this evening is why Strickland? There are a few of the reasons on the board, but when we first started conversations with

SASA, they talked about the need for the infield and the turf. When we said why Strickland and it started becoming more and more clear about what we wanted to do to make Strickland from playable to a great experience, that's when this proposal really blossomed. So, we wanted to take Strickland from yes, we could register to absolutely first choice in res in registrations. Strickland was chosen as the first step in a larger conversation about Stillwater sports complexes. It's completely out of the flood plane and the floodway. It's easily accessible and centralized and it offers great flexibility for our youth sports. Strickland Park currently hosts the highest number of out of town teams. And this investment in a high-quality recreational space both by enhancing what we have and creating new opportunities is essential to Stillwater's continued growth. This renovation can improve quality of life for our residents, attract visitors, and allow us to host major events in spite of tricky Oklahoma weather. This brings lasting economic and community benefits. There's a direct connection between reliable facilities and economic return. This is one piece of a growing plan to reinvest in our community spaces, both current and potential new areas. We're going to start off with an image of what turf could be for the fields at Strickland. Then we'll move on to some current concerns with complex. This demon this model shows two baseball and two softball fields. They will allow play for either on any of the fields because there are removable mounds that can be added and moved for our baseball players. So when we look at infield turf and outfield drainage considerations, most cancellations previously were due to the condition of the infield. And so under this proposal, we can see installation of an infield drainage system, pivot by tenat turf, and of course a geocool cooling agent because we know that that

would address major safety concerns with playing on turf in Oklahoma suns when it's not raining. Part of the proposal this evening also addresses our fencing. So, the fence would include new backs stop and fencing with a padded back stop wall. This removes some of the sharp components of traditional chain link, also enhancing safety and play experience. Let's get into the not so great current. This is a picture last year of the infield which caused cancellations. You can see that there is some rain um standing in the outfield, but part of this will also address the drainage under the infield and look at drainage for the park in its entirety. And the outfield, a little bit of standing water is not what drives our cancellations. It's not an uncommon feature in some of our Oklahoma. It's that infield um that makes it not playable. This next picture, you can see the fencing that we just described, and you can also see lights, several of which are out. These are older light systems, and the bulbs are becoming extremely difficult and very expensive to replace. So, included under the proposal are LED lighting, which will illuminate all four fields for a much safer and better play. also helps light the remainder of the complex for safety after games um while everybody's still exiting parking lots and visibility. This is the inside of the restrooms and the concessions. This drives back to the conversation about why Strickland and why the full proposal that you're going to see this evening is because game play is just one part of it. We have a lot of fans in the stands and their drives their enjoyment is also what drives the return factor. If you want to book and your child has an amazing experience on the field but you do not have amazing experience in the stands um you are also

you know we're negatively impacted with that as well. So all components of a complex add to the experience the desire and the enjoyment for a future. So, we will be working through pricing and standard bidding to the renovations for the concession and the restroom and some other pieces of the ball complex. Our next slide presents you can see the youth leagues currently for SAS in 2025. That top line says youth baseball and softball 106 teams which drives over 1,000 participants. You can see out of town teams is 34 teams from surrounding towns equating to about 340 additional youth. The bottom part of the slide talks about tournaments in 2025 which we're calling our problem because you can see on here Carolyn has designated multiple times that rain outs occurred and you can see the impact to the participants or how many were already registered and were not able to play in still water due to field conditions. And so when we look about this this creates that negative conversation around Stillwater as a hosting site with a movement to turf infields. This flips the conversation back to a level playing field literally speaking and then drives home the conversation about Stillwater not only being a best destination of choice but a reliable smart decision too. When given the opportunity, Stillwater with renovations, turf in fields, enhanced sliding and fencing, it will become a premier booking location not only for the field conditions, but for all that our community offers. Want to spend a moment on this next slide. This is SASA developed these estimates. They're are very conservative numbers. The most important piece is to note that the negative impacts of the

rainotss which occurred in 2025. You can see that in 2023 the estimated sales tax that we received due to hosting was 60,000. In 2024 that jumped to 113 based on approximate visitor spend due to the tournaments. And in 2025 due to the consolations we had our lowest of 53,000. And so when we look at this, we um also visited SASA works with visit Stillwater as they look at recognizing the economic loss to the community when visitors don't attend and the impact that that has on weather for our scheduled tournaments. When we look at conservative dollars represented in SASA or a more detailed, one thing is clear. Our community benefits from scheduled tournaments, minimization of rainouts, and updated facilities. Dollars expended from the visitors amenity piece of the visitor tax should result in clear return and increases in investment. This slide demonstrates the impact of positive play on our businesses and community members of Stillwater. The cost of the proposal is shown on this slide here. As mentioned, the infield turf, the field fencing, and the lighting and the pitching mounds. There is some additional upgrades to the shade structures, dugout extensions and upgrades, concession and restroom renovation, and an included contingency. And we'll pause back here for the picture again so that you can just see the infield turf pieces. It doesn't show any of the other rendering pieces, but um we plan to make them an enjoyable experience for all. I am happy to pause here for any questions of my st myself or for Carolyn

or Barbara counselors questions. You showed the 4% sales tax that we we could get or had missed due to rain outs. Um does that include as I recall from my softball playing days that tournaments were multi-day tournaments and people often stayed overnight. Does this include any of the lodging tax?

So we have a couple different sets of numbers. This is based on Carolyn's and this is a very conservative that is directly related. We also have the numbers from visit stater that do include lodging that are much higher than shown on the slide. We went with the lowest impact just to show the minimum. Um but yes, visits to water did detailed numbers for us and it's a it's a much more significant impact than shown on this slide when that's taken into consideration. Thank you. You're welcome.

So one one question with the turf on the infield. Yes, I understand. Are you going to work on the grading of the outfield so they drain better than what we saw in the picture there? Mhm. The infield turf will come with a drainage component built in which also will just help the field immensely in that form. And then we're also looking at improved drainage and other concrete pieces. I've got to ask, what's this cooling stuff that that you're putting in? I've never heard this before. Carolyn, it's the turf. It's the new improved turf. They snuck up on me.

It's kind of the new and improved turf. It doesn't actually have all the beads. It's a grass base. Um, so it's a it's a lining coolant underneath that they use as a base to allow but the a lot of the heat came from the black beads on the turf and this does not have any of the beads. It's the new and improved turf. That means they won't end up all over my car. Correct. They will not. I had this image of geothermal bathroom. I don't think that's exactly the image. It's their terminology, but it's much more boring than it sounds.

Uh, I just want to ask in general, um, I mean, I think this is fantastic. I want us to do this to all of our fields. Um, I would like for us to be able to build a complex with more than just four fields in it. Uh, is there any concern that using this money now on these four fields slows us down from the capability of getting to a place where we could spend 10, 15, 20 million dollars on a bigger complex that is really something that we'd need.

When we look at a funding source for this here and now and how it will replenish in just the visitor sales tax piece, um we need to expend some dollars that we currently have and deploy those in order to get those increased returns because you can see the harm that we're impacting. When we look at our long-term plan, we have some additional funding sources coming in the future that is firmly dedicated to our parks maintenance and amenities. And so we are trying to look at both a short-term plan and a long-term plan. And we believe that this is one piece that not only fits now, but it fits into a larger comprehensive plan that we're that we're trying to build for the future.

Thank you. You're welcome. I would add Oh, not touching my mic. Remind him please. Um I would add mayor when we were um when the task when the the visitor amenities um tourism advisory committee

tourism advisory committee was meeting there was some discussion amongst the committee about that as well. I think um where we landed as a as a committee was that um we have some um some work to do to ensure that Still Water doesn't fall off the radar for um tournament schedules. There are so many communities I as a former softball mom um there are so many communities that are making these types of investments in you know really great facilities. Also, as a softball mom, I know that those communities don't have near the visitor attractions and amenities that Still Water could offer. I think most people would love to come to a community like Still Water, but at the end of the day, if we can't, you know, if we can't end up having the tournaments because of these rain outs, they'll they'll start using and going to those other communities. They'll get on the on the schedules. Those will become the tournaments of choice, and Stillwater will have a hard time kind of catching up in the meantime. This is an important first step.

Good point. And and just as another point, um when we increased the lodging tax several years back, part of that deal was that I think visits to water got 70% and the city got 30% and this is being paid for out of the 30% that the city received. Correct. Correct. It's not exactly how it's worded. I could see city incident attorney over there. It's it's approximately close,

but um you're correct that there is a use of funds section in that ordinance where um 70% of it is dedicated to destination professional marketing services and 30% is for the development of visitor amenities in the city. And so that is why it was an appropriate um item to take to the tourism advisory committee um because they uh have a responsibility to review those things and make recommendations to CEDA um in terms of how those dollars should be uh spent. And so um I think we list on here just as a report. I don't know if you really touched on that, but they did present it to the tourism advisory committee um who did make a recommendation to CEDA um to allow use of the funds as as it's been presented this evening. that's on um for consideration on the CEDA agenda this evening.

I was paraphrasing and I do have a recommended motion when we move to the next item but I believe there's action on CEDA first. Yeah. Any further questions for staff at this point about the project in general?

Okay. Well, because we do have to take action as CEDA to move the money in the first place if we're going to do anything with it at all. At this time, I will move that we recess the city council prior to item 8C. Second motion, a second to recess the city council. Please vote. Vote five to zero. The city council will now be in recess. And while we are, I will call to order the still order economic development authority meeting for March 23rd, 2026. On the consent docket, there are two items. The minutes from our last meeting and uh a budget amendment that would transfer these funds from the CEDA visitor amenity fund to the city general fund so that then we can make a decision as a city council on how we want to spend them. So, trustees, questions, comments, or action on the consent docket?

I move approval of consent. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve the consent docket. Please vote. Please vote five to zero. That consent docket is approved. There is nothing else on the CEDA agenda for tonight. Uh is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. We have a motion and a second to adjourn. CEDA, please vote. Vote 5 to zero. The Stoer Economic Development Authority meeting is now adjourned. And at this time, I will reconvene the Stoer City Council meeting prior to item 8C and ask Christy Driscoll for a recommendation on possible action.

This is my long term. Approve Strickland ballfields improvement project to include infield turf, dugout extensions, and renovation to the restroom and concession areas. approved total product project expenditures in an amount not to exceed $1,835,745 which includes a 15% contingency approve associated budget amendments and approve entering into two the Oklahoma purchasing system tops cooperative contracts as set forth below and authorizing the city manager to assign approved contracts. This was also written by an attorney Counselors, I move approval of the staff recommendation. Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve the staff's recommendation. Please vote. The vote of 5 to zero. That item is approved. Christie, really quick, could you let us know what the schedule is for? Yes, thank you for adding that. Um, the reason that we have moved so many different pieces of this so quickly is our timing is actually to come in and get all of this work done while the fields are not in tournament play in season for June, July, and be ready for Carolyn to host tournaments in August of this year. No pressure. I have three days already. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, Caroline, for all your work. Thank you, Barb.

Thank you. Thank you for your confidence. Appreciate excited to see them. I mean, I was playing on those same baseball fields 40 years ago, so it's about time they got a little improvement. will shine.

Item nine, resolutions. 9A is resolution CC-2026-5, a resolution of the city of Stillwater approving the submission of an Oklahoma opioid abatement grant application, authorizing the use of the city of Stillwater direct opioid settlement funds to support the Payne County drug court program and authorizing the city manager to execute any related documents, coordinate with project partners, and carry out activities associated with the project. So, this resolution is to um approve submission of a grant application for opioid um abatement funds through the attorney general's office. Um there's a new uh program uh at the Payne County Drug Court that's being proposed uh in connection with those funds. Staff is going to uh give you a presentation on what it entails.

I apologize. It's me again. I have more friends here with me this evening on this. Tonight we're discussing a proposal provided by Payne County Drug Court to the city of Stillwater to partner on an opioid abatement grant application. In attendance to sri to provide their support to the application and to answer any questions that you may have in details that I can't I would like to introduce Noah Bagwell who is the executive director of Payne County Drug Court, Ronald Thrasher, chairman board of directors and Dne Limmons clinical director and Chief Hig from Stillwater Police Department. So, as mentioned, we're here tonight to discuss program requirements for expenditure of funds related to a grant for opioid abatement and also our settlement dollars. Opioid abatement settlement dollars and dollars provided through the grant have the same goal. The details are shown on this slide. In short, it's to fund treatment and recovery programs, provide assistance to those struggling, provide education, and develop strategies to further reduce the opioid abuse, misuse, and related impacts. First, I'd like to take a minute to introduce Payne County Drug Court. They currently provide services for 75 active clients on a weekly basis and provide probation service supervision for an additional 400 people at any time. The current board of directors has over 87 years of collective experience. They offer structured court supervised treatment in lie of incarceration and they have demonstrated improved participation outcomes for those who are working through their program. The partnership with Payne County Drug Court is an expansion of the current partnership we already have through their system in our Stillwater Police Department. What this allows to do is an expansion of the availability of the treatment. They provide a critical service to our community and providing

structure, resources, and accountability needed for clients to reach success. The proposal contains the aspects shown here to further extend their reach and positive impact. When we talk about funding, there's two methods of funding that we're actually looking for in our partnership proposal tonight. This re resolution centers around our application of an opioid abatement grant. That grant has us partner or select a three-year program and if received $125,000 per year is available to grant recipients. We also have direct opioid settlement funds. Our current balance in these funds that we have received is $1,56,378. And over the next 14 years, you can see that we're expected to receive an additional 1.9. When we look at the cost of what the funding for the proposal as proposed is it provides additional clinicians and counselors to peer support recovery specialists, an additional staff member, client treatment supplies and programs, additional assessments, expanded individual counseling, and group counseling. The cost of the proposal that we're looking to partner with for Payne County Drug Court for the three-year expansion program is 1.1 as shown on that bottom line. I'm going to put all those numbers together for you in one slide. So, the proposal cost over three years is 1.175. The grant application if funded would be 375 total. And then if we receive the grant, what the city would be recommending would be to utilize our direct opioid settlement funds to supplement the additional needs to fully fund the three-year program so that we can expand these services and the needs to our community for positive impact. I am happy to answer any questions or ask one of our resources to join me.

Counselors.

Yeah. So, this is a three-year grant, correct? What are the plans after year number three? After year number three, um there could be additional grant applications or we could discuss different funding options at that time. It would be entered into a new conversation in partnership with Pay County Drug Court. How is the Pay County Drug Court funded generally? Now,

it's funded through contracts with Department of Mental Health. This is Mr. Bagwell. Thank you. It's funded through contracts with the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Corrections. Uh we have a United Way grant, and then we have commercial what we call referral services or referral business that we serve the public with. So, how big was would this expansion be for two additional I mean, how many counselors do you have now? We have two counselors now and two PRSS. So, this would be a pretty big expansion.

Yes, it would. And we we currently service those of 75 and that's just an active number. We're actually at 98 and earlier last year we seen a number of 125 which was the biggest we ever had and had to just shut down taking anybody for a while. So this would allow us not to do that again. And further questions. Well, we truly appreciate the work that you all do at Pank County Drug Court and assisting those individuals and assisting the whole community in um you know, abating the the opioid problem and and dealing with folks who need need treatment. We appreciate it.

It does. And it puts money back in the community because when they leave there, they have a job and several have started businesses here in Still Water.

That's good to hear. Thank you, counselors. Action on the resolution. Before we do that, I had a chance to visit drug court the other day as an observer, not as a participant. And uh it was very interesting. They had about 60 individuals stood before the judge to review their progress. And it wasn't just a legal formality. They uh it was highly organized. It was a compassionate system. So their system was set up to provide accountability which is drug testing and and court appearances, counseling and transformation built focusing on building a pro-social habits and healthy relationships. The coordination between the judge and the attorneys and the police was very amazing. It was very my time well spent. A program I was not aware of until about a month ago. So

great. Appreciate that information. Councilors, further comments, questions, or action on the resolution? Motion to adopt resolution number CC-2026-5.

Second. We have a motion and a second to adopt the resolution. Please vote. That resolutions adopted with a vote of 5 to zero. Hopefully, we get the grant. Item 10 is ordinances on first read. Ordinance number 3594, an ordinance amending the Sodor City Code, Chapter 23, Land Development Code, Article 6, Land Use Classifications, Division 4, Commercial District, Section 23-152, CB Commercial Business District, repealing all ordinances to the contrary and providing for severability. This is the item from earlier this evening. Action on the ordinance. Motion to advance ordinance 3594. Second.

We have a motion and a second to advance. Please vote. The vote of five to zero. The or that ordinance is advanced to second reading. On second reading, we have ordinance 3598, an ordinance reszoning attractive land located at 799 West 12th Avenue from small lot single family residential and agricultural to commercial general. I move adoption of ordinance 3598. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt ordinance. Please vote with a vote of 5 to zero. Ordinance 3598 is adopted. Item 11 is appointments. We have two folks on the store housing authority whose um terms are up, but they are both willing to be reappointed to continue to serve the store housing reauthority. I would move that we reappoint both Roger Ghost and Ruby Manning to three-year terms on the store housing authority. Second.

A motion a second. Please vote. Vote five to zero. Roger Gus and Ruby Manning are both reappointed to the Stillwater Housing Authority and we appreciate their service on that board. Takes us to reports. Miss Carley,

request for an executive session pursuant to 25os section 307B4 for the purpose of confidential communications between the city council and its attorney concerning all aspects of litigation and possible settlement agreement in Hosterman versus City of Stillwater at all case number CIV-24-976-LP. It is the opinion of the city attorney that disclosure of this matter will seriously impair the ability of the city to conduct litigation and/or proceeding in the public interest. Thank you, Mr. Moore.

Yes. Um, mark your calendars for our annual household hazardous waste event on Saturday, April 25th from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the convenience collection center. Uh this is an opportunity to dispose of all oil based paints, pesticides, herbicides, mixed fuels, and other hazardous materials you have laying around the house. And that's at no cost to you. Um our convenience collection center uh is located at 807 South Perkins Road. Um which will also be open for usual business during this event. Um I will say that is the the CCC, the convenience collection center is one of my favorite little assets that we have in our that our our organization, our community, we offer to the community. I used it Saturday to get rid of some metal and stuff. Throw it in the metal bin, some bulky trash items. They're just so easy to work with there and it's such a convenient place to take your recyclables and other just yard waste and bulky trash. And so, uh, definitely visit the convenient collection center and the household hazardous waste event is a really convenient way to get rid of some of those chemicals and other things.

I hadn't um cleaned my garage out in a while. I took 20 gallons of used motor oil over there a couple weeks ago. It made me feel pretty good. I'm proud of you. Appreciate it. Feels really good to throw things away. Yeah, it does. Especially, you know, 20 gallons of motor oil. Vice Mayor.

Yes. Construction on the new airport terminal continues and completion is currently on schedule to meet a grand opening in August. If you have not been out there recently, I encourage you to check out the progress, including the relocated access road. Work will continue through July on the terminal's four-lane dropoff area, connecting roadways, and the new airport road roundabout. As a reminder, terminal access is only available from the south via Lake View for the time being. This is an exciting project, and we look forward to utilizing our new terminal and wider and safer roadways soon. For more project updates, go to stillwater.org. Stillwater. Okay, that was that was a throwback. Stillwater.govp projects.

I do that every once in a while. Councelor Hawkins, this Saturday, March 28th, is Stillwater's annual trash off community cleanup day. This is a great opportunity for volunteers of all ages to help beautify our shared community spaces. City staff will welcome participants starting at 9:00 a.m. at Couch Park and will provide gloves, safety vests, and trash bags. An award will be given to the group that collects the most trash. If you or your organization would like to participate, please RSVP by this Wednesday, March 25th, at stillwater.gov/trashoff.

Excellent event. Thank you, Councelor Clark. related to a prior presentation to receive city notifications about wildfire threats, floods, and other emergencies. Sign up for alerts through be informed Stillwater. This notification system is used to inform residents of imminent threats to health, safety, and welfare of our community. Go to stillwater.gov/alerts to sign up. By creating an account, you can customize your preferences at any time. This includes choosing your mode of delivery, adding multiple phone numbers, and opting to non-emergency alerts andformational bulletins. Again, that is the website is store.gov/alerts.

I'm on that. And just like last week or two weeks ago, there was a severe thunderstorm coming through. I was not paying attention and I got the text on my phone and I got to figure out, oh, I guess I should be careful. There's a thunderstorm near. It's a great great system. Councelor Harden,

the watershed quality division is currently hosting its annual rain barrel event. offers residents the chance to purchase rain barrels that conserve water and reduce storm water runoff. The water that runs off your roof is collected in the rain barrels and can be used later for lawns, gardens, and making an easy way to support conservation efforts at home. Submit rain barrel orders online by April 26th. For more info, go to stillwater.gov/rabarrel. And I will say, council clerk, I always remind you that you have to be prepared for the rain barrels to overflow. I wasn't going to say it this time, but thank you for doing it. You're welcome. I would uh I think we would all be perfectly happy to have some overflowing rain barrels around here.

During the weekend of March 12th through the 14th, we welcomed hundreds of cyclists, thousands really, uh of cyclists, runners, and supporters to Still Water for the annual Midsouth Gravel Endurance Festival. Thanks in large part to the tireless efforts of city of Stillwater employees, the event was a huge success. The folks over at Block 34, uh it was awesome. It was so cool to see that. um event there for the for the weekend. Um so perfect event for that space. We want to extend a special thanks also to the staff members in parks and community resources, waste management, public works, SEMA, fire, police who all helped create a selfwelcoming and fun environment for our visitors. Uh also thanks of course to Bobby and Crystal Winn and the folks over at District Bicycles uh for organizing that event. Uh, also, if you didn't get a chance, uh, the movie they put together from last year's Wildfires, Together We Are Heavy, they played a couple times over the weekend. I'm hoping we're going to see more opportunities, uh, for that movie to to be seen because it's a a really really great documentary about that weekend last year and, uh, really about the community's response to it, which was which was great. So, appreciate all the work that they've done.

All right, at this time, I will move that we recess the store to city council again prior to item 14. Second. Have a motion and a second to recess. Please vote. The vote of five to zero. The STO city council will now be in recess. And in the meantime, I will call to order the store utilities authority meeting for March 23rd, 2026. There are four items on the consent docket. Questions, comments, or action? Motion to approve the consent docket.

Second motion and a second. Please vote. With a vote of five to zero, the consent docket is approved. Down in general orders, we have a presentation, discussion, and possible action to approve a distribution pole replacement project appropriate $2 million from the rate stabilization fund and approve the attached budget amendment. And Mr. Lauren Smith is here. It's been a while since we've seen you. Good to see you.

Good evening, trustees. Nice to see you again. Uh the Stillwater Electric System includes approximately 10,300 wooden distribution poles. For the last several years, staff has commissioned a contractor to to test the integrity of the wooden poles throughout the system. After completion of testing, approximately 2500 have been identified as needing replacement. Staff is estimating 2500 to $3500 per pole to replace based on what infrastructure the pole is supporting. staff is proposing to create a project account to fund the materials necessary for the replacement of the poles over time. The poles will be changed out by distribution staff over multiple years. The funds the funds appropriated as a part of this report will only cover a proportion a portion of the cost uh to replace all the poles. This will get us started and then as time goes by rather than encumbering a lot of funds, we'll come back to the trustees and seek additional approval. I I have a motion here, but I'd pause to answer any questions.

Trustees, I just want to com I mentioned this a year ago when we had this same conversation that I I commend SEU for doing this. Um about a year ago, another community in our area had significant power outages because winds came through and knocked a bunch of poles down and broke them off. And uh the fact that you're being proactive to make sure the the poles are in good shape, I I really appreciate.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Just out of curiosity, I the uh if we're assuming a cost of $2,500 um a poll, um it's about $6 million to do all of it, even at the low end. Um and so we'll um it seems like we're doing about a third of them in is is that reasonable to think that we can replace a third of the poles in a given year? Uh not in a given year. O over time. Yeah, we we will replace these over time like like you said, 5 million to 8.75 million based on what we got. Uh but as time goes by, uh we'll put additional crews and try to do as many as we can.

So, of the 2500 that need replacing, I know this will be over several years. How many do we think we could replace in a year? Right. I I think uh about 150 with one crew, 300 with two crews. Just depends how many crews we can throw at at one time. uh it is it is our uh one of our many tasks that we need to do. But uh now that we're aware of it uh we as part of the evaluation uh polls were were rated and so we know where really the critical areas uh what really really needs it and and what need it. So my question is you're able to prioritize

able to prioritize very detailed uh evaluation of not only the pole integrity but uh what's on the pole what's what's uh is there uh tree limbs in the in the pole is there something that needs to be uh it was a very detailed report so it gave us a lot of insight to the things we need to do further questions what's your recommendation for I have a motion to approve the distribution pole replacement project, appropriate $2 million from the rate stabilization fund, and approve the attached budget amendment. Thank you, Lauren. Trustees, I move approval for staff recommendation. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve. Please vote. It's approved with a vote of five to zero.

Thank you. Thanks for keeping the lights on, Lauren. There's nothing further on this agenda. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion to adjurnn. Second. Motion and a second to adjurnn SUA. Please vote with a vote of five to zero. The store utilities authority is now adjourned. At this time, I will reconvene the store to city council prior to item 14 on the agenda. Is there a motion to enter executive session for the reason requested by the city attorney? So moved. Second. Have a motion second to enter executive session. Please vote for the vote of 5 to z. The store city council will now be in executive session.

Okay. As long as it's not going to hurt me. All right. Is there a motion to reconvene in regular session? So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second. Oh, Teresa is here so we can vote. With a vote of five to zero, the store city council will return is now back in regular session. Uh, city attorney currently, do you have recommendation from executive session?

Um, yes. Consider possible action to approve resolution number CC-2026-6. A resolution of the Stillwater City Council approving a settlement agreement in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma case host city of Stillwater at all case number CIV-24-976-SLP authorizing the city attorney and the law firm of Colin Zorn and Wagner to prepare and file appropriate documents to effectuate settlement including a journal entry of judgment and further directing the attorneys to draft and file necessary documents including an assignment as may be necessary to effectuate the settlement and to place said judgment on syncing fund and authorizing the mayor to sign the settlement agreement and any related documents for this purpose. Approval of this resolution will approve a settlement agreement of the case and payment of the city's portion of the settlement in the amount of $1,675,000. It will also direct the and authorize the city attorney in the law form of Collins and Wagner to prepare and file any necessary documents including a journal entry of judgment and assignment any other documents necessary to effectuate the settlement agreement and place the judgment on the scing fund. Thank you. Counselors, comments, questions, or action?

I move adoption of resolution CC 2026-6. Second. We have a motion and a second to adopt the resolution. Please vote. With a vote of 5 to 0, resolution number CC-2026-6 is adopted. There's no further action from executive session. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Motion to motion to adjurnn. Second. We have a motion and a second to adjurnn the city council. Please vote with a vote of five to zero. Five to zero. The store to city council is now adjourned. And that concludes our meetings for this evening.