City Council - Regular Meeting

We're elected to city council at the exact same time in 2013 and served for six years together. So always a pleasure to see you here back at City Hall. All right.

A proclamation of the Mayor of the City of Norman, Oklahoma, proclaiming the month of September 2026 as Healthy Aging Month in the City of Norman. Whereas the City of Norman recognizes that older adults are valued members of our community whose experience, knowledge, and continued engagement strengthen the social, cultural, civic, and economic vitality of our city. And whereas September is recognized as Healthy Aging Month, And the 2026 theme, Curiosity Has No Age Limit, celebrates lifelong learning, creativity, purpose, and resilience while encouraging people of all ages to make healthy choic

and as she mentioned the norman ford initiative which was approved by norman voters in two thousand fifteen uh... is what paid for adult wellness and education center what used to would have been known as a senior citizen center but now it is more than just sitting at a table playing cards or dominoes. It's really an interactive space. And the age is 50, so a lot of folks don't think of 50 as older, but really the median age in Norman, in the United States, is only 37 years old. So most people think we'll live to be 100, but really the average lifespan for men is around 75, and for women it's

They all have tomorrow's date on them. Also, we used to have pocket constitutions, I think, here in the lobby at City Hall. I might need to restock on that. But I think it's important that everybody know that document and keep that with you in your car, keep it in your office, in your house, whatever it may be. And make sure that not only that we know it, but understand what it means and how lucky we are to live in a nation that has something like that to guide our government and ourselves And so thank you so much again for being here to accept that and help be here every year actually that I'

Yes, I've known Robert for a very long time in Willamari as well. And just thank you all so much for Norman Music Festival. Just that alone is something I could have only dreamed of happening in downtown Norman when I was a kid when it was mostly abandoned and there were no events happening. And now seeing it close down for a couple days and a couple tens of thousands of people in between and all sorts of fun is just a wonderful thing. And knowing that the type of community Norman is is a reason why you ended up here and why you've stayed here. So thank you again so much. Next up is suicide pr

Okay, a proclamation of the Mayor of the City of Norman, Oklahoma, proclaiming September 2026 as Suicide Prevention Month in the City of Norman, whereas the month of September is recognized as Suicide Prevention Month, with September 10th observed as World Suicide Prevention Day, highlighting the importance of hope, compassion, and meaningful connections in creating communities where everyone feels valued and supported, and whereas everyone has a role in suicide prevention by learning the warning signs starting starting caring conversations, reducing stigma, and connecting those in need with a

All right, thank you again for being here to accept that. Her son, I would have graduated Norman High in 2004, so I would have been there when her son was there, and he's slightly younger than I am, so it can really be an issue for anybody in our lives, and like she said, there's more than just the 988 number, which is really helpful. There's a lot more action that could be taken. locally, statewide, nationally to better address that issue. Also, we were notified that item 29 has been withdrawn by the applicant. That is the landmark item. The applicant has decided to withdraw the proposal enti

Yes. Good evening, Ward 4 and City of Norman. Oversight meeting will be this Thursday, September 10th at 5 PM. This month's agenda includes our quarterly homeless and service update. Data on who is moving through our shelter system is presented at this meeting. You can also find it on our unhoused and shelter info web page. Monthly updates get posted there. Updates on how many people are moving into housing and what current challenges are slowing people down in their journey to housing. And then we'll get a social services update. We have a program that is paid for with opiate abatement funds.

Thank you. Ward 7. This wasn't when I was supposed to do it.

okay thank you Ward 8 thank you the Brookhaven 5k run was this weekend which surprisingly starts nowadays it starts in Ward 8 the whole thing is completed in Ward 8 start and finish lines in Ward 8 so I think when you talk to them about movement changing the name because Brookhaven is not in Ward 8 Sorry, Bob. My son ran in it with the Norman North cross-country team, ran into Nathan Maddenwald with the City of Norman on the way there, too. He was running in it and my son smoked him. Sorry, Nathan. then I just got this a little bit ago great news for the city of Norman we were in court today b

and that is it for word eight thank you thank you and i just have a couple things mainly um just seconding mention of art walk this friday in downtown norman uh multiple events and things going on and council members there with uh with booths i'll probably be there as well so i hope to see you all there and make sure you support local businesses while you're out and about then also in regard to storm cleanup so the 9th will mark two months since the cleanup began and city staff just posted a video the other day on the city website and social media page with drone footage of the actual dump sit

Second. Are there any questions or comments from council regarding the consent docket?

And from what I understand, you're not available for the next meeting, and the applicant is not available for the meeting after that.

I will recognize Mr. Crodell for a comment, the applicant, on the postponement motion.

Thank you. Is there any comment on the motion to postpone that anybody would like to make? From the public. If any of you would like to make a comment about the postponement or not.

Okay, we have a motion and a second on the floor to postpone item eight until November 18th. Was there any council, Council Member Bruce?

Thank you. Any other questions, comments from council? Councilor Blodgett.

Okay, any other comment? Councilor Dixon.

Here I go again. It still takes five votes, sometimes six, to pass things. The Northern Public Schools, their 27-28 calendar is out, and it has parent-teacher school nights, or parent-teacher back-to-school nights on the calendar for 27 and 28. um it's typically up to the applicant that when they want to be heard like when they their schedule works out for the council so i'm not in favor of postponing this if it fails it fails if it passes it passes but at some point i just really feel like we need to like we postpone so much stuff and again it's historically been the applicant sets the date l

Thank you. Any other same comment? We already moved on to council questions and comments. Council Member Kirby.

Has it struggled from the get-go? I'm just kind of curious, because I used to work in real estate, and one of our most successful was the senior housing. I mean, we had waiting lists at all times, and if I'm correct, there's about nine different units around Norman, so I just didn't know what's making yours unique.

So they wouldn't generally be here anyway. Okay. Okay.

They're not available in October. The applicant is not available in October. So that would put it for a second reading in a vote of approval or not. Thanksgiving week. On the Tuesday, last, yeah, yeah, the final meeting in November. Council Member Dixon.

Why don't we do the second reading on that November 10th and just do the first reading tonight so that he doesn't have to be here three times. The does that help you at all?

I mean, the first reading is just a notice to the public that we're going to have the second reading to actually vote on it.

I have the city attorney or clerk, one of the two.

So just to clarify that we could do first reading tonight and then postpone the second reading to date certain.

I'd ask Council Member Blodgett to weigh in on that.

so it remains correct all right all right the motion on the floor is to place items 6 through 28 on the consent docket council members you may cast your votes all votes have been cast in the motion to place item 6 through 28 on the consent docket passes unanimously Thank you. The motion on the floor is to approve the consent docket as amended. Council members, you may cast your vote. It's not amended, sorry.

And like I said earlier, item 29 was withdrawn by the applicant. So move on to miscellaneous comments. This is an opportunity for citizens to address city council due to open meetings act regulations. Council is not able to participate in the discussion during miscellaneous comments. Remarks should be directed to the council as a whole and limited to four minutes or less.

I would just ask everybody to please hold your applause. There may be folks that say something you don't like and so just to have the same, same for everybody.

Thank you. The time limit is up, I'm sorry. Thank you, the time limit is up. Yes, but thank you so much for coming and we'll have a, yes, thank you. Thank you.

A lot of you have very fine cursive that this is getting harder and harder. We don't see cursive very much.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else that has not spoken that would like to speak? Mr. Johnson.

All right the final Council comments from anybody. Council members.

I'm sorry, we can't have a conversation back and forth.

Thank you, Council Member Grant. We'll just go.

Just a point of clarity for a fall fest is downtowners will be running it again this year and I believe it will be in October so whenever that information is finalized I will be saying that it will be back in downtown.

I just want to address the de-annexation. I believe that if the civilian or the residents of Ward 5 want to be de-annexed, that's why we have a process of petition. And it shouldn't be for a council member who's not even over that ward to dictate whether that we de-annex the residents of about 3,000 people, as well as the tribe. If people wanted to be de-annexed, they would file a petition like they did in the 70s, and they failed on that one. So I would encourage you to try it again. There's also a website going around for people who would like to sign up and have that conversation. If you wo

Okay. All right. No comment from me. Thank you all for being here and have a safe trip.