City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening and welcome to the city council, Norman Utilities Authority, Norman Municipal Authority, and Norman Tax Increment Finance Authority meeting of April 14, 2026. Madame clerk, will you call the role? Council member Gandisberry here. Council member Peacock here. Council member Bruce here. Council member Grant present. Council member Noire here. Council member Hinkle here.

Council member Blahett here. Council member Dixon here. Mayor Hullman here.

Item one, pledge of allegiance. Please join me for the pledge. administering the oath of office to and seating of council member elect Richard Trey Kirby for ward five. And I recognize Judge Bllock to administer the oath of office to council member elect Richard Trey Kirby for W five. I repeat,

United States. or indirectly. I will not receive indirectly performance. office.

My duties. Did you get the list, the signup sheets? I'll wait till I get her.

You're fine.

All right. A item number two is a resolution of the council of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, extending appreciation to Brandon Noire for serving as W five council member in Norman, Oklahoma. I entertain a motion to adopt or reject the resolution. Motion. Second. The motion on the floor is to adopt the resolution. Council members, you may cast your votes.

All votes have been cast and the motion to adopt the resolution passes unanimously. And I will recognize council member Brandon Noire, Ward Five, to say a few words.

You want to read the resolution? I'll come down there and read this for real quick. You can join me right over here. A resolution of the council of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, extending appreciation to Brandon NoFire for serving as W 5 council member in Norman, Oklahoma. Whereas the strength of a democratic society depends on active citizen participation, particularly at the municipal level closest to the people. And whereas those who serve in municipal office do so out of a deep commitment to their community and accept the responsibility of addressing complex issues and setting public policy for $100 a month in Norman too. Whereas public service requires significant dedication and a thoughtful informed approach to governance. And whereas Brandon Noire served as W five council member from September 9th, 2025 to April 14, 2026. And whereas during his tenure, council member Noire served on the city council oversight committee and the city council community planning and transportation committee and as liaison to the animal welfare oversight committee. And whereas council member NoFire demonstrated a strong commitment to his constituents through communication, transparency, and diligent review of council matters. And whereas during his tenure, through brief, though brief, council member Nofire was an active participant in council discussions, demonstrated a commitment to preserving the rural character of Norman, and consistently work to represent the interest of W 5 residents while supporting the continued progress of the community. Now therefore, it be resolved by the council

of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, that the city council, on behalf of the citizens of Norman, formally extend its gratitude and appreciation to Brandon NoFire for his service to the community as W 5 council member and offers best wishes for continued success in all future endeavors. Pasted and adopted this 14th day of April, 2026. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I'll keep this short and sweet. I just wanted to say thank you to both the selection committee and the counselors that voted me in. I am deeply honored to have been given this opportunity to serve my community and it has been incredibly enlightening and rewarding experience. Being on the city council has taught me so much more than I ever would have thought. It's taught me how much work actually goes on to keep a great city like this running smoothly. It's taught me how much Norman residents truly care about their city by both being knowledgeable on city affairs as well as making very sure their counselor knows their opinions on things. It's also taught me a lot about the residents of Ward 5, what we truly value and what we're willing to fight for. And with that in mind, I cannot state enough about how happy I am that counselor Kirby is the one relieving me on the dice. His lifelong knowledge of the ward and his lifelong knowledge of the ward and truly caring about its problems are what run him the race, allowing me to step away knowing that Ward 5 is in the absolute best hands possible. I appreciate his willingness to step up and run knowing how hard it is to do the job well. We've talked a lot and if anyone thinks what the council does is easy, please by all means run for a seat and give it a shot. As for me though, I'm going to take a step back and put things on cruise control for just a little bit. But if anybody out there needs me for any reason, from advocating for a cause here at city hall to just being an open ear, let me know. I'll be around. Thank you.

All right. Item number three, a resolution of the council of the city of Norman in conjunction with the Norman animal welfare oversight committee awarding the 2026 Norman animal welfare volunteerism award. I entertain a motion to adopt or reject the resolution. Motion second. The motion on the floor is to adopt the resolution. Council members, you may cast your votes. All votes have been cast and the motion to adopt the resolution passes unanimously. Okay. I will recognize Becca Bean and Joe Carter uh to the podium to join me at the podium.

Thank you all uh for this recognition of someone who has been a great mentor and um a great leader in our community. Mark Howry has spent decades serving as Oklahoma wildlife and the community here in Norman. He's the senior wildlife diversity biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and has been with the agency for 33 years, which if you look at him, it just doesn't make sense. He's president of the Cleveland County Ottabon Society, conservation chair of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society, and was a dedicated animal welfare volunteer since the '9s, and was chair of the shelter committee for uh 20 years. Since 2007, he's been co-leader of a weekly Bible study, which um might be the reason why I often ask myself, what would Mark do? But titles don't really capture who Mark is. He's thoughtful, patient, deeply caring, and incredibly generous with his knowledge. He's a teacher, a mentor, and someone who leads by example. Mark was instrumental in getting our shelter to the vote of the people along with Dr. Carter and a few other really key people in our town. Um, and at the committee level, he oversaw all of the details of that shelter. Um, and made sure that the construction was carefully considered every step of the way. Our shelter was set to triple in size, but we needed more funds and more staffing at that time. and Mark navigated some tumultuous times with incredible grace and wisdom. He oversaw the strengthening of our municipal animal protection ordinances as well. I've personally learned so much from Mark's peaceful, steadfast present. He's always ready to lend a laugh uh or to give a hand during one of hands helping paws big events uh or to take extra time to explain any detail about wildlife with any question that you could possibly think of. He has the answer. I would not be the person I am without serving on the animal welfare oversight committee with Mark Howry.

Quite simply, this shelter and this community are better because of Mark. Dr. Carter, good job.

Thank you, Council Mayor. Um, we're here to recognize a great man, a man that's guided this city through um a turbulent time to a better place. And I don't think I I I would like to go back in time and go back to when Mark started and and and remind everyone it's it's of the of what the horror of the Norman Animal Welfare Center was at the time. Uh Council Member Hullman was there. Uh Mayor Rosenthal. Um but this city went through what's called a complete kill two times. That means every single dog was euthanized in that animal shelter, not once, but twice. We didn't have resources. We had a facility that was built in the 70s. And let me tell you what those cages were like. And Mark's the guy that just drugged me down there and made me look at it cuz I'm a horse guy. I'm a large animal guy. And he said, and and so these shelter kennels were built, they were concrete slabs with chainlink fences with no lips. And so during the parvo virus outbreaks of the 2000s, parvo virus is a very severe and debilitating and and deadly disease of dogs that creates vomiting and diarrhea, hemorrhagic diarrhea. So if you're a dog on the top level, those those biologic fluids flu travel down to the next level to the next level precipitating the need for everything to that's a horrible event. That's a horrible event for our staff. It's a horrible bit horrible event for our city. The United States Department of Agriculture came in here and they cited the city of Norman for inhumane treatment of animals. Only city in Oklahoma to have that done. That precipitated this man to take action right there. That guy. And he has

been a steady, quiet leader through the entire process. He went to this commission to you, the city council. And what you guys did is you stepped up and you funded a study, the Teva study. Remember it, Mark? He hired and Mark did that research with Sonda Rose. Sandre Rose at the time, bless her heart, she's not with us anymore. and they went and they got the most knowledgeable animal welfare design firm in the country to come in here and analyze what we had, give us recommendations for what we needed. And then Mark spearheaded a group of citizens along with the help of Steven was right with it. And uh and we passed a bond issue to build a new animal shelter. And let me tell you what you have today. You don't have just a good animal shelter. You have an animal shelter that is now the best in Oklahoma. Our kill rates, euthanasia rates lowest in the country. Our adoption rates highest in the country. It's a it's a piece. It's a marvel. It's just it's just a piece of art. And I believe us as people, us as a city, us as a state, as a country, as a civilization, we're judged by how we care for the things that are the most vulnerable, the children, the old people, people that are sick, and the animals. And you can be proud of what this city is today. And there's one person that has guided it for the last for decades, Mark Cowie. Thank you so much.

if you'd like to join me over here. Mark.

A resolution of the Council of the City of Norman, Oklahoma, in conjunction with the Norman Animal Welfare Oversight Committee, awarding the 2026 Norman Animal Welfare Volunteerism Award. Whereas the Norman Animal Welfare Oversight Committee seeks to promote pet adoption, education, citizen involvement, and volunteer services for the Norman animal w Nor Norman Animal Shelter and ensure all animals adopted at the Norman animal shelter are spayed and neutered. And whereas that program instituted for the care of the animals involves citizens and coordination with other outside agencies in an effort to maximize adoption of the animals at the Norman animal welfare. And whereas the Norman animal shelter includes in its mission the involvement of citizens as partners to the caring of the animals when they are in the city facility. And whereas the city of Norman entrusts the Norman animal welfare oversight committee with the duties of providing advice to the city on issues involving the care of animals and citizen involvement. And whereas on May 23rd, 2016, the animal welfare oversight committee unanimously approved to establish the Norman Animal Welfare Volunteerism Award and named Erica Loftess as the inaugural recipient. Now therefore, it be resolved by the council of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, that the city of Norman, Oklahoma, in conjunction with the Norman Animal Welfare Oversight Committee, does hereby award the 2026 Norman Animal Welfare Volunteerism Award to Mark Howry. Passed and adopted this 14th day of April, 2026. There we go.

Thank you.

Well, thank you very I want to say thank you to the animal welfare oversight committee. I want to say thank you to city council. Uh I can't even begin to top what the eloquent words of Becca and Joe. Uh but I can assure you that I am just a tiny piece of a much bigger system. Uh and I think you my role in this is is very small, much smaller than they said. Uh, but I'm joined by a lot of volunteers. But one thing I will what I want to iterate that Joe said is that we we do have I think the best shelter in the state of Oklahoma and one of the best in the country. And it has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. And it's something that I'm proud of. I think every citizen in Norman can be proud of it. I think you all can be proud of it. And I want to say that even 30 years ago, we talked about the shelter being an old dilapidated building, but there were incredible staff working down there that were very compassionate. They just didn't have a lot of support. Uh, and I've been I've been witness to 30 years of growing support by both the community and the city leadership uh in getting funding and staffing and a new building down there. And it's really just been a sea change. just been a gradual sea change but especially uh in that period from about 2012 to 2017 just tremendous change but a lot of people have been involved in it. I'm just a very tiny piece of that and I can assure you of that. Uh anyway I'm very proud of our shelter. I'm very proud of the shelter staff and I'm very proud of all the volunteers that are down there. So this this ward really goes should be out to many many people and not not be. Anyway, thank you all so much.

Thank you. All right. Items four through eight will be acknowledged with one vote. Item number four, a proclamation proclaiming the week of April 2nd or April 12th through 18th, 2026 as National Community Development Week in the city of Norman. Uh, item five, a proclamation proclaiming the month of April 2026 as fair housing month in the city of Norman. Item six, a proclamation proclaiming the month of April 2026 as child abuse prevention month in the city of Norman. Item seven, a proclamation proclaiming the month of April 2026 as ArabAmerican Heritage Month in the city of Norman. Item number eight, a proclamation proclaiming Saturday, April 25th, 2026 as Norman Music Festival Day in the city of Norman. I entertain a motion to acknowledge receipt of the proclamations for items 4 through eight.

Motion second. Motion on the floor is to acknowledge receipt of the proclamations for items four through eight. Council members, you may cast your votes. All vote all votes have been cast and the motion to acknowledge receipt of the proclamations for items four through eight passes unanimously.

Will Jory Welch andor Lee Hall join me at the podium, please? A proclamation of the mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, proclaiming the week of April 12th through 18th, 2026 as National Community Development Week in the city of Norman. Whereas the week of April 12th through 18th, 2026 has been designated as National Community Development Week to celebrate the community development block grant and home investment partnership programs. And whereas the CDBG and home programs provide annual funding and flexibility to local communities to provide decent, safe, and affordable housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities to low and moderate income people. And whereas over the past five years, our community has received a total of $4,712 and 712761 in CDBG and 2,100189 of home investment partnership funds and has funded a variety of projects that have directly benefit benefited our citizens and neighborhoods. And whereas the CDBG and home programs are a versatile funding source that helps us revitalize our neighborhoods and improve our citizens lives locally. Every $1 of these funding sources sources leverages $4 in additional private investment. Countless projects within Norman would not have been possible without these federal investments. Now therefore, be it resolved that the city of Norman designates the week of April 12th

through 18th, 2026 as National Community Development Week in support of these valuable programs that has made tremendous contributions to the viability of the housing stock, infrastructure, public services, and the economic well-being of our community. Please join me in celebrating the successes of these programs and their impact on our community during the 2026 National Community Development Week passed and approved this 14th day of April, 2026. Would you like to All right. Would Mary Dulan, Metropolitan Fair Housing Council, like to join me at the podium? A proclamation of the mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, proclaiming the month of April 2026 as fair housing month in the city of Norman. Whereas fair fair housing is the law of the state of Oklahoma and is consistent with the principle of equality and justice for all. Whereas the freedom to choose a dwelling has been one held precious in America through the centuries. And whereas equal housing opportunity is a right guaranteed to all Americans under title I can't read the room eight. Okay. Wait a minute. I should have brushed up on that one. Of the 1968 Civil Rights Act. And whereas April 2026 marks the 58th anniversary of the federal fair

housing law also known as title 8 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Whereas the month of April symbolizes a significant milestone for all Americans to rededicate themselves to this country and the state of Oklahoma's underlying premise that all citizens be guaranteed freedom of choice and the state publicly reaffirms its public policy to eliminate all vestigages vest vestigages of housing discrimination wherever they exist. And whereas Oklahoma's housing industry and governmental entities are united in the common goal of providing safe and sanitary housing for all without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or handicap, or familial status. Now, therefore, I, mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as Fair Housing Month passed and approve this 14th day of April, 2026. mayor and council members. I would like to recognize members of our staff who came tonight through the storm and the tornado. Uh we have uh is Miss Kathy still here? Okay. She is our office manager. Ana Paredes. She is our staff attorney and legal program director. Lorena Machado has been with us 31 years. She started with us when she was three

and she is our money's person finance manager. I will tell you

what Ruth Hill, where are you? Little Ruthie, she's our fair housing specialist and outreach coordinator. I'm a little befuddled because when we got in the door, Lisa Craig gut punched me. She said she's retiring. We're not going for that. No, I'm just saying Lisa changed the trae trajectory of fair housing services in this town. L Norman always partnered with Metro Fair Housing. A lot of the partnership was in name only. Lisa made it bear fruit. We respond to allegations of housing discrimination, evictions. We partner with landlords and tenants to conduct training. We want to prevent homelessness evictions. Thanks to Lisa's diligence, she has kept us going when federal dollars work. They're coming, but they'll be here soon. Lisa made sure we could keep our lights on and pay our phone bill. And for that, we will be always thankful for the town of Norman. Thank you so much. Okay. Would Rebecca Craig, development director for Mary Abbott House, join me at the podium, please?

Okay. a proclamation of the mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, proclaiming the month of April 2026 as child abuse prevention month in the city of Norman. Whereas the month of April has been declared National Child Abuse Prevention Month in our country. And whereas communities must make every effort to report victims of child abuse or neglect. And whereas in 2024, Cleveland County reported 830 victims of child abuse or neglect. And whereas the city of Norman is invested in prevention and advocacy through individuals, businesses, schools, volunteer efforts, faith-based, and community organizations. And whereas making children a top priority in taking action to support the physical, social, emotional, and educational development and competency for all children. And whereas the Norman community provides children's services on abuse and neglect experiences and are united in promoting advocacy for children. Now therefore, I, mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as child abuse prevention month in the city of Norman, and urge all citizens to dedicate ourselves to the task of improving the quality of life for all children and families and to recognize that prevention starts with each of us. pass and approve this 14th day of April, 2026. like to say a few words.

Good evening, mayor and council members. Thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight for your leadership and recognizing the importance of child abuse prevention and awareness in our community. Child abuse prevention is not someone else's responsibility. It belongs to all of us. It's about creating a community where every child is safe. Not just in theory, but in reality. And right now, we know that is not the reality for every child. Last year in Cleveland County, there were 813 confirmed cases of child abuse. 813 children whose experiences were serious enough to be investigated and confirmed. And we know that number is not the full picture. It doesn't include the cases that were not reported, the children who never told, the situations that went unseen, the children literally suffering as we speak here tonight, living in trauma, waiting for their terrors to end. That number should stop us and it should move us because behind every one of those cases is a child who needed someone to notice, to step in, and to protect them. But if you look around this room tonight, you'll see something powerful. You will see people who are doing that work every single day. Representatives from child serving agencies across our community are here. Law enforcement, educators, healthc care providers, advocates, and nonprofit organizations all playing a critical role in protecting children. And that's what prevention looks like. It's collaboration. It's communication. It's people from different systems choosing to work together instead of in silos. At Abbott House, alongside these partners, we see what's possible when that collaboration works, when professionals trust each other, when information is shared, and we keep children at the center of every decision. Prevention is not just a concept, it's action. It's supporting families before they reach a breaking point. It's educating our community to recognize signs and to report and make sure help is accessible before harm occurs. Most importantly,

it's building a culture where protecting children is not optional. It's expected. Tonight's proclamation matters because it sends a clear message that this community sees this issue, takes it seriously, and is committed to doing something about it. But the real impact comes from what happens after tonight. I implore you to make tonight more than a gesture. Speak with me or any of my incredible colleagues here on how you can be involved and actually act on this support. from the continued partnerships in this room, the collaboration we strengthen, from the willingness to step in when something isn't right, because every child in this community deserves to grow up safe, supported, and believed. Thank you for your time tonight, your attention, and your support of victims and survivors. All right, let's next one is would Dr. Summer Shiada and Colin Mackey, I hope that I got that correct, uh, associate professor of Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma.

Thank you. a proclamation of the mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, proclaiming the month of April 2026 as National ArabAmerican Heritage Month in the city of Norman. Whereas National American Heritage Month has been observed as recent as April 2021 and we are proud to recognize the many contributions of our ArabAmerican citizens that enrich our community, state, and country. And whereas the initiative for the official national designation began in 2017 by the ArabAmerican Foundation and we celebrate this example of hard work, persistence and resilience to see such a meaningful mission gain momentum and ultimately be recognized by the President of the United States in April 2021 along with the US Department of State, members of Congress and 37 governors. Whereas we recognize the America ArabAmerican community exemplifies the values of hard work, resilience, family, entrepreneurship, compassion, and generosity. And whereas we acknowledge the efforts of the American ArabAmerican community com to combat harmful stereotypes, prejudices, ignorance, invisibility, and discrimination. And whereas the ArabAmerican community contributes to our diverse society through faith, culture, traditions, and community engagement. Now, therefore, I, mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as National ArabAmerican Heritage Month in the city of Norman, and invite all citizens to join me in celebrating the diversity and character of our community. Passed and approved this 14th day of April, 2026.

Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, council members. I'm delighted to participate in the city of Norman's proclamation of ArabAmerican Heritage Month, a time to recognize the rich history, culture, and contributions of Arabameans in the United States. Arabameans numbering at least 3.7 million are incredibly diverse and hail from all of the 25 countries where Arabic is the official or co-official language. from Moritania and Morocco in northeast Africa bordering the Atlantic Ocean to Palestine, Lebanon and Syria and Southwest Asia to Oman and Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula and to Somalia, Djibouti and Aritria in East Africa on the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Arabameans have come to this continent over hundreds of years with the first documented Arab arriving on these shores in either 1527 or 1528. I'm an academic so precision is important. As an Arabic speakaking slave who spoke several languages and acted as an interpreter accompanying a Spanish expedition intending to establish a colony in Florida. It's even believed that Mustafa Azamorei, the Moroccan in question, traveled close to here through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, eventually reaching Mexico. Like many other immigrants, Arab Americans came to this country in larger numbers beginning in the second half of the 19th century, particularly from what is today Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine, and some even settled in Oklahoma well before statehood. I'm sure some of you have been seen by ArabAmerican doctors on the OU Health Science Medical campus in Oklahoma City and have eaten delicious meals at ArabAmerican restaurants here in Norman. Since then, of course, Arabs have come to the US and

become Americans from across the Arab region from Morocco to Egypt, Yemen to Iraq, and other parts of the Arab world. Arabameans are incredibly diverse culturally, linguistically, professionally, and religiously with large Christian and Muslim populations including Protestants and Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Marinite populations, um, and Coptic Christians and Sunni and Shia Muslims and Jews and others, as well as secular and non-religious Arab Americans. And like other immigrant communities, ArabAmericans came to this country with the hope of establishing better lives for themselves and their families through economic and educational opportunities, hard work, safety and security, and the religious and political freedoms the US offered, including human rights and the rule of law, which is unfortunately not found in many parts of the world, including unfortunately much of the Arab world. To say it hasn't always been easy for ArabAmericans would be an understatement. Like other groups, ArabAmericans have faced challenges, prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination, particularly in moments of geopolitical conflict. And it has been especially difficult for this community and many other people of good conscience to witness US involvement in war, violence, and profound injustice in the Arab world. whether in Iraq more than a decade ago or in Palestine and Lebanon today or in the wider Middle East, including in Iran. But the city of Norman's recognition of ArabAmerican Heritage Month is an opportunity to confront these challenges and reaffirm core American principles. that we are largely

a nation of immigrants, that diversity is a strength, not a weakness, and that all people are deserving of basic fairness, respect, and human dignity. And I thank you again, Mr. Mayor, and all council members. Thank you. All right. Will Sherry Jackson join me here at the podium with the Normal Music Festival.

A proclamation of the mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, proclaiming Saturday, April 25th, 2026 as Norman Music Festival Day in the city of Norman. Whereas the city of Norman is a vibrant and welcoming community known for its high quality of life, creative spirit, and commitment to celebrating diversity, the arts, and cultural experiences. And whereas Norman continues to distinguish itself as a hub where music, art, education, and community engagement thrive together, enriching the lives of residents and visitors alike. And whereas the city's ongoing downtown revitalization efforts have strengthened Norman as a destination, supporting local businesses and creating a dynamic space for community events and cultural gatherings. And whereas the city of Norman proudly holds the distinction of being recognized as a city of festivals within the state of Oklahoma. And whereas Norman was the first city in Oklahoma to host a free all ages independent music festival, setting the stage for a long-standing tradition of accessible, inclusive, and highquality live music experiences. And whereas the Norman Music Festival has grown into one of the region's premier cultural events, showcasing local, regional, and national artists while fostering community pride, tourism, and economic vitality. And whereas the music festival will be held in downtown Norman from Thursday, April 23rd through Saturday, April 25th. Now therefore, I, mayor of the city of Norman, Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim Saturday, April 25th, 2026, as Norman Music Festival Day in the city of Norman, and urge all citizens of Norman to consider attending this festival with friends and family and help grow the tourism and economy in the city of Norman. passed and approved this 14th day of April, 2026.

Pause for

please. Mr. Mayor, council, thank you all so very much. Um, I don't know how many of you have been to Norman Music Festival, but consider this your personal invitation if you haven't attended. We are so very proud of this crazy thing that we have somehow built. In 2007, a group of people kind of guided by the Norman Arts Council, including music lovers and people like Quinton Bumgardner, who's one of our founders, and Jonathan Fowler and Andy and Mary and Nunees from the several other community members got together and wondered if they could talk the city into letting them shut down a block of Main Street and pop a stage in the middle and put some bands on it. They did that in April of 2008 and 13,000 people showed up and then they thought,"Well, maybe we should do that again." Uh, and here we are 18 years later and we are uh among the top 10 largest free music festivals in the country. Uh, we have a three and a half million dollar economic impact benefiting mostly our locallyowned businesses. We have more than 55,000 unique visitors to our festival every year from over 30 states. We platform 250 bands on four outdoor stages with a dozen indoor venues. Um have a incredible kids fest, have vendors and food trucks, and it's all set in this beautiful downtown district that we hope we had a hand in helping set a vibe for and incentivize growth in. uh and perhaps also its designation as a cultural district in the state of Oklahoma and there are only a handful of those and one of those is our very own downtown. Uh, I was doing an interview today for

the festival and I was asked, "What do you wish most people knew about the festival that you don't think they know?" And what I think I would want you all to know is that this is a community-driven, communitybuilt festival. Almost everybody, no, everybody except me is a volunteer. I'm the only employee and I'm only paid part-time. Uh everything else is donated, given. This is one of the most pure examples of that old story of stone soup. If you all know that story where if you all pitch in a little, everybody's got enough. This is what Norman Music Festival is. And it happens every year on a shoestring budget with a duct tape, a lot of hugs, some hope, and nachos from Pepe Delgato. And we make it work. Um and I do I encourage you all to come. We have extraordinary musicians and really great partnerships now with the Oklahoma Film and Music Office who agree with us that the discussion about how to grow and incentivize the music economy in our state belongs right here at NMF. We have creatives, we have half of our headliners this year, Oklahoma bands because I couldn't have picked an outofstate band that would have done any better or that was any bigger. I have several artists that are coming off of their headlining national tours that are from Oklahoma and coming back to play here. Uh we do really great work in the music industry with music of all genres and we want to be a part of help creating a music economy and a music hub that keeps them here and keeps their creativity here, their business, their industry and keeps this festival going for a really long time. Um, thank you all so very much for the recognition and I hope to see you all next weekend. NMF forever. All right. Thanks.

One, I just have a couple um, look at the agenda and I just want to thank and congratulate Carla Atinson for her three-year appointment to the Animal Welfare Oversight Committee. Want to give a huge shout out to principal over in Ward One, Amber Bowie, for being the principal of the year for the Norman public school system. And also I want to give a huge shout out to every single nonprofit that is in Norman. Tell them that they're very very thankful for them and that I really really appreciate each and every single one of them for what they've done and what they do for our town.

Thank you. W two. Thank you. Uh just real quickly want to congratulate congratulate Council Member Kirby on his victory in his election. Uh welcome him to the team. I know you got your work cut out for you, but I know you bring a pretty great and varied skill set that we desperately need up here. So, uh welcome. Good luck. And then also just want to say, uh what just was mentioned by Miss Sher Jackson, favorite weekend of the year coming up, Norman Musicfest. Uh so get out there and support all your local businesses and see all these great talent that is coming to Norman. Thank you. Thank you, W three.

Uh, welcome, Council Member Kirby. Looking forward to work with you. Um, good evening, Norman and W three. I appreciate all the calls and all invitations for the different events and all the discussions. Please keep it up. I enjoy it and I love to talk. I appreciate it. Thank you. W four.

Yes. Good evening, Ward Four and City of Norman. First, I just want to thank uh our voters for passing those five propositions. Generally, there are variety of opinions up here and we put these questions together. We're consulting with different communities. Um the highlight for me was the homeless shelter. We've been working on that for years and I'm so proud of my community that we got that over the line. Um next, I do want to talk about Norman Music Festival. I would be remiss we don't have another full council meeting where I get to talk about it until after. Um I want to highlight that Love Works will be the site of an industry expo and you're going to hear from Keely and Walrus which are uh pedal producers. Um so I would encourage any artists especially musicians to check that out and get connected to the uh different companies in our area and then get in on that industry discussion and further your careers. Um, also I love Norman Musicfest and I've worked it. Um, I'll be working again with Opouls, but I I really encourage everybody if you didn't get out for Second Friday Art Walk last Friday. Um, go check out the U MFA exhibition, I really want to highlight Katherine Gaff. She has an installation and just for the record, they are only showing from April 10th to April 17th, so you have till this Friday. Um, a lot of work went into that. Her installation is multi. It has many rooms. There's earth work in there. There's ceramics. There's a lot. And so when you walk in and see what these uh students put together, you will see how much work went into it. I've installed shows before for ArtWalk. And generally, they get to stay up for at least a month. And this is only a week. So if you're in downtown having lunch this week, go stop by main site. Thank you.

Thank you. Ward five. I would like to take the time to thank my wife, family, kids, all the people in W five and around the community that supported me in this election. Um, want to make sure that everybody knows whether you voted for me or not, I'm here to represent you. My phone number is very public. All you have to do is reach out and I will do my best to help um, represent this word the best I can. And I appreciate everybody with the kind words here on council um, taking the time to congratulate me. Thank you. W six, no announcements. Ward seven.

Uh, thank you. Um, I have one. Um, first I would like to congratulate W five councilman uh, Troy Kirby. And, um, but I also wanted to um, remind you on Sunday, April 26 from 12 uh to 5 at Reeves Park is the Earth Day Festival. So, um, make sure you come on out to that. And that's all I have. Thank you. Ward eight. Uh just want to extend congratulations to uh Council Member Kirby. Um glad to have you on board. Um everybody up here is more than willing to help you out if you have any questions about uh restrooms, uh secret rooms that that don't exist. Um

safes, anything like that. Congrats. Uh and congrats to uh Council Member Noire. Um he did a great job. Um put the time in, did the work. Um, and I'll just end with it's great seeing all the blue up here um in support of child abuse awareness month for April. Um, that's fun to see. And that's it for W 8.

Thank you. Um, just a couple things for me. Just wanted to thank all the organizers of the Medieval Fair and everybody that was able to get out there this weekend. Um, didn't get rained out like we've seen the past couple or a couple times in the last few years. So, it's great to see that. that continues to be, from my understanding, our largest single event in Norman. It brings in more people than any single game day and any other single event that we have. So, uh it's still one of the largest uh Renaissance festivals in the entire United States. So, always exciting when they're able to pull it off and especially with the Jenkins construction that we have going on. That was their big concern, but I think it went went off all right. And um and then also wanted to encourage everybody to attend Norman Music Festival um and Earth Fest, which is the Sunday after Norman Musicfest. So, it's a full weekend of festivals in Norman. Um as I've mentioned many times before, uh downtown Norman was not um not an active place. When I was growing up in Norman, it was uh pretty dead. There were not really any events going on. There was no art walk. There was no Norman Music Festival. And so having an event where Main Street is closed off and there's tens of thousands of people uh crammed in between all the buildings and there's stages going on in the alleyways and so much activity like that is really just something I could have only dreamed of as a kid. And so every year I'm just so thankful that we're able to pull it off and that people like Sherry and uh all the other people that volunteer to pull it off, they really do it with a shoestring budget. They get 10,000 from the city of Norman and rest of it is through sponsorships through uh having a family local family like the Fowlers who are very generous um uh in contributions but it is really put on with a shoestring every year and it's really not guaranteed every year. They they really make it happen and it's it's kind of magic. So I encourage everybody to

please go support that. Go support all the local businesses on Main Street and Grey Street and everywhere else downtown. um uh next weekend and every weekend. Um and then also this weekend with the spring game, uh want to encourage everybody to uh have a good time and hopefully the weather holds out and um you know uh kind of get a good glimpse of what the fall might have to hold and and just another big event for us to have in Norman that's really exciting and I'm glad that they're bringing back the spring game this year and it's not the uh Crimson Combine thing last year. Um, so anyway, excited for that. And then also wanted to extend a welcome to Council Member Kirby and appreciate him uh running for that position. I apprec appreciate Diana Hutzel for running for that spot. Ward five is um every seat up here has its own difficulties, but Ward Five is especially challenging given the geographic size of it being nearly 150 square miles um and being mostly rural and having a large lake in it in the middle of it and um all sorts of issues like that um that could be a challenge for someone to represent on the council. So, I appreciate anybody that's willing to put their name in there and I'm excited to welcome Trey to the council. And then lastly, again, just wanted to also thank the voters of Norman. Um, all of you that did show up. Um, that's all we can do anything about. We can't do anything about the folks who decided not to show up. It took me less than 10 minutes to cast a vote uh last Tuesday. I walked right in, filled it out, put it in, talked to the pole workers for a couple minutes, and then left. It was so quick and easy to do. Um, there were signs all over town, and I don't know how many mailers went out to people. um many of us were all talking about it on social media or during um listen and learn meetings. And so I'm not really sure what else could be done to get that out to folks who might think they didn't

know about it. Um and so I would just encourage uh anybody who feels like they didn't know to uh sign up for alerts through the city of Norman website. Um uh the Cleveland County election board, there's alerts. You can get emails and notifications about upcoming elections, sample ballots, all that stuff. And so there really in my opinion isn't isn't really a good excuse to not participate in local elections. And I know the turnout could always be better, but um we had a over 20% turnout of registered voters and that was more than 10% higher than the voter turnout that they saw in Moore uh for the same for a citywide election they had last Tuesday and about 8% higher than the um citywide elections they had in Broken Arrow last Tuesday as well. So, we had a higher than normal turnout, but it could always be better, of course. But again, we can only count who those who decide to show up. And so, I appreciate everybody who did take the time and thought about those five issues and the W five election and uh took that time to cast your vote and didn't let somebody else decide for you. So, I'm looking forward to our community taking further steps forward um and trying to improve things and and do right by everybody. So with that, we'll move on to the consent docket. And this item is placed on the agenda so that the city council by unanimous consent can designate those routine agenda items if they wish to be approved or acknowledged by one motion. If any item proposed does not meet with approval of all council members, that item will be heard in regular order. Staff recommends that item 9 through 28 be placed on the consent docket. I'll entertain a motion to place items 9 through 28 on the consent docket. Motion

second. The motion on the floor is to place items 9 through 28 on the consent docket. Council members, you may cast your votes.

All votes have been cast and the motion to place items 9 through 28 on the consent docket passes unanimously. I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent docket. Motion. Second. Are there any comments from council regarding any item on the consent docket? Seeing none, the motion on the floor is to approve the consent docket. Council members, you may cast your votes.

All votes have been cast and the motion to approve the consent docket passes unanimously. Right on to the non-consent docket. Item number 29, an ordinance upon second and final reading reszoning property generally located at the Noun Hotel at 542 and 534 South Boulevard from a CCPUD center city planned unit development and place same in a center city PUD center city planned unit development. I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on second reading section by section. Motion second. Is there a representative of the applicant to make a presentation? We have Mr. Riger.

Thank you, mayor and council members. Sean Rigger representing the applicant in this case. And with me, Scott Lambert of the Noun Hotel, Libby Smith, my office, Cara Shimus Hall with the architecture group, and Muhammad Khan with us as the civil engineer. So, it's great to be here tonight. Uh, Mayor Hullman, I don't know if you remember this uh from almost six years ago, but we were not here. We were on Zoom. We were on Zoom to do this item when it passed the first time because of COVID. So, it was COVID and we thought, let's open a hotel, right?

Well, to Scott Lambert's great credit, he has built an incredible hotel on University Avenue and the threshold of CO opening that hotel was no small venture. Uh we were on Zoom, but this chamber was full of people who would go into the next room and speak into a Zoom camera that that city clerk's office had set up in there for protesters to come and speak. And that's how it was handled that night. And uh Scott was here with all those protesters. And to your great credit as a council, uh you passed this item after about an 18month journey to work through the zoning on this item at that time. and uh ward for council member Lee Hall was here at the time and helped us through that journey. But what Scott has done has been nothing short of remarkable in developing this hotel into really a great success in the campus corner area. And so we're here tonight. It's been such a success that it's time to expand it responsibly. And that's what we're here for tonight is to ask you for an expansion. This comes to you with unanimous planning commission approval. I'll take you through it pretty quickly. Um, we appreciate Council Member Grant's uh efforts here. He's she's helped us significantly and through this project in working to make it better and better and we'll have a friendly amendment we're going to ask her for later with just one tiny little caveat that has come up since the planning commission. So, the Noun Hotel, I'm sure you all are very aware of it. I hope you've been there. The location is University Boulevard just north of White Street on the west side of university. uh it is in the center city form base code area and so it's a CCPUD instead of a PUD is how we handle these originally was a CCPUD we're just simply expanding that C CCPUD and basically editing it a little bit to incorporate a property that was always part of the project it meets the land use category I'll skip right through this I'm going to move pretty quickly uh the arrow view is

mostly south of it the property is right there as you see in the yellow area campus this corner just to the south uh east of it. This was the original approved site plan. This is a slide from that time almost six years ago. And what you need to look at is the upper right where you see all that green. That was a house that was uh bought at the time by the noun hotel. It was basically envisioned as a time as perhaps the thrift store for the Presbyterian church could move over there. Wasn't really sure what that would have happened at that time. that has not transpired and instead the hotel has has simply boomed since that time. So, it's time to expand the hotel to the north onto the property that it owns. And uh this is a CCPUD amendment to basically amend the site plan and amend the location of this expansion is no change to the AIM land use designation. That's important. We meet AIM and entire entirely and uh we're simply expanding to the north. I'll take you through it quickly here. The ground story is ballroom and event space. The upper three stories are 54 new additional guest rooms. So, it is a fourstory hotel and it matches the height of the existing hotel. We're not going any higher, not doing anything different. I'm going to show you imagery here that uh will basically match the existing building in large detail. I can read a lot of staff report uh excerpts here for you, but I won't do that. I won't waste your time. You have them in your packet. basically staff gave us significant uh praise I think is fair to say through this project and uh supports it in in great fashion. Uh that's the detail of the site basically on the floor plate. Um you see that basically about 10 ft separation on the north side about 17 ft on the back side with low impact rainwater uh collection and development. And so uh Mohamd Khan who who did a great job on the original project has steered this one as well. It's going to move real quick to make

sure we uh can get you into a shorter night hopefully with the weather, but we are asking for a friendly amendment. We were at planning commission. This was unanimously approved at planning commission and they heard an argument of protest. I want you to be aware of that and they still unanimously approved this item because they found that it it had merit. But we do have one a couple of changes that we're going to ask for a friendly amendment on tonight. One is there was some confusion as to a dumpster for the existing thrift store. we just want to eliminate that confusion. And so we took out the dumpster and so the proposed friendly amendment removes the dumpster in that graphic as part of the pud. And also we're adding in and we thank council member Grant for this. We're adding in that the voluntary neighborhood association to the to the west of this can meet at this facility and that's an allowable use and cost Scott would host them at the at the hotel when they want to meet there. So, we're asking for a friendly amendment that uh we ask for you to put into the project tonight. And we have a redline pud that we would then provide to the city clerk's office that that specifically meets that. Just so you see the ground floor plan, it's an additional ballroom on the upper right you see there that faces University Avenue with sort of front porch space outside of that ballroom meets the the the uh street just as the the remainder of that noun hotel does. and then story space off the back on the west side of it and restrooms and support spaces elsewhere. This is the upper stories. Important to note that none of the windows will look west. None at all. The windows will look north and south. So, we're not having views down into the neighborhood from this expanded hotel, just to the north and south. And that is the site plan in context. Again, you can see sort of the maroon shape is the expanded hotel. No windows looking to the west or the left, only windows looking out to the north and the exact same height as it is in the hotel on the south. No traffic issues. Uh staff found

that it met the traffic issues and and everything in that regard. The landscaping will be an extension from the landscaping from the south. We're going to do the exact same thing that we have in the existing hotel. We're just going to carry that on to the north. I'm moving real quick now. Perimeter treatment. We're going to do the same thing. This was something six years ago that was discussed in great detail. Uh I don't think I've ever done a slide of that intense of a graphic on fencing, but we did then and Scott built it exactly as we said we would build it. And we're doing the same thing here, extending the exact same kind of type of fencing around on the back side of this project and a another fence on the north side of it. This is the imagery of what it will look like. I'm sorry it doesn't come through very well on that screen, but uh on the upper drawing you see the two bays on the right side. So four verticals of windows. That's the expansion. So the expansion is the sort of four verticals of windows. On the lower right, we're looking south on University Avenue. So we're looking at the expanded part of the building on the on the right side of that. And then on the lower left, it doesn't show up very well on that graphic, but on the left side of that is the expanded building. We actually went through quite a bit of work on this to uh enhance that wall. There's you can't see it very well, but we're showing windows there. Those are not real windows. It's just looks like windows. Um but they are not real windows. There are no views out. But in working with the neighborhood and Council Member Grant, we wanted to make sure we sort of enhanced that facade so that it adds some elegance to it. And that's what was done since the plan commission. There was a protest. Uh again, I just want to note that it is a smaller protest than it was six years ago. Mayor, you probably remember that it was a large protest. This time it was much smaller. And again, at Pine Commission, they unanimously approved. Just want to highlight economic impact. Uh it's huge

from the N hotel. Uh and we're proud to say that we've we've uh I think mostly met of just about everything we projected. Uh, I won't go through the specifics, but if you add all of this up, property tax, hotel occupancy tax, sales tax, and mix m mixed beverage tax, you're at over a million and a half a year from this project. Uh, pretty remarkable what Scott has done in this location. And it really is, I do want to spend a little bit of time on this one to give these great folks their due. Uh, incredibly award-winning project. Uh it's pretty rare that that we could stand here and show you this many awards. Uh I practice architecture about for a few years and that's not easy to do. That is not easy to do. But this this team did it. Kishim Kasal and Mohammed Khan. Uh they they won two AIA American AR architects American Institute of Architects awards for interior design, the exterior landscape architects awards, interior design awards and the associated general contractors awarded this project. It was a long list of awards ULI I believe also you see it on the left the large scale development project. Uh and we are simply continuing that design method on this expansion. So, it will, as you saw in the imagery, it will look essentially the same as an expanded project. I know Scott's very proud of this. He should be. Uh, just this past year, they were awarded as the number one best hotel in the state of Oklahoma by US News. That's remarkable. Right here, right down the street in Norman, Oklahoma, they won the number one best hotel in Oklahoma. And I remember, you may not remember this, mayor, but about six years ago, it was important that Scott told me when he first came to me, I remember he said he wanted to become a pillar of the community. That was important to him, and I think he's done that. I think he's become a pillar of the community, particularly in the campus corner area, and it's really remarkable what he's

accomplished there. So, with that, I'll be that brief. Uh, we would request the friendly amendment, and this comes to you with unanimous approval from the Norman uh Planning Commission. Thank you very much. Thank you. Are there any questions from council regarding this item? And I saw Council Grant.

I just wanted to speak to the storm water in the back a little bit. So, it'll be a rain garden. Uh can you just expand on that a little? And um there will be trees in the back as well. There will council me. I'm gonna ask Mohamd Khan who uh is always real good about describing his work. It's his work. So I don't want to comment on it. He does an incredible job. He did an incredible storm water system on this project. If you want to see a a first class storm water project, go look at the noun hotel and Muhammad Khan's work. But Muhammad, why don't you describe to him how the back end?

Uh good evening Mohammed Khan with SMC consulting 850 investment main 73106. Appreciate Sean. Uh so in addition to what was built in phase one, in phase one we had the underground detention system, we had oil water separators, we have sediment filters which is hard to see because all areas covered with parking but all the elements are below paving and the purpose was it to collect runoff in storm event filter it through the sediment filters and carry to the detention pond. Well, I say pond, it's an underground detention system and then make sure that the release is lesser than the historic flow what was happening before that. And when we were at the planning commission meeting and we heard that the residents uh who live on the Elma Street which is on the west side of the sub uh they observe lesser in the storm water in their backyard and that goes toward the storm water design we did in phase one there and then ultimately that the storm water flows toward the storm system of Unity Boulevard there. Uh the islands you see looks like normal landscape island but they actually have a filtration system below the grass area there and the filtration system allows to catch the overland flow sediment and everything and then allow the filtered water to go through the detention system. So we carrying the same philosophy in this phase two here and the purpose of it is to collect the overland flow any storm water from the roof and from grass area

run it through the rainwater system there. Basically these uh rainwater system is a elongated sediment filter and it has a permeable media to trap the overland sediment as well as the type of soil which reacts with the nitrates. As you know that your lake Thunderbird has some nitrogen or phosphorus issue and nitrates is a main culprit on it which uh creates the growth of yellow algae. Our idea is to treat that nitrates before it gets into the city storm sewer system. So hopefully what we designing and what you have observed will eliminate any adverse impact to the adjacent properties and improve the storm water quality whatever will be released from this side. Happy to answer any questions. Oh, no. That was a great overview of it. And I've been, uh, I feel like my vision's been myopic on this one. So, um, but I just wanted to highlight that that's always something where community asks about our trees, storm water impacts on the surrounding community. So, I appreciate that explanation.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. Council member Kirby, I just had a question about the parking with the new addition. Is it still going to have sufficient parking? And have you had any complaints? uh at all but any of the residents since you built it uh parking issues.

Yeah, it will stay the same and we have not had any questions. That came up in pre-development. It was discussed uh as you'll learn, council member Kirby, pre-development is the first meeting we have with neighbors and that really never came up as an issue that I've heard at all through the process and and Scott does a good job of of managing the parking. So, it will be the same system and uh we haven't had any issues with that to our knowledge. Any other questions? Okay. All right. Let me see. Okay. Yeah. All right. Um I

like to make a motion to amend the ordinance to adopt the revised CCPU narrative dated April 10th, 2026. I need a second. Okay. Motion to amend the ordinance to adopt the revised CCPUD narrative dated April 10th, 2026. And can I make a comment on that? Yeah.

Um, and I would just like to make a comment that I'm super appreciative of Mr. Lambert agreeing to do a voluntary neighborhood association, which actually is not limited to the neighborhood. It includes business and nonprofits. So I expect with regular communications and getting over that initial growing pains in 2020 with the neighborhood that most of the protest here has been about the height and it's a philosophical argument. They were consulted um way back when when Center City formbbased code was coming online. um you know they understand uh what a great asset the hotel is and so in talking with the neighborhood I think they know that this is coming um but their fear is that the the height will continue down the block um in center city formbbased code I need to point out that it's actually to the north triplexes um you unless somebody comes forward with the CCPUD which I asked the neighborhood to put on record through their protest letters about the height so that uh this council and future councils will think about that if somebody else were to come through asking for a CCPUD which I don't think I would support. Um this is a special exception truly uh an award-winning special exception. Um, but to go back to the voluntary neighborhood association, I just think that it's such a great thing for y'all to coordinate and in the future maybe come up with things that are great for the neighborhood, the church, and the hotel. So, I just want to say thank you.

Okay. We have a motion to amend the ordinance to adopt the revised CCPUD narrative dated April 10th, 2022 2026. Have an a second to that. And uh there any council comments regarding the amendment? Seeing none, public comments, this is an opportunity for members of the public to speak on the amendment. Remarks should be directed to council only. Madame clerk, are there any speakers registered for this item? Um mayor, this opens it up to the four for the amendment. So you can take it as you wish.

Would anybody like to speak about on the amendment as proposed? Okay, seeing none. All right. Are there any final comments from council regarding the amendment? Okay. The motion on the floor is to approve the amendment. Council members, you may cast your votes.

All votes have been cast and the motion to approve the amendment passes unanimously. All right, back to the main motion on the floor to adopt the ordinance as amended on second reading section by section. Do we need to take councel or comment on public comment? This is an opportunity for members of the public to uh speak on the motion as amended and remarks should be directed to council only. Are there any speakers signed up for this item? Um, not since it's been amended. Would anybody like to speak on this item as amended, please?

Hey there, Andrew Razno, Ward Six. Um, I I think the hotel looks great. I just want to um bring up the fact that this is not the first time that we've had these discussions, the protestations about height. And we've had a lot of talk in the city about keeping the sprawl out. We need to have a conversation as a city about how do we handle these height protests, get people in the process earlier so that you know we don't get to each one of these people that want to build something tall and then you have this big conversation. And so I just encourage the city to it's getting better with this compared to what it was first time they came through here. But this is a conversation that's going to be keep coming up. So just keep that in mind. We need to have long conversations about what it means to be too tall in the city of Norman.

Thank you.

Steve Ellis Ward for I'm pretty sure I actually signed up for this uh thing since it was amended. No. What was the the amendment? Yeah, I didn't sign up for the amendment. I signed up for this. It just opens it up to the floor, sir.

Okay. Um, so, uh, I I am not a noun detractor. I put up some of my friends there a couple of years ago, the last Big 12 game between Kansas and OU, and they really enjoyed the place. So, this is not really to talk about the specific proposal at all, but I do want to grind one of my axes about the sort of general issue of uh planning unit developments. And it's it's a pretty theoretical kind of thing, but I actually think it's really really important and it has a lot to do with the way that we run our city. Uh the problem with pods and in particular the way Norman does them is that they turn city council into advocates for very particular developments. Right? If you have regular straightup zoning, there's almost like a checklist. Can does this uh proposal meet the requirements? If they want to change zoning, there are public policy issues about what should be where. And when you sort of throw those kinds of rules out of the the the door and you get people involved with trying to negotiate with the the city about how to pass those through, then it really looks like particular council members or sometimes the whole council ends up being advocates for a particular development, right? we end up talking about what's nice about it rather than the sort of general public policy kinds of issues. And um I I think that that creation of a sort of quasi partnership between uh the regulatory agency and the regulated or the policy makers and the people who are supposed to follow the policy uh is a mistake. I think it leads

to favoritism. I think it leads to regulatory capture and potential bias because what happens when the person who has a pud has a competitor, right? You're already you're already allin on one of the competitors. And as you know, that's one of my general problems with um specific policies that are designed to create economic development by attracting particular kinds of firms. I think that the city council should stay relatively neutral, at least as neutral as they can between particular kinds of projects. I think that's fairer to everyone involved. And I think it makes the council look better, right? It makes the council look like it's talking about general public policy kinds of issues rather than focusing on the particulars of a development, which is arguably putting the thumb on the scale. Now, I know that's not going to change uh the vote tonight, uh but I think it's much much preferable if we work on a regular kind of zoning issue. And I know no one likes our current zoning code, but it seems like everybody likes the opportunities to work in a way behind the scenes with council to get everybody bandwagoning on a particular kind of project that ends up being uh you know sort of thumb on the scale for that particular developer. So I think in the interest of trying to keep things neutral from a government perspective, we should scale back on the puds. There are times when we might need to have them. I'm not saying, you know, take the pud stuff off the books, but let's be careful of

Hello. Uh, my Amy Windler. Um, so something I was thinking about today. Uh, so the addition is going to be several stories tall. What is the environmental impact of the shade of that building going to create on the surrounding properties? What if one of those properties has like an awardw winning rose bush garden or something? shade will kill that. So something to think about when you know building places, you know, building up around neighbors, you know, maybe they like sunlight and now they're going to be in the shade. So that's all.

Thank you. Anyone else like to speak on this item as amended? Yes, Rob Norman, Ward Three. I just wanted to uh put forth a full endorsement of this plan and give congratulations to the Down Hotel and this being the type of redevelopment and mixeduse work that we need to be doing. It's in the core, it attracts visitors to our core. It lifts up the core. It allows us to put something different than just tracked housing in one place over here and then hotels in one place over here. And it allows us to do something with our core rather than our periphery. And of course, we really didn't do this with some big city subsidy. I think the city did provide some infrastructure assistance to this project. None. Well, there uh so so there I you know I I don't know if I would have objected to a little infrastructure assistance there because I think that's what you do. But uh these people raise the capital. They have made a grandly successful project out of it. You can always enhance refine and talk about how you would build differently the next time or how you would enhance the experience. But I think overall my own personal experience has been a hotel and much more for the community. Um, and it's lifted things up and and I would wholeheartedly endorse this as the type of things we need to be doing in our core. Thank you. Any other public comment on this item as amended? Seeing none, are there any final comments or questions from council regarding this? and council member

Peacock. Okay. Okay. So, I've got a lot of uh experience with the ULI impact awards. I know in the 12 years that they've been handing those out in the Oklahoma chapter, I think there's only been two given to Norman, one being the well and the other being the noun. So, uh very high honor, very hard to attain award. And so just want to congratulate you on what you've been able to accomplish and very proud of that project and I very much look forward to support it tonight. Council member Grant.

Yes. Um I would also like to take the opportunity to remind folks that we are in the middle of a proousousing grant which is a housing study, parking study, and it's going to be our zoning and subregulation updates moving. And it's about a two-year process and we'll have public input. And by the time we get to the end of it, the hope is that we do not have a lot of reszonings. I don't expect them to be all gone, but um we're moving towards allowing things by right where they make sense. Um to the plantings, uh there's a gentleman's agreement between Scott and the neighbor beh uh to the west. Um that neighbor is interested in putting in trees. Previously what existed there was bamboo which is invasive and not allowed by center city formbbased code um allowable trees and uh landscaping. I think what might be going back there is definitely going to be on the approved list and something that makes sense in a wet rain garden environment. Um so there is the expectation that there will be light possibly afternoon uh and those plants will thrive. Um, and I think that's it for the final comment on that.

Thank you, Council Member Hinkle.

I just wanted to say thank you directly to Mr. Lambert for bringing your dream to Norman and and seeing it all the way through to the point where we're expanding on it now. And I'm really looking forward to what the new space will look like and what it will bring to campus corner, especially as we uh are able to realize the full impact of the city center tiff moving forward. So, thank you again. And uh to other people that have big dreams like Mr. Lambert, please bring him to Norman. Thank you. I think the only member of council will Yeah, I was here when we voted for it. So, um, you know, uh, showing the protests that existed the first time around, there were a lot of neighbors that were skeptical of this, um, that had a lot of questions and concerns and there was a lot of effort made by then council member Hall um, and Mr. Lambert to get a lot of those questions addressed. I remember several of the neighbors wanted a six-foot wooden fence. Um, one neighbor I think she wanted to keep the chain link fence that was there and then u Mr. Harris to the north wanted the 8 foot masonry wall and um weren't able to keep the chain link fence uh but we're able to do everything else and so um not having TVs that face the west, no lights that shine to the west, um blocking any headlights from cars parking at the hotel from going into the back of the houses. um trying to not have any windows that faced or would enable someone to look over into the backyards. Um a lot of different uh things that were done to try to address a lot of those concerns. And I think um that same effort made this time by Council Member Grant and Mr. Lambert to work with the neighbors on a lot of those issues. Maybe not all of them, but um a much significantly reduced protest

map than from before. Um and um I think we did do a storm water project on university as part of this project use I think it might have been our first use of center city tiff funds actually. Um, but it was a small piece that enabled this to to to finish out. And um, and in my observation, someone who works on campus corner and um, spends a lot of time down there, this has been an overall positive impact I think on the area um, having a hotel, a premier hotel in central Norman um, where there aren't any within a couple miles actually from this area. um and uh the place to host guests that are coming to visit OU, athletes that are thinking about coming to OU, students who are thinking about coming to OU. Um and then multiple, as mentioned, of our nonprofit organizations have been having events there. Uh Bethesda just had an event a couple weeks ago that I attended in at the hotel. And um having that space in central Norman where organizations can have events and gatherings like that I think is pretty meaningful and something we really didn't have in downtown campus corner area prior. So, um, given all those factors and, um, their willingness to work with neighbors and address, I think, most of the concerns and support from Council Member Grant, I'm looking forward to supporting this as well. And I think it's a really good sign that um that it's uh doing so well that you need to expand it and to this point. And um, so I appreciate your investment into Norman. And I appreciate all the neighbors who uh participated and expressed uh concerns and asked questions and and hopefully helped shape a better project than it might have been otherwise. And so with that, I will close the comments and let's see,

the motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on final reading. No, we're second reading as amended section by section. Okay, we're back to the main. Okay. So number 12 so they can cast their votes. Okay. All right. Council members, you may cast your votes on the motion as amended. On second reading. On second reading. All votes have been cast and the motion to approve the ordinance on second reading as amended section by section passes unanimously.

I'll entertain a motion to adopt or reject the ordinance on final reading as amended. Motion and any comments from council? Seeing none again. Correct. All right. This is a final opportunity for members of the public to speak on this item as amended and remarks should be directed to council only. Are there any speakers registered for this item? Um again, mayor, we have this item open uh to the floor, but uh currently originally I had uh Mr. Ellis, Maya, and um Russell Rice. Would anybody like to make any final comments about this item?

Okay. Okay. Are there any final comments from council regarding this item? Seeing none, the motion on the floor is to adopt the ordinance on final reading as amended. Council members, you may cast your votes. Give me a sec. There we go.

All votes have been cast and the motion to approve the ordinance on final reading as amended passes unanimously. Okay. Item 30, consideration of approval. rejection, amendment, and/or postponement of authorizing the city attorney's office to initiate litigation to obtain a declaratory judgment regarding the city council's authority, if any, to order a legislative referendum on an ordinance establishing a tax increment finance financing district pursuant to the local development act. I'll entertain a motion to approve, reject, amend, or postpone the item.

Motion to what? to approve or we have to have some motion on the floor. Motion to approve. Do I have a second? Council member Gandisberry has a motion to approve on the floor. Do I have a second? If I don't have a second, it fails. Okay. No second. Then the item fails due to a lack of a second. Correct.

All right. All right. Miscellaneous comments. This is an opportunity for citizens to address city council. Due to open meeting act regulations, council is not able to participate in discussion during miscellaneous comments. Remarks should be directed to the council as a whole and limited to four minutes or less. Do we have anybody signed up for? Um, yes, Mayor. Rob Norman.

Yes. Rob Norman, Ward Three. I must say I'm very disappointed that Council Member Gandberry's motion did not even get a second from anyone. Um, I read and in my discussions with the city attorney, I think it's clear that he had come out with a staff report recommending this course of action. I don't know what's happened since then. Uh, but it appears that the rest of this council was not willing to second council member Gander's Mary's motion. And I take that as a rejection of the city attorney's recommendation and a rejection of Oklahoma for responsible economic developments willingness in a collaborative manner to proceed with the city attorney's recommendation. I think the city attorney I'm going to give him a little kudos here. Obviously, there has been some some highlevel adversarial discussion and demand letters and things going on on Facebook and things like that about what to do about this. Uh but but I think your city attorney worked really hard to provide a solution that in his own words reduced risk. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't everything that people I represent and speak for would have wanted ideally, but it would have been a good effort at a solution to this problem of the arena which I believe has gone through a process illegitimately. It needs to be voted on by the people. We've presented a constitutionally sound means of doing so. And I I can do nothing but take what I heard from tonight from council as a

rejection of our city attorney trying to find a nar narrow path to help people who elected you to do things you were elected to do. And and I I I'm sorely disappointed. I I suppose what you're doing um I is is you're saying we're going to just throw this to the people. We're going to just let the people do all the work. We're going to just let the people bear all the risk. We're just going to let the people do all the burden of all the fundraising when you were provided with a a a a path forward tonight and you refuse to even take it or to even consider and deliberate upon it. I don't know if something went on behind closed doors. I don't know if something um was done in discussions among staff or council to vary what I saw being on an agenda tonight and what I saw being recommended tonight. But I think it's absolutely the wrong thing that this council would not even second council member Gandisberry's motion. We had one person getting ready to make the motion that we couldn't even get a second on the motion and we couldn't even have a public discussion and a public debate on it. Um I I I'm I'm very disappointed in that. I I I mean it it it wasn't what I expected tonight seeing this item being put on the agenda, seeing a recommendation coming from the city attorney that I thought maybe I don't agree with it analytically 100%, but I thought it was it it was an excellent way to try to thread the needle and satisfy what the public who elected you want and satisfy what you all were discussing and concerned about in terms of risk.

You had a solution to the problem in front of you tonight and you utterly vetoed it.

Andrew Rosnell Andrew Rosnau, Ward Six. Thank you, Council Member Gandis Berry. This is a mess. There is a mess that is happening with this project and that you won't even consider the motion is very disappointing. I want to talk to you about what the county trust is doing. This is at your direction through the ordinance you passed. I have been doing an investigation of records from the county and it is an absolute mess. First of all, you guys are as a city are not even the beneficiaries of this trust. You guys are sending hundreds of millions of tax dollars and you'll have no recompense if they decide to just sell the arena right away. That is a breach of trust in my opinion. You need something in return for those tax dollars and the city has nothing. But they are just going hog wild and ignoring everything in terms of laws in terms of their own documents. They issued an RFP that promised a one-page notice to biders in the Norman transcript. They have no record that that ever happened or any other publication that was required by law. Media reports and open records has shown that the U trust approved a concept of an RFP on August 7th. 5 days later the RFP was published. They never approved the final document. They have admitted they didn't approve any document on August 7th. And so in figuring out what's going on, I requested contracts between the trust and the RFP issuer, which is a third party. The trust produced two contracts. The first right here says it excludes work related to the RFQ and RFP process. It's signed as the industrial authority and it's dated a month before the Arena Trust approved any contract with Hunden Partners. The second contract is to draft and run the

RFP, but it was approved in October when 38 firms already had the RFP it authorized to be drafted months after the work in the contract was done. It's signed as Cleveland County. There's two contracts, neither of which are signed as the Arena Trust. Which one of these validly engages a third party to hold a 9f figure procurement? I believe the answer is none. And without a valid contract, you have no valid procurement. And the RFP itself is problematic. I'm going to focus on exhibit 3 here. Exhibit 3 gives OU benefits of ownership of this arena. For this trustowned arena, which you guys directed to be built, this gives U a cut of naming rights money, parking garage revenue, veto authority over the naming rights partner, and U sponsors get protection from competition. This is in exchange for nothing. As of the 29th of March, the trust had no contracts whatsoever with the University of Oklahoma. The arena's revenue should go to the trust, not the University of Oklahoma. It's being gifted to them with nothing in return. And this arrangement, were it actually approved by the trust, would have been done so with the OU COO of athletics as a voting member. The trust produced no conflict of interest policy, no conflict of interest disclosures, no records of recusal. This to me is a textbook conflict of interest. Voting on decisions that benefit your employer at the expense of your beneficiary. And the county wrote this into the trust documents. I had a whole another four minutes to talk about that I was going to use this miscellaneous time for. This was supposed to be during the last session. There's a mess going on at that arena trust. They are throwing things out the

window. They're ignoring the law. And you guys as a body need to step in, tell them that this procurement is invalid and they need to follow the project plan, follow the law. That goes back to you ultimately,

Stephen Ellis. Steve Ellis, Ward 4. Have to admit I'm as surprised as anybody about the failure to get a second on uh the last item, item 30. Uh I think it needed to be hashed out in a way. Uh, and I think part of the problem here is that the Norman city council and Norman city staff is really terrible at communication because it's unclear what's going on here. It looks like the city council has abandoned their hope of getting the arena tiff to a public vote. And that's despite the fact that almost everyone on the dis six of nine have been advocating that the arena tiff is should go to a vote of the people and that I along with 11,000 other Norman voters appreciated that you were trying to find a way to unwind this kind of disaster and at least put it to a vote of the people. I would argue that that was decisive in many of your electoral campaigns and now it looks like you've abandoned that promise which I think creates lots of problems. Now if you've got something else going on it would have been nice to hear about that before this sort of thing happened. Um, you know, I have trust issues with the city attorney's office on this topic because it seems like he was pushing a narrative that I don't think is true about how damages could possibly go. And since

it's behind the veil of an executive session, it's very hard for people to make arguments about legal kinds of issues when we don't know what you're being told. Uh but it looked like there for a little while there was a good faith offer of attempting to find a way through this procedure. And if you guys would have been willing to take, you know, authority over that process, if you would have been willing to sort of ride herd on the potential agreement, I think it might have worked. Now, I think what we were going to find is that the original OED deal was probably the best legal way to get the arena tiff before a vote of the people, but it looks like right now that you've taken councils of your fears, which it's unclear what those fears are exactly. I know it's lawsuit related, but just like the last time that we had some issues with the UNP tiff number two and having to close it down because it was about to destroy the budget, everything happened in secret with secret threats. And that really really undermines the trust of Norman citizens in the city council. If you're gonna get elected by saying, "Yeah, I think this tip should go to a vote of the people," then you should at least do something to make it look like you're going to put your, you know, sort of legislative money where your politician mouth is at. And now, I mean, maybe there's something else going I I really don't know why things went down the way that they did today, but my suggestion is the fact that it's getting such a surprise, is evidence that there's been a communication failure.

So, I hope somebody from city council, although apparently not tonight, uh because of the way the rules about miscellaneous go, uh I would hope that someone will come out and say what the play is. Are you guys rejecting the idea that we should have a vote? Are you saying, "Nah, we're giving up on that." Or do you think that there's some other way or what? Alex Lanir. No. Margarite Larson. Margaret Larson six. And I too am very surprised that nobody has said anything and nobody wants to do anything. I really had the impression that the city council was wanting to at least make an attempt for the voice of the people to be heard. And I am kind of floor. I I'm kind of speechless. I really don't know what to say cuz I'm very surprised. It's not usually this way. I mean, usually you guys will put up a fight and I'm I just don't see that. So, I don't understand why, but um I'm sure you all have your reasons. And I'm going to leave it at that.

Thank you,

Maya. Hello again. Miami Winler 2. I'm not really sure I understand what just happened. Like, has this ever happened before? I don't I mean, if it has, it's very rare. Um, on a good note, um, Dogs Play for Life came to Norman Animal Shelter or Animal Welfare and, um, you know, taught us about the benefits of playgroups for dogs. Anyway, for a couple of weeks, um, they've been running playgroups for the dogs. Uh, I went and helped out yesterday and last Monday and yesterday we got 22 dogs out of the shelter to play in the pens and it was really good. That's all.

Thank you. I believe Joe Carter left. Diana Hard Harderson. Sorry if I Miss Brown's

Diane Harderson, 2704 Dunham Drive, Norman. I don't know what has happened. Um, but I had prepared to say something tonight and I'm going to go ahead and go with that. I believe it is a citizen's right to say what we want in our community. The 11,000 plus citizens of Norman expressed their opinions when they signed the petition to have a vote of the people on the vote on the TIFF Arena and Entertainment District. When a large company or corporation or university wants to build something, they also have a right but not to impose a tax burden on the citizens who may not want this. Let the arena and other people be built without putting it on the backs of Norman citizens. This has been done on South Classen where there's a new Target going in and other buildings, other stores um without imposing on us as citizens. If this tiff goes through, the taxes generated from it go to paying off the debt of this high of this huge project. It does not return to the city in paying for the resources such as roads, schools, fire, and police departments. Local businesses may have to close due to the increase in new businesses in the district. Remember when the original tiff that um went through several years ago, it pretty much devastated the Ed Noble Parkway. And we don't need any more empty storefronts or strip malls in this town.

There's plenty already. My contention before you put any more money and plans into this debacle that you allowed that you allow for the citizens to speak by allowing for a vote. Thank you. Thank you,

Cynthia Rogers. Cynthia Rogers, Ward 4. So, how did we find ourselves struggling with this complex situation? It's like tonight's action adds insult to injury of past attempts to shut down uh public input on the project. The referendum petitioners did everything right. The campaign engaged over a hundred volunteers. Nobody was paid from all parts of the city, all political parties. Volunteers were trained on the proper process for collecting signatures. Notaries signif certified the pages. The referendum was successful. It was signed by over 11,000 individuals and over 10,000 were certified, well over the number that was needed to bring the ordinance to a public vote. The referendum process however failed the citizens. The Oklahoma Supreme Court found the GIS statement on the petition to be insufficient for omitting technical details of tiff implementation precisely the three ways that it could end which by the way the ordinance didn't specify. The Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Row provides a very clear explanation of why the maturity decision missed the mark. And I encourage all of you to read that. It's on our new substack. To summarize, the gist is not required to include every technical implementation detail. It is required to provide an outline of the ordinance, which it did. It took language verbatim from the ordinance itself, the amount, and the length of the TIFF

funding was clearly stated multiple times. And then this is a quote. To find that the gist was misleading, we must conclude that the governing documents it summarizes are misleading. The Local Development Act allows citizens to use a referendum petition to bring the project to a public vote. So why was a referendum so successful? Norman has a lot of smart and engaged citizens and people want that want to learn about issues and they had a lot of economic I'm happy about that and legal concerns. They had a good understanding of the arenitative project plan and the problems. They observed the limitations on public comment at the public hearings. They're aware that the statutory review committee never reviewed the plan that was adopted. Instead, they saw analysis and some marketing stuff on a much grander aspirational project, not the one that was approved. And Norman voters are aware that the development agreement and the project plan were approved the same night before the project plan was in effect. The referendum was a grassroots community effort to make sure that the public was on board with the plan. The residents came together, spent time, hundreds of volunteer hours and money collecting signatures and defending the referendum in court. The public have been doing the work to bring this to a public vote. Now, it's time for it's council's turn to step up. Only three of you here tonight voted for the plan despite the glaring problems with the project and the implementation process. I would hope that the process would be better under the current project under the current council. This council has a chance to bring the arena tiff to a public vote and I encourage council to

collaborate with citizens oed and others in in finding a way I have to change this because you didn't discuss the last issue. and finding a way to bring it to a public vote. And you owe it to the citizens and for the people that elected those of you who said you were going to do this. So, I hope to see that happen. Thank you. Thank you,

Paul. Will Good evening, council Paul Wilson, Ward One. Um, I'm kind of shocked considering there were three people that wanted it on. Obviously, one of them is no longer on the DIS, but I'm also happy at the same time because as everybody in this room knows and everybody on the DAS, I've been in favor of this thing since pretty much day one. I've never wavered from that. But what I am kind of disappointed in the council is was the vote three weeks ago when only two people spoke up against the OTAA. I know the new council member for W five would have done the same thing his as his uh predecessor and voted no on it, but I was really surprised that everyone voted the other ones voted yes. Every one of you campaigned against DOTA and you voted yes. I've seen it where you've said that it's to protect property. I hate to tell you this. If the OTAA wants it, they're not going to look at an agreement. They're not going to look at a contract. They're just going to take it. That is that is the harsh reality of the OTAA. I've spoken with uh a previous council member and he agreed. The only way we can defeat the OTAA, and I know it's underway to do this, is all 77 counties have to vote to disband the OTAA. I've even volunteered that I would help drive around to the 77 counties to get this done because if not, I hate to tell everybody in the room, I'm not for it.

That's not what I'm afraid to tell you. I'm afraid to tell you it's coming. There's very little left to do. They've already issued bonds. They've already started construction. As most uh people around where the East West Connector is going, they've already seen people from the OTAA come in and do surveys. Now, the other thing I want to talk about is why does our city when it does city projects not believe in the KISS technique? Just keep it simple, stupid. Right now, right outside on Grey Street, why did we have to stamp the asphalt and paint it? I know it's cheaper than brick, but really all citizens want is no potholes in their roads. Because last time I checked, not a single person ever said, "I'm going to go to Norman because they got great looking roads." I've never done that to any city. and it costs extra money that could be going towards another street project. So take it with what you want. I'm not sure what the future of the tiff is, but you know, we got to do something because the only way we can make more money is to draw more people. And if we don't draw more people, we aren't making more money. Thank you guys.

Thank you. Russell Rice.

Russell Rice, too. Um, man, you guys really this up tonight. Uh, poor job. Zero out of 10. Uh, unless you guys fix this quickly, don't call me for re-election. I don't think I have anybody that'll knock on doors for you. Good luck. Poor choices. Thank you. That's all I have on my list. Mayor, anyone else who has not spoken like to speak miscellaneous comment, please come forward.

Uh Mike Lock, ward five. Um, I don't have any prepared remarks, but I will tell you this. You're embarrassing the process. Something goes on behind closed doors that stinks to high heaven, and they're making you guys look bad in the process, right? These are the same people who tried to stuff this stuff this room with students to influence things. They're not to be trusted on this TIFF thing. They may do other stuff real well, but they're not to be trusted. I helped put out the circulate the petitions. One of the best times I've had politically in my life since the Vietnam War, people didn't tell me how they were going to vote and I didn't tell them. The people just said, "Yeah, I want to vote." Right? There wasn't a lot of conversation. There was nothing. It's like sign here. You don't vote this way. You don't vote that way. You're signing this. so you can vote, right? And look at you. They're pulling your pants down in public and humiliating you in the process. These guys are not honest. I don't know how much you're saying that it's going to cost us uh if you stand up and do what's right, but I can't imagine what it'll cost us if you let them get away with with this. If you like what they're building today, to me that proves the point. This isn't about the district and how they build it or anything. It's about their shenanigans and what they're trying to do with taxpayers money. That's all it's about. And we need to give them a big no. You can't do that. We don't operate that way in this country. You don't take your money. You don't take your contacts, your experience, your influence in the back rooms

and make deals and then change your mind. All we want is people to be able to vote for or against tax money being involved. That's it. Stand up on that and let them do whatever they else they want. But they're embarrassing all of us. Hello, I'm Paul Aruroli with three. You know, I was going to talk about humility and uh you know, Benjamin Franklin, you know, these 13 virtues and he said, you know, he kind of wor he kind of mastered all of them except humility. Realized that that he really needed the support and the conversation and the trust of the people he was with to actually understand what humility was all about. Let's talk about dialogue and community. And it's funny how my comments kind of rolled into this huge disappointment. I I I can't begin to, you know, obviously I'm part of Red. I'm that the uh current chair of that organization. And I'm not going to speak for the organization. I'm going to speak for me personally. And I just want to look at every one of you. um actually see your eyes kind of understand what's really is going on to my ne with my neighbors. I've never never never been of course across with any of you. I've always been supportive of the people sitting on this council and the people who are coming to this council.

So personally, I do take this very personal and uh my mother always said never talk never talk out when you're angry or hurt. And so I'm going to defer that and I'm just going to tell you that uh I'm not done. And I've always always always done the right thing for this community, whoever is sitting at this in these chairs. I've always been generous to each and every one of you either personally or professionally. And so it really really boggles the mind to think that we couldn't even have a conversation tonight. And uh that really makes me sad. It really does. And I thought this was my town. I I thought you were my neighbors. I thought each and every one of you each and every one of you actually said things that suggested or at least implied that we're going to we're all going to fight this together at some level. We may have had come to a different conclusion, but damn, not to have the conversation. I don't understand that it and I don't know I don't think I've ever been hurt this deep. not even with my first wife or my second for that matter. So, uh I'm just gonna leave it at that and uh I hope there's some sun sunshine coming out of the clouds somewhere. Thank you. Come on up. I Shelley Ward three. My job for 16 years before I kind of

retired to take care of my kids was to work in universities, educational settings, and to work with teachers and administrators and students and the public and help what I was called was a change agent and bring um be a voice of reason and be the middle ground. As a human rights commissioner, I feel like that's what I do. I honestly am still in the back trying to process everything between the OTAA and this decision today. And I I I have two comments to make. Number one is it was beautiful to see a lot of our leaders reach out to me personally and to other citizens to bring this city together for the last vote cycle to fight for our city. And it's disappointing personally very disappointing. Just kind of like when you look at your kid keeps pushing the button and you're disappointed. It's disappointing when we're here and citizens are wanting a simple thing for us to come together and let them vote. That's all they want. They want to have a voice. If that voice sways for the TW tiff, that's fine. Middle ground is to let people speak. Second is the university is wanting to make a decision to move forward for their development. Great. Oklahoma is getting a pro football team. What impact have you strategically looked at will that take away from the university's sales? In two years, we have a pro football team coming. Have you guys thought about how that's going

to impact Norman? Is the university going to see negative sales? Any of that coming to anyone's radar in this decision-making process? That's huge for us in Norman. We're going to see a decline. We're not going to have that huge huge sales. Ticket sales will go down because that's a pro football team. No, just these type of things are important. And as someone who's done this for a living, I would think that you guys would have that objective big picture view, I would ask that you guys do that because when it came time to pass a vote or need help to get things through, everyone reached out and said, "We need to come together." I'm asking you guys come together. That's it.

Thank you. Uh, my name is Chelsea Hinkle and I am a longtime Norman resident, parent of two NPS students and wife of Council Member Joshua Hinkle. I'm here as a citizen though who cares deeply about where our city is headed. I respectfully appreciate you choosing not to move forward with this litigation. The way to bring a TIFF ordinance to a vote of the people is through a referendum petition. That process was already used. Two courts reviewed it and found that the gist of the petition didn't fairly and accurately reflect what was what the ordinance actually does. Because of that, it didn't meet legal standards in two courts. The process has already been fully reviewed and decided. Even so, I keep hearing the same talking points about this tiff that don't reflect how the ordinance actually works. At this point, asking the city to spend public money on more litigation to revisit that feels like moving the goalposts instead of respecting the process that already happened. I support this tiff district and have from the beginning along with many other Norman residents. I believe that the arena and entertainment district represent positive strategic growth for Norman. I value living in a diverse college town and the opportunities the University of Oklahoma brings. I believe this development builds on that in a positive way for our future. I grew up here in Norman, raised by two moms, and our family has always felt welcome. That sense of inclusion and openness is part of why we stayed in Norman. Now, we're raising our kids here and are here for the long term. Even if it takes the full 25 years for this district to fully develop, we're here for that future and we're invested in it. So, I respectfully appreciate you focusing

your energy on building the future of Norman together. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Billy Juul, ward five. Anybody want to buy a house on 10 acres? because I'm going to move somewhere where the city and the city council will listen to the people. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else that hasn't spoken like to speak in miscellaneous comment? Seeing none, any final comment from anybody on council? Council member Gansbury.

Something real quick. one. I don't know what that was either. But I also would like to also say to those listening, those at home and everything to know that I stayed true to my word that I will always be against the arena and that I'll fight for little people out there in the world and everything and voices in the world and everything. If I was somebody listening to this and somebody that maybe owned an organization or something like that, I would probably give a suggestion to go ahead and file some litigation to kind of see if what it is it is with the city ordinance and everything or not, but I don't know where we go from here.

Thank you. Any further comment, Council Grant?

Yes. I'll admit I was surprised item 30 did not get a second. However, I wouldn't have supported it. Um, I don't think it's a good look to sue an activist organization. Um, that activist organization can turn around and sue the city. Uh, as the council member who have voted against the TIFF and is interested in exploring a way that mitigates risk, I was also getting tagged in, I think, a Facebook post that was saying that we don't even want this. we want you to repeal it and then put it to a vote. So, I found that messaging confusing and I also got that in my inbox. Um, I would say if the if OED wants to go ahead and push this forward on the declaratory judgment side, um, I think that would be appropriate. I will say having an experience uh voting for a advisory vote in the past um I'll just say because we could not get council members to agree that doing a survey would be um legitimate. They were worried that somebody would pull the strings behind the scenes. Uh that was our pathway to finding out really what the city would support. And since we could not get council members to support that, we ended up with an advisory vote and we were advised by the city attorney at the time, Katherine Walker, that that was not going to go on the ballot because it's not a legal vote. Um, from that action we took, then it went to court and it was in Judge Balkman's uh court room and he basically said, uh, you're not doing it. It's an advisory vote and if Norman puts this back up uh again, it will come through my court. So, there are consequences of like trying to do maneuvers that really can't be done. And now, if we

were to pursue that, that would go back to Judge Bachmann who did not side with us in that advisory vote we took back in 2023 or 2024. Um, so anyways, I encourage OED to pursue um a lawsuit against the city. I don't know if it will end up in Judge Balkman's court again or not, but potentially not. Who knows? Um, but that's why I didn't support it. I again was surprised I didn't have a second. But had we got into that discussion, you would hear this and I would have been voting no. Um, it would be great if we could get it to vote of the people, but I don't know what the best pathway is right now. Um, so put it in the uh ball in OED's court. And I will say that uh without really knowing the full scope of what a repeal would mean for the city side, especially the conflict of interest that has been brought up by the city attorney for our roles as Norman Tax Increment Finance Authority and city council. Uh exposing ourselves to a personal lawsuit in which we'd have to get our own lawyer and pay for it out of our own pocket. I don't think really appeals to anyone up here because we get a $100 a month if that. And um if we're acting not in accordance with the city attorney's advice, that is the risk we as council members take when we go against it. So I don't think you're going to find somebody who's going to say, you know what, I want to do this untested uh legal maneuver and sure I'll open myself up to a personal suit. So that is why you don't really see us moving to vote to repeal. And I just want to put that out there because I know people are wondering what's going through our heads. And it's that I can't speak for everybody. Maybe other council members have a statement to make at the end of this about why we didn't end up hearing item 30, but I just want to put that on the record. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comment from anybody else?

Council member Blahett. I'm sure many of you obviously are surprised that I wasn't the second and actually I'm kind of surprised also that I wasn't the second, but um I actually um really do agree with Council Member Grant um on um how it just like even if it had gone to a discussion tonight, and it probably should have um but had it gone to a discussion tonight, it it wasn't going to pass. And so, um, I agree that it is a really bad look for city council to, um, go into litigation against OED. And so, I also would encourage, um, you to, um, sue the city. And so, um, I do absolutely want, um, it to go to a vote of the people and I hope that it does. I just wanted it to happen in a different way. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Kirby.

So, not trying to pass a buck or anything, but I was a little confused on the situation. As far as suing residents who stand up against uh the city for the vote of the people, I'm not a fan of suing the residents who fought to get this put on a ballot. To me, it would have been more like we went against the members of our community and sued the people who stood up to the city to try to get a vote of the people versus, you know, representing them. I didn't want it to come across as we were representing the builder over the residents of the community who took a stance against this project. I still truly believe it should go to the vote of the people. Had we been voting directly on whether it was going to go to the vote of the people or uh not, I would have voted for the project to go to the vote of the people. But as far as encouraging a lawsuit against residents for standing up with what they believe is right, I was not going to be a part of that. Maybe I had a misunderstanding. Um but that is my reason is I don't believe we should sue residents for trying to stand up for what they believe is right.

Thank you. And I would just echo some of the comments of my colleagues. I uh I came into this meeting prepared to vote or at the very least discuss this item. It as a commenter mentioned, it is pretty rare that an item doesn't get a second. Um because really that just means we have a discussion and then we vote and it fails or passes one way or the other. So, I I definitely uh would encourage council to consider that in the future about u making sure we have that discussion and then vote however we feel we need to then. Um but I did see conflicting opinions about the action we were taking and whether it was the right action or if there was another path that was more preferable. And um so I personally hold fast that I think this item, this public financing for this entertainment district should be through a vote of the people or that private investors and donors of the university should come up with the funds and pay for it themselves and do whatever they want as another commenter mentioned. U but uh I'll continue to explore any way that we can to make that happen. Um, and we've had this on an agenda multiple times in the last couple months. Uh, the executive session a few weeks ago was to discuss the letter that we got from OED that said that we would be sued if we didn't take action. So, we needed to discuss potential litigation against the city and action that we might take. And this agenda item was born out of that executive session and the last couple meetings that we've had, including the uh discussion about the rule of three. So, I feel like we're trying to explore any option that we can uh to get this to a vote of the people, but as others have mentioned, the county and university and developers are not going to wait for us. They feel like they've been given the

green light by the Supreme Court to move forward. Um, but if there are any other options that council is willing to pursue, I am more than willing to put them on the agenda for consideration as I have already. So if that with that if there is no further comment from anybody point of order please communicate with the people and communicate this activist organization you did not do that this body and this staff did not do that

thank you Mr. Thank you Mr. Council, I'm going to request that since there is a threat of litigation. If you want to communicate with my clients, you communicate through me. Yes. Okay. That's why you talk to Rick. You don't talk to us. All right. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you.