City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Welcome to the May 18th, 2026 meeting of the Stoer City Council. At this time, I will call the meeting to order and I'll ask that you all stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, we're going to jump right into the consent docket. Counselor's questions, comments, or action on consent? Yes. Pull item E, please. Item E, counselors, anything further? Motion to approve consent docket minus item E. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve the consent docket minus item E. Please vote. We vote five to zero. That consent docket is approved. It's going to take us to public comment on items not scheduled for public hearing. I have several folks signed up. I don't Do you want to go to item E? I

mean, it's next on the agenda, but I guess we could jump to item E. Councelor Harden, do you want to do you have questions on item E? I do. Is there someone here that can answer some questions about item E, please? Sorry. Mark White, public works director. Good evening. Good evening. So, a couple of questions for you. First of all, these cameras, tell me tell me how they interface with with traffic control signals up up and down the line from where the cameras are located.

They don't they're they're intersection specific. So, they're uh to detect vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians, uh bicycles. So, they're they're specific to the intersection. So, that seems I'm not denying this is a great idea. Yeah. It just seems like if they're not interfacing upline and downline, we'd still have issues with traffic being green one direction and all of a sudden dumping a bunch of cars to this intersection or not not or not letting anybody through.

Yeah. So what um what I think might be uh so at each intersection there's a controller and so at that controller they can they uh they have the um uh what um what allows you basically to synchronize from intersection to intersection. So they'll set up um that in each of the uh intersections. they they coordinate down downstream.

And what happens is that one currently um that one's in recall because it does not have the ability to detect. So the loops aren't working. Uh it doesn't have a camera. So six and main can't uh detect traffic. So it's not coordinating with the rest. So what it actually does, you're coordinated from Perkins, but then when you get to Main Street, you hit one that's in recall. So it's just running a arrow for 7 seconds, a green east or east and west for 30 seconds and and so on. So will these identify pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles? Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. The no traffic uh does pick up each of them. Um, so you know like um especially with the bicycles and the motorcycles, it it helps as far as being able because we have some issues with motorcycles not the loops don't necessarily always give up. I ride a motorcycle and sometimes it doesn't recognize me. So So if a pedestrian is late crossing and there's somebody still in the intersection, it might hold the red for a while longer. Uh I'm not sure if it would do that. Okay. I could I could find out and uh email you. So the last question is will these identify do any facial recognition or or tag readers or anything associated with these cameras? No, they they don't do that. Okay.

So they're they're simply for detection and and they don't store data or anything. Um Okay. So thank you. Okay. You're welcome. Thank you, Council Hart. Action on the item. Motion to approve item E from the consent docket. Second.

We have a motion and second to approve item E. Please vote. Vote five to zero. Item E from the consent docket is approved. All right, we'll jump back to item four, public comment on items not scheduled for public hearing. I have five people signed up. I'm going to start with folks who are here to talk about item 7A on general orders and then we'll move uh to one on the ordinance and I'm going to call them just in the order that I've got. So, you'll have uh please come up to the podium, introduce yourself, name and address, and you'll have three minutes to speak on the item. We'll start with Evan Frank.

Okay. So, uh this might be the first time I've done public speaking in my life, so you know, just bear with me. But no pressure. Anyway, no, I uh so I know there's been discussions about Can you start with introducing yourself? Oh, yes. Sorry. Uh Evan Frank, 1120 South Duck. Thank you.

Yeah, sorry. Yeah. Um no, I know there's been discussions about um what to do with the roundabout, whether to keep it, whether to remove it. I'm a huge proponent of keeping it. I think that it does a really good job of calming down traffic downtown. It prevents anybody from coming in at high speed and trying to blow all the stop signs. it. It's a nice barrier that slows traffic down as they enter downtown. I also think that it's small enough that the typical issues you run into with pedestrians and roundabouts are not an issue there. It's not a long distance to cross like a lot of larger roundabouts are. It's I I think it it does a fantastic job. And I actually think we need more of them. Personally, I think that most of the intersections downtown would benefit from being a roundabout. So, excellent. Thank you for your input. Appreciate it.

Bobby Win.

Did it start yet? Okay.

Hi. How's it going everybody? Bobby Winel, Stillwater, Oklahoma, 1911 West 3rd Avenue. That man back there is my neighbor. Um, with a very simple Google search on roundabouts, you're going to bring up the Florida Department of Transportation, and it's going to give you all of this amazing information. Um, primary reasons for roundabouts, drastic safety improvements, reduced fatalities show up to a 90% reduction in fatal crashes, and a 75% reduction in injury-causing accidents compared to stop signs or signals. Obviously, you have fewer conflict points. A traditional intersection has 32 points where vehicles can collide. A single lane round roundabout like what we have has only eight. Um, as Evan said, low speeds. The tight circular design forces drivers to slow down, typically 15 to 25 mph, making any other resulting accident much less severe. So, no T-bone crashes, increased efficiency capacity. Um, a light is going to keep people waiting. This increased traffic capacity at a roundabout is from 30 to 50%. So, it's better flow. It's better for emissions, cost savings on gas, functional reliability, and the list goes on and on and on. I love roundabouts. I have a bunch of pet peeves in my life, and one of them is sitting at traffic stoplights when I don't have to. Like, husband and Sixth Street. Oh, it's getting better. Thank you guys for working on it so much. If it were a roundabout, all the people that come and visit Seventh Street and downtown could come in, come out much quicker. I think roundabouts do need to exist in way more intersections as the budget allows. I understand it's really expensive. Um, I do also want to say that these individuals that have run into the roundabout that we have, do we really think they wouldn't have run a

stop sign and maybe killed someone? They took their car and they ran it into a huge concrete thing that has a beautiful statue. So what why do we think that we should make changes based on something that maybe could have been actually worse if the roundabout hadn't been there? Lastly, I think that this is an education issue and I would like to propose to all of you that if you give me the um if you give me the Winfrey Houston Theater for free, I will make programming for the public multiple times per year, maybe once per quarter for education on traffic roundabouts just like what we're talking about today and how to use them and why they're so much better. And also, I encourage you to go to Europe and just go to Europe. That's all I have to say. All right. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you for your input. Stone Lambert.

Good evening. Uh my name is Stone Lambert and I'm here to promote not only replacing the roundabout with a bigger and better one, but installing more around Stillwater. Over the last 20 years, more than 40 people have been killed in traffic crashes here in Stillwater. 43 recorded deaths. Take 20 uh 2021 for example. Five people died in traffic related accidents. Two of them were just walking, not even driving a car. Um I can give you a whole bunch of statistics on how many people die all the time driving cars. Um, and but if we just look at the roundabout since 2015, drivers have plowed into it again and again. Uh, first was a semi-truck driver um in 2017. Um, this one I didn't know about. It was a drunk motorcyclist running away from highway patrol at 143 miles per hour. Um, and then the last one uh was a SUV. Every one of those drivers could have killed somebody, but instead they hit concrete. And that's actually the point. I understand uh it adds up in cost for repairs, but roundabouts don't just calm traffic, but it absorbs the consequences of bad driving. A head-on collision becomes a fender bender with a brick wall. A t-bone at a stoplight becomes a guy walking away saying, "I'm just lucky to be alive." We need more of these, not fewer. I'm asking the council to fund replacing the roundabout and to commit to a corridor strategy that puts them where data will says they'll save lives. Uh, this goes on and on. Uh, the math and the science is just there. Uh, roundabouts are just safer. Uh, they slow down cars or they're supposed to if people know how to drive. Uh, the

geometry eliminates the deadly crash types. So, worst crash type is a T-bone, and it's pretty much uh it's lowers the chances of a T-bone happening because there's a giant barrier in the way. Um, like Bobby said, fewer conflict points. Um, and then the last thing was uh statistically, it's actually pretty interesting. And you know, if you look at like Facebook and uh the still our community page, you would think uh it's the worst idea in the world, but uh people actually learn to like them. So in communities where single lane routeabouts replace stop signs, support went from 31% before construction to 63 shortly after. Follow-up surveys more than a year later showed show showed support at 70% on average. Um, and those who strongly opposed dropped from 41% to 15% after drivers actually used roundabouts. Um, yeah, that's about it. Thank you.

Good timing. Thank you. Yeah, Corey Williams.

Corey Williams, 621 South Husband. Uh, I just again wanted to to speak on behalf of the roundabout. Um, I'm the property owner that has the northeast corner of um that that intersection. And um, luckily one of the reasons to have so much traffic in that immediate vicinity and I've spent an inordinate amount of time sitting in that giant window watching that roundabout. And um, I would agree with everything that that everybody has said from a safety standpoint. I actually um it helps the traffic flow quite a bit. So instead of people trying to hang illegal use on Main Street, they just go around the roundabout, which is nice if they're coming back to get a parking spot in front of Hatch or um the Meat Company or one of the other businesses that are lining that or if they want to go to Empire or Roundhouse. And so just as a business owner, I am one of the converts that Stone was talking about. like I was not a proponent of it in the beginning. Kind of thought it should be a block further south, but it's there and I've enjoyed it and I think functionally, which is what you guys should most be concerned about, it actually works extremely well at the thing that we are trying to do, which is to slow people down, uh, give them a beautiful view of downtown Stillwater and increase the safety for all the citizens that are walking around. So, that's it. Thank you.

Thanks, sir. All right, next up on a different topic, Steve Trost. Hello, my name is Steve Trost at 2823 West 28th Avenue. Mayor Joyce, members of the council, thank you. Um, I currently serve as director of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise at Oklahoma State University, where my job is to teach students about the importance of free and competitive markets and in particular about the unintended consequences that arise when government intervenes in those markets. What I want to share tonight comes directly from that work. I also want to thank Director Bar who has been generous with his time over the past couple of weeks in discussing these issues with me. The work that he and the city attorney's office have put into this ordinate is evident and I support the vast majority of it. I should disclose my personal interest as well. My wife and I have operated a full-time short-term rental in Stillwater for 4 years. Under this ordinance, we would be grandfathered. The density cap, as written, would directly benefit us by limiting future competition on our block. I'm here arguing against my own financial interest because I believe the cap has problems that outweigh that benefit. Specifically, the cap can be gamed, and these are exactly the kinds of unintended consequences I teach my students to look out for. First, defensive licensing. Nothing in this ordinance prevents a homeowner from obtaining a short-term rental license they never intend to use. On a 20 unit block, only four licenses are available. A homeowner who opposes short-term rentals can grab one of those slots, pay the fee, never rent a single night, and permanently block a legitimate operator. Second, incumbent operators can weaponize this. An existing operator who wants to eliminate competition can pay a friendly neighbor to hold the license. The neighbor collects the payment never

operates and the competitor the competi uh competition is locked out. You've given incumbents a tool to buy exclusivity not through better service but through quota manipulation. Third, the cap creates a land rush. The moment this ordinance takes effect, every property owner considering future short-term rental use has an incentive to file immediately. Not because they're ready to operate, but because waiting means their block might fill up. That's the opposite of the thoughtful compliance-driven process this ordinance is designed to create. Fourth, the grandfathering provision locks all of this in. Existing operators like me are insulated. Every graming gaming strategy I just described plays out among new applicants competing for whatever slots remain. If the council determines that some form of density provision is necessary, I'd ask you at a minimum to differentiate between owner occupied homes where the owner lives on the property and rents occasionally and full-time investor operated short-term rentals. A homeowner renting their space, their spare bedroom on a football weekend is not creating the same neighborhood impact as an out ofstate investor running a year-round commercial operation. They shouldn't consume the same quota. Exempting or separately counting owner occupied short-term rentals would protect the residents this cap claims to serve rather than punishing them for wanting to use their own homes. Thank you. Thank you. All right, councilors. That takes us to item six on the agenda, public hearings. Item 6A is receive public comment regarding the proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2026 2027 and consider action to incorporate changes presented during the public hearing and or other changes identified by the council and return to the council for review at a future meeting or direct staff to proceed with adoption of the budget as proposed in the attached schedule of a f at a future meeting. This is CC-26-90. Did we have good notice on this item?

Yes, we do. Mr. Thulan. Good evening, mayor and counselors. Uh Jared Thulan, deputy chief financial officer. We're here this evening for the PO public hearing related to the proposed FY27 operating budget. There have been no changes made to the proposed budget since the budget was presented on April 20th. That's pretty simple. Pretty simple. Counselors, any questions? What's next in the process? Jared, uh, we'll come after the public hearing. If there's any changes to be made, we'll incorporate those based on the recommend or the the motion made by council. And then after that, we come back for budget adoption on June 1st.

June 1st. Thank you. I don't have anyone signed up to speak on this item. Well, I should open the public hearing first and then say that we don't have anyone signed up to speak on this item. Was anybody here planning to speak on the budget? Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing. Do you have a recommendation for us? Our recommendation would be to direct staff to proceed with adoption of the budget as presented in the attached schedule by resolution at a future meeting. Do we need a vote on that? No, but I think staff would just like to know that there are no needed changes when they bring it back because they won't bring it back for discussion and consideration. It'll just be for approval. All right. Well, if you have comments or questions, counselors, this is the time to bring it up.

Sounds like you should proceed to get us ready for adoption. All right. Thank you guys. Thank you. Good job.

Again, all of these budget hearings are always so anticlimactic because it seems like it's just a a quick thing, but I know you all have been working on it. We've been reviewing it uh and we will look forward to seeing it again. Item seven, general orders. 7A, presentation, discussion of the conceptual evaluation and planning level cost comparison for the rehabilitation of the 10th Avenue Main Street roundabout compared to conversion to a four-way stop intersection, including possible action, Mr. Milis, to let you take it from there. Sorry for the delay. Good evening. Bill Milis, director of engineering. Just trying to maximize it.

Yeah, it's you continue talking.

Okay. Last Dece, excuse me, last December, staff presented an update regarding our plans for rehabilitation of the roundabout at 10th and Maine. And during that discussion, council asked for additional information, specifically a cost comparison between a roundabout and converting the intersection to a four-way stop. So staff engaged goes and associates uh to perform a conceptual evaluation and a cost comparison between those two alternates. So, at this point, soon as Dawn rescues me, I'm going to turn it over to Steven Ghost with Ghost Associates to um to share the results of their evaluation.

Perfect. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and counselors. Steven Ghost, Ghost and Associates. Uh like Bill mentioned um engineering department engaged us to look at conceptual level cost estimating so of rebuilding the ride roundabout rehabilitating the roundabout and rebuilding the intersection as a four-way stop. So we've got a couple slides in here to kind of go over two slides on the plans and then a cost comparison at the end. So this is a a rendering of what the modifications to the roundabout look like. The west side of the roundabouts in pretty poor shape from a pavement standpoint. So that'd be a full depth repair. New striping and signage at all four entrances uh to help with safety. Um and again with a lot of this starts mimicking what's happened at 7th and 8th. Um, so Alabach, who was the landscape architect on the block 34 improvements, has a rendering and they've been engaged to look at the conceptual layout um of the middle part. And that the block wall that was there that's been taken down would be replaced with the hatchet stone, which are the big sandstone blocks around block 34 right now. These wouldn't be that same mass, but they'd be the same style so that they would fit better contextually, and it provides that that connection over to block 34. The outer dimensions of the island stay the same. The outer dimensions of the planter would stay the same. And along with those signs and striping, there'd be solar lighting around the roundabout and at the approaches to help with safety. So,

okay, one quick question. stay the same as what the original or what's there now? The dimensions would stay the same of of the outer roundabout and there's still the foundation wall from the block wall that was around there. So that would be mimicked in the new original dimension, excuse me, the original dimensions you were talking about. Yes. Okay. Yes.

So then this is a rendering of what would happen to rebuild it um as a four-way stop. The curbs were pulled back when the roundabout was installed. So the entire intersection is going to have to get rebuilt to pull those curves out to take out the foundation that's in the middle. So full full pavement um replacement again, new striping and signage to match what's up and down the street. We come in in the landscape islands and mimic what's what's along the corridor. And then I didn't mention in the last one, but light poles are proposed by Stillwater Electric in this that are on order or actually they're in the yard ready for the other intersections. So that's the overview of the two. So then this is a a highle comparison of of the price between the two. So demolition, paving, lighting, and striping, landscaping all grouped together. Uh so you can see the construction subtotals 16 116,000 to rebuild the right roundabout 238,000 to convert it to a four-way stop. The big differences are the demolition and the paving. And I mean they're all they're all different and highs and lows depending on which column you're in. And then uh the next level is the construction. So bonds and insurance carrying a contingency and then the last is the design and construction administration both from an engineering and landscaping standpoint. So you can see overall to rebuild to a four-way stop is $174,000 over the roundabout rebuild. So that's that's what we got. Are there any questions on this? Counselor's questions.

Stephen, can you remind us some of the in the roundabout option, what some of the additional safety measures? So, we have lighting. Was there anything else that was added? So, restriping, adding some additional striping, but really the solar lights that are are on the ground level. Um, let me I don't know that we've got So, so this is staff had prepared this the last time. So you can see there on the right the LED pavement markers um and some pictures of what those would look like. So those are lights that are with they're embedded in the pavement themselves.

They're they're they're bolted down to the surface of the pavement so they're raised a little bit to to be able to see it and they're solar powered so you don't have to run wires and everything. And then is there is there lighting on the statue now currently? I was trying to remember if there's up lighting on the statue. Yep. And that would and so the purpose of those uh puck lights or embeds is kind of you can see the shape. You know, it's not really illuminated, but it's enough that you can see the shape of the roundabout and where the car should go to make it more intuitive to follow it.

And that's correct. And as mentioned, Stephen mentioned 7th, 8th, and 9th as council kind of approved and gave guidance back in December. We'll have those new block 34 lights at every intersection. And we'll be bringing that. We already have the lights here in the yard ready to install, but every four each of the four corners of the uh this intersection will get the lights regardless of option one or option two. Does it have lights currently at all? No, not great lighting. Okay. Yeah,

I think councelor Harden to answer your question. There's kind of that rendering of what the cross-section um and maintaining those diameters that are out there. Thank you. You're welcome, Stephen. In the budget, was the sign the LED kind of like lit sign that was it? It's in the landscaping number. Okay. So, one of the renderings that staff showed back in December as well, I don't know if it's embedded in this. No, no. was a kind of a downtown Stillwater 3D, you know, lit uh display that can change colors much like interlaced. And so that would give additional awareness of something right in front of you.

And you said there'd be the the stone going around it' be a different kind of stone than what we currently have. What was out there was like a keystone block like you can get at most of the landscape stores, hardware stores. This would be stone, a natural stone to mimic what's at block 34. Is it any more resistant to cars running into it? They're both pretty darn dense. So, probably buffs out here. Councilor's further questions. Is there a recommendation from staff on this item?

Thank you, Stephen. Um, I did just want to add a little bit to say that, you know, with either option, we'd intend to improve the safety. If it's a four-way stop, it'd be similar. Seventh, eighth, and ninth with the the enhanced paint on the pavement, the short yield to pedestrian signs, um the decorative stop signs, um some of the we'd refresh the striping that Stephen mentioned and make it a little more intuitive and more modern, like the shark's teeth that help. Um, you can kind of see it there pretty faintly where the right turns are kind of tell you to yield to traffic in the circle. Um, more signage to yield to pedestrians. So, safety will be a priority, you know, whichever option we go with. Um, and on that topic, we also have Well, I think I have a slide. Yeah, we've enhanced um both of these photos are at 12 looking northbound. Um so to reinforce to trucks not to drive down Main Street, sends it routes them over to Duck. Um and if they're coming eastbound on 12th um tells trucks not to turn north onto Main Street. So we're some other measures there too to increase the safety and the convenience of driving in downtown specifically at 10th and Maine. Um, and I will tell you that um, moving forward based on council guidance this evening, our plan would be to proceed with design um, and then return to request authorization once we have construction bids. And I do um be glad to try to address any more questions. We're also talking about the recommendation.

Any further questions? So, a comment. And I was downtown a couple days ago and going southbound on Maine and there was a semi-trail truck about three cars in three three vehicles in front of me. I tried to get up close enough to get a picture of him going through the roundabout. I could not, but he cut across the roundabout as we've talked about before that happens. So, we've we've tried to fix the problem with northbound trucks. What about southbound trucks on Main Street? the there's signage also at sixth and nine and it's working so well on a big I mean there was warning there was one way a bit facicious about that but you know we can sign it all day long but we're going to have trucks down and yeah we're not going to eliminate it we're just trying to minimize it right

um and the roundabouts and design so that fire trucks and big trucks um can navigate it without hitting the the roundabout and some enforcement I think would be a good idea also. Okay, thank you. Get the police off. Yeah, I have friends that can help us with that. Sorry, Officer Sensible.

I just wanted to thank um the members of our community that came out to share some of their insights and and thoughts. I really value um kind of the perspective from folks that have businesses close by and have kind of seen it in action. And I think from an urban planning perspective, I also really like roundabouts and would love to see them used more as a a traffic calming um opportunity. I think um I know this one has been challenging um maybe to just the awareness of it and the size of it is um been kind of challenging, but I um I appreciate everyone coming out and giving some some thoughts about that roundabout.

I don't have any questions. I do have some comments. Um, first, Bobby, I have driven in Europe. I have driven New Zealand. Um, I've driven in my hometown that has a giant roundabout. Uh, I think a the intersection of Boomer and Duck and Escridge would be a great place for a roundabout. I don't like this roundabout. I think it was ill-advised when it was created, and I think it's ill-advised to keep it. Um, but I'm confident we're going to keep it. Uh, but I just I I just don't think it's a good idea to keep this this roundabout. Now, I I I do have a concern about the new the current design if we're going to if we are going to move forward, and that is it's a very small roundabout with a giant statue in the middle of it that limits visibility. If we're going to keep it, I don't think we should keep the statue there. My opinion, for what it's worth. Further questions or comments? I'll add my two cents just for the fun of it. Um, if uh I wasn't sitting up here, I would have been uh presenting at the podium along the same lines as what we heard. I think it's a an excellent um addition to our community. I think it, you know, all of the evidence uh around roundabouts is that they are safer, that they uh do in fact do the job that we wanted to do down there, which is to keep traffic slower and to to minimize the amount of large traffic that comes through. Um I I understand the concern that that councelor Clark just expressed about visibility with the uh the statue. Um I don't know if I agree that it's that big of a problem and the statue's awesome, so uh I would be in favor of keeping it. Uh but I I to the extent that there's a you know concern around the foliage or anything around the base of it to make sure that there are clearer sight lines, I think that's certainly worth taking into account. Um but but I'm certainly in favor certainly

not not only because it's way cheaper uh to just keep it what it was. Um but but also because it's a it's an excellent addition to our community uh from a safety perspective and from a beautifification perspective. Uh so I assume we need a motion to uh recommend to staff that we will uh adopt or move forward with with the roundabout option and and I'll make that motion. Second. We have a motion and a second to direct staff to advance option one with the roundabout. Please vote with a vote of 4 to one. That motion passes.

Thank you. Appreciate your work on it. Item eight, ordinances. Ordinance on first read. Item A 8A is ordinance 3606, an ordinance amending the employee retirement system defined contribution plan for the city of Stillwater. Pro providing retirement benefits for eligible employees of the city of Stillwater, Oklahoma pertaining to the contributions by participants, providing for employer pickup of required contributions, providing for repealer and severability. So, this ordinance does pertain to the city employee retirement accounts through OKMRF. The ordinance would adopt a change to the plan that would allow employees to make a selection if they want to make Roth contributions. There's no financial impact to the city. So, adoption of the ordinance would just implement the plan change.

Councilor, any questions, comments, or action on the item? Motion to advance ordinance number 366 to second read. Second.

We have a motion, a second to advance the ordinance. Please vote. with a vote of five to zero. Ordinance 366 is advanced to second reading. Also on first reading we have ordinance 368 an ordinance amending store city code chapter 29 motor vehicles and traffic article one in general by creating section 29-23 use of handheld cell phones or communication devices in a school or construction zone repealing all ordinances to the contrary and providing for severability. So, this code change would create a new section of code and it mirrors a recently adopted state law that would prohibit the use of handheld electronic devices and cell phones to compose, send or read text messages um holding or using cell phones. Uh there are some limited exceptions uh for hands-free or voice operated or if the sole purpose of um using it is uh in an emergency situation. It prohibits it in uh construction zones and school zones.

So if it's already in stat state statute, why do we need to put it in city ordinance and duplicate that and then have it become out of alignment with the state at some point in the future? That's a good question. This was actually a request from the police department. Um you know, anytime there are we do adopt new state law provisions, um it can create some confusion as far as the training division and you know, what do we do? What can we site? Um they could could site another state law provision um as a best practice. Most cities are adopting this. Um it it's good to have on your code. Right now the um city code provision isn't quite like the state law provision. This version is better. So I would recommend adopting it.

So is this this so if I'm not in a school zone or construction zone, I can be texting. No, there the uh this is specific to use of handheld electronic devices in those areas. So there are other all other provisions of the code uh are still enforceable. This is so this exact section mirrors the new state law and we're just creating a section for it. So are there more significant penalties? Is that's why is that versus texting when you're driving anyway? Um I I'm not sure. I've not compared it to the texting and driving provisions. If you want that information, I'm happy to bring it back on second read. That would be great. Thank you. Okay.

Yeah. I I mean I will ask for some some clarity when we come to second read because I my understanding is that it's like now you can't get a ticket if you're just unless you're actively doing something with your phone. This would in school zones even if you're just holding it, you can still get a ticket. Like it doesn't require that they actually saw you sending a text or or pressing the buttons if you're holding it. I think it's a more stringent standard, but we would certainly be open to hearing more information on second read. I'll bring that information. Thanks. Thank you. Is there uh a motion on the ordinance first read? Motion to advance ordinance 3608.

Second. We have a motion and a second to advance ordinance 368 to second reading. Please vote. With a vote of 5 to zero, the ordinance is advanced. Ordinance 3609 is an ordinance amending the order city code by amending chapter 33 parks, events, and recreation article one and general section 33-15 camping prohibited exceptions repealing all ordinance to the contrary and providing for severability. So, this is another request from PD to improve our current code provision. Again, this would mirror um an applicable state law provision. It would revise our current ordinance from overnight camping to unauthorized camping, which would allow us to mark things as unauthorized. Um and it provides for a graduated um offenses. For example, um there would be a warning and an offer of assistance. And then after that, there would be a first conviction would um be a fine not to exceed $50. A second offense would be not to exceed $100. And a third or subsequent offense not to exceed uh $200. It's my understanding that um these changes would help when there is a need for enforcement.

Questions, comments, or action on the ordinance? I move to advance ordinance 3609. Second. We have a motion and a second to advance the ordinance. Please vote. Ordinance is advanced with a vote of five to zero. Item D is ordinance 3610. And I think we have a request from staff to pull this one for now. Yes. This will come back at a later date.

All right. Thank you. On second read, we have ordinance 364, an ordinance amending the daughter city code by amending chapter 23 land development code by repealing article 5 use categories and limitations division 4 residential short-term rental in its entirety and creating and adopting chapter 23 land development code article 5 use categories and limitations division 4 short-term rentals section 23 section 23-115.1 definitions section 23-15.2 2 permitted districts. Section 23-115.3 short-term rental license required compliance with applicable codes. Section 23-115.4 application form and process. Section 23-115.5 denial revocation notice and hearing and complaint process. Section 23-115.6 covenants deed restrictions and overlay requirements. Section 23-15.7 penalty repealing all ordinance to the contrary and providing for severability. counselors.

So, mayor, I do have um just a couple of verbal changes from the version that's in the packet and was presented on first read. They're mostly uh cleanup. I've provided those um at your seats and there are extra copies available in the room. I'll just briefly walk through those. There is only they're highlighted for ease of viewing. Um there were times where um we were referring to code of ordinances and Stillwater City Code. So, we've just uh made all those changes um so that we're consistently referring to the code by the same term. And then the one substantive change is in section 23-115.4 subsection 5. It has to do with proof of valid property insurance. Uh the first read version set a coverage amount of $100,000. Um after further um discussion with staff and reviewing other ordinances, um we've removed the amount and are just going to require proof of current valid property insurance. Um the decision was made mostly in part of uh the amount of proper property insurance depending on the properties may vary. Uh we know that we want them to provide that they have um have property insurance uh but couldn't really find what that right number was. So this still ensures that there is insurance as part of the administrative uh uh application process.

Um okay I'm going to start with that one. So, it went it did say a certificate of liability insurance coverage. This just says valid property insurance. I don't I haven't asked I don't know if there's an insurance agent in the room, but if you can buy property insurance that just covers the replacement of the property and doesn't require doesn't actually include liability insurance or if someone gets hurt on your property and there's insurance coverage for the liability that you might in in uh incur. I agree with taking the amount out because it's going to be, you know, kind of a an issue based on the the property value, but I think it should still refer to it being liability insurance rather just rather than just coverage on the house itself. I think what we want them to have is liability coverage so that just like we require liability coverage for an automobile. So if you hurt somebody uh with what you're doing that you've got insurance coverage that will help uh make that right. So, I would suggest that it still needs to have the word liability in it, but again, not an insurance expert.

So, again, that was based on reviewing what other cities um were requiring for proof of. We can certainly add that. Would you like it to say proof of current valid property insurance and general liability insurance? Current valid property insurance, including liability coverage. Okay. I have changed this to say proof of current valid property insurance comment including liability coverage. Thank you. Questions? Are there comments on the ordinance?

Yes. So, as we were reddrafting this ordinance, was there any consideration of cap manipulation? Because frankly, this concept was a new idea to me today. So, is that was that taken into consideration at all the fact that somebody could just basically tie up their whole block by getting getting uh licenses that they're not actually going to use? I was also not thinking along those lines. I guess I'm not devious enough, but I I mean a question that's probably a question for staff.

Yeah, we we would have to bring back I know that some communities have um gone to look at the owner occupied um or like you know owner occupied STRs. So that maybe some families, and there are a lot in our community that rent their homes out for Midsouth or for big events or like football game days, but they're great neighborhood members uh during the rest of the year. And so that can be a challenge to enforce as you can imagine.

How would you verify it concern? Like you're going to go watch their house the other weekends and make sure they're actually living there. That's a I think that I mean I agree that that that is a totally different use case than when someone is an investor and they're just buying a property and it's vacant, you know, 90% of the year. Uh but I don't I mean I don't know how we would possibly write something and enforce something that actually would treat those things differently. Well, this is I'm just thinking out loud, but hypothetically, you could have a full-time license and an owner occupied license that were different licenses that you could monitor and track separately because of how they applied.

I agree with that. I just don't know how we would if you went and said, "I want an owner occupied license." Are we going to who's going to go sit at your house and make sure you actually live there? Right. versus, you know, because I would assume we've got it's a lower regulatory burden if you live there, but how would we how would we enforce it? Well, when we apply for a license, is that not under penalty and perjury? I I This is true. Yeah. Yeah. But then you'd have your neighbors I mean, we'd be encouraging neighbors to be sitting out and and you know, uh, staking out their neighbors houses to see, hey, and then coming in and saying, hey, this person doesn't actually live at this house. I

do people do we think that people that do that kind of rental are they going are are they officially like on a site where we they would be getting are those people right now getting any sort of Yeah. I mean I know several people that live in their homes and rented them out like for boys from Oklahoma for just that weekend made a,000 bucks or 1,200 bucks renting their house out for the weekend and they moved back in after they those people left and they do it on Airbnb. Yeah. So to the official enough that they would need we would ask that they would have a permit. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. And the new requirements require that the permit number be listed on the online listing agent. Yeah. So

could could we lay this over until our next meeting possibly and that way we could verify the language around insurance to make sure it's right and also ask staff to look at this idea of owner occupied versus full-time and if there's see if there's any way to try to put that into the to the ordinance.

Yeah. I mean I'm not opposed to to doing that. I think the question is going to be I mean if we're saying if we made that distinction it would be because we'd say if it's an owner occupied short-term rental that is not creating the problem that we're that we're seeing of investorowned properties that are being taken off the market and used as short-term rentals and therefore aren't available for people to buy or people to rent long term and so we have a shortage of uh of that housing. Um, I don't I mean, if we can't figure out a way to enforce that, I don't know that there's a I mean, I guess we could look at it.

Well, that's the point of asking staff to look at it. And there's, as far as I know, there's no rush to get this done this week, right? Yeah. I don't I don't Yeah, I don't necessarily have a problem with that. I think the the question around caps and whether the sort of manipulation of of the cap thing um again is going to be one of those things that's just really at some point you've got to draw a line. And so, uh, unless we're saying no caps at all, we're not ever going to, uh, to change it. And so, I don't I don't know that there's any way. And the fact that only three existing, uh, streets, blocks in that in the whole however many blocks do we have in the city, three out of many, several hundred. Mayor, may I ask a director Bar a question?

Oh, please.

Did you discuss owner occupied? Was and what wasn't there an enforcement discussion at least that I recall about distinguishing. We did look at owner occupied. We looked at lots of things. Um for owner occupied, a lot of communities define that as living in a house 275 or 290 or you know different numbers of days throughout the year. And um we just came to the conclusion that we wouldn't know how to enforce it. um how could we verify that you've lived there 300 days a year or um you know there again you I um you can you can be devious in lots of ways um you can say I live here your neighbor could say oh yes um he lives there um you know there's lots of ways people can get around things so no matter what we do or how we change this people are going to find ways to do something else maybe um you you know, I we're I'm certainly happy to to go back and look at other options if you would like us to. Um more than happy to do that. Um but we did look at owner occupied um because there there are places communities that treat them differently um versus if and I and it is seems like it's different. You know, when I've rented Airbnbs before where people live on premises um versus not living there um there's a different market. You know, some people don't want to live with other people um you know, strangers maybe. Um but uh you know it's um yeah there's it's it's different when you're when you have someone who's living there. Um maybe the neighbors around that property feel like it's it's better that there's the owner living there versus it's just a house where there's people coming and going and they don't know any of them.

Yeah. I mean, I I I guess while I don't have a problem with us laying it over and and asking some of those questions, I guess I I don't know that we're going to get any better answers than what we've got. I mean, I think this is going to end up being a some arbitrary line being drawn somewhere. And um yeah, I think if it comes down to we don't know how we would enforce that. Um I just think it makes it problematic to put anything in a policy or code that we don't know how we'd enforce. Let allow us time to bring back to at least examine it and we'll

bring it back to a future agenda. Just a question so I make sure I know what direction I give my staff that works with them. Okay. So bring back um some options or research or what other cities do um how they treat owner occupied differently than what would not be owner occupied um as it pertains to then is the idea that then if it was owner occupied the density cap would not apply potentially. Yeah. Potentially. Okay. I just want to make sure that if there was something further about the density cap and then just to confirm with somebody who may be an insurance professional that the requirement we put in is something they can actually get and provide. Is there anything else that you'd like us to bring back with staff and my team?

I mean, I think it's worth looking into the the concern that's raised about gaming. Oh, just getting the license and not using it. Is there something we could put in there to say if it hasn't been rented at least once in the year that the license will, you know, expire? Although, again, I don't know how Yeah, I saw some examples where it had to be like advertised to be sold, but not necessarily rented. Um, again, I think there might be a opportunity to abuse that approach as well, but um I didn't see any examples that required actual rentals, but advertising, we can look at that. Yeah. And I was just going to add, you know, as we talked about looking at a third party software that would help us with um enforcement of the lensure,

that same company can help us um identify, you know, oh, you've got addresses with licenses. They've never advertised on any sites. So, we could know pretty easily um if somebody's trying to game the system. Yeah. So, but we might need to add something in there that says your license has to be actively used. Yes. Or else it Yeah, we would have to add something else um if we wanted to do that. Yeah. I think I think that's a a reasonable thing to look at too.

I do think I wasn't um at the meeting from when it was read the first time, but I do think the the density cap is very important in order to maintain kind of the fabric of our neighborhoods and um the availability of housing and affordable housing in our community. I think um it's it's something especially I think in a college town where this is something we face maybe more so than other communities. And so I think maintaining that density cap is something that's really important for us to consider even as we look at, you know, adjustments to that.

Absolutely. But thanks to uh Mr. Trust for bringing up some of these issues that we hadn't thought about and helping us avoid some unintended consequences. So we'll we'll um do we need to take any action? Yeah. Uh let's table it. Um I was just trying to decide if we should table it to a date certain since we've already had first read of it. I think to be safe, let's table it to a date certain and I was looking at the date of the next meeting which is June 1st. It might be advisable to table it to June 15 just to allow sufficient time.

I'll move that we table the item to June 15th. Second motion and second to table I ordinance 3604 to June 15th. Please vote with a vote of 5 to zero. Item will be tabled until our June 15th meeting. Reports from the officers in the board. Miss Carley, nothing to report.

Mr. Moore. Yes, I've got a couple. Um, in observance of Memorial Day, city offices will be closed next Monday, May 25th. Trash and recycling service will not be impacted. So, go ahead and put out your trash bins, and we will have crews there working on the holiday to pick them up for you. So, um, and and also on our website at storek.gov, gov, we have a a list, a calendar uh of all the holidays and everything for waste collection. So, uh great resources on our website. Um in addition, I another announcement, it's exciting as as we've talked about a lot publicly with all of our um water infrastructure, our the important projects going on at our water treatment plant. In particular, we've had two $25 million projects, as you all know, as you um going on at the water treatment plant. the finished water pump station and the recovered water pump station are are nearing completion, which is really exciting. So, that's that first of the $25 million projects. Uh, so commissioning will begin in the upcoming weeks for the recovered water pump station and hopefully in June, James reported that the finished water pump station will be active. So, those are that's the critical kind of bottleneck that you need to upsize first as um before you begin doing all the other upgrades that we're doing. In addition, the project that's trailing that one that is already in action, the the chemical uh package, uh all those upgrades, um that's going really smooth. Some of those key components are actually getting ready to be uh operable as well. So, exciting work going on at um water treatment plant. So, hats off to James and the uh Jason and the crews out at the water treatment plant.

Spent some time on the radio talking about things that happen in the city that nobody really sees. and uh when you guys upgrade pumps and chemical buildings and that sort of thing at the water treatment plant, nobody is out there watching most of the time, but we uh really need that stuff to happen and appreciate the work that everybody on the staff is doing to get that get that done. Vice Mayor,

yes. Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming athletes, families, volunteers, and fans to Stillwater for the Special Olympics Oklahoma Summer Games. One of my favorite weeks in Stillwater. Congratulations to all the competitors who once again showed their skills, determination, and camaraderie. We'd also like to thank the many volunteers, including dozens of our city of Stillwater staff who helped make this another successful summer games.

Always fantastic time. Um, we spent some time out volunteering as part of my uh day job at Innerworks and I know there were a lot of city staff out there. Uh Christy Morrison on the radio this morning also was talking about how we need to make sure that we're continuing to find as many volunteers as possible because that is the biggest summer games in the entire North American continent uh for the Special Olympics and that can't happen unless we have lots of people out there volunteering. So yeah, put it on your calendar for next year. Councelor Hawkins,

the weather is warming up which means it is time for our city splash pads to open this Wednesday, May 20th. The splash pads at Boomer Lake Park and Southern Woods Park will spring to life once again welcoming families for a summer of cool fun. Other summer activities will be listed on our community calendar at stillwater.gov/calendar including events hosted by the library and the parks department.

Excellent. Thank you. The uh water feature on block 34 is not really a splash pad but and it's on already, right? That's like functional functional. There's always kids out there, too. Council clerk, the voter registration deadline for Oklahoma's June 16 primary election is this Friday, May 22. If you're requesting an absentee ballot, that deadline is June 1. Among the many things on the ballot, this primary election includes choosing candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, state senators and representatives, US representatives, and an open US Senate seat. In other words, you don't want to miss out. But of course, we encourage every eligible voter to register and get involved in the civic process, no matter what's on the ballot. It's a privilege and a right to be part of the democratic process. And what a great way to mark our nation's semisquentennial.

I think somebody needs to keep track of whether he says that word every meeting between now and July. I did just text my recently turned 18-year-old son that he needs to make sure he's registered to vote before Friday. Good for you. Thank you for the reminder, Council Harden.

Yes. Join us on Thursday, July 2nd for the 250th 250th birthday bash at Block 34. Then come on out to Boomer Lake Park on Friday, July 3rd for our annual fireworks show. That leaves July 4th open for a full day of Saturday celebration with friends and family. Saturday's 2026 Fourth of July plans promised to be bigger and better than ever. As we get closer to July, more info will be shared on city social media website. Be sure to follow at stillwater.gov, gov on Instagram, Facebook, and bookmark stillwater.gov/boomerblast. As a heads up, city hall will be closed on Monday, July 6th in observance with holiday. Excellent. Thank you. I will remind you all that it's graduation season. Meridian Tech is honoring their grads this Wednesday and Thursday, May 20th and 21st. And then on Friday, May 22nd, Stoer High School will send its class of 2026 across the graduation stage and into the world, including at both graduations, my son Thomas. So excited for him. Congratulations to all of our graduates on their accomplishments. We will also want to take this opportunity to remind residents that we'll see an influx in visitors, so be patient on the roads and watch out for pedestrians, especially around those graduation sites.

Anything further? Is there a motion to adjurnn? Second. We have a motion and a second to adjurnn the city council. Please vote. With the vote of 5 to zero, the store city council is now adjourned. This time I'll call to order the store utilities authority meeting for May 18th, 2026. Trustees, questions, comments, or action on the consent docket. Motion to approve the consent docket. Second. Have a motion and a second. Please vote. With a vote of five to zero, the SUA consent docket is approved. There's nothing further on this agenda. Is there a motion to adjurnn? M second. We have a motion and a second. Please vote.

The vote of 5 to zero. The store utilities authority will now be adjourned. And at this time, I'll call to order the Stillwater Economic Development Authority meeting for June for May 18th, 2026. Getting ahead of myself. Trustees, questions, comments, or action on the consent docket? Motion to Oh, go for motion to approve consent docket. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve consent. Please vote. With a vote of five to zero, that consent docket is approved. Seeing nothing further on the agenda, I will move we adjurnn. Second. Motion a second. Please vote. With a vote of five to zero, the Stiller Economic Development Authority is now adjourned. And that concludes our meetings for the evening.