e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning we're going to get started this morning with an invocation by Pastor Sylvester Patton III of Avery Chapel am church and that'll be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by anua Samar Aira representing Girl Scout Troop 732 please stand as you are able how good and pleasure than it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity every head bowed every eye closed Lord we thank you for waking us up this morning and starting us on our way thank you for bringing us safely to this space Lord bless this place bless your people bless the elected and appointed leadership of this great City of Oklahoma City may all of us do your will your way we just want to give you glory nothing more more nothing less and nothing else in jesus' name we pray amen amen good morning everyone please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the plague of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and Justice for [Applause] All okay we uh good morning I call this regular meeting of the city council to order and we have uh a few items a few presentations from Office of the mayor and I will make my way to the front for that all right why don't we have our friends from The Innovation office come up here Kelly and team so a few years ago you may recall that uh city council approved were in conjunction with the city manager the uh creation of an office of innovation so we could uh continue to always be thinking about ways we could provide city services at a higher level or a more efficient level um and there's always a lot of great ideas around the country we wanted to make sure that we were considering and potentially incorporating those and a lot of times those cut across departmental lines and so it's very helpful to have somebody who doesn't work necessarily in those silos and so uh Kelly Williams joined us and began this work and it has recently led us uh to a very special National recognition and we would like to learn a little bit more about what we know as the what works cities certification and so I would ask the clerk to read this citation whereas Bloomberg the philanthropies what work City certification is an international initiative launched in 2017 by Bloomberg philanthropies and led by results for America that help cities adopt foundational data practices develop data skills among City staff and put in place critical data infrastructure and whereas in 2023 the City of Oklahoma city office of innovation completed the whatw workk city's certification assessment to bench Market's data practices and to develop a road map for building the infrastructure skills and culture needed to effectively use data and evidence to deliver better outcomes for its residents and whereas in completing the assessment the City of Oklahoma City joined an International Community of cities advancing their data practices and sharing innovative ideas for adopting and scaling datadriven approaches to pressing challenges and government operations and whereas in the past two years the City of Oklahoma City has made measurable progress in strengthening its foundational data practices including establishing a data government governance board a data stewardship program and a city-wide data inventory and whereas what works City certification evaluates recognizes and celebrate cities for their exceptional use of data to inform policy decisions alloc at funding improve Services evaluate program Effectiveness and engage their residents and whereas what work City certification is contingent on connecting data directly to quality of life now therefore I David Hol mayor of the City of Oklahoma City do hereby proudly share that the City of Oklahoma City has met the what works City certifications standard of Excellence for datadriven local governments and achieved 2024 what works City silver certification and I do further congratulate and thank our city of Oklahoma City staff for their hard work to achieve this honor that ultimately reflects on our government's increased ability to better serve our residents thank you I I could hardly say better myself but I will attempt to expand on these thoughts just slightly in that you know I understand obviously this is very focused on our data work and you know I understand if you're a resident you may say how does data make my life any better but you know data is really just a a fancy word for information and obviously we need information to make decisions there are I'd say infinite examples but that's not a very databased word really there there are a certain number a very precise number of examples we could provide if we so desired but you know one example that comes to mind recently was we were up here talking about um you know our our our desire to have zero traffic fatalities and through data we know now you know which intersections um cause the most fatalities we know that it's actually a very small number that caused most of the fatalities I mean that type of information SL dat um is what allows us to provide better Services make better Investments for the people of Oklahoma City so um this team is leading that effort and their efforts have now been nationally or I guess internationally recognized so uh we'd love to hear though a few words uh from you Kelly if you don't mind yeah thank you um this is a really exciting accomplishment for Oklahoma City to be recognized in this way for data supported decisionmaking and the way that we do business uh of course it wouldn't be possible without City leadership really charting that course and setting those priorities and certainly not without the work of City staff working for the months and years leading up to the certification to fulfill that Vision so I want to take a moment to recognize leadership and staff and especially our data governance board some of whom are up here right now with me um they've are relatively new board but without them this certification would not have been possible and I'm also excited to say that the work continues because our data governance board and our data stewards Group which has representatives from departments all across the city are continuing that work to improve our data quality and our uh data processes all across the city so thank you all for your hard work and great job all right let's hear for our city of OKC team thank you thank you it's sure to thank you all all right now another great group of our city team which is about a third of the room perhaps the transit professionals can you all come forward [Music] so coming up is public transit professional appreciation day and we'd like to learn a little bit more about our public transit professionals and so I would ask the clerk to read this Proclamation whereas public transit benefits all residents of Oklahoma City by reducing traffic congestion alleviating parking demand improving air quality and making our city more Equitable and accessible for all and whereas Embark public transit Vehicles collectively travel over four 4 million miles and facilitate approximately 3 million passenger trips annually in the greater Oklahoma City area and whereas Embark public transit professionals manage a fleet of vehicles maintain route performance and Transit facilities collect fairs assist residents in navigating the transit system and play an integral role in driving the community of Oklahoma City forward and whereas the duty of an Embark bus operator is to safely maneuver Transit vehicles through unpredictable traffic adverse weather conditions and very tight spaces all while exercising cost ction and following the laws of the road and whereas Imark Fleet Maintenance staff oversee the cleanliness preventive maintenance and upkeep of a fleet of buses Vans and shuttles to ensure the safety of customers visitors and the community and whereas Embark facilities and maintenance staff preserve and maintain bus stops the transit center and public transit facilities working tirelessly through the heat of Oklahoma Summers and the coldest winter days and whereas Imark support staff Excel and customer service dispatch and administration ensuring public transit is available to all residents and visitors to our city and whereas all Embark staff Serv as models of safety courtesy discipline and effective communication in the performance of their duties each day now therefore I David Holt mayor of the City of Oklahoma City do hereby Proclaim Tuesday March 18 2025 to be public public transit professional Appreciation Day in Oklahoma City so you got a week to prepare your plans for public transit professional appreciation day um you know our public transit Professionals of whom uh this is certainly not the whole team up here this is just a representative sample but uh as stated here I mean they work in all kinds of weather conditions um they're very public facing and I don't just mean when they greet you as you enter the bus think about the fact that their work is always publicly on display to every uh every driver around them uh is viewing and observing their work um and uh and they also have I think interestingly some of the you know the longest service hours of any one of our uh city services uh you know this is a system that is operating not quite 247 but pretty close to it so um we're very proud of their work and we want to continue to invest in it as a community and we want to continue to expand these services and that depends though on the great professionals who Implement uh this system every day we'd love to hear a few words uh from the fearless leader of our Transit professionals Jesse Rush if you don't mind yeah absolutely well first thank you mayor thank you city council for this Proclamation uh so like you said with this Proclamation allows us to really recognize our our public transit professionals on March 18th and allows us to to join many other cities Across the Nation and doing that on that same day um just kind of put it into context so Embark is a public Transit Agency here in Oklahoma City we provide nearly 10,000 trips per day and that's whether that's with our fix route system our uh our plus system our Mobility management or our brand new mode the rapid Northwest and just to add a little bit more context to that that's 9 to 10,000 trips per day that's 9 to 10,000 fewer cars on the roadway and we do that with 70 Vehicles every single day uh and then the folks that are up here today so the folks that are up here today are part of our peer-to-peer recognition uh our Legends programmed and they EX that uh our core values of being safe being there being open or being kind so really really appreciate all the hard work that everybody does every single day to do that it's uh really never been more evident than it has with our most recent customer service survey where uh the folks that use our system every single day uh was uh either very satisfied or satisfied up to 90% so that we lead the nation and customer satisfaction every single day so again thank you mayor thank you city council for this Pro appreciate it thank you thank you let's hear it for our Transit professionals there you go thank you all thank [Applause] you thank you all right Toby come on down Toby Gordon is our teacher of the month and we would love to learn a little bit more about you and so I would ask the clerk to read this resolution whereas Toby Gordon has been named teacher of the month for March 2025 by more public schools and Rotary Club of Oklahoma City and whereas Toby has also been named as a top five finalist for district teacher of the year for the 2024 2025 school year by more public schools and teacher of the year for the 2024 2025 school year by Brink junior high school and whereas Toby received her master of art degree in De education from flag Flagner college and received her Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in Sign Language interpreting from Sienna Heights University and whereas Toby has taught deaf education across all subject areas at Brink Junior High School since 2022 and has served as a sign language interpreter across all subject areas and grade levels at Red Oak Elementary School and whereas Toby is a member of the registry of interpreters for the DEA is a member of the national Association of interpreters in education is a member of the Oklahoma registry of interpreters for the DEA and is a member of the association of college Educators deaf and heart of hearing and whereas Toby has been recognized for her efforts at providing a quality education to her students by being awarded a donor a donor's choose Grant to fund instructional resources and whereas Toby strives to create a learning space where deaf students not only succeed academically and linguistically but also helping them to build confidence leadership skills and a sense of belonging within their classroom environments and their community at large and whereas Toby believes that one of her greatest contributions to education centers around her ability to mentor and Inspire student teachers and interpreters as they learn and seek to integrate DEA culture and learning within the classroom and to help these student teachers and interpreters learn to EST Lish collaborative relationships with other Educators so as to enhance the learning experiences for their students now therefore be it resolved by the mayor and Council of the City of Oklahoma City that they do hereby recognize and commend Toby Gordon on her selection as the March 2025 teacher of the month by more public schools and Rotary Club of Oklahoma City well thank you well Toby you you bring a very unique set of skills to uh the Young people of Oklahoma City and we're very grateful for your work and we'd like to show that gratitude by passing this resolution this is a resolution so we need a motion and a second uh to adopt it we have that I'd like to vote I please cast your votes passes unanimously well again thank you for your service to our young people and we'd love to hear a few words from you this morning if that's okay okay um on behalf of myself and my DEA of Heart of hearing students I want to say thank you to the City of Oklahoma City and the city council and I hope I can continue to work with you on how to make our schools and City more accessible for our deaf and heart of hearing students excellent well thank you let's hear it for to thank you okay one more item on Office of the mayor and that's an appointment to the Human Rights Commission we could take a motion on that we have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously um all right now we at items from Council and we have item 4A which is a resolution commending the oklah city police foundation authored by council member Stone thank you mayor yes U before we get started on this I would just like to let yall know I apologize that this thing came out kind of quickly I originally had it planned for two weeks from today um and I didn't communicate that well enough so it got put on this docket so we're we're going to go ahead and move forward with that before I ask the uh city clerk to to read the resolution I've got a couple of people that are going to come up and speak about wellness and and the police foundation so first let's start with Oklahoma City Police Sergeant Katie Bernett very much you want me to face you okay uh thank you all for having us and highlighting such a great Foundation um as you know and it says up there one of their main goals is the wellness of our Police Department employ and so um that is near and dear to my heart and I know it is Mr gorle back here is going to speak after me so thank you all for having us today and listening to us uh so my journey as a police officer I never thought um it would bring me to the wellness unit I started 18 years ago and as I imagin my career I never thought about the wellness unit uh but life circumstances and something that happened to me on the job would change my life and directly lead me into the unit I'm in now so I've been in the wellness unit since 2020 since his Inception um then Chief gorley uh made it a priority to have a wellness unit and so I went to it into the unit during that time but what led me there was an incident that happened to me on patrol and if I can I'd like to take just a few brief minutes to tell you about that incident the incident happened in 2010 I was a newer officer uh on patrol I was working the overnight shift and I early on in my shift I got a call to respond to in Northwest 38 in Miller and it was just a routine traffic stop I was supposed to go and help another Agency Oklahoma County with the traffic stop uh the deputy had a guy pulled over who he believed was intoxicated and so he was going to arrest the subject for DUI and just wanted assistance with that traffic stop so I responded we completed the traffic stop the subject was in fact intoxicated so he was arrested we ended the traffic stop and as I drove away I noticed a subject in a parking lot of a business and that business was closed for the evening so based on his reaction when he saw me he I looked as if ID startled him I thought well I'm going to pull over and see what this gentleman's doing so as I pulled over uh but before I could get out of my vehicle he suddenly turned on with me armed with an AR-15 and began shooting into my car he fired 26 rounds six of those rounds hit me I was struck from my head down to my legs uh and probably the closest call was the the one that went across my right cheek and through my right ear so during that time um and after that incident I came to the realization that you know going into this job as a police officer you definitely know the physical challenges you may face as an officer but I think we take for granted and don't take into account maybe the emotional and mental challenges we will face as officers and that in incident definitely had me facing those challenges and what I really didn't take into account and what this made me realize that it wasn't just me facing those challenges but more importantly it was my family facing those challenges with me one of my most Vivid memories was my mom walking into the ER when I had made it to OU Medical and seeing the condition I was in and she broke down um she was overwhelmed broke down crying uh because of the way I looked so that broke my heart and to be honest that was probably the hardest part of this incident is seeing how to Ed my family so fast forward as I said that incident changed my life tremendously and it led me into this unit when it was created um it put my path forward wanting to give back and pay forward and help support officers and the professional staff of the police department who may be going through trials as well and I believe that's what the wellness unit was created to do we were created to help people take a holistic approach and help our employees through the challenges of their life help them overcome those challenges and in doing that we take a holistic approach um we look at their mental emotional well-being but also their physical wellbe being Financial stability their spiritual fulfillment um several different areas like that we also do a lot of resiliency education um trying to help our employees be resilient and we do a lot of um resource advocation getting our employees to the professionals that can help them so we would not be able to do that without the help of Partners and the Oklahoma City police foundation is one of our greatest Partners in helping us complete that mission helping us walk through adversity with our employees and get them on the other side and help them beet resilient so with that I'm going to turn it over to Mr gorley and he is going to talk a little bit about the foundation I'm sorry before you go yes sir first thank you for sharing that story and thank you for your service thank you sir that incident was in W two I realized 38th and Miller so I was just looking at that um um I'm so sorry that that happened to you thank you it's honestly um I've looked at it in a positive manner um God saved my life at night and uh I've seen more posi positive come out of it than negative so I'm very fortunate sure um 2010 is when that incident happened is that what I okay thank you for that you're welcome thank you Chief gorley good morning uh thank you for the opportunity to come and speak today on behalf of the Foundation as one of the board members just real quickly I want to recognize Mindy friller Chris Klein and our uh director and CEO Jared Frasier of the police foundation uh they work very hard tirelessly they are committed um to the foundation and to our police employees as you heard from Master Sergeant Lawson from her story and how it not only impacted her but her family uh we we realized as a police organization that as well supported as we are in the community by our city government there are things that come along that often times a city budget just can't tackle especially when you talk about family members how Master Sergeant La Lawson spoke about her incident and how it impacted her family how her family was very upset by that and so often times that Wellness extends beyond our police employees also too when you look at the police department and how it's uh how it functions we have not only our sworn staff our folks in uniform our detectives investigators that are out performing law enforcement duties actual um you know arresting and police work that you think about on a daily basis but we have a lot of professional staff and so what we figured out in looking at that is there is no one organization that can step up and help everyone on the police department it may be limited by membership in a certain group or organization whether it be the Police Association the fop ask me things like that that often come to the aid of their employees the police department has employees across the spectrum that some times need assistance and need help and the only way to get that is through uh something like the foundation and the foundation serves all police employees and their families there's been many incidents where um you know as a police chief uh you you have someone that's going through something a trauma and maybe it affects their family and they may have to travel uh to get medical treatment for a child or a spouse or someone in their family that's not something a city budget can fund but an organization such as the police foundation can and I think too probably besides all of the great work that the foundation does for our employees and their families I think it's real important for uh for us to note that I think the biggest part of their mission is to show our employees that there are people in the community that care about them that want to make a difference and appreciate what they do and I think that is probably the single biggest part of the police foundation and its mission in what they do and so I thank each of you that are here today to help support us I think thank Chief basy and the staff and all of you uh that support the foundation and it's my honor and privilege again to be able to serve with this Foundation now and to continue that great work and so thank you for recognizing us today and thank you for the opportunity to speak thanks Chief with that Madam clerk can you read the resolution please resolution of the City of Oklahoma City Council commending the Oklahoma City police foundation for its generosity dedication and work supporting the Oklahoma City Police Department mission and vision specifically acknowledging the foundation support of the Oklahoma City Police Department Wellness unit and the assistance the wellness unit provides to both uniformed officers and civilian employees of the department whereas the International Association of chiefs of police has recognized that law enforcement duties often expose officers to both routine acute stress and highly stressful situations which require a commitment to addressing officer we Wellness by local law enforcement agencies and whereas the Oklahoma City police department has created a wellness unit to provide holistic support to Aid in the wellness of uniform officers and civilian employees and whereas the Oklahoma City Police Department Wellness unit strives to provide psychological support to promote Financial Health physical well-being and resilience education and Endeavors to identify new and Innovative Wellness Resources for the entire police family and whereas the Oklahoma City police foundation is a tax exempt nonprofit organization Incorporated in February 2023 by a group of community members interested in making a difference in the lives of employees of the Oklahoma City Police Department and whereas the mission of the Oklahoma City police foundation is to support uniform officers and civilian employees of the Oklahoma City Police Department and the foundation has grown quickly and built strong relationships in the Community to help meet its Mission and whereas the Oklahoma City police foundation is committed to enhancing the Endeavors of the Oklahoma City Police Department by providing both financial and non-monetary resources that align closely with the Department's mission and vision with a particularly strong emphasis on offering Wellness Resources for uniform and civilian employees facing personal challenges or significant life events and whereas the Oklahoma City police foundation has provided resources including helping an officer and their spouse who is also an employee with financial needs after adopting four children in immediate need providing much needed Physical Therapy equipment for a family member of an officer who suffered an unexpected medical condition and providing financial assistance to an employee affected by a recent tornado now therefore be it resolved by the mayor and counsil of the City of Oklahoma City that they do hereby extend sincere gratitude and Commendation to the Oklahoma City police foundation for its generosity dedication and hard work in supporting the Oklahoma City Police Department's mission and vision specifically acknowledging the foundation support of the Oklahoma City Police Department Wellness unit and the assistance the wellness unit provides to both uniform officers and civilian employees of the department thank you and with that I'd like to go ahead and move for the approval all right we have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously thank you so I would just like again to say thank you to our officers uh and thank you to the the police foundation for what they do for officers thank you very much thank you coun cman Stone all right next up uh item five city manager report thank you mayor um we have a couple of reports on this morning one is the revenue enforcement report this program is managed through our treasurer's office that just ensures that we get receive the revenues that are due to the city and you can see in the report um their work has uh provided an additional $522,000 so far this year and I just appreciate their constant efforts I always try to mention this but this originally came many years ago out of an audit that was done by the city auditor's office that pointed out some areas where we could enhance our revenues coming into the City by ensuring our enforcement and so we created this uh part of the treasurer's office as a result of that audit and just one of the ways that we're better as a city because of the work of the city auditor's office so I appreciate that work appreciate the leadership and the work from our City Treasurer's Office um we also have the sales and use tax report Russell kind of previewed March because we this is one of those weird months where by the time we get all the information get the report ready we're doing the February report we've now received the March sales tax check on the February report as of this point uh at for this month use tax was up 10% sales tax was down about 2.4% but the uh or 2.9% overall sales taxes down about 1% for the year so far Russell had cautioned that at the beginning of the year we'd see lower Revenue Collections and we saw declin in the first part of the year it's starting to pick up and improve March will even be a better a little bit better check I'm still well below what our normal is I think March hits maybe 1 and a half% growth normal growth is about 3% we've projected 2% growth for the year so we're well off of that and not likely to get to the point that we're at that place for that level of growth uh by the end of the year and that all is setting the stage as we've had some preliminary discussions on the budget for next year but right now so far this year we're about $8.3 million below Target on our sales and use tax we'll continue to monitor that and report to the council as we go forward um I did want to acknowledge uh we've got a new employee our newest employee is a man Kenta Holloway manent you stand he's our new court administrator he comes to us from Birmingham Alabama where he was Court Administrator for 13 years before that he had the parole section and um has provided great leadership there he's coming to Oklahoma City now he'll replace lesea who was our court administrator for 10 years and was uh served for a couple of years as assistant city manager and Court Administrator ass now she'll shift her Focus solely on being assistant city manager but man Kenta grateful to have you here and looking forward to working with you I also on the other side of the spectrum wanted to recognize Laura Johnson Laura if You' stand um I don't want to make it too rough on her but Laura is retiring Laura's was an assistant City Manager for us she's served the city 45 years and and that that is just an amazing Legacy and she has had so much influence on so many people in the organization for me personally she's been she was my boss for probably at least 18 years of my career and somay she's still my boss so I'm really going to miss having her here to tell me what I'm supposed to do U but she's just been a real friend to the organization she's left her Mark in so many parts of the organization and it's done such great work for us um Laura we're grateful for your service and for your leadership and for me personally for your friendship so congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your service that's all that I have well thank you and I I Echo your your welcome but also especially your words of gratitude to Laura for 45 years of service to the people of Oklahoma City I I know we'll be celebrating L the rest of the week but this was our last council meeting so thank you thank you so much Laura um all right next up is item six Journal of council proceedings uh we can adopt items A and B with one motion have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously item seven requests for uncontested continuances item 11m is already listed on the agenda as being requested to defer to March 25th and item 11 Q is listed on the agenda to be withdrawn is there anything else Mr city manager yes we just have a few items this morning starting on page 17 item 11 S1 unsecured structures these items will all be stricken from the agenda uh beginning with item C 2259 Northeast 14th Street the owner is secured and then item I 743 Northeast 36th Street the owner is secured continuing on page 17 item 11 T1 abandoned buildings these items are stricken from the agenda for the same purposes they were on unsecured structures Item B 2259 Northeast 14th Street and item G 743 noreast 36th Street and that's all the items that I have all right thank you without objection that will be the order uh next up uh item eight revocable permits and events item 8A is a revocable permit with the Heartland racing company for the goir Run OKC on March 22nd um we do have someone just from Parks available for questions but not necessarily oh yes okay sorry I was just Morgan Daner yes hi so the organizer for this event is actually located in Missouri so they were unable to make it down today um but they actually run three different go girl run events those are half marathon and 5K runs um they're an all women's race to celebrate Women Health Fitness um it's a Glitz Glam uh event for all the ladies they get shirts finisher metal a wine glass post race smoothies and have a great time they're going to start over at riversport and then go across the Lincoln bridge and then along the South River Trail this time so they'll get to see Wy post Park wheeler district and River Park along their Trail this year all right sounds great we this effects Wards four six and seven so feel free to jump in sounds like a great event and I know a lot of people that'll be wan to come to that so I'll go ahead and move for its approval all right right we have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously thank you all right next up is a revocable permit with the riversport foundation for the OKC youth invitation on April 5th and 6th uh and we have Trisha Downey here to speak on this good morning everybody I'm Trisha Downey I'm the national event manager at Riverport um before I get into that permit just wanted to invite you to the uh event we have going out at the end of March uh the international canoe federation's world ranking competition is taking place I don't have a permit for that because everything is within our leasehold so I don't have to come uh through the ranks to to talk about it but um it's an event where 100 n athletes from around the world are coming to compete down our whitewater rapids center it's um an international uh super important race a ranking will get you invited to things like the world championships and the Olympics so uh we take great pride in having all of these folks here filling the hotels um and if you want to attend Saturday afternoon is the best because they have four canoes going at the same time racing to the end and that's the most inviting the most exciting event um and it's free to watch so please come uh today the Oklahoma City youth Invitational is um an annual event we have every year it's an event where we have about 177,000 people come about two-thirds athletes coming from the four states um it's youth so that's the high school age and it really prepares them to to do Regional and and National events it's a 2,000 meter course so we have uh I'm putting in this uh request because we need exclusive use of the river because again rowboats and other boats that cause waves really reav lock on a skinny rowboat uh competing we will drop lines in the river so that everyone gets a row and take them out so that the river is back like we left it and and we invite you to come this is also a free event any questions tremendous event and we're excited uh to have all these young people com in Oklahoma City so I move for uh approval got a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously thank you all right next step is item C this is a revocable ride ofo use permit with the red bud Foundation hold the red bud Classic on April 5th and 6th and we have Kristen herome here to speak good morning I am Kristen ham uh executive director slra director for the Redbud Foundation Redbud classic uh we have our event coming up on April 5th and 6th uh Nichols Hills Jones a little bit of Oklahoma City um bike events will happen on Saturday and all of our running events including the Kids Fun Run and wolf walk will happen uh on Sunday uh we will see approximately 3,000 uh participants over the weekend plus Spectators volunteers everything so um we are here to seek uh permit approval thank you and this uh crosses into WS two and seven question um I just um who hasn't heard of the Redwood classic so if you've lived in Oklahoma City at any time at all and so uh I'm happy to move for approval thank you we have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously thank you thank you all right now we'll recess the council and we'll is the Oklahoma City Municipal facilities Authority where we have items a through G we could take with one motion and uh executive session is not requested by staff on enf have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously we adjourn OC MFA and convene as the Oklahoma City public property Authority we have items a through e we do have a presentation on item e which is certainly a significant step in our journey with our new Arena thank you mayor uh maps program director David Todd is going to give us a quick update and presentation uh regarding the uh this announcement and the contract that we have before you today for the construction manager right good morning David Todd maps program manager just here to to give you a a summary of this item as we continue to go forward uh in our effort to get a new Arena this is the next step and this is adding our fifth and final team member to the project in accordance with the development agreement we continue to work um towards that so remember that that this process is different than what you're used to see and we're using a construction management process so this is adding that construction manager and it is a joint venture between flintco which is a local contractor and mortensson which is a national contractor they both have extensive experience in large projects and projects like this this um Arena it was done through a process much like we hire Architects and Engineers um there was a notice sent out uh three different groups responded we interviewed those groups based on qualifications and then decided to hire this joint venture um what they will do is join the design team at an early stage and they'll be able to help us with pricing and help us understand availability of materials value engineering and those kind of things later on you will see bidding of the project at the subcontractor level so it it will not get rid of that whole process it just pushes it a little later in the process and and the the general contractor will be upfront working with us all right thank you David all right if there's no questions we can actually adopt the PPA docket altogether items a through e have a motion and a second cast your votes passes unanimously all right we'll adjourn ocpa and reconvene as the council we are now on item nine the consent docket there are presentations on items BW and by is there anything else that a council member wishes to pull out for separate vote comment question mayor item uh bz it's a Professional Services agreement which has a res it's a resolution waving guidelines and procceed ures as to that professional service agreement I looked at it last night it's about a 15-page agreement with attachments a through F which are about a 100 pages and so I'd just like to defer it for two weeks so we could have an opportunity to review that some more please okay you want to vote to defer that all right I got that why don't we uh see if there's other items before we jump into that anything else hi uh yes mayor uh item AJ please just to hear a little bit more about those sidewalk Projects please and I'm excited we're going to have a presentation on our youth centers so that would have been the other item and that's what I got thank you okay I think we can go ahead and uh take them in order so we'll start there then AJ councilman J Cooper yes thank you mayor um director Miller would you mind uh telling us a little bit more about these sidewalk projects here uh where are they're going to be and their funding source of course at Debbie Miller Public Works director I can answer your questions councilman Cooper um this item AJ is for a project sidewalk project that's an arpa project um this is actually in some different areas part of it is in Northwest Expressway which goes into um it actually combines with the two other projects that are on for contract award today uh this also has some bike lanes and sidewalks on Villa so we have Northwest Expressway we have May Avenue from North I I really wish at home they could see these locations um so I'm just going to walk them walk folk through it so Northwest Expressway as you were saying May AV Avenue from Grand which is about where blue 7 is all the way to Northwest 47th Street so just past Target think of that wide swath of land that's about to receive pedestrian safety Improvement that will coincide with the replacement of the May Avenue Bridge that collapsed a few years ago the bond is funding that replacement right now and that's going to am I correct yes they we have designed where everything is coordinated and there will be pedestrian access both to Northwest Expressway and across May so in other words just so the crowd is following and at home uh am I hearing you right that there will be a more pedestrian oriented bridge that the sidewalks that will be putting on Northwest Expressway will connect to that bridge and it okay and then the sidewalk connectivity on May um the next one in W two that I think's very important um because this one speaks to the legacy of my predecessor Sam Bowman and this is Northwest 30th from Villa to Pennsylvania um this is this is important and let me tell you where I still think we're missing two critical items here that really would like some guidance and some help one is it's really important that those sidewalks go from Villa to to Pennsylvania it is equally important that two more things happen one the sidewalks and this was to Sam's Legacy you might remember Mike do who served on maps 3's citizens Advisory Board uh Pete white former W 4 council member as Sam was passing away reached out to this body reached out to me for something to honor Sam who was the first council person since World War II 1940s Oklahoma City in 2009 to advocate for sidewalks again to be included in the city budget the 50s the 60s the 70s the 80s the '90s the a we did not build sidewalks so people who have a wheelchair who are trying to get to work to education or Recreation how are they getting around how safely is a child getting around to school how safely is a senior getting around Sam was the one who said we needed to invest in that again $7 million to honor him we said that from Villa to May Avenue we would put sidewalk infrastructure in there as well connecting to a school Northwest Classen right around the corner from that is tapped Middle School I haven't heard yet when we're going to finish that sidewalk from from Villa up to May Avenue and we had talked about putting like an emblem in the sidewalk honoring Sam Bowman and so I don't know if we have any answers today on for this horseshoe for this body of when that's going to happen but that connectivity really needs to continue do we have an answer on on that yet I don't have that but I will be glad to look into it and get back with you thank you again this is important because we have students right now I hear it from Cleveland residents all the time Venice residents all the time who are worried about their children walking on 30th Street in the street to go to school so we're almost there with these sidewalks and that's very exciting but I think the rest of the way is very critical the second missing component that I remained very confused about regarding Maps 4 is lighting so 30th Street from pen to May where the school is as we stall these sidewalks what about lighting so when the Sun starts setting or when the sun is rising so when the kids are going to school right or when people in their neighborhood are going to work at night taking the bus whatever it is if they don't have lighting then that makes their pathway maybe not feel as safe so maps for you'll recall spending $4 million in street lights I seem to remember back in summer of 19 that we were going to do like a light study across the city to determine which parts of the city were residing in the most darkness and then we were going to uh prioritize the placement of those $4 million worth of street lights in those areas but I've heard nothing as the city councilman since 2019 about where we're going to be placing uh those lights and I would say to you that this is also important I know there are a lot of people here signed up about cisu youth homelessness Services lighting along 30th Street along where these new sidewalks are are important for everyone involved who live in that area whether it's AOA neighborhood whether it's Shepherd neighborhood Hood whether it's the students who are attending Northwest Classen whether it's Cleveland neighborhood you name it you also just heard right around the corner from there where an officer was shot with an AR 15 15 years ago it's harder to do crimes when there's light it just is what it is so city manager first question are we still planning on doing a streetlight um like kind of heat map yeah so one of the things that we're doing is working with OG&E on identifying the lights I don't know where we are with the study but I know part of what we're doing with our work is informed by the vision zero plan that's helping to identify that so I have to get back with you on what the plan is right now David you want to give a quick update right so what we found is aerial photos and things like that are extremely expensive we've been going along um trying to figure out every on that that project and what we've recently seen is that Vision zero map that shows accidents along major corridors because of lighting issues so that's one way that we're we're approaching this but we'll look at that 30th and see where we are on that thank you it's it's very important that we get that lighting there on that Corridor and that we finish what Sam's Vision was of that connectivity um the good news again for the park at sadic is that Maps 4 will be bringing lighting to that Park so that's good but I think that additionally 30th Street and quite frankly Pennsylvania where we've been putting in new sidewalks I think that the lighting needs to be happening there as well so just want to hone in on that while I have you here um so thank you for the work thanks for helping to secure the arpa funding to uh complement the map funding that's putting in the sidewalks director Miller thank you okay next up is presentation for item BW yes David TD our maps program director will introduce this project good morning David Todd maps program manager this uh project is one of three pieces of our mental health uh section of maps for and this is for the crisis center this is a preliminary report and ESS Studio is the architect crystal dinker is here to go through the preliminary report with you thank you my name is Crystal dinker I'm with sa studio and I will be giving the presentation on the preliminary report for the Mental Health crisis center the project site is at 1200 Northeast 13th Street that is just on the east side of the OU Medical complex the site is 3 acres the building footprint is 27,41 Square ft and we will be providing 72 parking spaces for staff and visitors as well as two dedicated law enforcement parking spaces in a secure location the first part of the floor plan includes the secure entry and exit this will include both a walk-in vestibule and a law enforcement entry vestibule into the facility once consumers enter in either of these locations they will go to a central screening and processing room and off this screening and processing area there will be a consultation room and an exam room as well as a toilet shower combination should consumers choose at this point to take a shower and put on clean clothes there will be a security office located in this area as well that will have visual access to both the walk-in vestibule and the law enforcement vestibule and then access into the screening processing area there will also be a property storage room in this area and that will be for any personal belongings that consumers bring into the facility they'll be cataloged and stored there for the remainder of their stay the second portion of the program is the Urgent Recovery Center this is going to consist of one large observation room that will hold up to 25 um individual observation stations as well as a social living area just off of this room there will be toilets and showers for the consumers to use as well as a consultation room a treatment room and a calming room the there is two different components of the staff workstation in this area there is a open staff station in the observation room itself as well as a closed work area for staff behind the staff station the next component component is the crisis stabilization unit and this will consist of two completely independent uh units in each unit there'll be 16 bedrooms and a social living space in the center the toilets and showers will be located off the social living space and not in individual bedrooms each unit will also have a group therapy room a consultation room a um calming room just visible to the nurses station as well as a laundry room that is available for consumers to do their own laundry under supervision if they so choose and then in the middle between the two units there will be a cafeteria in serving area that will be shared between the two units and we see this as being a great multi-function space potentially for um art therapy music therapy or even staff meetings the next component is the staff and vendor support area in order to maximize efficiency of the floor plan we have created a centralized core for this area and both the staff from the critical stabilization unit as well as the Urgent Recovery Center will be able to utilize these areas easily these areas will include the loading dock the kitchen soiled and dirty utility as well as housekeeping bulk supplies and a staffon laundry room and then the last portion of this project is the administrative area there will be workspace for up to 27 staff members a conference room and an employee lounge this is the main image of the building it is looking from Northeast 13th Street as you can see the building is a combination of brick and stone it's for long lasting durability as well as having some canopy accents this is the same view looking from 13th Street just of the administrative area there'll be individual offices um in each of these windows this is the secured West Entry this is where law enforcement will enter a security fenced area to bring consumers into the facility this is the delivery entrance on the east side of the building and this will be where all of the V core deliveries are made through the overhead door here to the right you also see the backs side of the administrative area and this these will be some large group um office rooms for IT staff and then to the left you also see the crisis stabilization unit bedrooms this is an image of the Urgent Recovery Center interior you can see the individual stations for observation as well as a social living area we are looking and trying to make these spaces as less institutional as possible and we are trying to go with high ceilings lots of natural lighting organic shapes and so you can see that here this is the crisis stabilization unit cafeteria again we are going with high ceilings lots of natural daylight and here's the crisis stabilization unit social activ area there will be groupings of tables and chairs lounge chairs a television uh to the left you can see access to the outside Courtyard that each individual unit will have and to the right you can see the staff observation station um this will be a wraparound desk there on either side of this area there are two hallways that contain eight bedrooms each the wraparound uh staff station will allow these staff members to be able to have visual control control of both of those corridors in getting to the budget and the cost estimate our project budget is 11,456 1100 the program and subsequent building spaces required were over that amount so we are proposing that we have a base bid and alternates to move forward with this project the base bid does include a warming kitchen instead of a full commercial kitchen and 24 beded beds in the crisis stabilization unit and that would be a total cost of 11,427 26 alternate one would be the eight beds for the CSU and that would be an additional $600,000 alternate to would be the full kitchen instead of the warming kitchen and that would be an additional $675,000 and Alternate three would be a few administrative staff areas such as uh record storage and Personnel that could be located offsite so that would be an additional $173,000 and then alternate number four would be to completely replace the existing parking lot on site with a new parking lot while the existing parking lot is in usable condition it is one-way drives and tight turning radiuses that so we would like to make that a little bit more efficient if possible and that is additional $455,000 we understand that alternate number one and alternate number two are important parts of this program so we are currently working on several options in order to ensure that that can be incorporated into the construction the first thing we'll be doing over the next few months is going line item by line item for everything that we are going to specify for this project this is a preliminary budget estimate we have not specified products materials um and while we have identified build Building Systems we have not gone and detailed those systems so we will be going very thoroughly through with the budget in mind to look to see where we can reduce costs but still keep the safety and Welfare of the consumers and staff the second option that we are looking at is there are discussions happening about additional private funding for this facility um I'm being told that those are going well and we are hopeful that we will get some additional private funding however cannot um definitively say we will get that at this point so with that said we would like to go ahead and recommend that the preliminary report be approved with the base bid and alternates the schedule would be the final construction documents and specifications would be completed in June of this year so that would allow the project to go to bid and contract be awarded by September and then when construction could begin in October of 25 which would allow a completion date for the building in May of 27 is there any questions yes um quick question uh actually a couple of questions uh and the total uh number of bids is how many for the base bid there would be 24 okay the total program requirement is 32 okay so then that would be alternate one for addition eight beds is that correct that is correct okay and then uh the full kitchen what is the alternative uh it would be a warming kitchen so the operator would need to bring meals in from the outside and keep them warm in the kitchen until um they they are served okay so one and two are your priorities uh that's about 1.2 million roughly $1.3 million or something like that but that's your priority is that correct that is our absolute priority okay thank you um yes thank you for the presentation I do have um two questions um can you go back to the one of the very first slides that just sort of should the site map so I see this um where it says detention over here on the right side of the screen that to my recollection it currently is a building that houses A Drop in Center for a local nonprofit correct are there plans to keep that there or is this um imagined to be something else and kind of giving them notice that they'll need to find another location so they have um agreed already to move off site and they are actively looking for different locations so when that happens um the building would be demolished okay gotcha thank you um and then the piece about and I you you sort of kept saying law enforcement entry but then there was like an ambulance in the rendering I just want to clarify that it is just like General emergency services because even recognizing that we have a newer it's still you know not even a year old so recognizing that it's not as like socialized that to be expected that um like the mobile Integrated Health uh Team could potentially enter that secured area or an ambulance or something that is also transporting someone to be admitted is it just general Emergency Services is just general um law enforcement Emergency Services um anything one that the operator would deem needed a badge to get into that parking area okay thank you I appreciate it thank you very much appreciate all right then um next up is Item B Y for a presentation daveid Todd's going to introduce the project for uh determining the sites for the maps for youth centers morning again um this is for the Youth centers we went through the usual process of identifying an architect and the architect was assigned two things not only will they design the first youth center but their first task was to help us identify where these these youth centers will be located um so an extensive study has been done um bakas pain is here today Colin Fleck specifically is here to take you through that process and show you the uh suggested locations good morning thank you for having us here today excited to be in front of you um I'd like to start off by just thanking all the people that have been involved in this we've reached out and met with dozens of community stakeholders on this um adg blat provided quite a bit of the data um Boys and Girls Club of course has been integral in this as the operator and so I just wanted to start out with gratitude for everyone that's been involved uh let's see I've been told to use a clicker here um our objective was to really focus on site selection for this effort and so the maps office charged us with um focusing on data um making sure that we use data to dve our decisions on these locations and so it was nice to see this morning that you had a a declaration for the uh for recognizing the data of the city that's helping make decisions across the board so we wanted to do the same thing and we started out by looking at different metrics and trying to identify areas of need across the city some of those metrics that we looked at were youth density youth poverty um crime rates for just general crime youth crime um then we looked at viability of different sites across the city we were asked to try and work with existing public uh locations like parks and city-owned properties so we're looking at acreage of those sites we're looking at flood plane maps and fth maps to make sure that we're out of flood planes we're looking at adjacency to schools and the performance of those schools we also met with Embark and we looked at public transit and availability uh for for that with regard to proximity to bus routes and things like that and then um we met with some different schools uh districts to you know just talk to them find out their input about sites and things like that so again we wanted to be as objective as we could with the data um again here's a list of several of the stakeholders that we met with um Oklahoma City Police Department was great um they provided a lot of good information for this as well um arnol Foundation DHS Boys and Girls Club embark fields and Futures parks department zoning uh planning again Police Department school districts Urban League we we met with several different folks on this and everyone was I'd say generally very excited about it and very helpful um so our first metric that we looked at this is census data so these are census tracks that we're looking at here but we just wanted to chart these and begin to look at the areas across the city where the data tells us that we need be looking for locating these youth centers so this is youth population um you'll see the darker areas are more dense with Children of course it's across differ Siz tracts so um we'll start to see some of these areas pop up again and again when we look at youth poverty um really we're we're starting to Z zoom in on sort of the area right outside this Urban core so along I40 I35 South South of the river and west of downtown this is a a violent crime heat map this is all crime in the city not just specific to Youth and you can see the heat map provided by the Oklahoma City Police Department um one just note on this one was that we were told that from Council to Rockwell and Reno to Northwest 10th is the highest square mile of crime in Oklahoma City that'll come up later in some of our uh site selections and recommendations the next diagram here is juvenile crime this came to us from the office of juvenile Affairs and it came by ZIP code so we have to interpret the data just a little bit differently in this regard but this shows some of the highest areas of juvenile crime and then when we overlay those two you get a sense of where some of those line up across the city so this helped us to identify the areas of need um there's you know it's not just a straightforward thing but we did our best to trying to identify general areas across the city where these um areas of need were located and we just ranged uh gave them names a b c d e and f um generally A and B is Capitol Hill um uh it's it's one large area we decided to divide it into two to make it easier to identify sites and so our recommended sites here are shown um on the map and you get a sense of generally where they're at um we were recommending a b c and d and the blue stars that you see are existing youth centers that are full youth centers K through 12 uh operated by the the operator Boys and Girls Club and we'll go through each of these what we did is we took each one of the areas and we just ranked it in a matrix just to help um determine in which order we would recommend them so it's just in alphabetical order a through d and again this was just based on the metrics that we had already determined um so density poverty crime size of the property and that developed our priority of the need the first area is uh Woodson Park everyone's pretty familiar with this there's been a lot of public investment in Woodson Park it's very high in all of the metrics for density poverty crime and it's also got uh great ball fields and things like that so it it it really sets up well for uh the first location that's high visibility it's very close to public transit and to elementary schools middle schools not far away from us Grant High School and this is an aerial this is a little bit of an older aerial you can see there on the southern portion of the the park uh the baseball complex that was recently completed last year um the West portion of the Park is already built out with soccer and baseball fields and so you'll notice the there's a uh an existing community pool that is closed and that's generally the location of where the first Youth Center is being proposed the second Youth Center is um at Southeast 66th in Santa Fe it is directly north of Webster Middle School it's south of Southeast High School and very close to Southeast Middle School Hay Elementary um this checked all the boxes for all of our variables and the data that gave us um it high visibility it's in a very large flat site there's an existing building there U so there's some existing infrastructure that we can reuse as well this is an aerial there you can see Webster there south of the the property and there's some really nice ball fields over there that can be shared potentially the Third location is at the existing Northeast Boys and Girls Club um they have an existing K through 8 Youth Center there this would be taking it to a full Youth Center um we've got good access to public transit schools it's right in the middle of the area of need and you can see there it used to be pulk Elementary School um that's at 37th in Prospect here um there's been quite a bit of money already poured in by the Boys and Girls Club to renovate the building and to put some Fields uh footall Court uh playground uh in on the site and they've got additional funds that they're bringing to this site to help construct the gym and so that you know just the using additional outside funds um this was a really helpful part for this site and the fourth site is Melrose Park if you think back to the the highest square mile of crime in the city this is right smack dab in the middle of it so it's got great access to public transit um it's directly south of Council Grove Elementary School schol this is an aerial of the site there's an existing community center on the at the entry near the park infrastructure um in discussions with parks department they've let us know that that building has reached the end of its usable life and so we evaluated it for reuse that's not what we're going to recommend we recommend a new facility at the back of the property and we'll just click through here this is a what we call our coverage map of the city um what we've done is we've highlighted the schools that will be served by each of these proposed youth centers and it and it creates a a boundary a coverage map so we can look and see um how many schools were able to serve that what translates to the youth that were able to serve um so this gives you a good idea that between the four proposed locations and the existing youth centers operated by the Boys and Girls Club the amount of children that were able to help um this is just a recap of these sites one of the things I failed to mention on Melrose Park is that parks department has been holding about half a million dollars of geob bonds that they'd like to invest they've been holding it anticipating that something might happen here so this would go towards the the park infrastructure that would be U built out front to accommodate this facility as well and so with that that is our presentation for today happy to take questions um I just wanted to say um it was either late 2015 or 2016 Tim mlin Peter Deli Chief Bill City Debbie Martin and others first sat down to start talking about youth centers and we took a look at Tim mclin's work with field and Futures and the success that they were having with soccer fields and softball fields then we took a look at Peter delisi and the success that the Art Council was having with after school programs um Chief city was able to provide us with Hotspots for juvenile crime and we started looking at all this and Tim did some reports and paid some experts to put things together and I just think that Tim and Peter and and Bill City and Debbie Martin ought to be recognized uh today this all started nine 10 years ago um things don't happen overnight but this is a really uh wonderful day for all their work and uh I thought it was really neat about two or three weeks ago Tim mcgoffin came by my office in City Hall and he presented me with these blowups from the notes of the first meetings where they first started talking about um youth Wellness or youth centers and um my hats off to them and I just want to thank them for all they did definitely thanks uh thank you for your presentation uh before I go into um I'm going to there's going to be some moments here I'm so sorry but this this this is important could you go back to the slide uh for the Santa Fe location Please Santa Fe yeah thank you Colin uh specifically the schools that feed into this area thank you Jefferson Middle scho schools that's where I had the honor of teaching uh College preparation uh the Avid uh to a title one school um actually saw a young man in a truck yesterday he works for his family's construction company and he recognized me he's like Mr C The over on North Side he like Mr Cooper do you remember who I am I was like of course I do you're from Jefferson I read the Oklahoma article yesterday and I've now heard your presentation there are a few words I find missing from this conversation that were front and center during the summer of 2019 when we were creating maps and the youth centers and these are the words and I'd like to hear how you envision from a design perspective um incorporating these words I do not hear any mention of uh our state's uh statistic showing where we're number one in childhood traumas number one um I also don't see any mention in the Oklahoma article about the selection of these youth centers nor in this presentation about mental health what's going on sure um looking at the site selection I would say that we considered those as broad metrics we received quite a bit of data spreadsheets from specifically the City schools that included a lot of that information that was the most granular detail that we got from them as far as how to integrate that into site selection it was looking more at the broad metrics um i' would say generally across the board most of the schools had pretty alarming rates of mental health uh instances so much that I don't know that it would affect one site over the other because it was all across the board very high shockingly High yes uh shockingly high in fact uh I'm having to regulate my breathing up here because I find it very difficult to talk about this subject without going into fullon persuasion mode and full-on fight mode right now um I'm just going to be very honest with you all uh spoke with city manager yesterday um about my concerns here um city clerk would you mind sharing my screen thank you so those of you with long enough memories will recall uh two things one whenever I'm talking about an an issue I have kind of a bit of an outline which is identifying the problem why it's a problem and what the the solutions are when I won in 2019 when I left my job teaching Middle School at Jefferson I left that job because all the success I was having in the classroom I knew just what Colin was saying was true that this was districtwide and that unless I ran for city council first teacher to ever serve on Council unless that voice was here um who was going to Advocate I'm really glad councilman ston Cipher is talking about that early history because I think that's important here that early history told us there was Pat pots from the pots Family Foundation she reached out as soon as I won showed me a documentary called resilience it was about the work and Council this is just so important because I'm just going to tell you right now what is the problem it's youth crime and poverty period why is it a problem because our neighborhoods are suffering from that crime and that poverty but the great news is there are solutions and they're staring us right in the faith face with these youth centers that's the Great news let me tell you where we're dropping the ball where we're dropping the ball right now is we're not prioritizing the work of the woman whose face is on this screen right now and that was the woman who in the resilience documentary that Pat pot who I believe is a very respected member of this community there was just recently an Oklahoma article about her work right where she did a Q&A on this topic so I'm just citing Pat pots you mentioned data and information I'm that's all I'm going to do right now this is not about my feelings I'm trying to get us to some data if you were concerned about crime if you were concerned about crime there is a way to address it and it is in this research in the documentary they talked about Nadine Burke's research she kept treating children as you can see her on the the uh article um I'm just going to read now most of her young patients at the bay Child Health Center were from the surrounding predominantly African American neighborhood in Southeastern San Francisco their home lives were largely plagued by poverty domestic abuse and chaos and later in life many of them also developed chronic illnesses but were the two related so she started doing some research in there connecting the dots about seven years ago Burke Harris read a study that finally connected those dots childhood exposure to trauma was strongly and scientifically linked to all all kinds of ailments and risky behaviors heart disease hepatitis auto immune disease excuse me cancer chronic obstructive ponary uh disease depression suicide quote the reason that I got very little sleep for the first couple weeks after I read the study was because it was just the key to understanding what was happening biologically and why I was seeing a lot of the things I was seeing in the clinics Dr Burke recalled at age 39 I think when you understand what is happening knowledge gives us the power to intervene I was like this is something I can take and sound the alarm on and use it to find the solutions that are going to work so in 2011 Burke left to become the founder of the CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness in Bay a clinic that also researches the effects of stressful situations on Children's Health you heard councilman ston Cipher earlier kind of waver back and forth between youth center and the word Wellness you were right councilman it just mashed it all together what Dr Burke was doing here with the Center for Youth Wellness was doing those interventions and I'm just going to scroll down here so it's actually Wellness is part of it um she opened this Clinic I'm going to scroll down here in 2008 a colleague told Burke Carris about the adverse childhood experiences study a long-term project by Kaiser Permanente in the Centers for Disease Control and prevention researchers followed more than 177,000 there's that data you all love so much more than 17,000 adult patients for adverse childhood experiences so it's when you take a test of 10 questions you answer about abuse neglect exposure to domestic violence and parents who were divorced mentally ill or incarcerated the more such experiences a child had the study suggested the higher their chance of uh dis uh dismal diseases when the body confronts stressful or threatening situations its fight or flight response releases stress hormones including adrenaline and cortisol which create chemical reactions in the body and brain this system is a survival mechanism but it can be overtaxed when stressful situations happen repeatedly and the effect is particularly damaging in young children whose brains and nervous systems and organs are still developing she created a screening tool and this screening tool ask parents how many adverse experiences their child has gone through parents do not have to identify Which experiences that those are it's an attempt to get these honest responses but but the more boxes they check the higher the child's score quote if I see a child who's been exposed to four of them I know their lifetime risk of heart disease is double chronic obstructive ponary disease two and a half times higher depression four and a half times higher suicid 12 times so the young children in those centers they are invited to participate in Psychotherapy with their parents and as they grow older they work with parents to recognize signs of their body's fight ORF flight response and they learn to calm down with breathing exercises and where do they do this work at the Center for Youth Wellness that's the work that should be happening in these youth centers when you go to for those of you who are like oh like San Francisco great go to Oklahoma and you will see Oklahoma watch where they have again data and research where they tell us that when you look at Mabel Basset prison that the average Ace score of those 10 questions is 5.75 you get the backstory of why they're committing these crimes and how they end up in the incarceration system the problem is that Oklahoma is number one in adverse childhood experiences we might have moved up and down that list by a little bit we are number one number one number one they are 20 times more likely when you have an A score or four times or higher you're 20 times more likely than the general population to find yourself incarcerated in other words to commit a crime so when I said to you earlier friends if you're worried about crime and I am and reducing it I am then we have to look at the data and the information Oklahoma State University Research tells us here's the answer there's a simple answer from Carly Dunn she said it's counseling and other mental health interventions are the quote most effective most effective not a little bit effective not a little bit effective the most effective notice they didn't say beating your kids notice they didn't say yelling at your kids notice they didn't say more in school suspension for your kids notice they didn't say more out of school suspension for your kids notice they didn't say more sports for your kids notice they didn't say more parties for your kids more television for your kids more Tik Tok for your kids they said more counseling more counseling but the bad news in Oklahoma is we don't have enough counselors and that's especially true in our rural part of our state I'm guessing the people who are nodding their heads at me right now are the people probably doing work in mental health in the state of Oklahoma they're snapping at me right now if y'all don't know this at home I am so tired I am tired I am tired of us pretending like we don't know the answers to this problem I left Jefferson Middle School to come do this work and let me tell you all when the map for operations contract went out when the request for proposals for that operator went out it did not include the words mental health counseling or adverse childhood experiences even though in the public presentations for maps 4 where you're standing right now Colin person after person after person after person from okcps from this community got up here and said the reason we are going to build these use centers is to address adverse childhood experiences not one mention not one in the request for proposals for who was going to operate those youth centers not one solution related to that topic only because of Miss Debbie Martin and me did it get included in there because that's what happens when you put a teacher on Council and now once more here we are at the design phase and not one mention of mental health not one mention of adverse childhood experiences again again again I I am this is lipstick on a pig unless unless we take this moment right now you have a choice Council mayor city manager it's just as simple we build these youth centers with gems and Recreation or you build these youth centers using the data that tells us how to actually get these kids out of these mental health situations get their families out of it you heard a police officer up here earlier say that when she was shot by an AR in 2010 in 2010 that she and her family found the effects of that trauma on not just her but her family the community that's what's been happening in Shepherd neighborhood in Sequoia neighborhood in Military Park neighborhood in Jefferson Park neighborhood Capitol Hill you name it but we have not poured Resource One from this Council into those neighborhoods to connect those kids to Mental Health Care have we so I am asking mayor and I'm asking city manager do we have a plan to hire people to go out into the surrounding neighborhoods around these four sites where we're going to build these youth Centers do we have a plan to go to the parts of town where we're not building these youth centers but still have high crime when it comes to youth to hire folk who have training just like they did in Dr Burke's um um research they go out and they start connecting these folk to these resources and we could be doing that ahead of the opening of these youth Centers do we have a plan to do that if not why not well this is an operational question the operator has stepped to the podium I think uh anxious to address your your comments is that why you're here Tina I wish I could say I had every answer to everything you just said but I'd like to at least provide a little bit that's great let me also just say before you start talking I Love This Woman This Woman is one of the smartest people we got in the city I'm ready to hear your answers please proceed thank you so much my name is Tina belik I'm the CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs Of Oklahoma County um we have been selected as the operator for the maps for youth centers and I want you to know that every single thing that you said I feel just as strongly about and I think my staff and my team that are here would say the same thing and probably could quote almost every statistic you just showed on the that because of the level of commitment we feel to that um in the resolution that was passed by the city council for maps for um when it specifically addressed youth centers the very first introductory phrase says for the purpose of transforming the lives of our young people that has stuck with me for all these years and in all of the work that we have been doing when we have been looking at site selection program planning every aspect trying to think about what we could do going forward with youth centers I feel such an incredible honor but such a weight of responsibility to make sure we get this right um I think we are so uniquely positioned in Oklahoma City to do something no other community I've ever seen in the United States is doing and it takes an entire Community to do that um when it comes to mental health I would say 2018 2019 we began realizing that our kids were beginning to have a mental health crisis many of them we began doing much of the training you just decided in fact I think you were even on our very first panel when we saw we did our first training on Aces um we've come a long way since then the last five years particularly since the pandemic where we had already extremely concerning indicators of the state of mental health for our youth they're just off the charts now um I wish I could say I have seen a lot of improvement we've seen some but in certain areas others not at all some of the things that we do um first of all we have just made an unbelievable investment in making sure that our staff have the training that is needed to work with these kids that are experiencing these challenges and when you talk about the as of scores the adverse childhood experiences again the 10 questions that you go through you know have have you experienced divorce have you experienced homelessness do you live in poverty all of the all of the things that you might be asked in that um I think it's fair to say in many of the areas that we are looking at for these youth centers um to go that is where we would anticipate seeing the highest a scores in in our city um we want to go in those locations because we want to directly address that we want every young person to succeed and become the person he or she should be and whether they need a a place to come practice music whether they need a mental health intervention whether they need food after school it's a whole child approach from a mental health standpoint um there are number of um evidence-based programs that our staff are trained in and that we run on a daily weekly monthly basis depending on what the different programs are I don't want to get into too much detail today and in fact I'm I'm sorry I didn't really come prepared because I didn't know we were going to do this today but just off the top um we have two programs in particular smart girls and passport to man Hood um that are specifically focused on some of these aspects we have violence prevention we have gang prevention we have anger management we have positive behaviors all of those things run through those programs we've run um recently some a suite of evidence-based programs that were developed with Harvard's Pew Institute that deal with grief self-esteem and resiliency and those have had some really remarkable results our staff are go through extensive trauma informed practice trainings twice a year once before summer and once before school year and then they have additional trainings two times a month that is the level of commitment and investment that we have been making knowing what a crisis this is right now um additionally we used to try and do first aid training and first aid certification for all of our staff and we still do that we also now in addition to do to that do mental health first aid and over 80% of our staff are mental health first aid certified um we have a partnership that we started in 2020 with um sunbean family services that are specifically working on um helping us give our kids the tools they need in their tool belt to maybe deal with certain things it may be if it's Anchor management if it's learning how to self-regulate um we have calming Corners in all of our all of our clubs in the youth centers part of the program design includes calming rooms um in each of those specifically for some of these um areas that we're talking about we have two full-time behavioral Associates that are in all of our clubs and with our partnership with sunbean family services that will be extended into the youth centers um we have the ability if and when we identify a child who may benefit from a licensed certified practitioner and and a higher level of mental health services than we are prepared to give we are able to put them in touch with the parent we obviously for hipper reasons have to step back at that point we can provide a space for that um but all of those things and I'm I'm probably not doing it justice because all of those are just Incorporated in how we greet our kids and what we do every single day and when we when we talk to the kids knowing about each individual child and what specifically they might need there one of the direct offsets um for high Asis scores is having one caring adult involved in that child's life whether that's a parent a Sunday school teacher a school teacher a staff member of ours um but somebody that can say hey James how did that test go today I know you were really worried about it how are you feeling or they walk in and in many of our classrooms we have a feelings chart and they may have a paper clip or a I'm sorry paper uh a clothes pin that's what I'm trying to say with their name on it and they can put it by the different emoji faces and if you see someone that sees anger or sadness at the appropriate time without making a big deal out of it we can go and talk to them and say hey I noticed you were you you know you picked this one today tell me a little bit about that or why and then we can address that um miss Robin in our first grade room is the best I've ever seen it doing that these are little things that add up what I would say is um there's a number of different metrics that you can look at and again I didn't come with any of them today but everything from the Department Oklahoma Department of Mental Health's opna data the Oklahoma prevention needs assessment um that is done every two years to uh Vital Statistics that United Way does to a whole host of other indicators what you would see in Oklahoma city is between 23 and 42% of kids feel connected to their Community they feel a direct connection what we also know is there is a direct but inverse correlation the kids that feel less connected have higher depressive IND indicators higher suicide ideology all of the things that we don't want to have happen I had to text my VP of Ops to make sure I got the stats right here um we do not only do we do science of Hope um surveys twice a year with our kids we also once a year do National outcomes National Youth outcomes initiative nyi and we do inter intervening um pulse checks just to kind of see where our kids are the last nyoi data that we got said 83% of kids that attend a Boys and Girls Club feel connected to their community and 87% felt emotionally and physically safe in our clubs that blows out of the water every other indicator that we've seen from every other survey in Oklahoma City which tells us we're not there yet but we are doing something right I I wish I could solve the entire Mental Health crisis overnight but I want you to know I give you my word that that is one of our highest biggest priorities you see kids running in getting a snap playing basketball playing soccer having a great time and they are having fun and that's important um but also know that we see what you're maybe not seeing on an individual Child by child basis that I I really appreciate Tina's partnership and I think you know we've selected the partner based upon some of the things that you've discussed and they're clearly doing this work every day they're passionate about this and as Tina said I think doing everything that that we've seen here is like a long-term goal like trying to get to where we can but making sure that we can select these sites in the areas that are appropriate that meet the kids with the greatest needs um first is a first step for us and so partners with us uh not only in their operational plans but also also in the design as we start working towards that we'll be fully engaged there and then helping us as we went through this process to make the site selection uh now I think you know why I love Tina so much uh and thank you for walking us through the work you're planning to do I still think there's a gap and the Gap is as follows the connectivity piece the people who will be in Boys and Girls Club not everyone will be in Boys and Girls Club in the neighborhoods around the youth centers and so that's where we have the opportunity to be training folk to be going in and connecting folk in those neighborhoods on a door by door knocking basis where we could have a resource guide going into those neighborhoods connecting them letting them know even ahead of the youth center opening that they're coming and ahead of time we could be connecting them to all the different programs that are at Community Action Agency whether it's Head Start whether it's Mental Health Services whether it's food insecurity uh resources clothing resources homelessness resources that's the sort of Gap work that I think we could be doing before the youth centers open that's my ask is can we be doing that work can we be planning on doing that work you know Tulsa is doing that work right now they just want a grant for violent Interruption program or they're hiring ing folk to go door too in the uh highest crime Poverty Point places in town to connect those folk to jobs to skills to the sort of stuff I'm talking about so I don't know what we'll do with Outreach and that's something we'll work with on her team I can't guarantee you we're going to go door to door and knock on every single door I just can't guarantee I just tell you all that the works not done until you do that and the folk who are here for cisu right now if you were to pull up the map earlier of showing the high crime and youth poverty we're not none of this is going to be affecting anywhere around where cisu is this is also not going to be affecting the North Highlands um where there's high crime up there it's not going to be affecting liar wood off of Northwest Expressway yeah the people are not city manager you're about to ask our Police Department to cut their budget by 1.5% and what I am suggesting to you is we need to be prioritizing going out into these communities and connecting these folk who have not had Investments and connections access to these resources that if we don't go in there and do this then how much longer before they actually before we actually through our city budget connect people in these neighborhoods that are experiencing high crime High poverty High youth poverty High youth crime like when is that going to happen I can tell you I can tell you right now with the with the challenges that we have in the budget it's going to be a long time I just want everyone good I want everyone out there to know that there's someone on city council championing that and it's not I don't I don't know does that someone have the financial resources to make that possible I mean obviously the desire is there by the city manager I mean I don't think you need to portray the rest of this wor you is not being with you we absolutely are what I am asking is that if we were to go out there and do this work we would grow our tax base if more kids were connected to the sort of skills that they need then they could have better employment the better employment they have the more they're able to contribute to the economic engine that is the city they buy more things they add to our sales tax coffers that increases our sales tax we grow our tax all of which is why we're making this amazing unprecedented commitment this is a celebratory day and I'm not going to leave this room feeling anything different than I do feel good about it I'm just making sure that we are actually taking these steps to prioritize the mental health access around this issue and the jobs and skills so got it anything else on this side all right thank you next up is bz and councilman ston Cipher wanted a vote to defer this item two weeks sorry you wanted to vote to defer bz two weeks correct yes all right let's take up that motion thank you I'm sorry I could hear no worries we've got a motion in a second cast your votes it's fine it's fine you wish to vote I CC James Cooper thank you mayor passes unanimously thank you all right that concludes the consent docket we can now uh save for the item just now deferred we can vote to adopt the docket we have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously now we're on item 10 the concurrence docket we have items a through I we could take with one motion we have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously we're on item 11 items for individual consideration item 11a is an ordinance on Final hearing there was recommended for approval resoning 44 400 Southeast 139th from AA to ra2 councilman Stone no one is signed up to speak thank you mayor this is basically a uh a lot split on 5 and a half acres and I will move for approval got a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimous item 11b is an ordinance on Final yearing it was recommended for approval rezoning 2500 North col train from R1 R2 and I2 to PUD 2045 councilman Lee Cooper no one has signed up to speak I move for adoption all right we have a motion in a second cast your votes got much uh passes unanimously all right item C is an ordinance on Final hearing it was recommended for approval resoning 10936 Northeast 122 from R1 and AA to PUD 247 councilman Lee Cooper no one has sign up to speak uh there are no protest on this so I'll move for adoption have a motion in a second cast your votes when you can now we do passes unanimously item 11d is an ordinance on Final hearing it was recommended for approval resoning 9321 Northwest 150th from R1 and PUD 2050 uh I'm sorry from R12 PUD 2050 uh has anyone Bradley is way on business and he asked that I acknowledge that this is to allow a residential development Planning Commission recommended approval and there were no protests so I'd move for approval at this time your honor got a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously okay item e is an ordinance on Final hearing it was recommended for approval resoning 2109 noreast 14th and the other address is listed here uh to spud1 1666 councilman Lee Cooper no and asign to speak um I'm going to ask if Mark would come up and uh have just a word um about uh this particular uh Spud good morning Mark it's Al Johnson and Associates address is when Sheron Avenue uh we believe this to be a very exciting project it's unlike most developments that you'd see uh with the the playkeepers organization which is a nonprofit development organization that seeks to uh train and support minority developers is the lead on this project and Erica Emory is here uh happy to answer any questions regarding the organization itself but this project if you go to the site plan Sarah uh is a series of uh Town Homes uh fourplexes that are designed for single family ownership there are multiple land owners involved in this in this Pro project playkeepers you'd see a protest letter in your packet playkeepers did a series of public engagement events including Barbecues in the neighborhood to educate folks about the project uh and no one showed up the Planning Commission uh when this was unanimously recommended for approval so the goal here is to provide a varying housing typologies in the neighborhood uh but primarily single family uh or homes available for ownership including the fourplex which is eligible for FHA Loans so we're happy to answer any questions this was unanimously approved by Planning Commission and we would ask for your support as well uh are there um uh representatives from playkeepers uh here if you might come up and have a word this this is uh this this could have really been a contentious uh Spud uh but this organization really did an outstanding job of Community engagement and talking to the community about what was coming uh to this community uh it it's an unusual density uh the density is a little bit uh more and uh but they really went in and talked uh to uh the community and I just I I just want to uh uh have you come up and tell us a little bit about your organization in this project um excuse me uh my name is Erica Emory I am the uh chair of Northeast Oklahoma City Renaissance currently and I serve on the playkeepers committee um this was a project meant to bring density some home ownership um flexibility of housing types in this neighborhood we conducted um several neighborhood meetings as Mark mentioned um to educate The Neighbors about it we also hosted uh three open houses at our office on near East 23rd for community members to come also ask questions and learn about this um our program has been since 2020 um and we've had seven cohorts so far of developers come through kind of learning the process and we're hoping to use this as a Capstone project so playkeepers will be the lead developer on it but we will also incorporate some of those developers who have come through the program to participate in building this um project out as we go so they're also inspiring others and uh to come along with development and I'm really excited about uh this project and the protest uh after really hearing about it what was going on um uh no longer protesting uh this and so thank you for your work thank you for your commitment to the community thank you for your engagement with the community I'm sorry I missed out on the barbecue amen but um I want to uh move for adoption enthusiastically thank you very good this is item e we've got a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously item f is an ordinance on Final hearing recommended for approval resoning 1229 Northwest 26 from Spud 913 UD and CBO to Spud 1683 and UD uh councilman James Cooper no one has sign to speak thanks we could hear from the applicant hello I'm Holly Hunt with Sam gam Architects at 400 Northwest 23rd Street um yes this the the SPD is basically going to replace a formerly approved SPD for this location at that time the business owners and property owners were looking to do a much larger development um spread over three floors and then upon some further thinking about it and some Years Gone by and especially with Co they decided the best thing to do would be to expand their existing grocery store with the brand new grocery store which that's what this is proposing there was just some discrepancy in those two spuds um so we've had to come back through this process but we we're excited about this development and we're excited about uh the recommendations for approval from the UDC and Planning Commission and and I was thrilled to get to meet counselor uh Cooper and um I look forward to working with him and getting some more ideas um the Orient a of this building is quite Dynamic along the class and Corridor and uh we create a nice pedestrian Corridor um and we have kind of oriented parking and all of that type of circulation at the rear of the property to really create a nice beautiful streetcape along class and and to reinforce that Urban density in this area so again I'd be happy to answer any questions about the project uh thank you can I ask I know well first of all thank you for your time also meeting with me and walking through I really appreciated that and your commitment to yes you know the safety of The Pedestrian who's and the person by vehicle would be ACC accessing this uh Market did we figure out on the class in facing part yet if we're going to be able to do any sort of signage because as it was is that view up here is that available yeah I mean I have signage um that's oriented on Classen even though that is not the entry point point so this view here is good um it you know the street angles quite sharply here we've got the existing um grocery store and Golden Phoenix restaurant there um so our building will adjoin to that uh it'll follow that line of the property line and and cutting back to the north uh South sorry um and that's where we'll have a nice pedestrian Corridor bike racks park benches um a mixture of plantings uh both shade trees Evergreens and shrub shrubs so again for us that is really the area of The Pedestrian and someone who's visiting the market they're going to approach on that Eastern side where where they can park their car and and load their groceries so we we feel that this that this approach to development is really suiting both needs of The Pedestrian and uh the the retail Shopper yeah I really appreciate this cuz remember in the original rendering it was just the facade and there was no kind of signage telling us what this building is so we made sure to have that up there and I'm sure with The Pedestrian access the sidewalks on both sides and and and we we'll continue that very uh comfortable and an ADA a compliant um sidewalks around the property um and and you and I even talked about maybe doing some fun signage with arrows perhaps you know parking in the back um so as we developed like the our next step after this Spud we'll we'll go back to the Urban Design commission to really finalize the exterior details of the building so um it's certainly something i' I'd like to speak more with you about and develop a good proposal for that meeting and I'm glad you mentioned that way findings I do think there's still going to be people who are going to be a little confused off class and going wait how do I I think and I think that's why it's really important you do not see a door off of that class inside because we really want to increase that focus of entry point on the east side where um this is a security thing but it's also just we there's no real way to make a safe entry point there into the building with you know coming from your vehicle the better safer thing to do when you're shopping is to come from the East and then of course the corridor is just a nice way for pedestrians to go along that street uh escape and continue their route along Classen that's great well I think it's good work uh I like the intentionality and I really appreciate the collaboration me too honestly this is my first time at the city council so I'm I'm very honored hear that get that another satisfied customer um like an old Pro we'll move for approval thank you all have a motion Motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously okay item G is an ordinance on Final hearing it was recommended for approval rezoning 2121 Northwest 30th from spud1 1257 and R1 to Spud 1694 uh councilman James Cooper we do have uh some people signed up to speak on the side okay um if you wouldn't mind I just need to share my screen real quick let me pull this up uh let's see there we go um thank you so there I I uh this was an interesting zoning proposal because uh before I knew there so Council bring you in on this before I knew there was going to be the cisu zoning proposal uh W I was receiving emails um regarding concerns that uh some of the neighbors had uh regarding Swatch part and Shephard neighborhood and seoa neighborhood so um in October uh after receiving these series of emails uh we held a meeting back here in the executive um conference room where I was able to bring together the chief of police uh the director of the parks department uh Embark uh to talk about those emails and to talk about ways that the city of OKC might help help again what's the problem what are the solutions how do you address it um we held another meeting on New Year's Eve um with cisu which is who the applicant is today we also brought in City leadership uh again um again that was on New Year's Eve and then in January we brought the neighbors uh some of the neighborhood representatives and cesu and City staff again uh to kind of start talking about some of those issues so that's one thing the wanted to preface this uh the second thing uh and probably the most important is uh before we hear from the applicant and I know this is a little bit unusual to kind of talk about what the problem is around youth homelessness but I did want to address it because it was something that was brought to my attention right before this proposal then as I was doing that work the proposal landed at my doorstep so it was like two things at once so the first thing I just wanted uh folk to know if you don't know so what's the problem of course it's homelessness that we're addressing every year we go out and do a point in time count for those of you who don't know that and we don't have the numbers from this year but from 2025 we counted as you can see here on your screen 1838 um if you scroll down though as it relates to youth homelessness and families you can see here uh those numbers as it relates to families and then uh we have parenting youth who are experiencing homelessness as well these are youth age 18 to 24 um and then you have unaccompanied youth uh excuse me unaccompanied Youth and we've actually seen um a bit of an increase in recent years in those numbers so the second part of this going back to my time at Jefferson Middle School is unfortunately when we do the point in time count this number of Youth homeless can actually be very difficult to to determine because um you just saw a number that said total homelessness was 1,800 that we counted but when you look here this is KOCO reporting on this okcps itself identified 2,700 homeless students and the reason why it's hard to catch those kids uh during the point and time count is that a lot lot of those kids and I learned this from teaching Middle School are what we call couch homeless so they're actually sleeping on their friends or families couches so when we're doing the point and time count we're actually going out to the panhandling sites the encampment sites parking lots and surveying people who are experiencing homelessness there which means we can't go into people's houses right and hey is someone homeless is a child here homeless with you we can't go to the Extended Stay hotels where if you've seen the movie Florida project about a mother and her daughter who are spending $38 a night right on staying in these apartments we we don't or excuse me these hotels we can't count them either so the point in time count doesn't capture all the youth who are experiencing homelessness again go back to the statistics I showed you earlier we're number one in childhood experiences which leads to higher youth homelessness rates putham City schools had 1,800 so I just wanted to give you that's the problem the problem is that Oklahoma is number one in childhood traumas too often those kids find themselves kicked out of their house right especially if they're lesbian gay B seexual transgender they're kicked out they have nowhere to go um and not only do you have that childhood trauma statistics you have uh an increase in youth homelessness in recent years um and okcps uh will tell you that that is why I was so passionate earlier about this issue facing our youth I I you know I don't I won't be on this horseshoe forever so while I'm up here I feel compelled to be that voice to address some of our most vulnerable so that's the work that I was trying to do with City staff was how do we help uh connect these kids at cesu um to um Services better uh how can we help how can we help address some of the crime statistics we've been hearing um in the surrounding neighborhoods so with that I would turn it over to uh I believe Rachel from cisu and you don't have to share my screen anymore thank you city clerk thank you councilman Cooper um I am Rachel Bradley I'm the executive director for cesu Youth Services we're located at 2129 Northwest 30th Street cesu offers overnight emergency shelter a dropin resource center case management support and housing programs for Youth and Young adults experiencing homelessness between the ages of 15 to 24 our goal is to provide youth the shelter and support they need to pursue the lives they want and deserve when we purchased our property in 2020 we came before this Council to rezone with Spud 1257 in order to R velop an abandoned church into a youth shelter and Resource Center we knew those were just the first steps though so in that same zoning request you approved plans for a phase two of Campus development which would add things like case management offices a clinic and 16 on-site Apartments phase one got us out of our original church basement at the church of the Open Arms um and into a space across the street custom built to serve youth in their most critical time as we grew though we identified additional needs like needing more space for partner agencies and for counselors to come come in and meet privately with clients on site a classroom for client groups and skill labs and a conference room for staff training protected outdoor space for our young people additional parking and even more case management space than previously expected to accommodate all of those things we decided to cut the number of on-site apartments from 16 down to six when the property to our East became available it empowered cesu to rethink the layout of the previously approved Phase 2 construction plan to better meet our needs and integrate feedback and ideas from our neighbors the completion of our campus with the adjustments in this zoning request um will provide young people experiencing homelessness in our city with not just emergency shelter but with better access to the Supportive Services the classes the medical care and individual support that they need in a facility customized to their growth and safety so towards that end cisu has been participating in neighborhood meetings with several people for the last several years as well as hosting open houses at our campus for people to come and learn more and we'll continue working with the task force of Representatives that council person Cooper mentioned from City departments like Parks Embark police and key to home as well as stakeholders in our neighborhood to advocate for continued infrastructure improvements in community organizing efforts that benefit all of the residents in the Shephard and sequa areas this is a land zoning request though not necessarily about our services so I can turn it over to um Caitlyn or David box to talk a little bit about the specifics of this Spud if you're interested thank you Rachel yes I would love to hear a bit more about the exact nature of your ask today good morning David box 525 Northwest 11th Street so I think it's important we we talked a lot about this at Planning Commission um what what the MDS and the Pud will do is begin to allow some of the complaints and concerns that have been raised by neighbors to be solved most notably what you'll see here is the incredible amount of increased office space where people can receive Services one of the other things that's happened through this process which is not uncommon um often times the city land owners are not aware perhaps of all of the issues that might be going on and so what has happened here is through Community meetings and through efforts by uh councilman Cooper all of these issues have been highlighted one of the issues that we discovered was Imark had perhaps inadvertently removed all of the bus passes that cisu was able to to utilize after one of the meetings um called by councilman Cooper all of those have been reinstated and that's been a tremendous help so what this MDS and and application will do is add six dwelling units but more importantly add a tremendous amount of space where the people that are experiencing homelessness can receive services uh so we think overall it is a wonderful opportunity uh it's allowed for communications between neighbors us all Departments of City staff and I think we've made great strides since the application's been filed notably also um C has committed to continuing to work with the community even after today's vote uh is done so the the Pud was recommended approval by Planning Commission I'm happy to answer any questions uh that's all thank you is um I don't know if assistant city manager Fair brush over police or I don't know if Chief basy I just have a question about some of the crime statistics my office I believe it was the literal last email I sent before Christmas like before maybe on on New Year's Eve or sorry Christmas Eve um but we had been receiving some um emails about crime statistics in the area and that was why I brought the police chief to the table could you tell us a little bit more about what you all learned uh from sure a review of those crime statistics and I know you've sat with some of the neighbors like Michael Davis for instance in Military Park yes we did we had a a productive conversation I believe with Mr Davis and um of course if the police chief comes in I'll quickly defer to him for more expertise but generally speaking um yeah I thought we had a really productive conversation in looking at crime statistics in the area using our community crime tracker that's available to the public um and one of the things we did um you know during that dialogue is we wanted to be certain that we were essentially looking at the same data sets to be able to compare um any crimes that might be occurring in around cisu I think we come to we came to a good resolution of that where we we did um we did end up confirming um what data set to use um we then um also more or less agreed on what types of crimes maybe to you know include in that in that list and then finally um really what we saw was overall the crime had declined over the years it was a decline in that area so could you were the I'm sorry ACM I was just going to defer to the chief if he had anything to to add on that but but to answer your question generally it was a bit of a decline Chief I'll let you take it from there I'll have a follow up but thank you ACM uh assistant city manager Jason ferush did a really good job of explaining that um the only context I'll add is that sometimes there's a difference between looking at call data and crime data and so a lot of times when you see different interpretations of the data um it's basically looking at the calls and not realizing the context so um you may see a call of an assault and not realize that there is a call at maybe the facility but that's because there's a Vic victim there reporting a crime as opposed to an actual crime occurring at that location and so a lot of times you have to have the back story and do dig a little deeper into the data and so that's why we go with crime data as opposed to just call data because it lacks a certain amount of context um something like a back door open might come out as a first-degree burglary to a homeowner initially but by the time officers arrive and actually investigate what occurs it's just an unlocked door that's blown open with the wind so there has to additional context and that's why um we've looked at certain data sets and um information on the community crime act Lexus Nexus to determine um the appropriate data to show the stats and what we did see is there's been a decrease in crime okay but so does that kind of helps us understand why when people see those the high calls one would think right we got these high levels of crime but you're saying that the context matters for that is that what I'm hearing absolutely yeah so a lot of times when you look at the calls you you can say at this particular location man there must be a lot of crime because there a lot of calls but sometimes that could simply be they're the reporting party of incidents and those incidents don't always happen at that location that's just a place where they went and they felt safe and they were able to finally make a phone call to get some help I see um and then one just one final question for you and then I just want to mention something about the public transportation but um well first of thank you uh for those of you don't know I was able to connect the police chief and ACM Fair brush with Rachel at cisu and I know councilman Stone a big you're a big proponent of pal for instance and we're bringing you know the Police Athletic League fact the programs um that we already have in the city we're bringing those to be at cesu and trying to figure out how we can partner um going forward do you want to speak about that well absolutely we know it takes a village and we're part of that Village and the police department has always been heavily invested in community relations and youth Outreach um especially those we have we notice that have identifiable needs um and so we see an opportunity here to provide some stability role models and programming that might help people um you know guide them along on the right path and provide resources that they're lacking thank you thank you Chief and thank you ACM uh and thank you both for meeting with me all three of those meetings the only final thing and I'll turned over to anyone who signed up to speak from here uh one of the things I learned very early on mayor and city manager and Council uh and to those following at home in October um some of the complaints what were like why are these youth hanging out in cisu uh sorry I'm sorry at Swatch Park and what I learned is that cisu had experienced a dramatic decline in bus passes and and I didn't know why so as a public transit uh trustee uh I reached out to again ACM Fair brush who's over Transit director rush and I was like why is there a decrease in bus passes for cesu it turns out there's been a higher demand across all the U nonprofits in the city a a huge increase demand and that meant that it got spread thinner the bus passes so it turned out that before I even knew that uh our board chair Barney sner for for the transit trust he had already just become aware of this and so he started working with me ACM beir brush and Dr Marilyn Dylan to try and find out well can we get funding to increase across the board for our nonprofits uh bus passes and we were able to do that in in December and so when you have those and I'm I keep looking at councilman Hinkle because he's towards cesu with me and one of the first things he laid eyes on was the bus bench across uh the street from cisu um and was able to get uh the new cesu like literally dedicated bus bench over there it has cesu on it with an arrow pointing this way really appreciated that but now that they have more bus passes one of the things we're working on is how do we connect the kids better to education opportunities employment opportunities Recreation opportunities just as an example military Parks right down the road that park has way more amenities for teenagers and young adults than Swatch Park does and so connecting those kids better over there for instance to those amenities to say nothing of Education job training um and those sorts of things so that's what I'm working on and that's what I was hampering on earlier when I talk about going into these neighborhoods and working to connect kids and their families and the residents to these these services so um just wanted you to know bus passes bring in the police chief to bear and ACM Fair brush helping us with that um just wanted you to know that's the work I've been doing Council for the last three three months it's been intensive so I would turn it over to the neighbors figure out how we can keep working together here okay um or whoever signed up I don't even know who all signed up to speak I have not seen these so so we have quite a few people signed up so I'll give a maybe a a statement that everyone up here has heard before but um first of all 3 minutes is your limit uh state your name and address uh your address helps us kind of Orient you to how you relate to this uh application um also i' I'd say like you know there there's a point of sort of diminishing returns on on saying the same thing over and over again so you know you might just think about that and you know try to uh complement the remarks that have already been made um and I'm going to probably with so many I'm probably going to say who's speaking and then who's speaking after that so that second person can maybe even move down to the front Pew and just cut down on the transit time all right with all of that uh as Prelude let's begin with Rob Lane followed by Robert Bryant hello thank you for having me I'm uh Rob Lane I'm at 3120 North Barnes Avenue so got a letter in the mail uh I'm a long-term resident of Shephard neighborhood 30 years to be exact um I'm a landlord have a lot of properties in both seoa and Shepherd neighborhoods uh what I've seen from suu over the past few years um has wre absolute havoc on this community I think everyone is well aware of the massic uptick and crime trash Ling littering urinating fornicating and fighting watching news channel 5 last night the sisu spokesperson said that people have a problem with the kids loing and standing around and the problem is what the kids are doing when they are ling and standing around elderly people have had weapons pulled on them police are called to the facility on an almost daily basis pretend you live next door to this facility and you see the blue and red lights flashing in your windows on a nightly basis we I the community have had multiple meetings with the executive director at sissu at both the Church of the open arms and their new facility to no Evel with problems solutions idea and nothing has been done on sisu's behalf to want to be a good neighbor we can't even get them to mow their own lawn even the adult homeless are scared of these troubled youths what you're not hearing on the news is that these kids are kicked out of the facility at 9:00 a.m. and not allowed back into the facility until 5:00 p.m. and the surrounding neighborhoods are left holding the bag we have roared our concerns to both the city and a sisu and we're told it was our job to teach these troubled used to be good neighbors by our local city councilman the neighbors are the ones who have initiated Solutions not sisu the community feels hopeless and scared and feel that the city has sacrificed the area to check boxes most of us have talked about selling or largest assets which is our homes but we feel as the homes are in the area are now no longer sellable and now you want to expand promising things will get better and we don't believe you why should we believe you and why should we believe sissu if we had to do over on the original Spud do you think this neighborhood would Embrace this expansion with this facility means expanded problems and extended crime and expanded nuisance I ask the city council on their vote today to please explain their yes or no vote to the constituents and think of the families with young children and the elderly while you're making your decision 30 seconds remain thank you for your time thank you Robert Bryant followed by Chaz frell hello Council uh I'm Robert Lang that was Rob Lane uh little bit about me briefly 3 minutes is just unbelievable amount of time I could go on three hours I've been going on a year and a half to everybody I work with uh I'm the son of Jim Lang political cartoonist for the da Oklahoma and most people don't remember but he drew seven cartoons a week for 58 years for the Oklahoma which is not the same Oklahoma we have now uh I was also the president of a Press Club that I was in for 30 years I used to have a lot of contacts in the media they have all given me cold shoulder they have cut me off with their woke managers we had a CBS manager across the street when there was a stabbing there last fall and she moved to go to Dallas cut and run my publisher uh Pat McAn would not run he said he'd run an article he was scared of the powers behind this pivot and all these others and he wouldn't run a story Vicky Gurley wouldn't run a story with a Friday paper but nevertheless um I've had many ideas of drawing PL cartoons but there are no uh outlets on this and I know this is Cooper and may Holt's baby I've heard and you've left your baby on our front porch That's not a good parent um I don't appreciate what you've done to my neighborhood this is a neighborhood we have Hispanic families that are afraid to talk um and I've already talked to El naal and I'm going to see if we can get these people little families with LW axe going on in front of them they hide behind their Windows looking at it and filming it other people right behind it are scared to do anything before yall going on to build another facility this one's overrun and it was sneaked into our neighborhood nobody knew the full impact of what this crap so basically through this woke Progressive uh action you've crapped on us and the media calls it rain um I've lived there for 20 years I've known the last seven mayors of Oklahoma City they would have never done this this is just unbelievable um and the people that live next to me some of them are here today there's little little ladies there's little families it's out of control you hear screaming in the middle of the night you hear this wild ra and cussing kids running anyway I could go on for days and years telling you about this but I hope you would stop the continuing of this action okay this last gentleman was not actually called up I don't know why he came forward Robert Bryant is he was supposed to speak yes that um so Robert Bryant now who will be followed by Chaz frell thank you uh my name is Robert Bryant 1632 Northwest 29th Street I am a librarian at the downtown Metropolitan Library and I've come today to add my voice in support of the proposed zoning change to expand cus facilities uh since C's residency at its current address it has been accused of precipitating a rise in crime in the neighborhood as a resident of military Park myself I have witnessed youth loitering on occasion in my front yard as well and I agree wholeheartedly that we must have law enforcement in place to address delinquency however responding to that delinquency by blocking cesu efforts to uplift homeless youth that will take us in the wrong direction the reason that there are more children being seen in the neighborhood around cesu is a simple one they're there because cesu feeds clothes and shelters them loitering should be monitored and crimes should be addressed by law enforcement but cesu and the children in their care should not be punished for the good work that they do for those that look at C's presence in our community and see only flaws I would challenge them to spend time inside of the shelter and see the positives I've been a children's librarian at the downtown library for 2 years and I had always known that youth homelessness was a problem but until I began working at a public library I couldn't comprehend the scale of the issue I was overwhelmed but cesu showed me how easy it can be to help and I'm proud to be a volunteer there being a cesu volunteer is as easy as cooking a meal for the shelter or donating warm clothes and every minute that a cesu client spends warm and fed is a moment they can spend an online coursework or looking for a job which C's programs encourage for example last year cis's education coordinator and case management team helped 40 young people meet their education goals of obtaining geds and enrolling in higher education cisu also works with rapid rehousing a program that literally gets youth off of our streets by providing them with affordable housing the proposed expansion of cesu would multiply their ability to provide for at risk youth that are trying to improve their lives an aspect of the expansion that really deserves to be highlighted is the intended space designed for shelter clients with babies when you see a cesu client spending time in a park as I do in my neighborhood you may not see the efforts they're doing to improve their lives looking for a job or classwork or enjoying the comfort that a meal and a bed provide imagine the difficulty of being homeless unemployed not knowing where your next meal is coming from and being a teenager with a baby again I argue that delinquent and Rowdy actions outside of the shelter are a problem and should be addressed by law enforcement crime committed outside of the shelter is a job for the police and a failure to address that should be laid at the police department's door yet cesu cannot be held responsible for every poor decision a client makes outside of their building and those that we see loitering do not represent every child at cesu shelters we must remind ourselves that the children at cesu are teenagers in a very bad situation 30 seconds remaining for those that still have reservations about cesu I will leave you with this if you visit the downtown Library you'll be confronted by the large population of homeless more than any other Branch this isn't because the downtown library is poorly run but the city's shelters are closer to us in any other City Library if we were to borrow our doors from homeless this would not solve homelessness in our community and canceling the expansion of cesu would not mean homelessness for youth has been adequately addressed in our city it'll just mean that some children who need their services will not be able to use them as a resident of military Park I say that supporting the zoning increasing ca's capacity to provide sends a powerful message that we are dealing with this problem on our own and taking up this challenge crime is the responsibility of the police to counteract but I would sooner see loitering in my neighborhood than know that a single child in my neighborhood would sleep hungry and cold when was able to achieve ital so will its residence thank you Chaz phoh followed by Michelle Espinosa hi I am Sarah Ashmore chess FS my husband he had to leave to go to work so he left some comments for me to read if that's okay okay um so we live in Shephard um and since the shelter has moved to its new current location uh the problems we are experiencing with them have not been isolated incidents and include some serious crimes um imagine having a weapon pulled on you for asking people to stop playing music um at full volume in a public park with small children presence um imagine coming home from work and finding people sitting on your front porch and blocking your entrance into your own home um imagine um sorry I lost my place here oh stepping outside your door to find an active fist fight on your front lawn imagine being approached for money on your personal property asking those people to leave your yard then coming home to your front door being kicked in Imagine a child playing in your neighborhood park finding dirty syringes as and used condoms um I don't need data all of these things have happened to my neighbors since this facility has been here at its current location is this where you want to raise your family or where you would want to locate your business um while we are told there's been a flurry meeting among city council officials um and other City officials since December about these issues once neighbors began protesting the C's expansion uh to my knowledge nothing tangible has come from these meetings to date um we've not received any Communications from anyone in our neighborhood if that's who you've been speaking with in December I attended a neighborhood meeting convened with cisu regarding the Spud 1694 uh this meeting was attended by probably 100 people in the surrounding neighborhoods many of whom were angry and in opposition to the proposed expansion at this meeting I learned of even more instances of either unsafe or criminal behavior taking place on a daily basis including cisu clients trespassing and loitering on people's private properties illegally entering people's homes intimidating and threatening people on their own properties thefts and violent fights just to name a few on the very night of the public meeting that we had a car was stolen from a home in our neighborhood and a second stolen car was driven into the garage of another neighbor we've had car windows busted out homes vandalized security cameras stolen off of houses and catalytic converters stolen off of vehicles parked at residences there were even signs recently posted in our neighborhood asking if neighbors had security footage of a rape that happened in our Park um over the years neighbors have reported incidents directly to cisu but little has happened until we started protesting the expansion of their 30 seconds remaining um they have asked that we continue to reach out to them directly and so that they can address issues on a case-by Case basis but this has not resulted in changes that we have seen uh we're told that the expansion will somehow alleviate the problems that have been occurring in the residential neighborhoods however I have concerns about this first we've been informed about um the case management and job training classes that will be there but they're all voluntary and those Services already exist and it doesn't seem like the people participating in those services are the ones that we're having issues with the pr Pro site design closes off most of the campus we're over time is there is there a concluding state there or that you'd like to share um I would say my concluding statement is we understand that this is a desperately needed service in our city and we actually believe in the mission that you're trying to accomplish so we're not opposed to the mission itself um what we're asking for is just that the Spud is paused until we're able to resolve the existing issues that we have and show that we can um fix those problems before we go ahead and expand and add additional problems to our plate thank you okay thank you Michelle espanosa followed by Jennifer FL and Cal Michelle espanosa 2221 Cash in place Oklahoma City um I'm here because I don't want the approval the resoning I don't want it my property is going to craps I've got yes kids from over there that come and hit my dog they'll kick my dog I got to be able to go in my front yard when I'm cutting the grass it's hard when you have kids say give me a cigarette and when you don't they say you're a I'm sorry this is hard I love it I love what you're going after move it you got this place down in here the Hope Center or whatever move this over there why in the residential area where we have to suffer nobody looks at that and the police officer and the chief that was here look when their police officers is telling me I'm not going down there we've got too many calls down there when it comes across the radio we take our time why are you taking your time I'm there I am there please please just stop whatever and maybe help them find somewhere else to move to my kids and my grandkids yeah they they're going to have my property when I go please let them have something decent not something that is getting destroyed my son's tires are being popped it's too much it's way way too much please please City man mayor please I'm begging you look further into this not one notification even when they were going to build now one notification come to my door and I'm on that back street right behind them come on please I'm begging you please please help 30 seconds remaining thank you Jennifer floen cow if I'm reading that correctly feel free to correct me uh followed by Angela willerford nibs good morning mayor and City Council Members my name is Jennifer FL flow at 2209 Northwest 29th Street I live approximately 600 ft from cesu and 570 ft from Swatch Park which is and so I live on a common walking path between the two entities I'm here today to request that this Spud be continued at this time myself and some of the residents of Shephard seoa and Military Park are working with um various City departments to create a safer Community for both the neighbors and the youth that utilize C services at this time there is a concern that when Construction ction begins um for that the youth um will not be able to stay on premise for the 6 to 12 months that it will take while that site is being renovated this will push all of their youth into the surrounding neighborhoods and the local park during the day if actions aren't taken since cisu has opened their low barrier shelter there has been an increase in elicit activities such as drug paraphernalia and alcohol found at the park regularly along with trash and cigarettes in the playground mulch um with trash containers being few feet away myself and my 2-year-old found edible weed um 3 weeks ago at the park while we were there this is not what you would want to be found at your Park and you would not want your 2-year-old being the one finding this stuff therefore I request that that prior to cisu being approved for resoning and construction that they have a 15 passenger van in their Fleet so that they can transport their youth to invaluable services and organizations that are available around the city such as Boys and Girls Club United Way Sunbeam Services Dress for Success just to name a few homelessness is and does cause lifelong health and mental health issues and these Youth Services to be connected or for these youth to be connected could help bridge some of those gaps I know my parents were both homeless youth at one point in their life current currently cesu is not able to transport youth to available Services already available other than outside of the Embark bus passes this opens them up to being victimized when the shelter is not open during the day except by appointment so again I request that the city delay this approval and assist cisu in getting the necessary vehicles that they need to be able to transport the youth while this construction is happening and so that those youth can and will be able to help expand and provide those barriers help lower those barriers to Future to their future to their futures um and to help them not fall victim to the illicit activity that has taken root in this community thank you for your time and consideration thank you Angela willerford nibs followed by Laura Vander good morning I'm Angela wiford nibs and we live at 2207 Cash in place it's the street just behind s suu um we have experienced um just right across the street they were using the The Back Fence line of our neighbors um uh who live on 30s Street they were using it as a toilet for 2 years they used it as a toilet cuz there was this tree that hang down and since they've got nowhere else to go they even came with their toilet paper and line up to be able to go behind this is right across from my house uh and it is a small Street this isn't a a big street cashing it it needs resurfaced uh um but they used that as their way up and down to swwa park and back um we got one of our neighbors finally was able the city couldn't get the people to clean up the the easement uh after two years of me complaining about it and so the neighbors took it upon themselves to clean up that neighbor's uh easement and cut down the trees and foliage that was giving them the protection to go use the toilet uh I my husband and I on our walks um many times not just once many times have caught the children having sex right there on our walk right there in the park right there in that vacant lot in the middle of the day uh the kids would hang out in the park now I understand it's not quite so bad now of them hold uh hanging out in the park but we're not too sure how it's going to um become with all this extra people coming in especially if you got families they're going to want to go to the park but but what they do is they take over the park uh they they set on the um um uh picnic benches just all over the benches you can't have a family there 30 seconds remaining um and I I always thought that this place was going to take care of the children cuz I believe they need taken care of but I really don't understand why they're thrown out during the day I think that that's part of C's responsibility is to take care of them during the day too children need 24-hour day care not just at night nighttime they should be having rooms for them who don't go to school somewhere else a room for them to have school in that building not thrown out on the streets to their own devices thank you we're at time thank you Lord of Vander followed by Jim Dunlop Laura Vander went 2300 Northwest 29th Street cisu is situated in one of the most densely populated areas of the city with single family residential housing on all four sides I live approximately 1100 ft from cisu as cisu is a night shelter which is closed during daytime hours except by appointment nearby sadic park has become the daily home base for groups of Youth for hours during the day illicit activity including drug and alcohol use sexual activity fights and large amount of trash left by the youth have caused disruptions at the park significantly diminishing residents use and enjoyment of the park to address these and other concerns a group of residents from the surrounding neighborhoods have formed a coalition to explore long overdue solutions for issues in the park and elsewhere in our community we have voiced concrete achievable ideas community events walkable streets better lighting infrastructure Community Watch group groups proactive engagement and are working diligently with the neighborhoods various City officials and departments and cisu Leadership to imploy implement these action items the importance of ongoing collaboration and communication between these three entities cannot be overstated this lack of daytime structure for many of the cisu clients is the challenge for the community as C clients wait to receive housing having more access to Services counseling addressing adverse childhood experiences education and employment opportunities would benefit but transportation to these Services has been a barrier currently Embark bus passes are provided but Embark alone is not an adequate SI situation to address this issue a 15 passenger van and Driver would help bridge this Gap and pave the way for youth to receive Services I have spoken with members of cis's leadership team and they agree that funding earmarked for such a purpose would be enormously beneficial we are asking the council to assist in funding this transportation for cisu counselors this is a concrete achievable request 30 seconds that would enhance the scope of cis's work and help alleviate some of the problematic behaviors that have become commonplace in our community with the resoning on the first cisu Spud in 2020 remarkably there were no Community engagement meetings where these issues could have been addressed now with this Spud 5 years later we are asking for a continuance to give the neighborhoods the city and cisu some much needed time to continue to address discuss and Implement collaborative Solutions on how to make the community a place where all can Thrive as residents surrounding the shelter we are hopeful that with the coun time thank you Jim Dunlop followed by Margaret Morgan and I encourage everyone to clerk gives you the 30 second warning for a reason uh that's a good time to kind of draw towards a conclusion so I don't have to cut you off Jim Dunlop not here oh coming okay I think I had sent an email but I also add up can I yes hand them to councilman St don't start the clock till I start talking we'll give you an extra five you're on now my name's Jim dup I've been 2201 Northwest 30th Street just about a half a block from cisu um I want to talk as a lot of people have about the neighborhood we all witness cesu kids sleeping on the playground on equipment at sadic Park piing over the space with their belongings leaving a trail of trash including syringes but I want to be clear this isn't necessarily A criticism of the cisu program itself but cisu is the destination The Hub of the traffic loitering camping and in some cases living within our neighborhood this has become the issue cisu is the focal point but what happens outside of it is what's impacting our neighborhood these young people are waiting waiting to check in waiting for services waiting for their suspension to end waiting on the streets in vacant lots and in the park and bus passes aren't going to help how do we fix this sadic park has become known as the cisu annex There's real anxiety and even fear among some residents in the area I understand that the work being done by cesu is important and I recognize this theity financial support for their services and growth that's great but what about the neighborhood who's considering the impact on us I'm sure some might look at the pictures and think it doesn't look that bad they might say these kids have a right to be there the neighborhood has to accept these changes they might even expect us to just clean up the trash syringes the paraphernalia left behind behind and accept the loitering but let me ask you this imagine this was in your neighborhood picture in your mind these kids walking past your house every day imagine them sitting on your curb on the street leading behind trash and whatever else imagine that it's your neighborhood park that can no longer be used by your kids and grandkids imagine just for a moment that this is happening in your neighborhood this isn't about the cis's mission it's about the collateral damage created by cisu being located in our community so my question is who's going to spend the same time energy and resources addressing the problems that come with cis's presence in the neighborhood as is being spent on the program itself cisu came to the neighborhood by Hamp at STS an old church became Avail available it was purchased rezoned and the facility was approved that wasn't part of a master plan there wasn't a study done to assess the feasibility of placing it in a residential area it just happened and now it's the Hub of these issues it's time to address the neighborhood this experiment hasn't worked for the surrounding Community the success of cesu can't be measured solely by what happens within the walls there's a much broader issue at play here and it needs to be res resolved before before you rubber stamp the expansion thank thank you Margaret Morgan followed by Erica burden Taylor good morning I'm Margaret Morgan I live at excuse me 2133 Northwest 30th Street I live to the directly to the west of this Center the suu center and I can't begin to tell you living there 24 and I have lived there for 74 years and I'm probably the about the oldest uh resident that's in that area I when it was a church there was always no problems there was always the best preachers and the best uh parishioners that come into the church all of the time and uh now that it became this uh center it's just been a headache for me I am an elder I am 81 years old I have to go out into my yard and pick up trash all of the time because it's thrown over and I do have a fence I have a a 8ot fence that's around but how that trash gets into my yard I have no idea but it does come and I just uh yesterday was trimming some uh limbs from some of the trees that's around my property and I found a condom there now I'm glad that they are using those but they don't need to throw that into my my yard so that I have to pick it up and that's uh a lot of the things now that you've heard from all of the Neighbors in around the center it is the a headache and I most of the time do not feel safe there because but uh even though I have that fence I feel like I am the prisoner there and not not them they're able to go and they're able to cross into my front yard as much as possible so maybe that would be good it could clear some of the weeds down that that I can't get to but anyway I would just uh am opposed to this and I hope that uh this ordinance does not pass and that's my main reason to be here is to let you know and a lot of the neighbors now have already said a lot of things that I wanted to say and everything that is out in the open yes uh you will now know about it and you will be the judges of whether this uh U is going to pass yes or not and I hope that it does not and I thank you very much thank you Erica buron Taylor followed by D Perkins good morning my name is Erica Taylor I live at 2240 Northwest 26 Street um I am a 15year resident and two property owner in Shephard I'm also a mother and a wife and we do frequent stic Park um I'm going to keep this short because I think brevity is the soul of wit um I was brought into this in October of 23 some of the issues that neighbors have raised um long story short a lot of what you've heard we have discussed an nauseum over and over um I feel like their concerns have been addressed with empathy and seriousness um since then I've been in numerous meetings oh I am the neighborhood association president too unfortunately um so I have been in numerous meetings with James with Embark City officials uh Police Department I've had phone calls this has kind of become a like a part-time job for me um I think what you've heard um is realistic uh the park this summer was a little bit of an issue um well an issue we can um agree to disagree but I think in the long-term goal of what neighbors are wanting that the the approval of this Spud will actually address the concerns that are that you are hearing and that have happened um so there's nothing more that I can say that you haven't heard um but I I do hope that you would actually consider allowing this to go through so that we can continue to work together with cisu and City officials to actually make this a successful program for both cisu and for the surrounding neighborhoods thank you thank you D Perkins followed by Mark dimski hello good afternoon um my name is dric Perkins I go by D um I use any and all pronouns I am a licensed clinical social worker and I do have the honor of serving as the board chair of CCU Services I've been on the board since 2020 um and I really have come here to show my unwavering support for the work that cisu does um and our commitment to providing Services um all of what you've heard about um and I'm not going to go through those well I'm just going to speak [Music] um due to the nature of where we're at um and due to the nature of um societal determinant um majority of the youth that we see are in the lgbtq plus Community um they're rejected by the families that were supposed to take care of them right due to socioeconomic reasons and historic reasons a lot of the youth that we see are youth of color who are dealing with not just Aces but huge amounts of trauma and huge amounts of social setbacks so they come into this environment not just hurting and scared but they come into this environment looking for someone to support them and love them and what we know about this is that if they do not find that connection with a healthy adult that is going to be able to guide them through the process of maturing and developing they're going to do it with people that are not going to have their best intentions in mind and that are going to exploit them and that are going to put them in very dangerous situations so as the board chair we have really tried to make sure that we are transparent with the community that we are giving them opportunities to come see us because yes when you see the outside of the building it looks a little challenging but when you come inside it is bright colors it is meant to heal and that's what we're here to do we're here to heal through love and without this passing without the opportunity to provide more services that are more targeted we're not going to be able to heal these children through love thank you thank you Mark dimski followed by Amber Brown my name is Mark dimski 1511 Northwest 18th Street um thank you for allowing me to come speak today in favor of the Spud for cesu I have been a volunteer at cesu since 2021 and have actually been serving on the board for cesu since 202 24 um this Spud is going to allow cisu to better provide the critically needed uh services to um the Youth and Young adults experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma through my years of volunteer at cesu I've had the privilege of getting to know many of our youth who are experiencing homelessness I have spent time with some of them on their very first night in the shelter when they are scared and don't know what's going to come next I've celebrated with some of our clients when they've been able to say hey I got had a job interview and they offered me a job today I signed my first apartment lease today I've also been with them and comforted them when they had a setback and something that they were hoping for didn't come through and I've had to sit there and help them problem solve to many of our youth cesu is the first place of stability that they've ever had in their lives and what this Spud is going to do is allow us to have the administrative support to expand the Services provided to our youth it's going to allow us to have embedded partner agencies there to where we can have more programs throughout the day and we can have a safe campus for them to spend their time on um during the day so that we're not having to rely on Embark for transportation it's going to allow us to have a medical clinic which is personally important to me as a pediatrician so that our youth can actually receive health care and um we also are going to have those micro units for youth who are having to be parents on their own we're talking 17-year-olds with a child and we can't just put them in any shelter and so this is going to be unique space for that our young people have not had easy lives there's a myriad of reasons that we've gone into with adverse childhood experiences for why they're experiencing homelessness and cis's hope is that we can help break these cycles of poverty and homelessness by creating a stronger more Vibrant Community around them we are committed to working closely with the surrounding commun Comm to address any concerns and to ensure that our campus is a positive asset to the neighborhood and to the city we believe that every young person deserves a safe place to call home and the support that they need to thrive so please help us make that a visional reality by passing this Spud application thank you thank you Amber Brown followed by Dan strong hello thanks so much for hearing what I have to say today and thanks to all our neighbors that um stepped up and um I really appreciate having this opportunity I'm just going to read an email that I sent uh mayor Hol this morning and the city council members um I'm writing to express my strong support for the Expansion Project for cisu at 2129 Northwest 30th Street as a residence at the Shephard neighborhood for nearly 25 years I've seen firsthand the challenges our city faces with homelessness particularly among the youth the work that cisu is doing to provide shelter resources and hope for young people in need is truly commendable and I'm proud to have such an organization in our community while crime is an unfortunate reality in many cities I do not see cisu as contributing to these issues in fact I believe that the organization is actively working to address and reduce the struggles that often lead to crime and homelessness cis's effort to provide stability and an opportunity for vulnerable youth which ultimately benefits our neighborhood and the broader Oklahoma City Community I encourage you to support C's expansion as their work is making a meaningful difference in the lives of young people and strengthening our neighborhoods thank you so much for your time and continued dedication to improving our city thank you all thank you and finally Dan strong strong good morning Dan strong strong on uh 4316 spy glass Drive I came before you uh 11 months ago to say goodbye and yet here I am again so sorry about that uh I'm a board member uh for sisu and because I'm super old I remember homeless services in Oklahoma City in the '90s in the early 2000s we had shelters and those shelters we had an expression for how they operated we called it two Hots in a cot and that that is what you got for homeless services and and and it's a good thing but two Hots in a cot doesn't end anybody's homelessness what ends homelessness are housing first of all but Mental Health Services substance use treatment services employment and placement employment training and placement Services you know we have we have an expression in the in the homeless business that if you if you give them man a fish you will feed him for a day but if you teach a man to fish he'll sit on a dock and drink beer all day a lame joke but the point of this expansion for cisu is for the agency to be able to provide those services that end and reduce homelessness longterm Mental Health Care substance use treatment job training and placement character education we can bring all those Services into those kids rather than scattering them out all across the city if we have this expanded space so I know this body has been very forward-looking when it comes to homeless Services really for the past two decades so uh I hope you will see the value of this expansion and uh pass the SPD thank you than you thank you councilman James Cooper that concludes all those who signed up to speak all right uh just a couple things one and I I'm I don't know how that happened you went last Dan um but you've you were always my North Star on this issue and thank you for the education you've given me on homelessness um earlier Council it was something you said mayor Hol that I can't stop thinking about uh you when we were talking about the youth centers you made the comment that the rest of this body also cares about the issue of Youth and youth centers I understand that and I need everyone up here to know that I understand that and I respect the work you just heard Dan say the Forward Thinking work that this body has put forward when it comes to homelessness and the youth centers and our youth please please understand that Council and mayor and city manager it's just that I'm always trying to push us because of the need and none of those youth centers that we're going to build in maps 4 are going to be I wish more than anything right now that on that screen was the map the crime map again that you all could see that as I'm saying this right now because and that office officer who spoke right behind where you're sitting sir right now remember she spoke about being shot at 38th and Miller that's just barely eight blocks north of where cisu is right now and that was in 2010 that was way before there was even a cisu in a church basement so these issues have plagued this area for decades and I'm so sorry that that's true and to shake your head at that is to ignore what that officer literally just said right behind you earlier sir I'm just I'm just saying a police officer just got up there and told us an AR15 shot into her body in 2010 I don't think she's making that up um I just don't think so so I think there are three different groups that we have to address that are related to crime in the area I think that there is a huge drug addiction problem in the state of Oklahoma huge Beyond youth youth and older and I have a strong feeling some of those syringes could be from that demographic it could also be from the youth it could also be from homeless people who are for adults any one of those three buckets are a possibility right any one of those three so this isn't me ignoring crime this is me telling you that there are three different buckets of possible explanation here um so that's that's one thing and then I'll turn it over to council except for I have an Ask Of The Neighbors who spoke today you know where my heart and my logic and the data are you saw it earlier with the use centers you know what's guiding me on this Temple Bay the Jewish temple right down the street on Pennsylvania Cooks meals for cisu they volunteer I painted the walls inside of cisu I am asking every single one of the neighbors who is here today I see you're with someone for instance ma'am who spoke in opposition earlier but you have smiled at me this whole meeting and I really appre appreciate that I think it's super cool I'm guessing we probably disagree on a lot but I've just really appreciated your Congeniality throughout this meeting that is stuck out to me especially because I knew we weren't on the same page that tells me that we probably have an opportunity to collaborate further you already know some of the other work that we're doing with um the city staff but why not volunteer heck I as your council person will sign up for a shift with the two of you as a couple with you with you with you you each of you I back there the couple I will volunteer beside you we can do it for cisu then we can go to the homeless Alliance so we can see how it affects the adults I I I am totally ready to do that with you and I will do it multiple times I see a group of people here are concerned about their neighborhood and so am I so step up with me collaborate with me volunteer with me cook meals with me do laundry with me with us because if we remove cisu the homelessness issue does not go away the statistics we know will not go away so I am imploring those of you who spoke today and it's up to you now cuz I I'm ready I've already done the volunteer work and I will do it till I'm done with the seat and after that is my ask I I I we haven't even met yet you just seem so friendly come up you can come up I want her to come up all right I'm sorry I just I'm in a bad I it's been it's some of us are in a bad mood today and I think we can get to a good mood and introduce yourself tell us oh I'm Holly Austin um I'm Rob's companion but uh I moved here 5 years ago and I love the city I'm from Nashville and I think it's a great City Nashville and I a BRI in the city all the time like Oklahoma is great um I get a lot of sideways looks and I'm like oh my gosh just spend some time there when they come to my home you a lot of people have addressed some things that's in our neighborhood that's what they see so I don't get to really share that with them this great City I'm totally on board with you that I feel like there's a big issue for to corre for correction it's just in our back door and I used I run all the time in the neighborhoods I still do but I carry pepper spray now because I'm concerned there's numbers so it just it's sounds like a lot of grapping it really isn't it is just awareness I I loved earlier when it was talking about the SL Maps um doing due diligence against against that where they are doing some exploration it's really hard to go door too that's almost impossible but um I wish we could have talked before so you could hear it's not that we're grapping it's we have concerns and I felt like it's been really one-sided on protecting sissu which I think sissu do does great work but it's just really hard to marry the two so we just need help and I can't imagine expanding it it's going to help much as long as the leadership's doing their due diligence and we just don't have confidence in that right now we've tried we really really tried but uh um we haven't been that impressed and we you are people to help us and um I don't know I'll get emotional if I talk too much got to go but um if you could just please consider it and I know Rob ask that was my line asking about uh could you give us a reason why if you vote Yes or you vote no yeah um around that I think boys and girl club does a fantastic job I don't think it's low barrier and I don't think um low barrier meaning we don't know what's happening um I think boys and girl club isn't around homelessness I think that there's a lot of issues there to resolve and you have big chairs to fill and big jobs to do but um tap into me anytime well let's do it and I'm going to bring David box up and let Council speak afterwards because he's got to hone in on that I appreciate you coming up to the podium and I'll just tell you as David prepares the reason why I'm going to be voting yes is because we have a homelessness crisis right now and ongoingly right now is the collaboration work and anybody any one of you who is ready to sign up to work beside me in that collaboration work I'm ready so I'll be real brief so often times when we have a protested zoning case it's it's a binary issue where a denial means you stop the thing from happening this is not that case the the interesting piece about this is what is currently allowed under the current zoning would allow 16 dwelling units what we're actually doing is reducing it down to six from 16 and adding the office building to provide services so a denial here doesn't stop cisu it all it does is it hamstrings their ability to provide the services that are needed so that's all I wanted to to Really drive home here is what we're asking for is to reduce the total dwelling units and allow for the office building that would provide the services that I think we've heard are necessary yeah that's why I'm that's why I'm supporting it I'd like to hear from Council hi Todd minute go ahead please I had a a question on the uh tees that get struck do those get struck at the Planning Commission meeting or after the Planning Commission meeting I believe those were struck at the Planning Commission meeting those were struck by PL so when you see the the front page of your memo yeah the the Planning Commission is who struck those okay well I just want to say I really appreciate sissu and and what they do for our community um I can't support the location but I do appreciate what they do and hopefully we find a better location but the location's already there councilman I get it's already there but I can't I just can't move forward supporting that location so well you're not supporting the location the location is there they are not moving I understand that a vote to deny doesn't move it I just can't support anything with that location and I mean I've had hey I've approved homeless places in Ward 4 right and luckily they weren't next to neighborhoods because they created some issues as well um that we were able to finally work through and to me I mean that's what I kind of get with the back and forth is there's issues there that we've got to work through absolutely and we need to work through before we start changing things that's just my thought my opinion again I appreciate sisu I appreciate what y'all do everything you do for the community I really do appreciate it so thank you any other comments from Council yeah I think I'll weigh in on on Todd's comments um I have great concerns about this location and um I don't understand and and and I love the nonprofit and I want it to grow and I'll even remind me and I'll write a check to help it grow uh but but this location according to my planning commissioner um was was not appropriate number one number two there are um issues concerning why isn't there someone out there dealing uh with syringes used condoms uh defecation toilet paper uh marijuana left in the park we need to support our neighborhoods and make sure they are safe and make sure they can use their parks and make sure they can walk in their neighborhoods and I didn't understand um the HOA president's comments and so i' I I'd like to visit with her I didn't I I'd like to visit with my planning commissioner more about this um CU he's out of town I'd like to visit with the neighborhoods people and and get their perspective and walk the neighborhood uh before I make a decision but if I am required to vote today I will strongly vote against this I'd like to hear from the rest of Council on this topic actually please I don't I'm sorry oh I'm so sorry mayor got some procedural things what did you ask oh sure I just wanted to hear from the rest of Council on this topic sure well I mean they they they have free will they don't have to Ian I don't have to that's fine I I think the only thing I can weigh in to say is that these problems the issues that arise with people experiencing extreme poverty and having the barriers uh described is not unfamiliar to my ward um it's not familiar to my neb unfamiliar to my neighborhood um I live in a neighborhood where people are what some people might call loitering um on you know sitting on the curb not really having a place to be during the day all the time um and um and I don't think that declining denying this application solves those issues I um I know particularly homeless alliances in my ward um it takes continued concerted effort um and I I think this isn't even unique to neighborhoods that might have a a Services um Services organ ganization located in the neighborhood or nearby I think it's every neighborhood it takes concerted ongoing effort of neighbors to come together get to know the people in their neighborhood um and I I think I what I heard from the neighborhood president was that there's a commitment to that ongoing work because in my my view denying this application doesn't end any of those issues um it potentially prolongs them and I I do think what I'm hearing is that could be part of a solution of having more day services available for young people um and um hearing that you know the I think it's not just volunteering at cisu it's you know coming together with the neighborhood to go do those those Park cleanups and events in the park and um and invite the youth recognizing that not everyone's going to participate or want to participate um but but finding ways to build those bridges um and I just don't see how um denying denying the application really gets us going moving that Direction um especially hearing that there are folks that do you know here I appreciate the people who Express their concerns um recognizing that that we all have a part to play in the solution um and and then that and hearing the commitment from many neighbors willing to to keep digging in on that um so I I think yeah I I I just don't see how denial or or postponing this really helps us move forward and pro and progress progress through these issues um but and I hear commitment from many people kind of all on all sort of Parts um of the spectrum of the the the issue um that there's willingness to dig into that um because again recognizing that in my neighborhood in neighborhoods in w six that um experience people that live in extreme poverty um this is an ongoing neighborhood neighbor connecting commitment um that um I think no one zoning case is going to um hinder or or and hopefully I mean hopefully they it helps um but I I it's I think there's a lot more of the process um conversations that I'm hearing that um that are sort of outside of this particular zoning application um that need to be continued to be addressed and and collaborated on I U councilman don't envy you um today this is a difficult difficult decision um because the neighbors uh have been dealing with this how long has sisu been been in the neighborhood been our neighborhood for nine years for nine years okay and it it it apparently has been a progressive issue that has gotten worse and worse over the 9-year period I don't I don't know what the neighborhood existed uh what what that looked like before um and yet the reality is is that our homeless issue continues to grow and particularly with our uh young people and it's um it it's a difficult difficult decision because I I hear I hear uh our residents those who have lived in in the in the neighborhood in the community and so I I I hear them uh conflict um is what what does it look like to deny this and it doesn't mean you go back to zero it means you get more of what you're already getting and then you know the commitment long range about how to move forward from from this point uh so um it it it it's it's sing seems like there's may be an opportunity to do a little more work uh before the approval goes forward I don't know that but I know there's been several meetings there have been several opportunities uh to come together and it seems like uh you know the problem has not gotten any better uh uh over the last 6 months or so that they've been working together I don't know what that looks like going forward but uh maybe there's an opportunity um to do something um to to begin the the process of of of trying to heal uh the community and to coales around the mission of sissu I've heard several uh residents say that they're not in opposition to his mission or what it's actually doing but they're feeling like uh the impact of of um of their work um external of the actual Four Walls of the building that that's still a challenge and I don't know what can be done I I I raised the question um has everything been done um to to begin the process and and councilman you have mentioned uh to join you uh in in this and and I think that's that's Noble I think that that can be something a beginning point to begin to to to have the community and uh the agency that's working uh hand inand to address the problems I don't I don't know what's being done uh from uh the agency standpoint about the concerns that they're hearing from the neighbors what is actually being done outside of the walls not just inside the wall walls but what is happening outside of the walls and so I think there there's an opportunity for more collaboration maybe that uh Can Can Happen um particularly going forward but I also know that to deny this is means you go back to what you already have So I'm Never Last and I'm not the most eloquent person up here let me tell you what we're doing in W five and W five I'm going to say the more public Schoolboard Foundation but most people don't realize that 75% of the people that go to the more public schools actually live in Oklahoma City um the more Public School Board Foundation is building 45 tiny homes right now for our unhoused youth in South Oklahoma City but the barrier to entry is you have to be in school and you have to have a job you have to check in every night you have to I mean there's it's more than just a roof over their head they're they have to buy in as well so councilman Cooper and I toured cesu before the new building was built and it touched my heart that we have this problem in Oklahoma City but I I'm going to probably lean toward councilman ston Cipher's thoughts on this is that until we put some safeguards in place for the neighborhood somehow someway and I don't know how we do that but I'm willing to work on it and I'm willing to paint walls and I'm willing to cook dinners and I'm willing to do laundry but I'm doing that in the Southside in W five right now um this is a big problem for our city uh the overall problem for our city it's one of the most talked about things that I hear on a daily basis or what are we going to do about the homelessness well with 1,00 evictions on a monthly basis the Homeless Problem isn't getting any better at all but uh until we can put some safeguards in place for the neighborhood and keep these kids from doing what they're doing and kids will be kids if we can't defer this to come up with a better idea I'm not going to be able to support this either go ahead you this very talented attorney here can do math and you are now no longer have a path based on what people yeah so what I request is a deferral but to to answer your specific question that the only thing this application seeks to do is to build a building to allow services to be provided that's all that we're doing to deny this they could just go build a 19 unit apartment complex today that that's what's allowed so what the application does is reduce dwelling units and add the office build building that we don't currently have the ability to build under the current zoning because what was approved through SP 1257 was almost entirely residential okay but if you build your 19 unit apartment complex will the buried day entry to that be they have to be in school they have to have a job they have to have good grades they have to they have to they have to or will it just be com in the door at 6:00 at night walk out at 9:00 in the morning and go to Swatch Park or wherever they're going to just be thugs all day long until it's time to come back and that's probably not the right term but once again I'm not the most eloquent person up here so so I I mean we don't want to build the residential that's that's the point we want to build a facility that allows the people that need services to receive the services to the mayor's point we're happy to take a deferral and have more in-depth conversation but to to your question how do we put safeguards in place well we we're doing that the Spud before you is only here to provide a place where Services can be provided that that's that's the only thing we're doing we're asking to allow us to provide a building to provide services to deny it perpetuates the problem that the neighbors prayed up here and told you they have yes David David we have to help these Neighbors in this neighborhood this is how we have to this is how you help them councilman and I'm going to I'm going to bring my tone in because I this is exactly what I was worried about with the youth centers earlier this is exactly what I was worried about the services which Dr Burke Harris described to us that we need to be connecting our kids who have gone through these traumas the same services that Oklahoma State University Research is is saying that counseling counseling that's who's going to be in those buildings that's the building it's going to be mental health correct me if I'm wrong mental health professionals and case managers who as you put folk in transitional housing they're going to be paired with the case managers are shaking their head Council right now telling you that's what's going to happen we're going to be putting them in transitional homes and in homes paired with case managers mental health professionals service providers who will be stabilizing these these kids you stabilize the kids you stabilize the neighborhood if you leave cesu as it is they will do the work that they're doing right now and it is Yan's work but we are tying their hands behind their backs right now if we do not provide these services and the capacity to deliver these services do you do you understand do you have questions about that Well here here's what I mean unless some is about to vote differently than how they just debated there is no path forward today and it's 12:13 so in the interest of time I would suggest these conversations may need to occur another day and that maybe you seek a deferral if you want to keep the conversation I would seek a deferral I'm sorry I'm this is wild to me this is wild this is wild and and I'm I'm I'm a bit in awe I I how I don't want to just defer this I want to believe that data that we talked about earlier and information can drive our decisions up here and I'm giving you the data of how the programming that these kids need to stabilize their lives and to get them out of poverty and it will stabilize the neighborhood and I guess that's why I'm a bit confused and also these are some of the neighbors who are here this is not all of the neighbors and I'm so sorry not everyone agrees with you the neighborhood association president does not agree with them they're just not here right now you all received letters about this topic so I'm a bit I'm trying to figure out are are my Persuasions is it really just that limited if it is and we need to defer this so we can sit down and have in-depth conversations about the services they're providing I suppose so but I am telling you if we just deny this like if we defer this and then vote to deny this and neighbors hear me when we say this you're the problem will continue as is even with the work that I'm doing or get worse and and I don't that's what I'm struggling with right now why some of the neighbors don't understand that and why some of the council members y'all are you're smart people like I know you're like what am I missing okay so is there a what is Council wish to do it's time to to move forward is there a motion of any kind I would put I if if you all are interested I would I would be happy to I to defer this for two weeks let's defer it for 30 days and what and then sit together and walk through the the programming is and city manager can you help facilit itate those meetings I'd like to be in every single one of those meetings every single one of those meetings so there's none of this middleman nonsense that's happening so that the neighbors have a better sense and by the way there are some of you neighbors who said here and y'all need to hear this they don't want the facility there at all yeah and that the facility is there we've now got to make it successful that so that's what I need the deferment to be working toward a productivity good I'm saying nodding heads it's already there so now we got to make it successful we got to make it work better that's what the deferment needs to be about would anyone disagree with that no I and I will join I will join no and I will join you councilman uh in uh working through I think I think it's uh crucial I think it's important to work through it okay but to deny it I agree with you totally and that is that you just get more of what you already have and you got to be able to Define how can we make that work and so uh I'm I'm willing to join you as well uh in in yes in your meetings and making sure that we're trying to work towards a solution that's workable staff indicated that date is April 8th yeah so two meetings that are not budget briefings is April 8th okay do we want to bring that up then uh uh electronically uh anyone who is here who signed up to speak as this is coming up uh and you are interested in participating in that knowledge to better understand what we're all talking about and some of the needs of the neighborhood um write your name on here and I'm happy to collaborate with you I'm just wai we ought to put a signup sheet out front so make sure we notify those people as soon as this is done I will do that thank you councilman okay so uh we may have to do this was was there a second on the deferral I believe the motion was made by councilman James Cooper second by councilman Stone CER we're gonna have the system's not working we're gonna have to do a verbal vote uh clerk please call the rooll okay ward two I Ward four i w five w six W seven W eight yes please mayor I passes unanimously item is deferred till April 8th thank you all for coming out all right item 11h is an ordinance on Final hearing it was recommended for approval resoning 3700 North Lincoln from P 1740 to SPD 1700 councilman Lee Cooper know and has signed up to speak Mr Mayor U this uh you you've noticed we've had uh several uh things related uh to uh this particular uh uh deal we needed to do some cleanup on Aisle 13 uh particularly in this so we had legally uh do some things with the land uh to kind of clean up uh some of the stuff that was around it uh this is uh particularly uh a uh having a uh fueling station that will be on the corner of 36th and Lincoln which is the property that is also uh the Homeland uh and the idea is is that um this would uh not only provide U uh services for fuel but that it would also uh hope to drive uh help to drive uh maybe some uh traffic to the Homeland as well so that people actually stop there and make a stop there and then actually uh uh it may help also with the Homeland and um and uh and its uh business uh You' got the wellness center that is there as well and so it just provides an opportunity to kind of keep people in that particular location uh to uh enhance um uh the flow of traffic uh to the Homeland and also to the wellness center so uh I approve for uh move for approval okay still not not working is there anyone we're we're seeing if uh the system's going to work oh there we go great all right Motion in a second cast your votes still buffering yeah I'm yes I'm locked up I'm yes too please passes unanimously um item I is an ordinance on Final hearing it was recommended for approval resoning 15901 North Rockwell from s614 SD 1701 councilman Stone ciper no one is signed up to speak no protest no one signed up I'll move for approval please okay I'm locked up got a motion in a second yes cast your votes passes unanimously uh we will come back to item J when councilman James Cooper returns item K ordinance on Final hearing recommended for approval resoning 100 North Allen from SPD 978 to SPD 1703 uh councilwoman ham and know as sen speak I will move for approval and I cannot physically do it okay okay okay we have a motion and a second cast your votes I'll vote Yes yes please passes unanimously likewise we'll come back to item L item M was already deferred item in is an ordinance on Final hearing recommended for approval establishing a special permit operate use unit 82515 moderate impact institutional in the it District at 1211 East i240 Service Road councilman Stone no one is time to speak Sor uh item in oh I'm sorry I had somebody yelling at me there and I couldn't hear what they were saying at the same time all right this is for the dove Charter School okay over by CrossRoads so uh I'll very happily move it for approval and then we need to do an emergency on it as well okay uh that may not be mathematically possible but we'll have to come back to that in a minute but we'll do right now the the vote on approval um we've got a motion in a second coming up yes yes please yes oops hang on let me open it up for you didn't do you wish to vote yes oh yes I'm yeah I guess I'm stuck I'm on I passes unanimously so okay then I guess we can work on the emergency then all right so I would like to go ahead and move this forward with an emergency okay this is an emergency on item in which is dove Charter Schools got a motion in a second can your votes yes please two councilman James C I know you're kind of getting your bearings back oh did you vote okay he did okay good all right passes unanimously and with the necessary seven affirmative votes for the Emergency okay now uh councilman James Cooper if it's all right we'd like to backtrack for two zoning items in your ward um item J uh this was rezoning 1500 Northwest 46 from R1 ToBD 1702 no one has time to speak yeah so this is just to reone an R1 lot that is I think it's 5400 Square ft the minimum lot size in Oklahoma city is 6500 square ft and I would just Advocate that we need to do away with minimum lot sizes in the city we have a lot of non-conforming lots where people aren't able to build on it unless they want to go through this Spud process we need more housing and you know one of the ways we can do that is more affordably is just a little bit smaller lots and also when to tag on in regards to cisu I think one compromise might be that in the Spud language we would require cisu to keep some of their facility open for 24 hours and not kick people out during the day I think a lot of the neighbors complained about that and that's one of the few things we can do in land use law is say hey you got to stay open for a bit or stay open 24 hours and allow people to to exist there during the day and I'd hope that would make the neighbors happy but not for me to decide so two issues totally irrelevant to my case just wanted to you know use my time at the mic so but I hope I hope this should pass unanimously thank you Sam and thanks for building the housing that we need I would move for approval and this needs to go on an emergency is that what I didn't understand what this needs to happen on an emergency is that what I'm understanding is that why I'm back here first of all motion and second cast your votes on approval no emergency for me I don't know it was just six for seven Hi eight yes f as unanimously okay now I understand that we will continue with the item 11 in word two but that councilwoman Hammond will carry it this was resed 4400 Northwest 50th Street from r102 and SPD 846 to SPD 1704 councilwoman Hammond no and to under speak um I will move for approval got a motion in a second cast your votes yes yes passes unanimously all right now we're kind of back in order again at item o this is an ordinance on Final hearing recommended for approval closing a portion of the platted Grand Boulevard RightWay east of North Kelly uh councilman Lee Cooper know cator speak uh is this uh item uh oh yes um this this is just a simple right away uh a move for approval and vote I if there's a second we have a motion and a second cast your votes yes yes yes passes unanimously item p is an ordinance on Final hearing it was recommended for approval closing a portion of the East West utility easement on Lot 10 and block 55 of semal Point uh near pin 10 Northwest 164th councilman Stone cyer know as signed to speak move for approval please second have a motion in a second cast your votes word six yes word seven and Word eight uh second yes yes yes yes yes passes unanimously all right item Q is previously struck which brings us to item R1 a public hearing regarding the dilapidated structures here listed Amy is it speak no they haven't they have not so we'll Advance the resolution at R2 declaring the structures are dilapidated got a motion and a second cast your votes or six W seven W seven um Yes W eight yes passes unanimously uh 11 S1 is a public hearing regarding the unsecure structures here listed except those previously strick am me has anyone signed up to speak no they haven't so we will advance to the resolution at S2 declaring the structures are insecure a motion in a second cast your votes w six W seven I Yes W eight yes please passes unanimously item T1 is public hearing regarding the abandoned structures here listed except for those previously struck am has anyone signed up to speak no they haven't they have not so we'll advance to the resolution at T2 declaring the Billings are abandoned have motion and a waiting a second there it is cast your votes when you can Yes W seven yes word eight yes please passes unanimously item U1 is a public hearing regarding an amendment to the fiscal year 202020 2025 budget uh we already had a presentation on this is there anyone who sign to speak today Amy no there's not so we will advance to you to this is the resolution adopting said Amendment got a motion and a second incoming we hope have a verbal maybe a verbal second in this case there we go thank you cast your votes w six Yes W seven W eight yes passes unanimously uh V1 is the second public heing regarding amending 18th 2024 resolution approving certain fire listed and other sales tax expenditures for this fiscal year there was a presentation at a previous meeting uh Amy has anyone signed up to speak for the second public hearing no there's not so we'll close it and advance to V2 which is the resolution amending to June 18th 2024 resolution got a motion in a second cast your votes Bo six yes or eight yes please passes unanimously uh item 111 11 W1 is a joint resolution with the OC MFA approving settlement of the workers compensation segregation claim uh recovered on behalf of Andrea Motley uh executive session is not requested a motion in a second cast your votes more seven or eight yes passes unanimously X1 is a resolution authorizing the municipal councel to confess judgment without admitting liability in the case of adelano city of OKC executive session is not requested I have a motion in a second cast your votes passes unanimously item y1 is a resolution authorizing the municipal to confess judgment without admitting liability in the case of uh tin Luke Etc B city of OK C executive session is not requested we have a motion in a second cast your votes word8 yes passes unanimously item Z1 is a joint resolution with the Oklahoma City Municipal facilities Authority authorizing The Firm Colin Sor and Wagner to represent Alexander aosta in the case of Hutchins V city of OKC Police Department um executive session is not requested there a motion in a second cast your votes or8 yes passes unanimously item 11a uh one are claims recommended for denial we can approve them as a group um or and approv the denial in as a group executive session is not requested have a motion in a second cast your votes more eight yes please passes unanimously 11ab one our claims recommended for approval executive session is not requested we can take them with one motion got a motion in a second cast your votes more dat yes please passes unanimously that concludes voting thank you all for your patience on that uh we are now at item 12 comments from Council word four word five word seven word seven I know we got to you pass no word seven word eight yeah I just wanted to EO Craig's comments on Laura Johnson I've had the privilege of working with her for almost 10 years now um she always exhibits great leadership Vision management I mean I've seen her she's served as over the years as assistant Finance director budget director and assistant city manager I just want to thank her for 45 years of great service and always being patient with me thank you uh all right that concludes comments from Council we're at item 13 citizens to be heard uh we have Eddie albz per pronunciation by the way Mr good thank you good they can they approach and just hand a little folder that has some information about our church okay my name is Eddie alanz I serve as a minister overseer of the World Mission Society Church of God here in Oklahoma City I want to thank you all for your great service and sacrifice we can feel how much you love the city and are making every effort to serve the residents our purpose is to briefly since we're a church here in Oklahoma City want to introduce ourselves also we're having a blood drive on Sunday the 23rd from 11:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. so we wanted to invite you all your presence would be much appreciated and encourage our donors so you're cordially invited it's on the corner of Portland and 25th at our church facility so Obi will come and they'll set up the blood beds and we make it a community event so there's volleyball basketball pickle ball foosball there's more balls that I don't recall now but uh and then it's also food and refreshments it's a really good time and um mayor you and your office provided us with the citation to appreciate the volunteers so we really really appreciate it it really really goes a long way and encourages members to continue to give back if you ever donated the needle is not small so having some appreciation recognition encourages them to become lifetime donors because the shelf life of blood is only like 42 days so we constantly need blood donations and also so to introduce our church briefly to mention about the blood drive and also to see if there's anything that we can do to help our members are devoted to volunteering so you hear a lot of needs from the community and we'd love to roll up our sleeves and help in any way that we can our church the World Mission Society Church of God it was established in 1964 um in the at the end of the Earth in the East South Korea by the second coming of Christ anang Hong who came according to Prophecies of the Bible we have uh 7,800 churches in 175 countries 3.7 million members and the Church of God believes in God the father and God the mother testified about in the Bible and keeps all the New Covenant truths that Jesus Christ kept including the biblical Sabbath day Saturday as well as the Passover of the New Covenant the bread and the wine ceremony where Jesus gave his flesh and his blood for eternal life in the um folder there's several Flyers one flyer shows like our worldwide blood drive activities another one that says asses star that's our student like school high school group The another one it says the future Starts Here asses that's our University student volunteer group and because of the limited of time the green one this one it shows some of our churches here in the US so if you were to open the flap then on the top left you'll see our volunteers received the UK Queens golden Jubilee award underneath that is the US president volunteer service award gold which is the highest level of the US president award also they were invited to speak at United Nations CR of high level conference and then receive different recognitions and accolades from different governments throughout the the world and when you open it then you can see some volunteer services including cleanups emergency response training uh blood drives planting trees graffiti removal uh Etc so our God taught us to be Good Samaritans and to have mercy on people so we want to do our best to give the love of God of course through the words of God but also through taking care of our neighbors we're we're at time thank you than you is a final concluding statement you want to make just God bless you and your families and the great state of Oklahoma and we'd love to receive you guys um at the blood drive on the 20:30 11:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. and thank you again for all that you do thank you thank you thanks for your patience being here um okay Ronnie Kirk my name is Ronnie Kirk my address is 2328 North Missour I'll come down and talk about the kids but first I want to talk about this H those handouts in there one of says I've been inducted to the Oklahoma History Museum and the other says I've been inducted to the Library of Congress in Washington DC those are the documents you have have in your hands today there'll be 4,000 people taking frows from the government by the end of the week it' be another 7,000 by the end of the month throughout the United States there'll be another 76,000 people laid off y'all know Oklahoma is number four with a d rating throughout the United States for school system our kids if you notice I gave some paperwork I got 35 skills 35 that's all the documentation you have our kids they can't add they can't subtract and they can't multiply take that phone out of their hand and they're dumb as a rock Oklahoma needed the government Trump said in a in a in a smaller way the state's got to take care of this here y'all can take care of it teach them kids some skills why they in school teach them how to do something you know today the turffs they go up today prices are getting higher they're never coming back down never so you need to teach these kids some skills where they can learn to eat to feed thems to pay their own bills to go along with these high prices that's coming up if they don't have no skills they won't be able to do it so y'all get together with them Senators cuz if phoh govern say where there a need there's a want and they'll give you a grant for kids to be taught skills in these school you got to teach them something you have to teach them something I want to say thank y'all but y'all get together and get these kids start teaching them skills why they still in school why they're still in school everybody don't have to be homeless but they'll be homeless if don't learn those skills homeless will get worse yeah okay thank you Mr Kirk we're at time thank you all right we are now it 14 adjournment and we are adjourned oh somebody left their bag