Broken Arrow City Council Meeting Summary (January 20, 2026)
Broken Arrow City Council Meeting - January 20, 2026
The Broken Arrow City Council convened on January 20, 2026, to review updates on new public safety crisis response initiatives, receive a progress report on the upcoming April 2026 general obligation bond package, and address citizen concerns regarding green waste burning and a contentious stormwater drainage dispute. The council considered several resolutions and approvals, including a FEMA grant support, multiple construction bids, and a comprehensive plan amendment, while managing significant debate over the Spring Creek Crossing development.
Consent Calendar
- Routine administrative items and minor approvals were processed alongside the formal consent agenda motion, resulting in unanimous approval of the non-controversial administrative business.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Sean Parrish expressed concern regarding green waste burning by contractors in the 81st and County Line area, citing asthma attacks and allergic reactions among elderly residents. He advocated for the city to require contractors to transport waste to facilities rather than burning it.
- Tracy (echoing Parrish) confirmed similar experiences with smoke in her subdivision and supported the idea of an ordinance prohibiting burning or requiring mulching.
- Colton July opposed the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment for the ONETA property. He highlighted a procedural error in the staff report (incorrectly stating a 5-0 Planning Commission vote when it was 3-2), noted a lack of adequate notice to neighbors, and raised specific concerns about traffic congestion on Onita Road, light pollution, and the potential impact of a grocery store on existing commercial zoning.
Discussion Items
- Crisis Response and Care Link Program (Police & Fire): Major Garrett (Police) and Assistant Fire Chief Mark Stewart presented updates on joint mental health and opioid response teams. Garrett highlighted a reduction in calls for service to 184 referrals through CREOX in 2025, with 592 follow-up calls and specific success stories involving veterans (zero calls in 2025) and a child with behavioral issues. Stewart detailed the Fire Department's partnership with Family and Children's Services, noting 239 distinct clients and a focus on high utilizers, with funding secured via the opioid abatement settlement. Council members commended the programs for providing alternatives to jail or hospitalization.
- 2026 General Obligation Bond: The City Manager reported the transition to the public education phase for the April 7, 2026, bond election. Plans include finalizing public information, scheduling HOA and civic group meetings, and launching a telephone hotline for citizen inquiries starting in February.
- FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Resolution (Resolution 1734): Staff recommended Council approval to express support for Tulsa County's request for a $8+ million FEMA grant to elevate Garnett Road (91st to 101st) to mitigate flooding. The project benefits the cross-border region of Broken Arrow, Tulsa, and Bixby. Council approved the resolution unanimously to advocate for federal approval.
- Spring Creek Crossing Conditional Final Plat: A contentious debate occurred regarding the approval of the plat for a 132-lot development.
- Staff and Developer (Lenar Homes/Kyle Richardson): Maintained that the project is in strict compliance with city drainage codes, reducing eastward flow to South Fork by 40% compared to pre-development conditions. They stated that the proposed additional drainage solution (funded by GoBond) is a voluntary "above and beyond" effort that cannot proceed due to a pending lawsuit filed by resident Jason Langley, which they claimed prevents further negotiation.
- Residents (Jason Langley and Dustin Fletcher): Argued that the developer's solutions are failing, with visible erosion and flooding occurring on their properties. They insisted that the additional drainage system must be constructed before home construction begins and expressed frustration that the developer dismissed their concerns as non-existent until legal action was taken. They emphasized that without a settlement meeting, the issue remains unresolved.
- Engineers: Megan Pascoe (TANR Consulting) defended the design compliance, attributing some video footage to on-site precipitation rather than upstream discharge. City staff (Charlie Bright, Kenny Schwab) acknowledged the engineering compliance but stressed the need for a meeting between all parties to discuss the voluntary remediation, which is currently stalled due to legal threats.
- Comprehensive Plan Amendment (ONETA 71): The Council discussed a request to rezone 8.8 acres from Level 1 Rural Residential to Level 4 Commercial for a proposed grocery store and gas station. Staff corrected the record, noting the Planning Commission vote was actually 3-2, not 5-0. Concerns regarding traffic on Onita Road and light pollution were addressed, with Council noting these will be scrutinized during the specific rezoning phase in February.
- Construction and Reappointments: The Council reviewed and voted on bids for intersection improvements at Tucson and Aspen ($517k), pavement replacement in Melinda Park ($2.658m), and grain silo improvements ($169k). Reappointment of Kamara Washington to the Board of Adjustment was also considered.
- Noise Ordinance Waiver: A request by Cow One Construction for an exception to the noise ordinance to pour concrete in the early morning (before 7 a.m.) was debated. Staff initially recommended denial due to resident complaints. However, after the applicant proposed a compromise to work from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. (with neighbor notification), the Council voted to approve the modified waiver.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Resolution 1734: Unified support for the FEMA hazard mitigation grant for Garnett Road elevation.
- Approved Conditional Final Plat for Spring Creek Crossing: The Council approved the plat (132 permits) with the stipulation that City Staff will continue to mediate and attempt to schedule a meeting between the developer and the affected residents within 30 days. The approval was granted based on current compliance, despite unresolved downstream drainage concerns.
- Approved Noise Waiver (Modified): Authorization granted for Cow One Construction to work from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. for two days, contingent upon neighbor notification, instead of the requested 3 a.m. start.
- Approved Development Bids: Contracts awarded to Diversified Civil Contractors (Tucson/Aspen), DK Kern's Construction (Melinda Park), and Scissor Gel Construction (Grain Silo).
- Reappointment: Kamara Washington reappointed to the Board of Adjustment until May 2029.
- Actioned Public Concerns: Mayor promised to direct staff to review green waste burning options and ordinances. Council agreed to facilitate a resolution to the Spring Creek flooding dispute.
Meeting Transcript
I heard all about it. I said we're discussing your call the broken era city council meeting to order. We have invocation by Pastor Scott Moore. Hi. Heavenly Father, we come before you uh today and we thank you so much for uh the beautiful city uh that we live in. Uh Father, we thank you for this time of year, even though it's cold outside. Uh we are blessed again just to be in a wonderful, wonderful community. Father, we thank you for leaders uh who uh truly care uh about the community, and so we ask that you would continue to be with them today as they work through the agenda, uh, that you would give them wisdom, uh, that you would give them uh sound mind as they make decisions uh that will affect our entire community. We ask that you would be with each and every citizen who will be a part of this time together as well, uh, that they would be able to speak clearly and they would uh continue uh to have an attitude of of uh of peace as they as they share the things that they are concerned with and as they uh uh do their best to communicate their hearts with this group of leaders. Again, we just ask for your guidance uh during this time. Uh we believe that we are the kind of community that we are because of the guidance uh that you have given us, and we just ask that you would help us to continue uh to follow that direction. In our Lord's wonderful name we pray. Amen. All right, roll call. Excuse me. Pickle Green here Ford here parks here, Wimpe. Here please stand and join Counselor Ford for the Pledge of Allegiance. Attention, salute, pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God individual with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, man. Are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda? I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. Second that motion the motion and a second roll call. Item seven is public hearings, appeals, presentation, recognitions, and awards 7A presentation and discussion of the crisis response and care link program update. Chief Stewart and Major Garrett. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, Mr. Spurgeon. Hope you're all having a good evening tonight. As you may remember, a couple of years ago, we came, thank you. We came up here and uh gave you a short presentation. Uh we were tasked with doing something about what we were continuing to see reference our mental health issues in the city with some of our citizens, uh, opioid issues and things of that nature. And the police department and the fire department, uh, Chief Stewart and I got together and we came came up with different uh plans for our organizations. One for the police department, which is our crisis response team, and their care link navigation program for the fire department. I'm gonna talk to you a little bit about uh an update to our crisis response team, and then Chief Stewart will talk about the fire department's uh initiative. So one of the things we want to talk about is why we have two different programs, and the reason for that is what we realized, what we we really had some different clientele. We thought there was going to be a lot more uh crossover between those that we dealt with at the police department versus those that we dealt with uh at the fire department. What we learned is that we actually didn't have as much crossover as we were thinking. Uh police department deals with a lot of issues of homelessness and some veteran issues, uh opioid abatement, and a lot of what we do is if you may remember was crisis mitigation when those crises are actually happening. And a lot of what the fire department does is deals with less visible forward-facing issues, uh, and they'll talk a little bit about more of that. Uh now on our program, we also sometimes have to do emergency protective custody is when we actually take someone into custody and have to go get them treatment, um, and that's a forced order, and we're gonna talk a little bit about that also. Uh our crisis response team recently adopted a mission. The Broken Arrow Police Crisis Response Team works in partnership with mental health professionals to deliver compassionate and effective responses to individuals in crisis. We connect community members with the services and support they need to enhance their safety, well being, and quality of life, and that's really what we do. Uh again, you may remember back uh the last time we were here, we talked about we really only had two buckets to go with before we uh started these two programs. It's kind of either they went to jail if they were dealing with the police department or a hospital if they were dealing with the fire department. Now, what we've done is we've created these programs to actually get those uh citizens that need help services that they need, those wraparound services to give them other options to actually stop that cycle of crisis. So some of the calls that we deal with at the police department, obviously mental health calls, uh, substance abuse services and calls that deal with uh opioids, sometimes methamphetamine, things of that nature, uh domestic disturbances, homelessness, as uh you may remember we spoke of uh last time we were here. Veteran services is also something that we're very passionate about. We oftentimes see that there's often a lot of crossover between some of these mental issue mental health issues and people that are veterans, and there's actually some businesses and some corporations that actually help us get services directly to veterans, and there's a lot of places that do that, and that's something that our crisis response team really focuses on a lot when we see that there's a veteran component to actually get them other services because there's some services that are specifically for veterans. And then we also talk about connections to care and counseling, and that's that you know, back end navigation that we do where we're doing follow-ups with these people as opposed to just going out there one time, dealing with their problem at hand and then leaving.
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