OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Visit Broken Arrow Meeting – February 10, 2026: Hotel Rebates, Film Incentive, Festival Sponsorships Approved

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, February 10, 2026
BodyBroken Arrow, Oklahoma
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, February 10, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 54:28

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Actually, I can.

0:08

Yes.

0:13

Community development and it's Jill Jones, the blonde headed lady in the middle.

0:29

Yes, I can go on.

0:39

Usually we will do a new agenda, they just won't add the public here.

0:49

But that's usually not a problem because we have like one or two items on board of adjustment.

0:53

Like a year.

0:56

But it's not in the case.

1:06

That was kind of embarrassing to be honest.

1:16

I'd like you to obtain commitments from the board of adjustment members.

1:23

Okay.

1:26

But uh the lady that's our vice chair person wasn't there, so she needs to be vice chair or something again.

1:34

So she's gonna come to the next thing to find out.

1:46

But I talked to Kevin like this.

1:47

It's been a recurring.

1:53

It'll be a different one to do it.

1:55

So you do it all.

2:08

Yeah.

2:14

Hey guys that are joining working, we're just gonna mute you until it's your turn, and then we'll unmute as we go along.

2:21

So waiting on one other virtual person to join.

2:28

Okay, thank you.

2:40

Okay, so it's just a lot of people.

2:56

Okay.

3:02

Okay, so we have several joining virtually today, so we're just gonna do our best.

3:07

So we may turn on my card.

3:11

All right.

3:12

Let's call to order.

3:17

Dean.

3:18

Here.

3:21

Here.

3:21

Ford, here.

3:22

Hagan?

3:23

Here.

3:23

Lock?

3:24

Schneider?

3:25

Here.

3:29

All right.

3:31

Action item three presentations.

3:41

That's no go to four.

3:43

All right.

3:43

Four.

3:44

General visit broken arrow business.

3:47

A two six-161 consideration discussion for possible approval of Oklahoma Westland 918 wrestling open rebate request and the amount not to exceed $3,125.

4:00

Okay, so as a reminder, for this item, this was um the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Wrestling Team came to us in July of 2025 for a wrestling tournament that they had in December of 2025.

4:13

So this is them coming back to kind of give us a quick report about how the event went and then to um just follow up on the hotel rebate that they qualified for.

4:23

So they did request an amount not to exceed 6250.

4:26

If you guys remember this is their first year, they were just kind of estimating.

4:29

Um so after we uh did all of the hotel verifications, it came up to 3125 is what they qualify for.

4:37

So I will let Tom, who is joining virtually, um go ahead and just give a recap of the event.

4:45

So we're gonna unmute him now.

4:52

Tom, I guess you can unmute yourself, hopefully.

4:54

And then if you can yeah, click on his face so we can see him.

4:59

There we go.

5:00

Can you hear me?

5:02

Yes, yes, we can hear you, Tom.

5:04

Okay.

5:05

Um then went really well.

5:08

Uh we had a little, I would say 225, I think, or close to that.

5:14

Competitors had two 80 pre-registered, but had some melt, as is typically the last weekend before the Christmas break for most teams.

5:24

Um, I think is what kind of caused that, I guess.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Film Industry Promotion██████████████████████████████████34%
Arts And Culture███████████████████████████27%
Tourism Promotion█████████████████17%
Budget Equity Analysis███████████11%
Procedural██████6%
Racial Equity███3%
Economic Development██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Visit Broken Arrow Meeting – February 10, 2026

The February 10, 2026 meeting of the Visit Broken Arrow board considered several hotel rebate and sponsorship requests, a film incentive application, and post-event summaries for local festivals. All action items were approved unanimously except one sponsorship request that was tabled for further discussion. The board also received a tourism director report and heard board member comments.

Discussion Items

Action Item A (26-161) – Oklahoma Wesleyan Wrestling Tournament Hotel Rebate

  • Proposal: Hotel rebate not to exceed $3,125 for a wrestling tournament held December 2025 at the Broken Arrow Event Center.
  • Details: The tournament had 225 competitors (down from 280 pre‑registered), sold about 200 tickets, generated 75 verified hotel room nights, and drew roughly 2,000 people to the event center. Organizer Tom reported increased participation compared to prior years in Bartlesville and expressed hope to return in 2026.
  • Decision: Motion to approve passed unanimously (Dean, Bowie, Ford, Hagan, Lop, Schneider all voting yes).

Action Item B (26-237) – Christian Interpreters Conference Hotel Rebate

  • Proposal: Hotel rebate not to exceed $12,500 for a conference planned July 9–11, 2026.
  • Details: Organizer Angie Mathis (representing Word Access and Sunshine Interpreting) described a well‑established conference with anticipated attendance of 300–350, including international participants. The conference will be in Broken Arrow partly due to the city’s free airport Uber service, which helped tip the scales against other cities such as St. Louis, Kansas City, and Nashville.
  • Decision: Motion to approve passed unanimously.

Action Item C (26-256) – Flyover Films Hotel & Film Incentive Rebate

  • Proposal: Film and hotel incentive rebate not to exceed $24,450 for a comedy feature film “Flyover.”
  • Details: The film will shoot three weeks in Oklahoma, with 15–20 out‑of‑state cast/crew. Estimated local spending up to $112,000, 294 hotel room nights, and $5,000 for production office space. Director Jackie and producer Adria noted the film celebrates Oklahoma and Broken Arrow locations. Staff confirmed $23,827 remains in the fiscal year ’26 film incentive fund.
  • Decision: Motion to approve passed unanimously.

Action Item D (26-264) – 2025 Chalk It Up Festival Post‑Event/Sponsorship Rebate

  • Proposal: Sponsor rebate not to exceed $7,500 for the September 2025 festival.
  • Details: 2025 attendance was approximately 29,000 (up from previous years). Organizer Jennifer noted that security fees (~$4,500) were inadvertently waived due to a transition; she disclosed that upfront. Staff stated future guidelines will ensure advance disclosure of fee waivers. Board members discussed the need to eventually reduce city support, but acknowledged the festival’s positive community impact.
  • Decision: Motion to approve passed unanimously.

Action Item E (26-266) – 2025 Rose Festival Post‑Event Summary & Reimbursement

  • Proposal: Sponsor rebate not to exceed $7,500 for the 2025 festival.
  • Details: Co‑coordinator Trish Foster reported 2025 attendance of 31,296 across three days (Friday 8,250, Saturday 21,046, Sunday 1,000+). The event emphasized cultural diversity with 59 cultures represented. Total cash expenses were $14,659; total event expenses including in‑kind were higher. A board member expressed concern that $15,000 combined city support (this event + Chalk It Up) might not be a good return on investment, stating they would not approve $15,000 next year. Another member noted that the two events are combined, but the board felt the $7,500 reimbursement for 2025 should still be honored.
  • Decision: Motion to reimburse $7,500 passed unanimously.

Action Item F (26-267) – 2026 Chalk It Up Sponsorship Request

  • Proposal: $7,500 sponsorship for the upcoming festival (September 2026).
  • Discussion: The board had concerns about funding both Rose Festival and Chalk It Up at the same level. A motion was made to table this item to allow the organizers to meet and present a revised plan.
  • Decision: Motion to table passed unanimously.

Action Item G (26-268) – 2026 Tuesdays in the Park Sponsorship

  • Proposal: $5,000 sponsorship for the four‑event summer series.
  • Details: Organizer stated they are lowering the request from $10,000 (2025) to $5,000, based on new city guidelines tied to attendance (projected 5,000–10,000 total). They are adding a VIP section and professional musicians to attract sponsors, hoping this will be the last grant request. One board member (a sponsor) abstained from voting.
  • Decision: Motion to approve passed 5‑0‑1 (Dean abstained).

Board Member Comments

  • Board members praised staff (Aaron and Mikayla) for professional advertising of Broken Arrow as a conference destination.
  • A suggestion was made to explore a pedicab service to connect events to businesses across Broadway, noting challenges in attracting foot traffic to the other side of the street. Staff noted previous scooter bikes caught fire in a warehouse.

Tourism Director Report

  • $50,000 sponsorship for the film festival (at Regal Warren Theater) has been paid; committee meetings are progressing.
  • Hotel/motel tax collections remain up (January slightly above last year). Occupancy for December 2025 was down compared to December 2024, but overall strong.
  • The first two fiscal year 2027 grants have been committed: Junior Golf Association ($15,000) and Christian Interpreters Conference ($12,500). Additional applications are pending, which may fully deplete the FY27 fund.
  • Discussion on increasing the hotel/motel tax rate was deferred until after Tulsa’s April vote (Tulsa is considering raising its rate from 5% to 8–9%).
  • The board welcomed new Deputy City Attorney James Walters, who will replace the interim coverage.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved: Action items A ($3,125), B ($12,500), C ($24,450), D ($7,500), E ($7,500), and G ($5,000) – all unanimous.
  • Tabled: Action item F (2026 Chalk It Up sponsorship) – organizers will meet and return with a revised proposal.
  • Next Steps: Staff will continue implementing the strategic plan, monitor hotel tax developments, and notify potential applicants about limited FY27 grant funds.

Meeting Transcript

Actually, I can. Yes. Community development and it's Jill Jones, the blonde headed lady in the middle. Yes, I can go on. Usually we will do a new agenda, they just won't add the public here. But that's usually not a problem because we have like one or two items on board of adjustment. Like a year. But it's not in the case. That was kind of embarrassing to be honest. I'd like you to obtain commitments from the board of adjustment members. Okay. But uh the lady that's our vice chair person wasn't there, so she needs to be vice chair or something again. So she's gonna come to the next thing to find out. But I talked to Kevin like this. It's been a recurring. It'll be a different one to do it. So you do it all. Yeah. Hey guys that are joining working, we're just gonna mute you until it's your turn, and then we'll unmute as we go along. So waiting on one other virtual person to join. Okay, thank you. Okay, so it's just a lot of people. Okay. Okay, so we have several joining virtually today, so we're just gonna do our best. So we may turn on my card. All right. Let's call to order. Dean. Here. Here. Ford, here. Hagan? Here. Lock? Schneider? Here. All right. Action item three presentations. That's no go to four. All right. Four. General visit broken arrow business. A two six-161 consideration discussion for possible approval of Oklahoma Westland 918 wrestling open rebate request and the amount not to exceed $3,125. Okay, so as a reminder, for this item, this was um the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Wrestling Team came to us in July of 2025 for a wrestling tournament that they had in December of 2025. So this is them coming back to kind of give us a quick report about how the event went and then to um just follow up on the hotel rebate that they qualified for. So they did request an amount not to exceed 6250. If you guys remember this is their first year, they were just kind of estimating. Um so after we uh did all of the hotel verifications, it came up to 3125 is what they qualify for. So I will let Tom, who is joining virtually, um go ahead and just give a recap of the event. So we're gonna unmute him now.

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