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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Broken Arrow City Council Meeting - September 15, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, September 15, 2026

BodyBroken Arrow, Oklahoma

SessionMeeting Portal

DateTuesday, September 15, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:10:46

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:35

I was betting on all of you making it back.

0:38

Thank you.

0:38

Thank you.

0:52

Call the Broken Air City Council meeting to order.

0:55

We have invocation by Pastor Pittman.

1:00

Everybody to pray with me.

1:02

Thank you, Father, for our great city for blessing broken arrow.

1:07

We recognize that all good things are from you, and we are grateful right now.

1:12

Thank you for all of our city personnel for their hard work and their sacrifice.

1:17

Would you give them wise and discerning hearts to skillfully govern the people in our city?

1:22

And we want to say thank you for all of our first responders.

1:26

We ask Father for compassion for them, for safety for them and their occupation.

1:32

In tonight's meeting, we asked that you would give our city council and our leaders at every level the grace to solve problems, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong to bring truth, order, stability, and prosperity to our community and to do it efficiently.

1:52

Would you give the people in our community a spirit of unity and togetherness?

1:56

We pray right now for families and individuals in our city that are in need.

2:01

May we always treat the marginalized among us with respect and with fairness and with love.

2:08

And so Lord, we give you this great city of broken arrow.

2:12

May it honor you and may it be a blessing to others.

2:15

We pray now in Jesus' name.

2:16

Amen.

2:18

Thank you, sir.

2:19

Roll call.

2:22

Excuse me.

2:24

Green.

2:25

Here.

2:25

Ford.

2:26

Here.

2:26

Park.

2:27

Here.

2:27

Wimpy.

2:28

Here.

2:28

Please stand and join me for the pledge of allegiance.

2:35

Attention, salute, pledge.

2:37

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

2:42

And to the Republic for which it stands.

2:57

Are there any other items?

3:03

I'll make a motion that we approve the consent agenda mines S and D.

3:08

Second.

3:18

Item S is approval of and authorization to execute the renewals for firefighters.

3:22

Stephen Hines, Jill Beckman, Nolan Jameson, Christopher Rivera, and Brady West to participate on the Oklahoma Task Force One Urban Search and Rescue Team for Fiscal Year 2027.

3:37

But I just wanted to recognize our firefighters that participate in this uh program.

3:43

Um I didn't want to just vote it on through and and nobody realize what what these outstanding firefighters do for us.

3:51

Well, thank you.

3:52

Yeah, we've got five firefighters who have participated several years in one is the statewide Oklahoma Task Force One, which is a state uh supported state funded uh search and rescue program.

4:02

They've got deployed all over the state for tornadoes, flash floods, eye snow events, but they can also be deployed anywhere in the United States, and we work with those states or those local governments where they get deployed to to get reimbursements and so forth.

4:15

But uh these men and women have participated for several years, and so uh they wanted to continue their participation, so we bring it back before council so that everybody knows what we're getting ourselves into, kind of all right.

4:27

Any discussion or I I just make a comment not about that, but about uh mission 22.

4:33

Two of our you know, firefighters were there in the ceremony on Saturday morning and did a great job.

4:39

They're gonna look good for broken air.

4:41

I think Captain Buckman, right?

4:45

All right, thank you, sir.

4:49

I'll make a motion to ex uh approve items.

4:57

Can you not hear me?

5:00

Yes, I can hang.

5:04

Yeah, if this still has consent agenda on here.

5:07

It's part of the consent agenda.

5:10

Doesn't have the item on hell.

5:12

Yes, doesn't Sam.

5:17

We'll just do a voice vote.

5:26

So I've got Ford with the motion and green with the second.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural████████████████████████24%

Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████13%

Public Safety████████████12%

Data Center Regulation███████████11%

Public Engagement███████7%

Tourism Promotion███████7%

Historic Preservation██████6%

Parks and Recreation█████5%

Water And Wastewater Management████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Broken Arrow City Council Meeting - September 15, 2026

The Broken Arrow City Council met on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 6:30 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting included a consent agenda with numerous routine approvals, several presentations, public comments, discussion of data center regulations, appointments to boards, adoption of ordinances updating city codes, and an executive session on litigation.

Consent Calendar

The council approved the consent agenda with the exception of items S and V, which were pulled for separate discussion.
Item S (Firefighter renewals for Oklahoma Task Force-1): The council approved the renewal for five firefighters to participate in the state urban search and rescue team. The council recognized their service and the program's value.
Item V (Indian Spring Sport Center Baseball Shade Structures): The council approved awarding the contract to Scissor Tail Construction with an amendment to include alternates one, two, and three, covering all eight remaining fields. The total cost increased from $340,164 to $404,387, with additional funding from 2018 GO bond funds.
All other consent items (A through R, T through U, W through AR) were approved as presented.

Public Comments & Testimony

Alan Jackson: Spoke about property rights, citing the Declaration of Independence and the Oklahoma Constitution. He argued that government's purpose is to protect property and urged the council to protect existing residents from outside development.
Chuck Rowland: Raised concerns about stormwater runoff from a nearby development (Seven Oaks) causing flooding on his property, leading to tree damage and personal expense. He stated he had raised the issue multiple times without resolution and requested a process for follow-up.

Discussion Items

Presentation of Citation to Officer Z. Vick: The council presented a citation and challenge coin to Officer Vick for saving an 8-year-old autistic child from drowning on May 27, 2026. The rescue was captured on body camera and featured on local news. Officer Vick was also recognized by Tulsa Crime Stoppers and the Oklahoma Attorney General.
Proclamation of Constitution Week: The council adopted a proclamation declaring September 15–21, 2026, as Constitution Week, presented to the Broken Arrow Creek and Creek Lands chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Council member Ford also received a DAR certificate for historic preservation work.
ScotFest Access Presentation: Community Development Director Rocky Hinkle presented the access plan for the ScotFest event (September 18–20, 2026) at Events Park. Parking will be at NSU with shuttles; accessible parking will be on 41st Street. Barricades will go up at 4:45 PM on Friday. The council noted this is likely the festival's last year.
Data Center Study Committee Update: City Manager Michael Spurgeon reported that the internal study group is continuing due diligence during the moratorium (in effect until end of 2026, with possible six-month extension). Key updates: coordination with Oklahoma City (considering separate classifications for hyperscale vs. smaller facilities, closed-loop cooling); PSO reported 7.1 GW generation capacity vs. 4.5 GW peak summer demand, requiring data centers to fund 100% of grid connection costs. The city has received two consultant proposals for zoning assistance. No recommendation has been made yet; a further extension may be requested.
Council Business:
- Downtown Master Plan Advisory Committee: Appointed Farhad Doroga to the committee.
- Visit Broken Arrow Board: Approved one reappointment (Ben Bowie) and three new appointments (Tammy Seal, Ravi Desai, Brad Gordon) for terms ending September 30, 2028 (Brad Gordon ends September 2027).
- Construction Variance: Approved a variance for Brewer Construction at the new Ferguson Kia building to allow work starting at 3 AM for two nights.
Ordinances: The council adopted several ordinances (see Key Outcomes) with emergency clauses.
Remarks by Council Members:
- Mayor Wimpee and council members reported on a sister city visit to Rincón de Ramos and Agua Caliente, Mexico, praising hospitality and future exchange opportunities.
- Council member Ford reminded of upcoming events: ScotFest (Sept 18-20), Hops Bops and Bites Festival (Sept 26), Broken Arrow Invitational marching band competition (Sept 19), senior center pickleball tournament (Sept 20), Veterans Day Parade (Nov 7).
- Vice Mayor Parks asked about stormwater detention policy; staff confirmed that post-development runoff must not exceed pre-development levels, a policy in place since 1994. He also noted the Town of Inola extended its moratorium on a smelter plant.
City Manager Updates:
- Recognized retirements (5 employees with 10-38 years of service) and promotions/transfers (5 employees).
- Provided an update on College Street widening project: east section (15th to 23rd) funded by Amazon ($4.2 million) with design and right-of-way nearly complete; west section (9th to 15th) is a city project with 60% design complete.
- Announced a future presentation on the 2026 bond package (14-year plan) after receiving assessed values.
- Reported that the contractor for County Line Road widening (ODOT project) was absent for five months; the city manager expressed frustration and plans to contact state legislators and ODOT about the contractor's performance.
- Clarified that a scheduled meeting with Mr. Rowland and other residents was canceled because the city was named in a legal action, requiring attorney presence.

Key Outcomes

Consent Agenda: Approved as amended (items S and V approved separately; V amended to include all eight shade structures).
Presentation/Proclamations: Officer Vick recognized; Constitution Week proclaimed.
Appointments:
- Farhad Doroga appointed to Downtown Master Plan Advisory Committee (unanimous).
- Ben Bowie (reappointment), Tammy Seal, Ravi Desai, Brad Gordon appointed to Visit Broken Arrow Board (unanimous).
Construction Variance: Approved for Ferguson Kia building (unanimous).
Ordinances Adopted (all with emergency clauses, approved by roll call votes):
- Ordinance 3954: Establishes permitting fees for right-of-way construction by non-franchised entities (fees tied to manual fee schedule).
- Ordinance 3953: Increases City Manager's contract/purchase approval limit from $50,000 to $100,000; Assistant City Manager limit to $25,000.
- Ordinance 3955: Adopts 2024 ICC codes and NFPA 2023 National Electric Code as amended by Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission, with local amendments.
- Ordinance 3956: Updates property maintenance code to reflect building code changes.
- Ordinance 3957: Closes a utility easement on property near 81st Street and 145th East Avenue.
- Ordinance 3958: Closes another utility easement in the same area.
Executive Session: The council entered executive session to discuss confidential legal matters regarding Drake litigation and McMahon litigation. No action was taken in open session following the executive session.

Meeting Transcript

I was betting on all of you making it back. Thank you. Thank you. Call the Broken Air City Council meeting to order. We have invocation by Pastor Pittman. Everybody to pray with me. Thank you, Father, for our great city for blessing broken arrow. We recognize that all good things are from you, and we are grateful right now. Thank you for all of our city personnel for their hard work and their sacrifice. Would you give them wise and discerning hearts to skillfully govern the people in our city? And we want to say thank you for all of our first responders. We ask Father for compassion for them, for safety for them and their occupation. In tonight's meeting, we asked that you would give our city council and our leaders at every level the grace to solve problems, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong to bring truth, order, stability, and prosperity to our community and to do it efficiently. Would you give the people in our community a spirit of unity and togetherness? We pray right now for families and individuals in our city that are in need. May we always treat the marginalized among us with respect and with fairness and with love. And so Lord, we give you this great city of broken arrow. May it honor you and may it be a blessing to others. We pray now in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, sir. Roll call. Excuse me. Green. Here. Ford. Here. Park. Here. Wimpy. Here. Please stand and join me 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. Are there any other items? I'll make a motion that we approve the consent agenda mines S and D. Second. Item S is approval of and authorization to execute the renewals for firefighters. Stephen Hines, Jill Beckman, Nolan Jameson, Christopher Rivera, and Brady West to participate on the Oklahoma Task Force One Urban Search and Rescue Team for Fiscal Year 2027. But I just wanted to recognize our firefighters that participate in this uh program. Um I didn't want to just vote it on through and and nobody realize what what these outstanding firefighters do for us. Well, thank you. Yeah, we've got five firefighters who have participated several years in one is the statewide Oklahoma Task Force One, which is a state uh supported state funded uh search and rescue program. They've got deployed all over the state for tornadoes, flash floods, eye snow events, but they can also be deployed anywhere in the United States, and we work with those states or those local governments where they get deployed to to get reimbursements and so forth. But uh these men and women have participated for several years, and so uh they wanted to continue their participation, so we bring it back before council so that everybody knows what we're getting ourselves into, kind of all right. Any discussion or I I just make a comment not about that, but about uh mission 22. Two of our you know, firefighters were there in the ceremony on Saturday morning and did a great job. They're gonna look good for broken air. I think Captain Buckman, right?

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