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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Broken Arrow City Council Meeting - October 20, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, October 20, 2026

BodyBroken Arrow, Oklahoma

SessionMeeting Portal

DateTuesday, October 20, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:03:50

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

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Unassigned speaker

0:56

Call

Speaker 1

0:56

the Broken Air City Council meeting to order.

0:58

We have invocation by Pastor Scott Moore.

Speaker 2

1:07

Let's pray.

1:09

Heavenly Father, we uh come before you on this beautiful uh fall evening.

1:13

Uh grateful uh to be able to come together and uh do the city's business.

1:20

Uh we are blessed uh to live in a community where everyone can have their voices heard uh and that uh everyone can know that uh the best interest of the community is at the heart uh of our leaders as well as our citizens.

Unassigned speaker

1:37

And

Speaker 2

1:37

so we just ask for uh a wonderful meeting today as we work through the agenda.

Unassigned speaker

1:42

Uh

Speaker 2

1:42

we ask that

Unassigned speaker

1:43

the

Speaker 2

1:44

citizens that will speak will speak clearly and uh and feel that their words are are heard and uh that the leaders would exercise uh wisdom and compassion as words are spoken as they always do.

2:01

And uh we just ask for a very productive and fruitful meeting so that we can continue to live in a wonderful uh prosperous community.

2:12

Uh bless again everyone that's part of this meeting, all those that work at the city, uh both in leadership and and in the various uh other positions that that uh are required uh to make our city tick and uh just guide our discussion tonight, we pray in the wonderful name of our Lord.

2:34

Amen.

Speaker 1

2:36

Thank you, sir.

2:38

Roll call,

Speaker 3

2:39

pickle, green, here, Ford, here, Parks, here Wimpy.

Speaker 1

2:44

Here.

2:44

Uh please stand and join uh Vice Mayor Parks for the Pledge of Allegiance.

2:51

Hello,

Speaker 4

2:53

pledge.

2:54

Pledge

Speaker 5

2:55

of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for

Unassigned speaker

3:07

all.

Unassigned speaker

3:08

Thank

Speaker 5

3:08

you, sir.

Unassigned speaker

3:16

Are

Speaker 1

3:16

there any items to be removed from the consent agenda?

Speaker 6

3:23

Seeing none, I'll make a motion that we approve the consent agenda as it stands.

Speaker 1

3:27

A second roll call.

3:37

Item seven, public hearings, appeals, presentations, recognitions, and awards.

3:41

7A, presentation of Oklahoma Flood Plain Managers Association, Stormwater Innovation Award to the City of Broken Arrow.

Speaker 7

3:49

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members, Mrs.

3:51

Spurgeon.

3:51

My name is Kenny Schwab, Assistant City Manager of Operations, but tonight I'm standing before you as the past chair of the Oklahoma Flood Plain Managers Association.

4:00

Uh otherwise known as OFMA.

4:02

OFFMA was started in 1990.

4:05

It's a collection of individuals, engineers, hydrologists, government officials, insurance agents, everybody working together at the state, local levels on trying to solve floodplain problems.

Unassigned speaker

5:00

Create a funding mechanism to help solve drainage and stormwater problems in your community that no other community has at their in their arsenal in their tool box.

Speaker 7

5:06

Broken Air is a leader.

5:08

Broken Aaron has uh communicated this to other communities, and they're looking to do the same in their community.

5:14

So on behalf of Offma, we want to award the City of Broken Arrow, the 2026 recipient of the Innovator Award.

5:22

Mayor.

Speaker 1

5:22

Yeah.

Unassigned speaker

5:30

I don't know if the Aaron's in here or not.

Speaker 5

5:46

Good job, Kenny.

Unassigned speaker

6:03

Anyway.

Unassigned speaker

6:06

Okay,

Speaker 1

6:06

perfect.

6:07

All right.

6:10

Item B notification of road closure of Houston Street between 79th Street and South Wynwood Lane.

6:17

I think it's that

Speaker 8

6:25

evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, Mr.

6:27

Spurgeon, uh, Zach Smith, uh, assistant streets and stormwater director.

6:32

Um, so I wanted to provide you all a brief update uh about the Houston Street 80, also known as 81st Street, uh, roadway rehabilitation from midway to Oak Grove Road.

6:45

Um, under City Manager Michael Spurgeon's direction, we made it a priority to quickly evaluate and address the infrastructure that comes under city responsibility, and this project is a good example of that commitment.

6:57

Um happy to report that the work is already underway as you might have noticed.

7:01

City crews have become uh have begun the preparatory phase of the project, including tree removal, uh ditch work, and some of the shoulder uh area prep.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Land Use Planning███████████████████████████████31%

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

Public Safety█████████████13%

Procedural████████████12%

Traffic Management██████████10%

Water And Wastewater Management███████7%

Data Center Regulation███████7%

Personnel Matters█████5%

Transportation Safety██2%

Summary of Proceedings

Broken Arrow City Council Meeting - October 20, 2026

The Broken Arrow City Council met on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 6:30 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting included the approval of a comprehensive consent agenda, a public hearing on a major annexation request, updates on a road closure and data center study, and the adoption of fire code and right-of-way ordinances.

Consent Calendar

The council unanimously approved the consent agenda (Items 5A through 5AA), which included budget amendments (Nos. 18 and 19 for FY 2027), a proclamation declaring Extra Mile Day, various equipment and vehicle purchases (Toro mower, F450 truck, bucket truck, floor scrubbers), contract awards (cold milling of asphalt, Indian Springs Storm Sewer, Houston Street Change Order), IT service renewals (Datto Backupify, Microsoft Copilot training, remote management tool), final acceptances for public improvements (Forest Ridge Tennis, Oklahoma IOS, The Bank), a lease agreement (Tiger Hill/T-Mobile), plats and rezoning applications (BA Townhomes at Bricktown, Meek Rezone, Tucson28 PUD), an engineering agreement (Elam Park), and acceptance of utility and drainage easements.

Public Comments & Testimony

Annexation Public Hearing (Item 7C): Multiple residents of the Cambridge Estates neighborhood spoke in opposition to the proposed voluntary annexation of approximately 75.48 acres. Dr. Michael Larkins argued against street connections, citing severe pedestrian safety hazards (no sidewalks), road deterioration, and downstream flooding, requesting that any connection be restricted to gated emergency access only. Dan DeBell asked the council to oppose the annexation, raising concerns about traffic safety, increased runoff and erosion, and the permanent loss of community character. Chris Cockman argued the development would violate the zoning ordinance’s language regarding protecting the scale and character of existing residential neighborhoods. Al Poole requested emergency-access-only barricades to prevent cut-through traffic.
General Citizen Comments (Item 8): Two citizens spoke in strong support of Police Chief Lance Arnold regarding an undisclosed community matter. Brian Cathy criticized the handling of the situation and its impact on the Chief’s character. Don Dearman, the father of a cadet who died in training, provided a personal account of Chief Arnold’s ongoing compassion and support for his family, urging the council to stand by him.

Discussion Items

Item 7B: Houston Street Road Closure: Zach Smith, Assistant Streets and Stormwater Director, announced a full closure of Houston Street (81st Street) between Midway and South Winwood Lane starting October 26, 2026, for approximately four weeks. The closure will allow for roadway rehabilitation, asphalt overlays, and stormwater drainage improvements. Council members discussed drainage issues and property concerns along the route.
Item 7C: Annexation Preview: Community Development Director Rocky Hinkle presented the request to preview Ordinance No. 3961 for 75.48 acres, which is intended for a single-family residential subdivision. Developer representative Preston Bartley stated the street connections were required by fire code but expressed a willingness to explore emergency-access-only options. He stated the development would include detention ponds to alleviate existing flooding conditions in Cambridge Estates. Council members expressed support for annexation to ensure city standards and drainage oversight apply. A motion was made and seconded to preview the ordinance and set it for adoption.
Item 7D: Data Center Study Committee Update: Staff reported the study group continues to gather information from other communities, including Oklahoma City, Pryor, and Olathe. Key considerations include infrastructure capacity, road impacts, and residential protection. Staff intends to request a moratorium extension in November.
Item 9A: South Ash Avenue Closure: Shannon Marshall, Special Projects Division Manager, presented Resolution No. 1779 to close a portion of South Ash Avenue between West El Paso and West Fort Worth Street to increase pedestrian safety and facilitate land negotiations with the railroad. The council approved the resolution.
Item 9B: Airport Feasibility Study: Charlie Bright, Director of Engineering Construction, presented an agreement with Garver LLC for a feasibility study on a small regional general aviation airport. Bright emphasized the study is to determine long-term economic viability and demand, not to immediately build an airport. The council approved the agreement.
Item 11A-11D: Ordinance Adoption: Chief Moore presented Ordinance No. 3959, updating the International Fire Code from the 2018 to the 2024 edition to align with the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission. The council also adopted Ordinance No. 3960, closing an unused right-of-way to facilitate the Broken Arrow Public Schools auditorium project. Both ordinances and their emergency clauses were adopted.

Key Outcomes

Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
Annexation (Item 7C): The council voted to preview the ordinance and set it for adoption (Ordinance No. 3961), advancing the voluntary annexation process.
South Ash Avenue Closure: Resolution No. 1779 was adopted.
Airport Feasibility Study: The Professional Consultant Agreement with Garver LLC was approved.
Fire Code and Right-of-Way: Ordinance Nos. 3959 and 3960 were adopted.
Community Matters: The city manager announced the groundbreaking for the new Tulsa City County Library. The city was recognized as the 2nd best place to retire in Oklahoma and the 55th in the nation.

Meeting Transcript

Call the Broken Air City Council meeting to order. We have invocation by Pastor Scott Moore. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we uh come before you on this beautiful uh fall evening. Uh grateful uh to be able to come together and uh do the city's business. Uh we are blessed uh to live in a community where everyone can have their voices heard uh and that uh everyone can know that uh the best interest of the community is at the heart uh of our leaders as well as our citizens. And so we just ask for uh a wonderful meeting today as we work through the agenda. Uh we ask that the citizens that will speak will speak clearly and uh and feel that their words are are heard and uh that the leaders would exercise uh wisdom and compassion as words are spoken as they always do. And uh we just ask for a very productive and fruitful meeting so that we can continue to live in a wonderful uh prosperous community. Uh bless again everyone that's part of this meeting, all those that work at the city, uh both in leadership and and in the various uh other positions that that uh are required uh to make our city tick and uh just guide our discussion tonight, we pray in the wonderful name of our Lord. Amen. Thank you, sir. Roll call, pickle, green, here, Ford, here, Parks, here Wimpy. Here. Uh please stand and join uh Vice Mayor Parks for the Pledge of Allegiance. Hello, pledge. Pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, sir. Are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda? Seeing none, I'll make a motion that we approve the consent agenda as it stands. A second roll call. Item seven, public hearings, appeals, presentations, recognitions, and awards. 7A, presentation of Oklahoma Flood Plain Managers Association, Stormwater Innovation Award to the City of Broken Arrow. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members, Mrs. Spurgeon. My name is Kenny Schwab, Assistant City Manager of Operations, but tonight I'm standing before you as the past chair of the Oklahoma Flood Plain Managers Association. Uh otherwise known as OFMA. OFFMA was started in 1990. It's a collection of individuals, engineers, hydrologists, government officials, insurance agents, everybody working together at the state, local levels on trying to solve floodplain problems. Create a funding mechanism to help solve drainage and stormwater problems in your community that no other community has at their in their arsenal in their tool box. Broken Air is a leader. Broken Aaron has uh communicated this to other communities, and they're looking to do the same in their community. So on behalf of Offma, we want to award the City of Broken Arrow, the 2026 recipient of the Innovator Award. Mayor. Yeah. I don't know if the Aaron's in here or not. Good job, Kenny. Anyway. Okay,

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