Edmond City Council Meeting - August 25, 2025: Proclamation, Tax Renewal, and Zoning Hearings
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Edmond City Council Meeting - August 25, 2025
The Edmond City Council met on August 25, 2025, to discuss a proclamation recognizing Emergency Management Awareness Month, receive updates on sales tax and capital projects, debate the renewal of the 1% general fund and 1/2 cent capital improvement sales taxes, and hold public hearings on two planned unit development (PUD) zoning requests. The meeting included unanimous approvals on consent items and a 5–0 vote to prepare for a November 18, 2025 election on the sales tax renewals.
Consent Calendar
- Proclamation (Item 2A): Recognized August 2025 as National Emergency Management Awareness Month. Presented by Mayor Mark A. Nash. Unanimously approved.
- Appointments (Item 3): Six reappointments to various boards and commissions were approved 5–0.
- Public Works Authority Consent Items (Item 5): Four items approved 5–0, including Resolution 5-25 conferring authority for contractual obligations related to the Guthrie-Edmond Regional Airport.
- City Council General Consent Items (Item 8): 13 items were on consent; Items C (2026 meeting schedule), I, and J were pulled. The remainder were approved 5–0. Item C was continued to the September 8 meeting after discussion to flip the July meeting dates. Items I and J were continued to September 8.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 10B (I-35 PUD): Multiple speakers opposed the proposed five-story mixed-use development at 4691 W I-35 Frontage Road.
- Lydia Lee (Ward 3 resident) argued the PUD was vague and incomplete, failing to meet Title 22 requirements for parking, fire access, landscaping, lighting, and trash screening. She stated the design could not accommodate the required parking or fire truck access, and questioned the viability of retail on the ground floor.
- Charles “Chip” Moles (Chimney Hill resident) urged denial, stating the project density (125 units on 1.5 acres) was 46 times Edmond’s average density and nearly twice that of New York City. He argued the frontage should generate sales tax and jobs, not housing, and criticized the planning process.
- Brandon Pratt (3617 Steven Court) raised concerns about potential groundwater contamination from adjacent ODOT land, referencing ongoing environmental studies.
- Paula Burks (4501 Cairn Drive) noted that 25,097 voters (69.4%) rejected a similar zoning change near the same intersection in November 2022, and asked council to honor that vote.
- Lori Scott (4505 Cairn Drive) questioned livability given noise, light pollution, lack of outdoor amenities, and insufficient parking for visitors.
- Citizen Comments (Item 11): Lydia Lee criticized the quality of staff reports, stating they lack thoroughness on issues like fire access, parking, and screening, and called for improved reports.
Discussion Items
- City Manager’s Update (Item 2B): City Manager Randy Entz reported:
- Sales Tax: June sales data (collected in August) showed a 3.14% increase—the first increase in eight months. Year-to-date sales tax is down 0.83%. Use tax fell 16% for the month and 7.29% year-to-date. Lodging tax is up 4.59% year-to-date. Edmond and Norman are the only major metro cities with overall declines.
- East Side Library YMCA Project: Joint-use facility at 15th and I-35 nearing midpoint; topping out ceremony planned for September. City investing $30M; YMCA reimbursing $12.5M through long-term lease.
- Administration Building: 98% complete; all offices have moved in. Houses council chambers, city manager, building/safety, engineering, planning, housing/commerce, and city clerk.
- Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District Update (Item 9B): Presented by Ms. Dozier. Edmond has one TIF district (downtown) with seven agreements; three completed. Projections over the life of the TIF: Edmond Public Schools (EPS) will receive approximately $138,000 from the overall district, with specific projects like Oxley estimated at $647,000 for EPS and $4.8 million for the city. Checks collected so far: $88,000 (2023), $45,000 (2024), $300,000 (2025). Mayor Nash emphasized clarifying that EPS does not lose money—it receives 10% of the increment annually and retains its base property tax. Council discussed the need for better assurance of financing before construction starts.
- Sales Tax Renewal Discussion (Item 9C): Council discussed the renewal of the 1% general fund sales tax and the 1/2 cent capital improvement sales tax (sunset March 2027).
- Mayor Nash supported renewal at current rates, emphasizing transparency and that two-thirds of the general fund goes to police and fire. He opposed an immediate increase, wanting first to show citizens detailed spending.
- Councilmember Phil Frame argued for an immediate 1/4 cent increase for roads, noting that the city needs $10-15 million/year for road maintenance but currently spends only $4.5 million from CIP. He stated that waiting two years would leave the city further behind and that a quarter-cent increase would cost the average voter ~51 cents/day.
- Councilmember Barry Moore supported renewal at current rates for 10 years, possibly raising later. He advocated for a “MAPS-like” dedicated road tax.
- Councilmember Preston Watterson supported renewal and favored focusing the entire CIP tax on roads and traffic improvements, citing a pavement study showing a $10-15 million annual need. He noted that the CIP tax currently funds many categories and suggested dedicating it solely to roads.
- Councilmember Maggie Murdoch Nichols supported renewal at current rates and later consideration of increases.
- Chamber CEO Sherry Jordan spoke in favor of renewal at current rates, with a potential future dedicated road tax.
- Council discussion resulted in a motion to direct staff to prepare necessary documents for a November 18, 2025 election to renew both taxes at current rates for 10 years, with the CIP tax dedicated to roads and traffic improvements. The motion passed 5–0.
Key Outcomes
- Proclamation for Emergency Management Awareness Month approved unanimously.
- Consent items approved 5–0 (with continuances as noted).
- 2026 Meeting Schedule continued to September 8, 2025.
- Items I and J continued to September 8, 2025.
- Sales Tax Renewal: Motion passed 5–0 to direct staff to prepare for a November 18, 2025 election renewing the 1% general fund and 1/2 cent capital improvement taxes at current rates for 10 years, with the CIP portion dedicated to roads and traffic improvements.
- Case Z 24-00015 (Villas at Kickingbird PUD): Rezoning from A to PUD at 2700 E Danforth Road approved 5–0.
- Case Z 25-00015 (I-35 Frontage Road PUD): Rezoning from D2 to PUD at 4691 W I-35 Frontage Road was continued to September 22, 2025. The applicant committed during discussion to remove stucco and wood from exterior finish options and provide a minimum of 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail (excluding leasing office). Council directed staff to address fire and trash access questions before the next hearing.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Item two A is a presentation of a proclamation recognizing August 2025 as National Emergency Management Awareness Month. Ben, are you and your team here available for us? Come on up. And I'm excited to say I think we have this all worked out now with proclamations. We took photos beforehand, so whereas emergencies and disasters can occur unexpectedly, posing significant threats to life, property, and the environment, and whereas local emergency management, community leaders, state governments, and the federal emergency management agency dedicates countless hours to develop preparedness response recovery and mitigation programs to protect the lives and property of all persons living in the United States, and whereas emergency managers across the United States are charged with establishing and maintaining the capabilities necessary to effectively direct, coordinate, and support emergency and disaster response and recover recovery efforts, and whereas the mission areas of prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery align with the core capabilities identified in the national preparedness goal. And whereas emergency managers serve the nation by responding to countless emergencies and disasters each year, demonstrating commitment, compassion, and professionalism in protecting the public. And whereas the efforts of our nation's emergency managers have helped millions of community members across the United States recover, rebuild, and become more resilient in the face of adversity. Now, therefore, I, Mark A. Nash, mayor of the city of Edmund, to hereby proclaim August 2025 as emergency management awareness month in Edmond. Well, thank you all very much. A big thank you to the mayor and to the council and all the city staff for all the support that you've always had for emergency management. It's very much appreciated. So what we really do is a lot of planning for what could happen disasters, uh, tornadoes, the train crash, stuff like that, coordinating the response, making sure we have everything ready. Um then folks say, well, how can I help? The biggest thing that uh you all can do that would really help us is have a plan what you're gonna do, should a disaster strike, have a kit. Um we're not saying you have to be full of preppers, but you know, an emergency kit with some basic stuff, uh set back aside, we'll really help you get through an emergency and then helps uh the city resources really respond to the incident as a whole. So uh really help us out by doing that. Sign up for tax alerts. If you want to learn more, uh our website uh is a great place to go, but also ready.gov has a whole lot of information from the uh entire city. So thank you all very much, and uh have a ready. Item two B is city manager's update. Mr. Enns? Thank you, sir. Um first of all, promotion logo. I think we'll be able to go back to the mayor. Uh let's start with talking about sales tax. Um go to the next slide. So sales tax collection, this is the June sales data. It's reported in July and then collected in August. It shows a 3.14% increase. That's a first increase we've had in eight months, so very excited about that. Uh year to date, sales tax is down.83%. Uh use tax, unfortunately, was down this time, down 16% this month, uh, and 7.29% year to date. Uh combined use and sales taxes down about half a percent. Uh we are one of only two major cities in the metro area that are reporting overall declines, and uh, we and Norman are both uh sharing our misery right now. Uh happy to report though that lodging tax is up 4.59% year to date. Just a couple things to add, Mr. City Manager. I I think it's interesting to note. I now my numbers, I I took the actual numbers, but I only had July to June, so but but shouldn't make much difference. We're talking about 85 million point eight hundred thousand dollars roughly in sales tax. But if we look at fiscal year 26 and compare the averages per month, of course we're only a couple months into this year, so that but we're up a hundred and thirty-nine thousand dollars. I don't know that I can call two months a trend because it was driven largely by the one. We go to use tax, and it really it really concerned me to see that big of a drop, a 16 percent drop whatever it was in yeah, use tax. So then I went back. We we do this compared month to month, year to year comparison. If we look back last year, that use tax, that August use tax was incredible. So that that makes a little bit of difference in the drop, and I'm glad you you did show the compare.
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