Edmond City Council and Public Works Authority Meeting - February 9, 2026
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Edmond City Council and Public Works Authority Meeting - February 9, 2026
The Edmond City Council and Public Works Authority held a joint meeting on February 9, 2026, to discuss turnpike infrastructure updates, financial reports, budget adjustments, development code changes, and several rezoning and contract approvals. The meeting began with presentations from the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and a sales tax report, followed by appointments, public works items, and council discussions. Multiple votes were taken, including approval of budget amendments, contracts, and zoning changes.
Consent Calendar
- Public Works Authority General Consent Items (11 items): Approved unanimously (4-0) without any items pulled.
- City Council General Consent Items (18 items): Approved unanimously (4-0) after pulling item K (Pelican Bay Aquatic Center change order) for separate discussion.
Discussion Items
- Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Presentation: Jeff Gater, Director of Construction, presented the Access Oklahoma Long Range Bond program ($8 billion, 15-year plan). Key projects in the South Edmond area include:
- Widening of John Kilpatrick Turnpike to six lanes between Wilshire Boulevard and NW 122nd Street ($23 million; construction spring 2026 to spring 2027).
- Interchange modification at North Council Road and widening of Westbound Memorial Road ($12.1 million; construction late spring/summer 2026, completion early 2027).
- New directional interchange at County Line Road ($61 million; fall 2026).
- Replacement of Turner Turnpike bridges over Arcadia Lake ($22 million; mid-2026, one-year completion).
- Traffic projections: John Kilpatrick Turnpike currently sees 40,000 vehicles per day, expected to grow to 90,000 by 2055.
- Sales and Use Tax Collections Report (Kathy Panis): January sales tax down 1.22% year-over-year ($155,000 decrease) but monthly growth of 2.08%. Use tax up 7.29% for the month, year-to-date up 5.86%. Combined sales and use tax break-even for the year. Lodging tax down 1.83% year-to-date.
- Appointments and Reappointments:
- Jeff Wagner to Kickingbird Golf Advisory Board (student member, term to Feb 8, 2027) – approved 4-0.
- Adya Ori to Historic Preservation Trust (youth member, term to Feb 8, 2027) – approved 4-0.
- Christie Ice to Community Policing Board (unexpired term of Danielle Adul, to Oct 31, 2027) – approved 4-0.
- Darrell A. Davis to Bicycle Committee (unexpired term of Steve Loveless, to June 30, 2028) – approved 4-0.
- Jennifer Miller to Community Policing Board (unexpired term of Mike Sanders, to Oct 31, 2028) – approved 4-0.
- Public Works Authority Budget Amendment (Water Line Maintenance): $1,200,000 supplemental appropriation from Water Fund Emergencies and Shortfalls reserves to field services for waterline maintenance. Director Keith Stewart reported 83 active water leaks (down from over 100), average repair time reduced to 30-40 days from 60 days. Approved 4-0.
- Pelican Bay Aquatic Center Change Order #2 (Item K): Contract amendment with Wynn Construction Company for $273,110.94 covering electrical wires encased in pool deck and replacement of 20 soap dispensers. Parks Director Radar Rainey noted the project is nearing completion. Approved 4-0.
- BUILD Grant Applications:
- Letter of funding commitment up to $4 million for I-35 frontage road project (city share already budgeted). If awarded, project could move from fall 2027 to earlier. Approved 4-0.
- Letter of funding commitment up to $1,867,000 for 2nd and Boulevard intersection improvements (including Main Street). City already had $3 million set aside. Approved 4-0.
- Agenda Structure Discussion (City Clerk Corey Actson Coley): Proposed moving public hearing items earlier to reduce wait times for citizens. Two options presented. Council expressed support for Option 1 (public hearings after appointments) and also agreed to move citizen comments to the beginning of the agenda. Staff directed to implement changes on a trial basis.
- Resolution on Council Expenses (Resolution 02-26): Discussion of policy for travel and other expenses. Councilmember Preston Waterson found the upfront approval process cumbersome. Motion to continue to March 9, 2026, for further refinement. Approved 4-0.
- Budget Reform Committee Report (Vice Chair Taylor Wilson): Committee met ten times from June 2025 to January 2026. Recommendations include: consistent budget format, continued use of Oklahoma Municipal Budget Act, adoption of a budget transfer policy (already partly implemented), adding structured budget guidance steps in October, December, January, and April, monthly finance reports and quarterly financials to council, further work on reserve fund structure, and a glossary of terms. The committee did not finish topics on staffing, purchasing authority, and budget accountability. Motion to continue to the next meeting (February 2026) to allow inclusion of attachments. Approved 4-0.
- Unified Development Code (UDC) Community Engagement Process (Don Thomas, Friesen Nichols): Presentation of draft UDC and zoning map. Key changes: reduction from 32 to 10 zoning districts based on context areas, four tiers of site plans, updated development standards. Public engagement plan: three open houses (Feb 26, 3-6pm; Mar 3, noon-3pm; Mar 11, 8-11am) at City Hall, plus office hours after each. Staff to begin advertising. No vote required; presentation for discussion.
Key Outcomes
- All consent items approved 4-0 (public works and city council).
- Public Works Authority budget amendment (water line maintenance) approved 4-0.
- Pelican Bay change order approved 4-0.
- BUILD grant letters of commitment approved 4-0.
- Council expense resolution continued to March 9, 2026 (4-0).
- Budget reform committee report continued to February 2026 meeting (4-0).
- Public Hearing 11A (water budget amendment) approved 4-0.
- Public Hearing 11B (Cock and Bell dermatology site plan) continued to February 23, 2026 (4-0). Council requested staff explore fixing a traffic issue on 9th Street.
- Public Hearing 11C (rezoning at 2525 W. Covell Road) approved 4-0 – PUD for counseling and office uses with restrictions.
- Public Hearing 11D (rezoning at Danforth and Air Depot) approved 4-0 – PUD for commercial and residential (townhomes) with conditions: reduce units in track two from 62 to 52, strike several uses from track one and track two, increase minimum lot width to 24 feet, limit track one to one entry point.
- Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good evening. We're gonna jump right into presentations tonight. And we're starting out with a presentation from representatives of the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority regarding updates to I-344, John Kilpatrick, and I 44 Turner Turnpikes. Good evening, Mayor Nash and Council members. My name is Jeff Garter, and I'm the director of construction for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority. I first just want to say thank you for giving me the time to come spread the word of a few upcoming improvement projects that OTA has planned as part of our Access Oklahoma Long Range Bond program in the North Oklahoma City South Edmond area. We're really excited about these projects and hope to share some information ahead of them beginning, so I'll hop straight into it and feel free to stop me anytime if you have a question. I think most people are aware of the Access Bond Program, but for those who aren't, I'll touch on it briefly for context. It's a just over $8 billion and 15-year long range program that's aimed to advance and connect communities and economies safely statewide by adding interchanges across the turnpike system and widen and add capacity to existing turnpikes such as the John Kilpatrick Turnpike, Turner Turnpike, and Will Rogers Turnpike. This program also builds new routes south of Oklahoma City to address and provide alternate routes for the growing traffic problem in that area. So with that brief introduction of the access bond program, I'd like to highlight just a few projects in the South Edmund area and I'll let you get back to your agenda. So the first project I'll touch on is the widening of the John Kilpatrick Turnpike to six lanes between West Wilshire Boulevard and just north of Northwest 122nd Street. This project will also include the widening of the bridge over Northwest Expressway to accommodate six lanes. The John Kilpatrick Turnpike has the most rapidly growing traffic of all turnpikes in Oklahoma. Widening will help accommodate this growth and allow for better flow of traffic. During this project, we'll also remove the existing mainline tolling infrastructure that is left over from the cash tolling days within this extent and install new tolling gantries to account for all six lanes. This project let to construction in November 2025 and is awarded to do it construction at the December 9th OTA board meeting. This just more than $23 million contract includes incentives to encourage timely and accurate completion of work. The contractor may earn up to $15,000 per day for up to 20 days for early completion of the project. And construction is expected to begin in early spring 2026, weather permitting with an estimated completion date of spring 2027. As for traffic impacts with this project, the John Kilpatrick Turnpike will be slightly shifted but remain open throughout construction with two lanes eastbound and westbound, so no reduction in capacity from the existing condition. When bridge work occurs at Northwest Expressway, motorists can expect some short-term night closures to allow for beam hanging demolition. More than 40,000 vehicles per day travel this section of the John Kilpatrick Turnpike. And it's estimated that more than 90,000 vehicles per day will travel this section by 2055, so it is rapidly growing. The next project I'd like to touch on just east of there is the interchange modification at North Council Road and the widening of Westbound Memorial Road. The North Council Road Bridge over the John Kilpatrick Turnpike will be widened to add a protected turnaround lane for those traveling on westbound memorial and looking to get back on the John Kilpatrick Turnpike going eastbound. This has been a problem area for a while now, specifically due to the traffic outside of PACOM and all the development in the area. Along with their protected turnaround, we'll also be widening and adding adding an additional lane to westbound Memorial Road between Rockwell and Council and adding a new on-ramp from Eastbound Memorial Road to eastbound John Kilpatrick Turnpike at Council. This 12.1 million dollar project was awarded to Allen contracting this month by the OTA board and is expected to begin construction by late spring to early summer. It's a 310 calendar day project that is anticipated to be wrapping up in the first quarter of next year, 2027. So the next project is also on the John Kilpatrick Turnpike that I'd like to highlight, and it is at uh County Line Road, a mile west of Council. This project adds a brand new fully directional interchange at County Line Road with both the eastbound and westbound on and off ramps. We'll also extend westbound Memorial Road, which currently dead ends just west of Council, all the way to County Line Road, which includes a bridge over the Deer Creek Tributary. We'll also continue the six-lane widening of the John Kilpatrick Turnpike between Council Road and Northwest 122nd, where the previous widening project I mentioned terminates. This project is estimated at $61 million and is also anticipated to begin fall of this year, 2026. So the John Kilpatrick is getting busy. The last project I want to highlight is on the Turner Turnpike, just a half mile east of I-35 near Arcadia Lake. The split bridges over Arcadia Lake on the Turner termpike between I-35 and Midwest Boulevard will be replaced with one widened bridge to accommodate the six lanes. This nearly 22 million dollar project will realign and straighten the Turner Turnpike between the current split alignment. At completion, this bridge will still be striped for four lanes, but following completion of the widening projects on either side of that bridge, the bridge will be restriped for the six lanes of traffic. OTA's agreement with the contractor includes an incentive of 10,000 per day for up to 45 days for early completion, and construction is expected to begin mid-2026 and take about a year to complete. And this project was also recently awarded to Allen contracting. There's a little video here of where that area is today to give a little context. If I can get it to play, that is. So with that, I want to thank you for the time to discuss and highlight these improvement projects and uh hope you're as excited as we are to get them delivered. And mayor, I'd be happy to take any questions or hand the mic back over, either way. Any questions? Thank you. Thanks, sir. Item 2B is presentation of sales and use tax collections.
openpublica.com