Public Works Committee Meeting - April 15, 2026
Public Works Committee Meeting - April 15, 2026
The Tulsa City Council Public Works Committee met on April 15, 2026, to consider several items including the sale of surplus library property, two residential surplus lots, a right-of-way license agreement, an ordinance amendment on insurance requirements, and an update from the Beyond Apology Commission. All actions were approved unanimously unless noted.
Discussion Items
- Item 2: Sale of Library Property at 1520 North Hartford Avenue – Eric Nelson of the City County Library Commission presented a joint resolution authorizing the sale of the existing Rudisill Regional Library property. The property was sold via a sealed bid process, with one acceptable bid of $1.4 million. The library commission approved the sale in November 2025 after two months of public notice. Council clarified that their role is solely to consent to the conveyance, not to approve the price. Councilor Parker recused herself due to an organizational interest as a voluntary board member. Council confirmed the process complied with policy.
- Items 3 & 4: Surplus Properties at 8320 and 8324 South Vandalia Avenue – Mike Spurlock from Asset Management presented resolutions declaring two lots surplus. The lots were purchased in 2013 for the Yale Road project and are no longer needed. The lots are located behind a retaining wall and are suitable for residential construction. Council approved surplus declarations.
- Item 5: License Agreement for Decorative Driveway at 2323 South Delaware Place – Paul [last name not provided] presented a license agreement for Charles and Jennifer Foster to install a decorative concrete driveway and sidewalk in the right-of-way. The homeowners assumed responsibility for future restoration. Council approved the agreement.
- Item 6: Ordinance Amendment on Insurance Requirements – Staff presented an ordinance amending Title 35 to remove a waiver of subrogation endorsement requirement and clarify cancellation notice language, aligning city requirements with actual practice. Council approved.
- Item 7: Update from Beyond Apology Commission – Chair Christy Williams and Vice Chair Matisse Mason provided an update on commission activities. They highlighted the Burning Witness interpretive center at Historic Vernon AME Church, supported by a $1.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. Over 5,000 artifacts discovered during construction in Greenwood are currently stored, but only 30% are usable due to damage. The commission is developing a city ordinance to protect African American artifacts and remains (analogous to NAGPRA). They also announced the National Reparations Summit on April 24–26, 2026 at Langston Tulsa University, with a closed session for elected officials. Council praised the commission's work and encouraged continued collaboration.
Key Outcomes
- Item 2: Council consented to the sale and conveyance of the library property to the selected bidder.
- Items 3 & 4: Resolutions passed declaring the two lots surplus and authorizing their sale.
- Item 5: License agreement approved.
- Item 6: Ordinance amendment adopted.
- Item 7: No formal action; council received the update and expressed support for the commission's efforts, including a forthcoming ordinance on artifact protection.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the 230 Wednesday April 15th. It's public works committee meeting. I'm Councillor Dector Wright. I'm calling this meeting to order. Item number two is a joint resolution of the City Count the City Council of the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Board of County Commissioners of County of Tulsa, Oklahoma, authorizing the sale and conveyance of certain property located at 1520 North Hartford Avenue, City of Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma by the City County Library Commission of Tulsa County. This is on for action tonight. Mr. Stevens. Yes, uh Eric Nelson is here who represents the library commission. Okay, we can just throw this right here. Thank you so much. Okay, okay, that's the year. Great. Do you all have a presentation for us? Are you just here as a reasonable? Just here to uh respond to any questions you might have. I think it's a pretty straightforward request. Um the library commission five years ago began exploring the uh replacement of the existing Rudassel Regional Library. Uh they selected a site in Greenwood, uh just southeast of the OSU campus. Uh the building will be about twice the size of the existing facility. It's uh been under construction for about a year now, and we'll open up in October of 2026. Uh so in late fall, we noticed for public sale uh the existing facility with the proviso that we would continue to occupy it until the new facility was constructed, and we moved. Uh we received one bid. The bid was uh acceptable to the commission, and the commission voted to approve it and sign the contract to all subject to uh title and due diligence and this uh city council approval. Okay, Councilor Bellis. Clarify question. I looked looked at some of the we um thank you, Sarah, for sending us some of those background just kind of procedural documents. It said it was a blind bid. How does that I think am I right about that? Sealed bid. A sealed bid, thank you. I was worried I was using the wrong what does that mean? Could someone tell me what that means? It just means that we put out a notice soliciting bids. Okay, and the bids are to be received by a particular date. Okay, they are opened and then they are referred to the city. I'm sorry, to the library commission for action, either acceptance or rejection. Okay, and under the city, under the library commission's policy, uh, they will they follow closely the school district's statutory requirements for the disposal of surplus real property. They first had it appraised, they'll offer it for public sale. If they don't receive any bids that are acceptable, then they will be free to negotiate for private sale. They could post it with a real estate broker or do anything else to sell the property. But in this case, the sealed bid process was successful. We received the bid and it wasn't acceptable then. Okay, thank you. Councilor Dartman. Yeah, and then there's the procedure also that it has to be public published, right? Correct. It's published in the Tulsa world, it's posted on our website. Okay, and that's 14 days. There's there's not a requirement in statute, it's only a board policy.
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