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Record of Proceedings

Tulsa City Council Public Works Committee Meeting - August 5, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, August 5, 2026
BodyTulsa, Oklahoma
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, August 5, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:34:47

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
3:07

Thank you.

3:08

Okay.

3:09

Welcome.

3:10

I am calling the two thirty meeting public works committee meeting to order.

3:15

Uh number two, Carolina Ganty.

3:20

Sure.

3:21

There you are, come on up.

3:22

It's an appointment to the Tulsa City County Board of Health replacing Dr.

3:28

Some.

3:29

Hi.

3:30

Hi.

3:31

Nice to meet you.

3:32

Nice to meet you.

3:34

Come on up and tell us a little bit about yourself.

3:41

No, you're new.

3:42

I have been serving now since what?

3:46

April?

3:46

April.

3:47

Okay, great.

3:49

Yes, so my name is Dr.

3:50

Carolina Gandhi Fernandez is my maiden name.

3:54

I am originally from Colombia.

3:56

I came to the US this year ten years ago.

4:02

I'm a physician.

4:04

Um, I have a master's in clinical epidemiology and public health, and an MBA from Cornell University.

4:10

Um in my career, I've served as a physician in rural areas, red zones, as we call it, war zones in Latin America.

4:21

Um I also worked um for about fifteen years in the pharmaceutical industry.

4:35

Uh that's when I moved to the US.

4:38

Then I went crazy, became an entrepreneur.

4:44

It is America.

4:45

And just in the middle of the pandemic, so we did that.

5:00

Um had my company until last year, and as I came to be in love very much with Tulsa, I heard of the opportunity of becoming as I am today the executive director for the UMA Center, which is uh nonprofit, uh focused in bridging the gap to health care and self-care for the community, especially um in East Tulsa, but we're working on expanding that too, and that's how I came across the opportunity by the mayor of serving in the board of health.

5:19

So to me, the question of as to why would you like to you know serve here is I think I have the experience to help.

5:28

Um I've known several different health systems.

5:32

Um I'm willing to serve.

5:33

I love Tulsa.

5:35

I want this department to very well, and I want people to be able to access to this health care.

5:41

So in any way I can help improve it, that's what I would do.

5:44

That's fantastic.

5:45

Thank you so much for your willingness to serve here.

5:48

Yes, ma'am, counselor.

5:51

So I follow the UMA page, and I absolutely love it, and I share it frequently on my city council.

5:59

And I'm really so pleased to see the mental health outreach.

6:05

That you guys do.

6:06

I think it's phenomenal, and I'm so glad that you're on the east side taking care of this stuff.

6:11

And catering to our Hispanic community mostly, which is so imperative and important, especially in these guys.

6:18

So you know that fills my heart because we are seven people in my team, and I don't know how these people work so much.

6:25

Yeah, I feel very blessed to have them.

6:28

And as you said, the trust that they have to make gaining the community these past six years for the organization has formed and grows growing.

6:36

And I think what we are gonna be creating now, which is we're working on building a talent pipeline for community community health workers, navigators, and interpreters.

6:47

So they're embedded in the community, and we're working and looking to expand that into the healthcare system directly so that they know that they can come here.

6:54

We're gonna have the first certified program in Oklahoma for navigators and interpreters.

7:00

And so we hit we want to lead that path, and and definitely with that, hopefully accelerate the actual access people have, you know, when we know some of those barriers are trust, cost, you know.

7:15

So grateful.

7:16

Thank you.

7:16

That's great.

7:17

Thank you.

7:18

Yeah, um, I think actually our nonprofits work together at the uh I lead take control initiative, and I know we coordinate with UMA, so I'm really excited to see you in this other setting.

7:27

Um, and I love that you have that epidemiology background.

7:30

Uh I know you know our health department definitely you do.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation█████████████████████████████████████████████48%
Technology and Innovation██████████11%
Floodplain Management██████████11%
Budget Equity████████8%
Water And Wastewater Management██████6%
Arts And Culture█████5%
Public Health████4%
Public Safety███3%
Community Engagement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Tulsa City Council Public Works Committee Meeting Summary - August 5, 2026

The Public Works Committee met on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at 2:30 PM in Room 411 of One Technology Center, 175 E. 2nd St., Tulsa, OK. Chair Decter Wright presided. The committee reviewed appointments, right-of-way permits, an alley closure, condemnation resolutions, license agreements, and received presentations on golf operations and the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) dashboard.

Appointments

  • Carolina Ganti – Nominee to the Tulsa City-County Board of Health, replacing Dr. Mousumi Som, term expiring July 31, 2027 (CD-1). She is a physician with a master's in clinical epidemiology and public health, and an MBA from Cornell University. She serves as executive director of the UMA Center, a nonprofit focused on healthcare access in East Tulsa. The committee expressed support. The appointment will be voted on by the full council on August 19, 2026.
  • John Hewitt – Nominee to the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust, replacing Hayley Stephens, term expiring June 30, 2029 (CD-4). He recently retired from a major public construction company and has experience in board governance. He committed to serve through the PAC renovation. The appointment will be voted on by the full council on August 19, 2026.

Right-of-Way Occupancy Permit

  • Vero Fiber Networks, LLC – Permit for 1,072 linear feet of fiber optic infrastructure in city rights-of-way. City staff confirmed all reviews were completed and recommended approval. The committee recommended approval, noting the limited scope compared to other installations.

Alley Closure

  • Ordinance closing a portion of alley and vertical air space at 316 E. 2nd St. – Requested by Jaime Skipper of Wallace Design Collective on behalf of 316 E. Second, LLC to accommodate two external doors that swing into the alleyway. No objections from utilities. The committee recommended approval, with discussion about safety and historic preservation challenges downtown.

Condemnation Resolutions

  1. 1207 N. Harvard Ave. – Resolution for condemnation for the Coal Creek Rehabilitation and Relief Project. Owners Stella A. Crow and Carolyn S. Hardesty signed; Joe K. Biles did not sign despite attempts. The committee recommended approval to initiate condemnation proceedings.
  2. 11717 E. 41st St. S. – Resolution for condemnation for waterline and street improvements (emergency clause). Owners Truman Nipper, Steven H. and Janice A. Bennett counter-offered $10,000 above the city's $4,150 appraisal without basis. Communication now directed to their attorney. The committee recommended approval.

License Agreements with CoxCom, LLC

Three license agreements for fiber optic installations in Mayes County on city-owned property:

  • Project 5-4-26-42: Install 2" HDPE polypipe with fiber optic cable underneath raw water flowlines on E. 500 Rd.
  • Project 5-4-26-43: Install aerial fiber optic line crossing over raw water flowlines on N. 4260 Rd.
  • Project 5-4-26-44: Install aerial fiber optic line crossing over raw water flowlines on S. 427 Rd. All installations are subsurface (at least 6 feet deep in conduit). Water distribution and lakes departments had no objections. The committee recommended approval.

Golf Operations Presentation

Representatives from the Parks Department and Tulsa Golf Management Group (Nick Sidorgis, Randy Heckenkemper, and Mark Butler) presented an update on golf programs and operations at Page Belcher and Mohawk Park courses.

Key statistics from the first fiscal year (2025-2026):

  • Total rounds: 122,000 (22.4% increase)
  • Page Belcher: 80,000 rounds; Mohawk: 42,000 rounds
  • Merchandise sales: $363,000 (86% increase)
  • Food and beverage sales: 46% increase
  • Gross sales: 40.5% increase
  • Profit: $477,000 (400% increase)
  • Prices were reduced by 8% at takeover
  • Capital investments: $2.3 million including 227 new carts ($1.6 million), 19+ pieces of maintenance equipment, a $500,000 pump station at Mohawk, and a $1 million bunker renovation at Page Belcher
  • Over 11 acres of sod laid; 38,000 from TCF fund used for equipment
  • Employee starting wage increased to $14-16/hour
  • Customer satisfaction rating: 4.5 out of 5 after six months

Challenges:

  • Flooding at Mohawk Park from Cole Creek and Bird Creek; 38 days of closure since May 2026, resulting in ~$280,000 revenue loss
  • 47-year-old irrigation system and aging infrastructure; Mohawk is in critical condition
  • A master plan for Mohawk renovation is estimated at $14–15 million
  • Proposed flood mitigation: a floodgate and low water crossing (~$600,000–$750,000) to allow Cole Creek to drain before Bird Creek rises, reducing flooding duration from 2 days to 4–6 hours

Funding discussion:

  • Existing bond funds: $4 million each for Page and Mohawk; proposal to shift $2 million from Page to Mohawk (making Mohawk $6 million, Page $2 million)
  • Additional funding through private fundraising, revenue bonds, and naming rights
  • Committee expressed strong support and directed staff to fund an $11,000 study by WSB to model flood mitigation, and to return with a formal master plan approval request.

Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Dashboard Presentation

Destiny Love (Parks Department) presented a new public-facing interactive dashboard for tracking capital improvement projects managed by the Parks Department. Features include:

  • Project status (forecasted, in design, in progress, completed)
  • Funding sources (city and other) with tooltips
  • Filtering by council district, project type, etc.
  • Map with clickable project markers showing photos, descriptions, and progress
  • A "submit a project" function for citizen requests
  • Updated hourly from project manager spreadsheets

The dashboard is live on the city website (parks homepage, capital programs page, and IoT hub). The committee praised the tool and requested similar dashboards for other departments.

Key Outcomes

The committee recommended approval (to the full City Council) for:

  • Appointments of Carolina Ganti and John Hewitt (vote on August 19, 2026)
  • Right-of-way occupancy permit for Vero Fiber Networks
  • Alley closure ordinance (also on City Council agenda for August 19, 2026)
  • Condemnation resolutions for both properties
  • Three license agreements with CoxCom

No formal vote was taken on the golf or CIP dashboard presentations, but committee direction was given to pursue the flood mitigation study and master plan approval process.

Meeting Transcript

Thank you. Okay. Welcome. I am calling the two thirty meeting public works committee meeting to order. Uh number two, Carolina Ganty. Sure. There you are, come on up. It's an appointment to the Tulsa City County Board of Health replacing Dr. Some. Hi. Hi. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Come on up and tell us a little bit about yourself. No, you're new. I have been serving now since what? April? April. Okay, great. Yes, so my name is Dr. Carolina Gandhi Fernandez is my maiden name. I am originally from Colombia. I came to the US this year ten years ago. I'm a physician. Um, I have a master's in clinical epidemiology and public health, and an MBA from Cornell University. Um in my career, I've served as a physician in rural areas, red zones, as we call it, war zones in Latin America. Um I also worked um for about fifteen years in the pharmaceutical industry. Uh that's when I moved to the US. Then I went crazy, became an entrepreneur. It is America. And just in the middle of the pandemic, so we did that. Um had my company until last year, and as I came to be in love very much with Tulsa, I heard of the opportunity of becoming as I am today the executive director for the UMA Center, which is uh nonprofit, uh focused in bridging the gap to health care and self-care for the community, especially um in East Tulsa, but we're working on expanding that too, and that's how I came across the opportunity by the mayor of serving in the board of health. So to me, the question of as to why would you like to you know serve here is I think I have the experience to help. Um I've known several different health systems. Um I'm willing to serve. I love Tulsa. I want this department to very well, and I want people to be able to access to this health care. So in any way I can help improve it, that's what I would do. That's fantastic. Thank you so much for your willingness to serve here. Yes, ma'am, counselor. So I follow the UMA page, and I absolutely love it, and I share it frequently on my city council. And I'm really so pleased to see the mental health outreach. That you guys do. I think it's phenomenal, and I'm so glad that you're on the east side taking care of this stuff. And catering to our Hispanic community mostly, which is so imperative and important, especially in these guys. So you know that fills my heart because we are seven people in my team, and I don't know how these people work so much. Yeah, I feel very blessed to have them. And as you said, the trust that they have to make gaining the community these past six years for the organization has formed and grows growing. And I think what we are gonna be creating now, which is we're working on building a talent pipeline for community community health workers, navigators, and interpreters.

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