The City of Tulsa Planning Commission met on September 16, 2026, to consider several rezoning requests and preliminary plats. The meeting included public hearings on two rezoning cases and approvals of subdivision plats.
Item number one, I call this meeting to order item number two, ordinance amending the fiscal year twenty twenty six and twenty-seven budget to make supplemental appropriations of seven million six hundred four thousand one hundred and sixty-three dollars and eighty-one cents recognized from the grant revenues to be received from the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Settlement Endowment Trust within the social and economic development non-federal grants subfund. Good afternoon. Jared Moore from Budget. Um this action is appropriating the first year of this uh three-year award uh from the tobacco settlement trust. Uh this first one's for seven point six million, and it's uh gonna be appropriated for uh for staff overseeing it for uh work on Flat Rock Trail and for uh the community uh forgiven the CCI's uh facility design work on that. Um the total grant is seventeen point six million. This is the first year's uh award, and there'll be two more years to follow after that. Dr. Posha is here if there are more intimate uh questions. Councillor Bells. Yeah, uh Dr. Pasha had mentioned to me, um, and he'll do you all know that waiver of the charter rules order business request there, um, some time sensitivity, and so if it's okay, they're gonna ask them until you probably kind of explain more of what's played out with their state dollars and the dissemination of that. That's I think that's a bit of an urgency point with getting the dollars uh moving to the program partners. Thank you, Council Greg. Jared. Um, I think the context around the grant is 17.3 million dollars. We designed the project around the ability to bring smaller community organizations to the table uh to be able to um take part in a grant this large. Um, it is a reimbursement-based grant, and so that has proven to be challenging because of the long delays in getting the money. So we were supposed to start January first. Um here we are ten months later, just about, and that has put some significant financial stress on some of our community partners in the grant because they have had to start spending some is early in January, expecting that the reimbursements were gonna come. We've even had partners who have had to lay folks off while we are waiting on you know, the money to come. You have uh, you know, uh a long process on the city side, you have an equally long process on the T set side, and those things together has has created um some significant financial challenges, and so because of the urgency of some of our smaller partners having to um you know lay folks off and and potentially further uh issues with financial viability. Just as a quick follow question, when you mentioned starting January 1, is the grant agreement with the state that was executed between the city and with the state for this? They really hate the program and what you're doing with these dollars is supposed to start January 1. Yeah. Okay. So that would be that was also they kind of had to expire. Yeah, and there's a couple of things that that have led to them having to start. One, we have uh a residency program that's uh has been introduced into North Tulsa residents start throughout the country in July 1, really before that, and so the money had to be spent one way or another because these new residents were coming in town to start serving the community. Um there was also a grocery store that was uh built uh in the in the community, uh and the salaries for those folks working in the grocery store paid for by the grant. So they were there and needed to be paid. So though those two things are one of the big challenges uh with the user delays with the grant. So can you tell us a little bit more on how this grant is going to be used? Um Jared, did you say something about trail that it's uh there are several projects that are kind of components of the overall grant, and that is what we're happy to um it is what I would call uh community development grant, uh, as much as the health care grant. So there's a lot of components. There's eight partners uh on this grant. Um one thing we're doing, which I've already mentioned, uh, is we're two new primary care residency spots that will work at crossover health services per year. So six new doctors serving uh that that neighborhood. Um we are building a um outdoor sports complex at Hotel Road Park, uh which will provide a track and field, uh place for sporting events, um exercise facility outside, fenced in so the community can exercise safely, um, eleven miles of mountain biking and hiking trails in Flat Rock Creek, um an urban farm, the food grown at the farm is gonna source the grocery store. Um, the grocery box at Phoenix at 36N. Um there's some mental health work that we're doing with that grant. There's some programming with bike club, getting community members and kids on bikes onto the uh to the trails. Um there's a food is medicine program with Fresh Rx treating chronic disease with fresh food and produce prescriptions. Um it's a 17 million dollar grant, uh pretty large. The the issue with the the grant and its timeline, what makes it special is the collaboration, deep collaboration with all these partners that also has made it challenging to kind of get the thing moving so we could get the money in the hands of the folks who need it. Okay, I I just wanted to make sure that for those who are watching that they are fully aware of the changes that you're trying to make to make Tulsa a healthier place. So I appreciate everything that that you're doing. So I appreciate that. Yep. Counselor Lincoln and then Councillor Denton.