Tulsa City Council Public Works Committee Meeting - October 14, 2026

The Tulsa City Council Public Works Committee met at 2:30 PM on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, in Room 411 at One Technology Center, 175 E. 2nd St., Tulsa, Oklahoma. Chair Dutton presided, with Co-Chairs Hall-Harper, Decter Wright, and Bush listed on the agenda. The committee considered two advisory board appointments, five FY 2026-27 budget ordinances, adoption of updated regulatory floodplain maps, an easement closure, a right-of-way occupancy permit, a surplus property resolution, a first-reading ordinance on human remains and cultural artifacts, and an addendum concerning the downtown curfew ordinance. No official minutes were available; this summary is based on the agenda and transcript. Items were generally advanced for formal City Council action on October 21, 2026; the transcript does not contain roll-call vote tallies.

Appointments

• Maureena Summers, CD-6, was introduced for appointment to the Ethics Advisory Committee, replacing Pam Ballard, with a term expiring December 1, 2028. Summers said she is a Tulsa native and has over 20 years of experience in financial management, audit compliance, and leadership, and committed to serving with integrity.
• Jordan Dora, CD-4, was introduced for appointment to the Greater Tulsa Area African-American Affairs Commission, filling a vacant seat, with a term expiring May 1, 2029. Dora described working as a book manager at the BLK Center with O2 Group, holding bachelor's and master's degrees in athletic training, teaching anatomy and physiology at East Central High School for two years, and helping with Mayfest and TU programming.
• Both appointments were scheduled for City Council action on October 21, 2026.

Budget Amendments and Appropriations

• Item 4: ordinance amending the FY 2026-27 budget with a supplemental appropriation of $249,354.44 from Special Revenue Non-Federal Grants within the Public Safety and Protection Non-Federal Sub-Fund for Next Generation 911. Katie Mays from the Budget Office said the funds came from the Oklahoma 911 Management Authority and will help the Police Department complete mandatory GIS requirements for the Next Generation 911 deployment plan for 2027. Chair Dutton asked for a future update on the program.
• Item 5: ordinance transferring $6,044,000 in unencumbered and unexpended balances within the TMUA Sewer Capital Projects Sub-Fund for the Spunky Creek East Branch Interceptor. Staff explained the transfer will accelerate two already-planned expansion projects that sit outside the current five-year funding plan.
• Item 6: ordinance making a supplemental appropriation of $125,822 from revenue received in the Facility Maintenance Fund. Staff said the funds came from a property sale and will be used for citywide facility maintenance activities.
• Item 7: ordinance making a supplemental appropriation of $26,886 from District Attorney's Council grant revenues in the Forensic Science Improvement Sub-Fund. The funds will allow the Police Department to purchase forensic laboratory equipment, including an uninterrupted power supply and a spectra library.
• Item 8: ordinance making a supplemental appropriation of $1,500,000 from unappropriated fund balance in the 2016 Vision Economic Development Capital Project Sub-Fund for Municipal Courts and Lockup. Staff said the funds will pay for improvements at David L. Moss to support moving services from the city-run lockup to the Tulsa County inmate lockup facility, including building improvements, networking, and office/courtroom space. The amount is lower than the earlier $3 million estimate. Councilmember Gilbert noted she had requested an itemized breakdown during negotiations and was disappointed it was added to backup materials only the day before; because approval was scheduled for October 21, she said there was still time to review it.

Floodplain Map Adoption

• Item 9: resolution adopting the August 2026 City of Tulsa Regulatory Floodplain Maps as the official maps, superseding all previous maps, with an emergency clause. Joe Goswick, Utility Planning Manager, and Mark Alley, CRS Coordinator, presented. Since the February 2021 map book, the city has adopted four master drainage plans (Perryman Ditch, Cooley Creek, Vencil Creek, and Crow/Travis/Swan Creek), FEMA completed a flood insurance study update reissuing seven panels, four FEMA LOMRs were issued, and six Tulsa LOMRs were processed; all changes are incorporated.
• The online map atlas will remain the most current version, the PDFs will be updated, and the book will be republished every two years. Staff described current outreach, including annual floodplain letters, 311 flood zone determinations, the mayor's annual flood insurance letter, repetitive-loss notification letters, and public meetings for remapping projects.
• Councilmembers asked about making it easier for residents to check whether they are in a floodplain, adding a QR code to the book, and improving notification when properties move in or out of floodplains so that residents do not miss important insurance information. One councilmember noted flood insurance can cover property up to $250,000 and contents up to $100,000, and that Tulsa's Community Rating System class 4 participation provides about a 45% discount, with fewer than 30 U.S. communities at class 4 or above.

Easement, Right-of-Way, and Surplus Property

• Item 10: ordinance closing a portion of a storm sewer easement requested by Nathalie Cornett, Eller & Detrich, P.C., for property at 10507 E. 91st St., for future expansion of Saint Francis Hospital South. Staff said it was the last of several easement closures for the project and had been reviewed without objections.
• Item 11: right-of-way occupancy permit between the City and Saint Francis Health System, Inc. Chris Master of Public Works said the permit would authorize placement, ownership, operation, or management of facilities in city rights-of-way subject to applicable ordinances; the application was reviewed by applicable departments with no objections.
• Item 12: resolution declaring a 10-acre city-owned parcel at 2020 N. Mingo Rd. (Air Force Plant 3) surplus. Roger Asibow of Asset Management said the property was conveyed from the U.S. Air Force in 2000; Paul Timms' business held lease and purchase-option rights from 2002, and the option has been exercised. Three appraisers valued the property at $1.74 million. Proceeds will go to the Facility Maintenance Fund rather than the general fund. A councilmember asked about keeping proceeds in the area; staff noted the property is in unincorporated county territory, not within a city council district.

Deferred and First-Reading Items

• Item 13, a discussion with EMSA representatives on heat-related injuries and 911 calls for June-August 2026 and comparative data from prior years, was listed on the agenda but the Chair noted it was rescheduled; no discussion occurred.
• Item 14, an ordinance adding Chapter 3, Human Remains and Cultural Artifacts, to Title 7, Cemeteries, was heard on first reading. The ordinance would establish procedures for protection, consultation, identification, treatment, and reinterment of certain human remains and cultural materials connected to racial violence or historically marginalized Black communities, including descendant-centered consultation, a review panel, and responsibilities for City projects and City-regulated development. Councilmember Hall-Harper said the group that had previously presented on the ordinance will attend a subcommittee meeting the following week to answer questions, and asked councilmembers to review the item. The forensics team was present but no comments were made.

Additional Discussion: Downtown Curfew Sunset Clause

• In an addendum, the committee discussed an ordinance amending Ordinance 25691 to repeal Section 2, which would otherwise cause the downtown curfew provisions to expire on October 22, 2026. A police major said officers found the weekend curfew ordinance helpful, that a debrief with entertainment district owners was positive after a fairly uneventful summer, and that owners who were initially skeptical said it was more helpful than anticipated.
• No updated citation count was available; the last reported number was 33, and the major said this summer's figure appeared to be higher. Councilmembers discussed whether to make the curfew permanent, extend the sunset for another year to gather more data, or hold a community meeting before final action. Several councilmembers expressed support for continuing the curfew, while others asked for community dialogue and updated numbers. The matter was scheduled for City Council action on October 21, 2026.

Key Outcomes

• The committee advanced appointments, budget ordinances, the floodplain resolution, the easement closure, the right-of-way permit, and the surplus property resolution to the October 21, 2026 City Council meeting.
• The Human Remains and Cultural Artifacts ordinance remained on first reading, with additional subcommittee discussion planned for the following week.
• The EMSA heat-data item was rescheduled and will need to be placed on a future agenda.
• The downtown curfew sunset repeal was discussed; the transcript does not show a formal committee vote, and it was slated for City Council action on October 21, 2026.