The Norman City Council voted to move the warming shelter contract to a monthly basis, approved development in the Eagle Cliff neighborhood and raised the city manager's pay during a meeting on Tuesday.
This article is written in the form of a live blog.
12:48 a.m.
The meeting has adjourned.
12:32 a.m.
General public comment has began. Sonia Potts continued speaking about the damage done to her property and others nearby from stormwater drainage caused by development in Eagle Cliff.
Potts has invited council and city leadership to see the damage to her property.
12:27 a.m.
An ordinance to increase Pyle's compensation for his work as city manager from $195,000 to $225,000 is now being heard by council.
Both the ordinance and contract were approved unanimously, with Foreman leaving for the evening.
12:26 a.m.
The ordinance was approved unanimously, with Ball and Foreman out of the chambers.
12:18 a.m.
Council is now hearing an updated ordinance on unsolicited written materials that will regulate where those materials are placed.
12:16 a.m.
Council will now vote on the item as amended.
The amended item was approved in a vote of 6-3. Heikkila, Tortorello and Ball voted against it.
12:12 a.m.
Tortorello and Grant debated the necessity of the housing-first model within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Tortorello combated Grant's point that the model is more successful within that department rather than a treatment-first model.
Heikkila has moved the amendment to a vote. The vote failed 6-3, with Heikkila, Tortorello and Ball voting for the amendment.
Only Grant's amendment for the monthly lease stands.
12:06 a.m.
Councilmembers are questioning the extent of mental health services at the shelter in regards to Tortorello's amendment. Doshier said the shelter already works to provide outlets for treatment, job searches and permanent housing for unhoused individuals.
11:54 p.m.
Ball said he will not support any extension, as he claims he hasn't seen any progress in recent months in mental health support. Ball believes mental health treatment should be mandatory in shelters.
11:47 p.m.
The motion to amend the contract to a month-to-month basis has passed in a vote of 7-2, with Mayor Larry Heikkila and Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball in opposition.
Tortorello moved to further amend the contract to enforce a treatment-first framework in addition to a housing-first model. Grant asked Doshier her thoughts on the amendment. Doshier said that the treatment framework isn't common in shelters, but doesn't have an issue with having mental health care partners more involved.
11:42 p.m.
Grant proposes moving the contract to a month-to-month basis, suggesting an amendment to allow for a 30-day notice before the shelter closes, in the event of that council does not renew it.
With Grant's amendment, the contract would not appear before council monthly but would renew automatically unless council brings it up for discussion.
11:27 p.m.
Public comment has ended. Grant has started council questioning and is confirming details about the operations of the shelter with April Doshier, the executive director of Food and Shelter.
If council does not renew the contract, the agreement would end on June 30.
11:20 p.m.
Public comment continues with Ward 1 residents and property owners speaking against the shelter's renewal.
Kate Bierman, former Ward 1 councilmember, said the shelter was necessary. One of her business was located less than 1,000 feet from the previous shelter. Bierman noted the intense heat of the Oklahoma summer, and pointed to the data collection the warming shelter provides.
"I interact with people who are unhoused on a daily basis, and I will tell you that many of them are funny, they are kind, they are helpful," Bierman said. "I am a downtown business owner and residential property owner, and I do support the extension of this warming shelter."
10:43 p.m.
Council is now hearing a contract extension until the end of September for the warming shelter. Public comment has begun.
Two residents so far have spoken against renewing the shelter.
Paul Wilson, a Ward 1 resident, said the shelter should remain open to allow several people a place to sleep at night. Wilson shared about his time being unhoused.
“I was homeless. My wife and I were both homeless. Not here in Norman, in another city. A shelter helped us to get to where we are today. Without a shelter, who knows where we would be,” Wilson said.
Katie Murray of Gray Owl Coffee said the company, where she's worked for two years, has not experienced any problems stemmed from the warming shelter two blocks east.
10:42 p.m.
The council approved the utilities agreement unanimously.
10:40 p.m.
The council has approved the platform for the Eagle Cliff development in a vote of 5-4, voting against Schueler, Grant, Foreman and Holman.
The council will now vote on the agreement between Shaz Investments and the utilities authority.
10:29 p.m.
Public comment has ended on this item. Holman is asking questions regarding a park in the neighborhood and the walking distance for potential residents.
10:19 p.m.
Public comment continues regarding the Eagle Cliff development. Council will vote on a companion item to the recently approved rezoning matter.
10:04 p.m.
Council is back in session.
9:51 p.m.
The motion to approve the development has passed in a vote of 5-4, with Schueler, Grant, Foreman and Holman in opposition.
Council will now take a break until 10 p.m. The lease renewal of the city's warming shelter and an updated contract with City Manager Darrel Pyle still remain on the agenda.
9:42 p.m.
Council comments have opened again, with Holman noting the complicated matter of approval or denial. Holman said if the only voting factor was the kindness of the Farzaneh family, he'd approve it. Ultimately, Holman said he couldn't approve the project after hearing from residents and tonight's questioning.
“The people that are most directly impacted by this, who have the most to lose by this decision, are who I have an obligation to represent as the Ward 7 City Council member,” Holman said.
Montoya noted several concerns with the development, including environmental, traffic and water matters.
9:37 p.m.
Public comments continue, with resident John High suggesting road work take place to support the housing construction prior to actual development.
The last public speaker is Kevin Potts, part owner of the Potts Family Hay Farm. Potts opposes the rezoning project, noting that the lack of stormwater mitigation from developers will affect his property.
9:06 p.m.
Public comment has began on the Shaz Investments development. One resident is speaking in support of the project, noting the developer's stake and contributions to the community.
Public comments have been limited to three minutes.
Sonia Potts of Potts Family Farm is speaking against the project, showing council pictures of the flow of water from previous construction onto her land.
Scott Martin, CEO of the Norman Chamber of Commerce, said housing for workforce growth is necessary. Martin noted the emphasis placed on housing by Normanites in the ONE Norman visioning process.
“We've grown by over 20,000 people in the last 12 years and in spite of our growth, two of the greatest needs of our businesses are workforce and housing, and the houses to house that workforce," Martin said.
8:02 p.m.
Holman and Rieger debated council's right to deny the zoning for over 20 minutes before Sean O’Leary, director of Public Works, came to the podium to answer Holman's question regarding detention ponds in the approved sections at Eagle Cliff.
7:51 p.m.
Jalal Farzaneh, co-founder of Home Creations spoke before council to tell the story of his family's life in Norman. He emigrated from Iran in 1978 and graduated with an architecture degree from OU.
“I know that our project has met every federal law and rules and regulations, every state law rules and regulations and every city law and rules and regulations, ... whether it was you or the people before you, as council has approved, so that we did not ask for any exceptions. We did not want it to have anything that would be different,” Farzaneh said.
7:03 p.m.
Item 36 on the non-consent document included a rezoning property located in the Eagle Cliff neighborhood. Sean Rieger, attorney for the applicant, spoke before council to represent the Farzaneh brothers Jalal and Mohammad, founders of Home Creations.
The Eagle Cliff housing edition developers sued the city in 2021 after the city originally denied extending the edition. In February, a Cleveland County district judge sided with the developers. The judge ruled against the city, ordering it to allow extension plans to continue.
"We didn't ask to be here tonight, you put this on the agenda without our consent request or approval," Rieger said.
For the next hour Rieger presented a slideshow and discussed why council should approve this item.
"If you approve this tonight, the lawsuit is over, if you don't, it goes on."
7:00 p.m.
Council unanimously approved items five to 35 on the consent document.
6:46 p.m.
Schueler and Montoya thanked Tortorello for his time on council. Grant and Holman thanked those who attended Norman’s Juneteenth event. Schueler told Ward 2 residents that the city is working with OG&E to assist residents whose properties fell victim to large tree trimmings and debris from recent storms.
Tortorello gave his appreciation to Norman's staff during his tenure on council, as well as his fellow constituents.
"We just want Norman to be a better place for everybody," Tortorello said.
6:42 p.m.
Heikkila declared July 2023 as Parks and Recreation month in Norman.
On behalf of the Norman Board of Parks Commissioners, Sherrel Sheriff spoke before council.
"This year, we will also finish and open up all the large projects, as promised to our residents. The young family athletic center … adult wellness and education facility,” Sheriff said. “Griffin Community Park soccer complex and Reaves Park baseball complex will all be complete and operating by the end of 2023."
6:38 p.m.
Council extended appreciation to Ward 5 Councilmember Rarchar Tortorello for his time in office from July 6, 2021, to July 4, 2023.
6:34 p.m.
Judge Drew Nichols swore Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball, Ward 3 Councilmember Bree Montoya and Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Tyler Holman into office.
6:30 p.m.
City council reconvened for its regular meeting.
6:03 p.m.
Council adjourned the conference session.
6:00 p.m.
Ward 2 Councilmember Lauren Schueler recommended that council take more time to discuss the reason as to why both resolutions are being brought forth so a more thorough conversation can take place.
Heikkila postponed the voting for both resolutions to July 18.
5:57 p.m.
Mayor Larry Heikkila opposed signing both resolutions. He claimed that the anti-discrimination resolution is unnecessary due to most of the articles already being contained in Section 8 of Norman's ordinances and the supporting artistic resolution is immoral due to the resolution lacking boundaries on free speech.
5:40 p.m.
Ward 1 Councilmember Austin Ball opposed the idea of any warming shelter, claiming the existence of a shelter only increases the presence of unhoused individuals in Norman.
“If you build it, they will come in. Now we're dealing with it and now everybody's sitting here trying to figure out how to stop it,” Ball said.
Multiple councilmembers opposed Ball's sentiment including Ward 6 Councilmember Elizabeth Foreman and Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant.
“You didn't go to ONE Norman, you haven't been to anything and yet you're speaking for a lot of entities as if you know what they want,” Grant said.
5:22 p.m.
The estimated completion date for the warming shelter is July 2024. Zoning will take up to 90 days, the bid process will take 3 to 4 weeks and construction will take 6 to 8 months.
The initial estimated cost is between $1.75 million and $2 million.
5:01 p.m.
Council was presented a slideshow providing the background of the project that began on June 13 where council allocated $500,000 to 718 N. Porter Ave. renovation and convened for a special session to discuss the warming shelter’s relocation.
5:00 p.m.
The Norman City Council convened for a conference to discuss the relocation of Food & Shelter from 109 W. Gray St. to 718 N. Porter Ave. and to discuss the potential adoption of two resolutions, one on anti-discrimination and the other expressing support for artistic freedom, into the city charter.
This live blog was edited by Teegan Smith.
