Members of the Norman City Council met to discuss updates on the Crimson Flats affordable housing project and continue conversations around the structure and framework for the AIM Norman Comprehensive Plan during its meeting on Tuesday.
6:01 p.m.
The council has now adjourned into executive session to discuss the hiring of a city auditor. In August 2022, voters approved an amendment to the city charter that created a city auditor position to serve as an employee of the Norman City Council.
Council already approved an employment agreement contract at its Sept. 26 meeting, where the annual base salary was set to $132,329.97. At that meeting, official city documents stated that the position was offered to Shaakira Calnick who was set to begin her role on Oct. 1.
5:54 p.m.
Council will vote on a resolution regarding the appointment process for the ONE Norman Steering Committee. Ward 2 Councilmember Lauren Schueler said more guidelines are needed as to who is selected for the committee and how sub-committee chairs are appointed.
Schueler asked City Attorney Kathryn Walker to draft a more inclusive resolution to provide more context to residents about this process.
Mayor Larry Heikkila said the applications were evaluated and members were selected by Elizabeth McKinney, wife of President and CEO of the Norman Economic Development Coalition Lawrence McKinney.
Schueler said some parts of the ONE Norman process resembled “putting the cart before the horse” and wanted more parameters around the committee.
“We really have to do this thing right; it’s imperative,” Schueler said. “We’re doing this comprehensive plan in a way no one else has done it.”
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant said they agree with Schueler and want to make sure the plan is fully developed.
Heikkila said he believes this plan will give residents confidence in the city concerning construction and development.
5:40 p.m.
Council now moves to its second agenda item.
The city of Norman’s Area and Infrastructure Master (AIM) Plan will serve as a compass for city leadership in the coming years, aiming to improve the overall quality of life and capitalize on community strengths and opportunities. This plan will serve a similar purpose to the Norman 2025 Land Use and Transportation Plan, which was adopted by council in Nov. 2004.
The Norman 2025 plan aimed to manage growth, make sure that infrastructure supports population expansion, diversify housing, increase economic stability and ensure the distinctiveness of rural Norman.
ONE Norman is a six-month visioning process that aims to assist the city with the development of Norman’s 20-year comprehensive plan. The group’s draft will be discussed tonight.
The draft includes visions for economic development, private sector relationships, quality of life goals, education, government and infrastructure.
Ward 8 Councilmember Matt Peacock was set to present these goals but was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
Ward 2 Councilmember Lauren Schueler said she wants to find a way to measure what council’s wants with public input. Schueler said she was also hesitate to include ONE Norman’s goals into something council will vote on, saying she personally has concerns about that organization’s voting process and its timeline.
Schueler noted her participation in the ONE Norman visioning process, saying some of the things in the draft were not discussed throughout her time in the process.
Mayor Larry Heikkila said more study sessions are needed to refine the details of the plan. He said ONE Norman’s goals seemed to “ridged” to adopt as their own.
Schueler said the goals were just a piece of the conversation and called for more community input in the plan.
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant said they believe all citizens involved in ONE Norman should be sure to do their homework and read the city’s former plans, referring to one of the goals discussing Civic IQ.
5:30 p.m.
The meeting is called to order. The first item on the agenda is updates regarding the city's latest affordable housing project.
The Crimson Flats affordable housing complex will consist of 75 units. The project will be mainly supported by federal funding, specifically through a $5.5 million Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery funds loan.
Tonight’s proposal for council members, which will be voted on Oct. 24, is committing $500,000 to site work and infrastructure work on the property. The city’s contribution will not exceed that amount and the developer will be responsible for any costs beyond that.
The city’s portion of the funding became available through $900,000 set aside for a parking lot on Asp Avenue, but that project was paid for with other funds.
Completion of the Crimson Flats is estimated between Aug. 31, 2026, and Oct. 31, 2026, dependent on federal funding.
No residents attended the pre-development meeting on Sept. 28. On Oct. 12, the planning commission recommended the zoning and preliminary plat for the Crimson Flats unanimously. No protests have been filed against the project.
According to assistant city attorney Anthony Purinton a proposal to council that would create a fund specifically for affordable housing efforts is in the works.
Purinton said the $500,000 spending limit would aid the city in the competitive process for federal funding.
"We want to be very aggressive in making sure our application is very competitive," Purinton said.
Ward 4 Councilmember Helen Grant asked where the remaining $400,000 in the Asp Avenue account would go to. There is no current plan for these funds.
The next time this project will appear before council on Oct. 24.
