T.I.M.E. to decide: Stillwater City Council talks election for project funding

Oct. 26—Stillwater residents will soon be asked to approve new sources of funding for a trio of high-priority municipal projects.

City of Stillwater staff held a series of public meetings to gather input on what they have dubbed T.I.M.E. Projects, an acronym that stands for "Together Investing in Municipal Excellence."

City staff has identified building a new fire station to serve the OSU campus area and west side of Stillwater, a new Animal Welfare facility and street improvements as priorities that the City of Stillwater will need additional funding to address.

Fire Chief Terry Essery has said the current Station No. 2, located on the corner of University Avenue and Knoblock Street in a charming historic building on the Oklahoma State University campus, is no longer functional for a modern fire/rescue operation. Traffic at Campus Corner often makes it difficult to pull the fire trucks out when responding to calls.

Building a modern station west of campus that allows all necessary equipment to be stored there and improves response times would cost an estimated $9 million.

Capt. Royce Stephens of the Stillwater Police Department has explained that the city's animal welfare building — shared with the Humane Society of Stillwater — is outdated and undersized, inadequate to meet the demands placed on it.

Building a bigger, modern facility in the same area would cost an estimated $4 million.

The City of Stillwater would borrow money to pay for them by issuing general obligation bonds. City residents last passed a municipal bond issue about 20 years ago to build a new police station and renovate the municipal building.

Councilor Amy Dzialowski noted that most cities that are really thriving are issuing bonds that allow them to invest in themselves. That also encourages others to make private investment, she said.

Moving the community forward is going to require issuing bonds, Councilor John Wedlake said.

The third issue requires a different approach.

Stillwater's residents have long complained about the conditions of its roads, from neighborhood streets to major thoroughfares like Duck Street.

City staff proposes adding an additional one-half cent sales tax dedicated to transportation that would double the $4 million raised annually by the current, more limited, one-half cent transportation sales tax.

City Engineering Director Monty Karns has said the extra $4 million would enable staff to address more problem areas. The current sales tax funds a pavement management program that maintains city streets at their current condition score but doesn't produce enough funding to make significant headway on improving it.

City staff launched a public information program in September to present the issues but had limited success in reaching the community at large.

Although Chief Civic Innovation Officer Becky Taylor and other members of the City's staff held five community meetings, addressed seven community groups, posted a copy of the presentation on the city's website and communications staff oversaw an outreach program that included TV, radio and newspapers as well as social media and paid advertising, attendance was light and the number of residents who participated in the process remains small — about 120 people — Mayor Will Joyce noted.

Taylor said an additional 189 interacted through the Speak Up Stillwater platform on the city government website.

But that means only 309 of Stillwater's 48,394 residents were involved in the process.

"We've talked about it a lot but have we really reached everybody that we need to reach to have a successful community conversation?" Councilor Amy Dzialowski asked.

It's going to be important to clearly explain what will be done with the money, the councilors agreed. When presenting a bond issue, city officials are required to detail exactly how the money will be used. Sales tax elections don't require the same level of detail. But the councilors agreed it would be important to voters that they at least give examples of a few projects, while still providing some flexibility as new needs arise.

Taylor said the input staff received during their public outreach campaign showed more than 90% of respondents support replacing the fire station and improving roads while a smaller margin — but still a majority — supports the new animal welfare facility.

The residents participating in the process indicated they prefer being able to consider the three items as separate issues rather than having them bundled into one question.

She recommended forming a Citizen Action Committee right away and having the Council appoint an oversight committee to provide transparency, if the questions are approved by voters.

Taylor and Communications Director Dawn Jones are speaking to students at OSU this week and have already made plans for a voter registration campaign.

The community meeting held on the OSU campus drew the most participants, Taylor said.

The Councilors asked staff to return with an election resolution by Nov. 15, which would give them time to put all three questions on the Feb. 8 ballot.

They discussed whether turnout would be better if the questions were combined with the mayoral election and school board primary in February or if voters might be overwhelmed. Placing at least some of them on the April ballot is another option.

Mayor Will Joyce said staff has worked hard to explain the projects but with the limited response he knows there could be strong opposition from some residents.

"There's no doubt these projects need to be done," he said. "At some point we just have to ask people if they agree."

Twitter: @mcharlesNP