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Oklahoma City Council approves MAPS 3 sidewalks master plan

Reporter Michael Kimball live tweeted from the Oklahoma City Council meeting Tuesday morning. Read about agenda items below.

BY MICHAEL KIMBALL mkimball@opubco.com | Modified: October 30, 2012 at 10:29 am | Published: October 30, 2012 Comment on this article

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Reporter Michael Kimball live tweeted from the Oklahoma City Council meeting Tuesday morning. Read about agenda items below.

@OKC_Beat 8:33 a.m. Good morning! Live tweeting from today's #OKC Council meeting coming up in a few minutes. Council filing in now.

@OKC_Beat 8:34 a.m. Links to agenda and live video here: okc.gov/AgendaPub/meet… ... OKC residents can watch on Cox channel 20.

@OKC_Beat 8:35 a.m. One of the interesting things on today's agenda is another possible vote on the MAPS 3 sidewalks master plan.

@OKC_Beat 8:36 a.m. You might recall bad estimates and high construction costs mean the city won't come close to the # of miles promised for MAPS 3 sidewalks.

@OKC_Beat 8:37 a.m. The MAPS 3 sidewalk subcommittee passed it on to the council once, but the council sent it back. This will be second time to consider it.

@OKC_Beat 8:38 a.m. Part of the problem is that people have had a hard time figuring out where the sidewalks should go.

@OKC_Beat 8:39 a.m. Subcommittee created a criteria, but the sidewalks weren't evenly spread out. But neither is the need. So it's complicated.

@OKC_Beat 8:39 a.m. Here's the last story I wrote on it for some background: okne.ws/NBCGQl

@OKC_Beat 8:39 a.m. The council meeting is under way now, and they're moving on to the routine items in the agenda.

@OKC_Beat 8:40 a.m. Looks like Skip Kelly is absent today. Everyone else is here.

@OKC_Beat 8:40 a.m. Another item on the agenda today is approval for Thunder Alley before OKC Thunder games.

@OKC_Beat 8:41 a.m. The short story is that Thunder Alley will still just be the pregame carnival, as it always has been. Watch parties were playoff only.

@OKC_Beat 8:41 a.m. But it remains to be seen if the watch parties will resume this year, after the shooting last year closed them down. No plans for them yet.

@OKC_Beat 8:42 a.m. Here's a link to my story on that today. No plans for Thunder Alley watch parties yet: okne.ws/Ucmw2E

@OKC_Beat 8:42 a.m. RT @NewsOK: Reporter Michael Kimball, @OKC_Beat, is live tweeting from the Oklahoma City Council meeting. Follow along here: ...

@OKC_Beat 8:50 a.m. Ed Shadid is bringing up some points related to the MAPS 3 convention center because of an item on the consent agenda.

@OKC_Beat 8:51 a.m. The consent agenda item is to award a consultant (Populous) a contract for architectural services for the convention center.

@OKC_Beat 8:51 a.m. Shadid is making points about the uncertainty surrounding whether the CC will be able to attract the conventions we want.

@OKC_Beat 8:52 a.m. He's also questioning using a valuable piece of real estate for it instead of developing it in other ways. The "true cost" of it.

@OKC_Beat 8:53 a.m. But he also concedes it's a good place to control because that's the space between the Myriad Gardens and the MAPS 3 park.

@OKC_Beat 8:53 a.m. So he and everyone else votes for the consent agenda.

@OKC_Beat 8:56 a.m. We're in the items for individual consideration portion of the agenda. It's time for permits, so almost Thunder Alley time.

@OKC_Beat 8:56 a.m. (Thunder Alley will surely pass unanimously btw, it's just the pregame carnival.)

@OKC_Beat 8:59 a.m. Thunder Alley is up now. A city attorney is explaining an amendment now that makes it clear it's a sports event, not subject to noise permit

@OKC_Beat 8:59 a.m. That's the only difference between previous permits.

@OKC_Beat 9:00 a.m. One thing that's weird to me is the crowd control explanation document is the same as it was before the Bricktown shooting. Let me explain.

@OKC_Beat 9:00 a.m. There's no more watch party. And that was clearly the issue. But still...

@OKC_Beat 9:00 a.m. That crowd control document is three sentences, one of which is incomplete. I pointed that out in coverage in May.

@OKC_Beat 9:01 a.m. So you figure that after what happened, even though there are no watch parties for now, they'd at least fix THAT.

@OKC_Beat 9:01 a.m. Anyway, permit passes unanimously as expected. #ThunderUp

@OKC_Beat 9:02 a.m. Now it's the sidewalk master plan.

@OKC_Beat 9:02 a.m. The city's MAPS program manager, David Todd, is making a presentation. Mayor Mick Cornett mentions using general funds to build more.

@OKC_Beat 9:03 a.m. Todd: It's essentially the same, but we've refined estimate components.

@OKC_Beat 9:03 a.m. Todd: We didn't build sidewalks for 50 years. It will take time to recover.

@OKC_Beat 9:04 a.m. Todd: New development requirements, bond projects, federal projects also helping build more sidewalks.

@OKC_Beat 9:04 a.m. Todd: $9M total budget, $7M for construction.

@OKC_Beat 9:05 a.m. Todd: Criteria for subcommittee to choose locations includes proximity to schools, hospitals, transit connections, etc.

@OKC_Beat 9:08 a.m. One tweak did get a sidewalk into Ward 7, which was practically barren of MAPS 3 sidewalks.

@OKC_Beat 9:08 a.m. Basically, by looking at a couple of one-mile stretches as being linked, it increased the score.

@OKC_Beat 9:08 a.m. Some quick background. Basically, all the places they looked at to put in a sidewalk were scored based on these criteria.

@OKC_Beat 9:09 a.m. So the ones at the top of the list got the highest scores. The ones at the bottom, the lowest.

@OKC_Beat 9:09 a.m. So the plan, if the council adopts the plan, is to just start at the top of the list and work down it until the money runs out.

@OKC_Beat 9:09 a.m. Then the council could use the planning document if they want to find other funds and keep going down the list.

@OKC_Beat 9:11 a.m. Pete White suggests looking at MAPS 3 contingency fund as source for more sidewalks.

@OKC_Beat 9:11 a.m. White: If the convention center was 60 percent unfunded, we'd have the whole subcommittee down here asking for contingency funds.

@OKC_Beat 9:14 a.m. Shadid is asking why the estimates were off when city promised 70 miles. Jim Couch admits (not for the first time) they were bad estimates.

@OKC_Beat 9:14 a.m. I didn't even notice Skip Kelly is here -- he snuck in on me. (And my view of his seat is partially blocked.)

@OKC_Beat 9:16 a.m. Meg Salyer, referring to low cost of sidewalks in some areas, points out city could build 70 miles if choosing only on lowest location cost.

@OKC_Beat 9:17 a.m. As in, flat land, no utilities, four-foot sidewalks are cheaper. But criteria shows need is in higher density areas.

@OKC_Beat 9:17 a.m. Cornett: I think maybe we should use contingency money, but not in year three of MAPS 3 tax collection. White: That's a fair answer.

@OKC_Beat 9:22 a.m. Kelly is angling for more sidewalks in Ward 7. And not without good reason, by the way. There is more need for sidewalks than there is money

@OKC_Beat 9:30 a.m. Shadid: If our policy is to go into contingency, it's one thing for sidewalks. But could set bad precedent for conv. center.

@OKC_Beat 9:31 a.m. RT @cafeboeuf: @OKC_Beat I think the City should be using a Design-Build format for sidewalk projects.

@OKC_Beat 9:35 a.m. More talk from Kelly about using need (the way he describes it) to decide where sidewalks go. Bottom line, this will never please everyone.

@OKC_Beat 9:36 a.m. Sidewalks subcommittee member Hal McKnight is addressing the council now.

@OKC_Beat 9:37 a.m. McKnight is conveying the subcommittee's request that the council find a way to fund as many sidewalks as they can.

@OKC_Beat 9:38 a.m. So after all that, the sidewalks master plan was approved unanimously. There's momentum to find a way, someday, to pay for more.

@OKC_Beat 9:40 a.m. Pretty soon here we'll be moving on to city manager reports. One of them is on additional sidewalk funding options.

@OKC_Beat 9:41 a.m. Items from council right now.

@OKC_Beat 9:44 a.m. No action items today by the way, just the usual stuff like shout outs to neighborhood groups, smaller community concerns.

@OKC_Beat 9:44 a.m. Action items from council, that is.

@OKC_Beat 10:08 a.m. One of the city manager reports here is on TotalCare enrollment. The enrollment period just ended.

@OKC_Beat 10:09 a.m. The city had a change of less than 0.1 percent of TotalCare enrollment. That's good news for the city, which uses TotalCare as subsidy.

@OKC_Beat 10:09 a.m. On to citizens to be heard. Don't know what to expect today.

@OKC_Beat 10:11 a.m. Looks like a couple of people are here to discuss the wildfires. They're interested in help to clean up burned trees, etc.

@OKC_Beat 10:13 a.m. Pete White points out a new state law lets the city go onto private property to remove red cedars. Advocates that as a great idea.

@NewsOK 10:15 a.m. Oklahoma City again posts lowest jobless rate bit.ly/T0E82l

@OKC_Beat 10:22 a.m. We're getting a little repetitive on the tree removal stuff. Sounds like the city is interested in exploring what it can do to help.

@OKC_Beat 10:24 a.m. That essentially wraps up today's council meeting. Now in executive session. Thanks for joining. And see you next week.