The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
Two final public meetings will be held tonight and tomorrow night for discussion about renewing Improve Our Tulsa, the City’s basic streets and infrastructure program. All Tulsans are invited to these meetings to find out which projects are in the revised proposal and to provide their comments.
During the meetings, Mayor Bynum and Tulsa City Councilors will give an overview of the latest Improve Our Tulsa proposal including district specific projects. Following public comments, the City of Tulsa will host an “open house” event with department heads and elected officials to answer resident questions and have one-on-one conversations about the proposal and projects.
The City will also have representatives from Tulsa 311 available to take reports, and Human Resources representatives will be available to talk about current job openings within the City of Tulsa.
Both meetings will begin at 6 p.m. and Spanish translators will be available at each meeting. The dates and locations are as follows:
• Monday, July 29, Memorial High School, 5840 S. Hudson Ave.
• Tuesday, July 30, Booker T. Washington High School, 1514 E. Zion St.
After these public meetings, the City Council is scheduled to vote on an ordinance in August which will call for a vote on Nov. 12 for Improve Our Tulsa.
Based on public response received in the five citywide town hall meetings earlier this year, the draft proposal for the Improve Our Tulsa renewal would run 6½ years and total $639 million. The current draft has 70 percent of the funding dedicated to street maintenance and transportation costs, including sidewalks and bridge maintenance. The remaining amount is divided into categories that will be used to fund public facility repairs, parks improvements, public safety and vehicle replacements and create a standing rainy-day fund allocation, among other capital items.
Items that have been added since the initial town hall meetings include additional funding for bridges, matching funds for federal and other transportation grants, capital resources for the Route 66 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Route, Arena District Master Plan implementation, Animal Welfare facility upgrades, additional funds to adequately fund fire department apparatus replacement and council district community development project funds, which can be used for economic development infrastructure needs, neighborhood stabilization projects or other projects that meet certain criteria and follow the City’s comprehensive plan.
For more information about Improve Our Tulsa and to view the draft Improve Our Tulsa outline, visit: www.improveourtulsa.com
