SPURGEON: Hi folks!
Welcome to this edition of Broken Arrow in Motion Take 5.
I'm Michael Spurgeon, and thanks for joining us.
With me today is Vice Mayor Scott Eudey.
Vice Mayor, it's great to see you today.
EUDEY: Thank you, it's good to be here.
SPURGEON: I really appreciate you coming on the show today.
We're going to visit with the Vice Mayor today about the upcoming public forums that the
City's going to have in connection with the 2018 General Obligation Bond package.
However, before we get started, I want to ask Vice Mayor -- just tell us a little about
where your ward is in town, and how long you've been in office -- and really just anything
you want to mention about what's going on around town?
EUDEY: Well, my ward is special because it includes the Rose District, so that's always
something I like to point out.
But it actually includes a large swath of the middle of Broken Arrow.
It's essentially everything north of -- north of 131st -- Jasper -- and all the way down
to south of 61st, and east of Elm.
So it's a big chunk of the middle of Broken Arrow.
Now as you know, I just have to live in that ward.
The whole City gets to vote for each Councilor, but I think it's important that the Councilors
live in a certain area, because they understand the needs of that area.
So I live in south Broken Arrow, and that has made me attuned to the needs of south
Broken Arrow.
SPURGEON: You know, I just want to give you a shout out because I think last month, when
we did the State of the City presentation, your comments about the Rose District, and
more specifically about the Senior Center, were outstanding.
So I just wanted you to take just 10 seconds or 20 seconds or so and just put a shout out
for the Senior Center, because I know how important that is to you.
EUDEY: We have an amazing Senior Center.
They do amazing work down there, and they give people 55 and older the opportunity to
have an active life.
It's amazing how full and exciting that facility is, and I'm proud that we have it right here
in downtown Broken Arrow.
SPURGEON: Oh I absolutely agree.
Okay, I wanted you to come on today to talk to us about the 2018 General Obligation Bond
package.
Last month the City Council had a retreat on a Saturday where we spent about 5 hours
-- for the first time, taking a look at the potential projects in the package.
And right now we're sitting with a package of about $285 million.
And as a part of this public vetting and transparency process, the Council decided to hold some
public forums to get input from the community.
So those have been set, so why don't you talk a little bit about the forums we're going
to have, where they're going to be, and when they're going to be.
EUDEY: These forums are very important.
We're going to have three, and we're trying to place them around the community.
So the first will be on February 22 at South Broken Arrow Baptist Church.
Then there will be one on February 26 at Battle Creek Golf Club, and then one on February
27 at Forest Ridge.
So we're trying to be able to allow, no matter where you live, you have an opportunity to
come to one of these and participate.
It's very important that you do.
SPURGEON: Well, as the Vice Mayor of the governing body, and a representative of the governing
body, who do you think should be attending the meetings?
EUDEY: I think any resident of the City should come, because it's an opportunity for us to
hear what they think is important and what they believe needs to be dealt with on the
bond election.
And it also allows us to -- to allow them to participate in the process.
And I think if you don't participate in the process, sometimes you don't understand the
process and you feel left out.
So we want everyone to feel included in this process.
SPURGEON: Absolutely.
So let's talk about format, because I think it's important that the community knows what
to expect when they come to the meeting.
So can you talk a little bit about what the format's going to be for the folks that attend
one of the public forums?
EUDEY: We'll start out with welcoming everybody.
I think you're going to say a few words, I'm sure me and my fellow Councilors will want
to say a few words to welcome everyone there.
But then it's going to be an opportunity for the folks that come to visit with the different
department heads and staff, so they can learn more about what's on the bond -- what's being
proposed, and additionally, learn more about how we plan to proceed.
So I think that -- so you'll get to go and visit with the Director of Parks and the Director
of Streets, so that you can understand that A) what they are proposing, and 2) what's
needed.
This will also allow you to learn more details about what's on the bond.
SPURGEON: Absolutely.
I mean, the Council made it very clear last month that we have multiple stations that
folks can come -- it can be very interactive -- so I'm glad that you shared that with us.
My next question relates to -- after we have these three public meetings, what's the Council's
goal with the information or feedback we receive from those that attend the public forums?
EUDEY: Well, after the meetings, we essentially have the daunting process of figuring out
what makes into the election, to the bond package.
Because $280 million plus is -- that's a lot of money, and in order to have a bond election
and a bond package that will allow us to keep taxes at the same rate they are now, we need
to pare that down.
SPURGEON: You want to reiterate that again?
EUDEY: Yes!
I certainly can.
In order for us to have a bond package that keeps taxes where they are now -- so NO TAX
INCREASE -- in order for us to do that, we have to pare down what's in it.
So the feedback we get from the citizens at these forums and any other opportunity they
have to contact me or any one of our City Councilors, that will allow us to figure out
where our most important needs are, and to get the number down to where we can keep our
-- prevent taxes from going up and meet the majority of the needs we have.
SPURGEON: That was very important to the Council, to make sure that we keep the millage basically
right where it's at -- I believe 16.46.
What's really great about our community is with the growth and the fact we're having
debt roll off is that if we did a 10 year package, we could be looking anywhere from
$203 million to $220 million that we actually could issue.
So obviously we do have a daunting task of trying to reduce $280 million down to $220
million.
That just shows you though, from my perspective, what's exciting about the growth we have in
our community.
How important is this bond package from your perspective Vice Mayor -- to the Council and
to the community?
EUDEY: It's very important to the Council because we're tasked with helping make decisions
that lead the city into the future.
I think it's important to the residents and future residents that we get this right, because
it allows us to make sure that we can...add or widen roads that are important.
It allows us to make sure that we have the parks and quality of life issues that people
find important in the community they live in.
I probably -- I don't want to overstate it, but I'm not sure I can understate the importance
of this bond election and this package because it pretty much establishes how we grow and
how we develop our community for the next decade, most likely.
SPURGEON: That's very, very exciting.
Well that's all my questions Vice Mayor, I think you've covered everything that I wanted
to get out to our citizens.
Anything you want to finish up with before we go?
EUDEY: Well I just want to reiterate the importance of participating in this process.
Your Council wants to hear from you, we want to know what you view is important to this
bond package, and we also want you to participate so YOU feel like you're involved and you had
a say in the future of your City.
So please, make opportunities to attend these forums and contact your Councilors and the
City, and let us know what's important to you, so that we can make sure we're addressing
the needs that the citizens feel are important.
SPURGEON: Well said Vice Mayor.
I want to thank you for coming onto the show.
Vice Mayor Scott Eudey, I appreciate your time.
And that's going to wrap it up for this edition of Broken Arrow in Motion Take 5.
Once again, the public forums are going to be later this month.
You can find information on our website about those public forums.
Don't hesitate to reach out and call us or contact us by way of email if you have any
questions about the public forums.
Until next time, I'm City Manager Michael Spurgeon.
Thanks for joining us, and I hope to see you around town.
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