VILLAGE

From Page 1 engineering: $3 million.

• Construct a water line connecting Water Well #22 (located on the north side of the 900 block of NW 63) to other water system facilities: $500,000.

• Buy and install pressure sensors for the water system: $40,000.

• Other improvements to the municipal water system, including water lines, water wells and water collection lines, system equipment, utility and paving repair and relocation, acquisition of easements, and engineering: $1.21 million.

SANITARY SEWER

Proposition No. 3 would provide $2.3 million for “repairing, rehabilitating and improving” approximately 9,000 linear feet of sewer lines; that job would cost an estimated $2.2 million. The remaining $100,000 would be spent for associated expenses such as utility line relocation, paving repairs and engineering.

FIRE DEPARTMENT

Proposition No. 4 would authorize $300,000 for “acquiring and equipping fire and emergency vehicles” and other department improvements and equipment. Those would include:

• Acquiring light-duty fleet vehicles for the department, at an estimated cost of $100,000.

• Buying medium-duty fire and emergency vehicles and related equipment, at an estimated cost of $150,000.

The $50,000 balance

The planned unit development (PUD) of four single-family houses would be constructed on two lots totaling two-thirds of an acre located behind, and donated by, Our Lord’s Lutheran Church, 2900 W. Hefner Road.

Homeowner Jack “Jeff” Christie said the site of the proposed Habitat PUD was zoned in 1961 for one house per lot.

Each three-bedroom, two-bathroom Habitat house would have approximately 1,250 square feet of floor space, said civil engineer Mark Zitzow, director of urban planning with Johnson and Associates in Oklahoma City.

The gallery was filled with several residents of the area who signed a document declaring their opposition to the development, contending it would result in flooding and perhaps reduce their property values.

Christie said a search of records in the Oklahoma County Assessor’s Office for 36 properties in the immediate vicinity of the proposed Habitat project showed the average market value of those homes is $270,792. The average Zillow market value of those three dozen properties is $265,125, he said.

Councilman David Bennett and Councilwoman Melodie Moore both expressed reservations about putting four houses on the 0.6654-acre site, preferring just two but three at most, for fear that four could aggravate flooding in the area.

The Habitat for Humanity project would be “stacking onto an existing insufficient drainage issue,” one area homeowner said.

“We have been paying millions because back in the ‘50s there were little or no regulations about drainage,” Bennett said.

Zitzow said the PUD would include a detention pond that would slowly release runoff rainwater into a nearby channel. He said City Engineer Don Vick concurred with Johnson and Associates that the detention would be spent on Fire Department improvements and equipment.

TECHNOLOGY

The $500,000 in Proposition No. 5 would be earmarked for technology improvements, facilities and equipment, such as:

• Acquiring and installing a Cox drive and update digital twin 3D mapping software: $40,000.

• Replacing two PBX telephone systems at the city’s Public Works Complex and at City Hall: $75,000.

• Upgrading software used for finance, utility billing, personnel, payroll, permits and licensing: $85,000.

• Replacing a mainframe computer system and upgrades: $250,000.

• The $50,000 balance would be used for other technology improvements and expenses of the bond issue.

PUBLIC WORKS FACILITY

Proposition No. 6 would authorize $1 million for improving and equipping the city’s Public Works Complex and facilities. Those funds would be used to:

• Construct an additional parking canopy: $600,000.

• Construct and equip additional garage and storage facilities: $250,000.

• Renovate, improve and equip the Public Works administration building at the complex: $100,000.

The other $50,000 would be for additional improvements and equipment, and for design and engineering pond would be properly engineered to accommodate runoff rainwater from the PUD. The development would not add to the historic volume of water flowing into the nearby drainage channel, Zitzow said.

However, at this stage the only issue the City Council should be considering, Zitzow insisted, is, “Do we meet all of the regulations and guidelines and the drainage ordinance? We do. We are wholly in compliance.”

Ann Felton Gilliland, president and CEO of Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity, concurred, “We have done everything we have been asked to do.”

Bennett expressed concern that the proposed house in the southwest corner of the site could flood.

“We don’t want to put one of our families into that situation, either,” said Felton, clearly frustrated.

Moore said it was her impression that the Habitat project originally intended to have just two houses on the site but subsequently doubled the number to four.

“We always wanted to do four, so we can help four families,” Felton said.

“Do you see the possibility of two or three homes” on the site, Mayor Bubba Symes asked Zitzow.

“We do not,” he replied. Johnson and Associates has invested “a tremendous amount of engineering and time” in the Habitat PUD project, he said. Area homeowner did some research

Christie said he devoted one weekend going door-to-door asking residents of Casady Lakeside Estates 3rd Addition whether they approved or disapproved of the Habitat proposal. Everyone he contacted was opposed to the project.

He also checked records in the Oklahoma County Assessor’s Office on 24 properties in the subdivision and 13 houses “that are adjacent.”

Most of the houses were built in 1961 and 1962, and the average lot size is 0.35 acre. Three dozen of the houses have a two-car garage and one has a three-car garage, Christie reported.

All parking for the four houses proposed in the Habitat project expenses.

PARKS

The bond issue would include $1 million in Proposition No. 7 for improving and equipping the city’s 32 parks. Projects would include:

• The design, engineering, construction and equipping of a parking lot for Grand Boulevard Park: $150,000.

• Acquiring and installing a security camera system for Grand Boulevard Park and Love Park, and related walking trails, sports fields and parking areas: $300,000.

• Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility improvements in city parks: $250,000.

• Installation of playground equipment in Davis Park: $75,000.

The remaining $225,000 would be used for additional improvements that might include dog waste stations, trash receptacles, landscaping, fitness equipment, and related design and engineering expenses.

Police Department

Proposition No. 8 would designate $800,000 for the Nichols Hills Police Department. Those funds would be used to buy police vehicles and associated equipment, and to help pay for expenses of the bond issue.

The NHPD typically replaces two vehicles each year, because of mileage and wear-and-tear, City Manager Pate said.

“Mileage depends on many factors, but each offi-