The Cleveland County Recreational and Entertainment Facilities Authority will discuss a request for proposals for designer, builder and operator services for the Rock Creek Entertainment District Project Plan on Thursday.
Jacob McHughes, District 2 Cleveland County commissioner, will serve as chair of the meeting and Rod Cleveland, District 1 Cleveland County commissioner,will serve as vice chair. Members of the authority include Cleveland County District 3 Commissioner Rusty Grissom, OU executive deputy athletic director Larry Naifeh and Steve McDaniels.
During the meeting, authority members will consider the authorization of an issuance of a request for proposals, according to Melissa Smuzynski, county director of communications, but no official request has been drafted yet.
Smuzynski wrote in an email to OU Daily Tuesday the county must move forward with the project to comply with requirements within the economic development agreement between the city, the Norman Tax Increment Finance Authority and the OU Foundation.
“When petitioners appealed the District Court’s ruling, they did not request injunctive relief from the Supreme Court barring enforcement of the District Court’s ruling, which, if granted, would have re-frozen the City’s ordinance,” Smuzynski wrote.
Smuzynski wrote that while public comment is an important part of county commissioners meetings, it is not typically included in the structure of authority meetings.
Cynthia Rogers, OU economics professor and petitioner to bring the project to a public vote, said city officials are better at listening to the public’s opinion regarding the project than the board of commissioners.
On May 7, the authority unanimously approved an economic development agreement for the entertainment district in a roughly three-minute long special meeting. The commissioners did not speak about the entertainment district during the approval and left the meeting without taking questions.
“I think it’s egregious. I think that’s appalling,” Rogers said. “They’re elected officials and a project of this financial size, financial obligation, time frame, should be allowed to engage. They should engage the public about this.”
The Cleveland County Recreational and Entertainment Facilities Authority will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Background
On Sept. 20, three Norman residents filed a petition to turn the Rock Creek Entertainment District to a public vote. In October, petitioners submitted 11,602 signatures, exceeding the required 6,098. City Clerk Brenda Hall certified 10,689 of the 11,602 signatures.
In November, four Norman business leaders, Kyle Allison, director of Allison’s FUN Inc.; Vernon McKown, CEO of Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods; David Nimmo, former president and CEO of Chickasaw Nation Industries; and Dan Quinn, former Ward 8 councilmember, filed a lawsuit challenging the gist of the public vote proposed by the petition.
On Feb. 21, Cleveland County Judge Jeff Virgin ruled that the gist contained in the petition was insufficient and that it did not comply with an Oklahoma statute requiring a referendum petition to summarize the nature of the proposed referendum vote in a manner that can be understood by those who do not practice law.
On April 28, Norman residents filed a brief with the Oklahoma Supreme Court appealing for the reversal of Virgin’s ruling.
On April 24, a notice of default to the city of Norman stated that if the Norman Tax Increment Finance Authority does not approve the phasing plan by May 24, the city could be sued. On May 20, city council approved the phasing plan for the project in an 8-1 vote. Ward 5 Councilmember Michael Nash voted against the plan.
According to Smuzynski, if the Supreme Court overrules the district court’s ruling, the authority will be relieved of its obligations and will not move forward until an election is held and results are confirmed.
This story was edited by Natalie Armour. Madisson Cameron and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
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