The council voted 7-2 in favor of two agreements with the OTA. The first agreement concerns utility relocation and would see the OTA pay $8.9 million to relocate four of the city’s water wells while the city pays $1.9 million to pay for water line relocation. The second will see the OTA incorporate the city’s design for widening 36th Ave NW into its own construction plans for the east-west connector.
Members of anti-turnpike advocacy group Pike Off OTA urged the council to vote against the agreements, citing its intent to sue the turnpike authority.
“What both of these contracts do is they undermine the plaintiff’s interest in that action,” said Pike Off OTA attorney Rob Norman.
Other residents called the contracts a bribe from the OTA for the Norman City Council to cooperate with the agency. Councilmember Brandon Nofire voted against the two agreements, saying the contracts would be good deals if they were not from the OTA.
“It’s the OTA. It’s an organization that’s notorious for making their own rules and then not even playing by those rules,” Nofire said.
Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman said while he does not support the turnpike, the council needs to look out for the city’s infrastructure.
“I’ve been weighing this decision for weeks thinking about — how do I look out for the best interest of our infrastructure but also weighing my personal feelings about the turnpike,” Holman said.
The vote follows two weeks of delay after the previously scheduled city council meeting was cut short due to inclement weather.
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