City Councilor G.T. Bynum wants the city to reconsider plans to fund projects for downtown's BOK Center and Cox Business Center - the convention center - in its next capital improvements package.
Bynum said he will ask fellow councilors on Thursday to remove the proposed $450,000 allocation to replace the BOK Center's fire alarm system and the proposed $850,000 to upgrade the Cox Business Center's air system and its exhibit hall roof, citing objections from residents at recent town hall meetings.
The facilities should be able to fund the projects using their own revenue, he said.
"I think the public has raised good questions about the prioritization of the funds they (the facilities) have," Bynum said. "Because they are such relatively small items ... it's not worth the difficulty that we're running into."
City officials have proposed extending Tulsa's third-penny and 0.167-cent sales taxes for 5 1/2 to six years and issuing general obligation bonds to fund $919.9 million worth of what they say are vital infrastructure and maintenance projects.
Although an ongoing series of town hall meetings about the proposal has yielded largely positive feedback, "recurring" criticism seems to surround the funding for the city's top event-hosting facilities, Bynum said.
The BOK Center's original fire alarm system was designed for an office building and is unsuitable for an arena, the arena managers say.
Council Chairman David Patrick said he has heard "some talk, but not a lot" from residents who oppose the BOK Center project, and other councilors also characterized the opposition as small.
He added that he has no preference in whether to put funding for the project in the capital improvements package but said it's "a safety issue" and that the fire alarm would have to be replaced some other way, if not in this proposal.
"I certainly hope (that) for something as small as this item, (voters) wouldn't condemn the whole package - all the good that it's going to do," he said. "We want to make sure the package passes, and if deleting (the BOK Center allocation) or any of the other small items would alleviate conflict, we'll consider it."
Councilors Karen Gilbert and Skip Steele said they favor keeping the project, although Gilbert added that she wants to hear public opinions at the final town hall meeting Tuesday and will listen to fellow councilors this week.
"I know that the BOK is a true asset to the city of Tulsa," Gilbert said. "It brings in revenue galore to the city."
Councilors Arianna Moore and Jeannie Cue said they are undecided.
The city is responsible for BOK Center and Cox Business Center maintenance because it owns the facilities, officials say.
Some Tulsans, however, mistakenly believe that the facilities or their contracted manager, SMG Management, can afford expensive projects such as the fire alarm using ticket revenue, Steele said.
BOK Center Manager John Bolton told councilors last week that the facility has saved $6,024,517 for capital projects since its opening in 2008 and generally needs about $600,000 of that a year for routine maintenance.
The facility requested $8 million from the city's funding package for projects it said it couldn't afford without draining the account and hindering its ability to perform routine maintenance.
Officials whittled the list down to the facility's top priority - the fire alarm system. The project would be delayed without money from the funding package, Bolton said.
"It is critical to understand that the BOK Center is a $200+ million dollar City asset that must be maintained," he said in an email Monday. "We are in an incredibly competitive regional market and we can't afford to let one of the city's biggest assets fall into disrepair as the facility ages."
Final town hall meeting
Tuesday: 6 p.m., Carbondale Assembly of God, 2135 W. 51st St. (Council District 2)
Zack Stoycoff 918-581-8486
zack.stoycoff@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Councilor suggests review of package
