JENKS, Okla. — Jenks City Councilors voted to approve and ratify a purchase and sale agreement for a ranch property, but not without hearing concerns from residents first.
The ranch property sits at 106th St. and to the west side of Elm.
Documents show the city entered a purchase and sale agreement on May 17.
The timeline of that document being signed and the vote happening almost a month later is something the one resident brought up during public comment.
City Manager Christopher Shrout says while that agreement was signed before the councilor voted, it's not an obligation until the council votes to approve it.
The ranch is a 25-acre property that the city is purchasing for $6.5 million.
The purpose stated for buying the property is for "parks and recreational service and potentially other general government services."
A member of the Jenks Coalition for Smart Growth spoke at the meeting last night. While their organization supports the plan, they didn't like how citizens found out of about it.
"The mayor announced the idea, which is item 16 on your agenda tonight, in a Facebook post late one Friday night. Instead of hearing, 'cool, we're buying a new park for the city,' we heard, 'Where are they finding the money to do that?'" said Rick Evans, a member of the coalition, during public comment.
He goes on to urge the council for more transparency and a better structure to how these items are handled.
The ranch property is right across the street from the property that has been under heat for its proposed baseball park, hotels, and parking lots.
One concern a few residents expressed is the possibility of the ranch property being rezoned to commercial use.
"If the folks across the street decide the infrastructure of the hotel that been proposed there is not adequate to take care of that proposed parliament, what would stop the city from saying 'yeah, your right. we need to do something else to keep the revenue stream that's here, and then that changes into a hotel," a community member said during public comment.
The city council said they don't have plans to change the zoning. They also said they will discuss a legal way to make sure the zoning can't be changed later down the line.
Concerns about how the city is paying for such an expensive property also came up.
In an FAQ document, the city states it's paying for this property primarily from federal funds.
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