Smart Growth Tulsa Vision 2025 Budget Allocator Survey

[Bamboo World]

We need to get rid of the solid wall/silt problem.

I meant "opening" the existing gates, not "lowering" them.  Sorry, I was thinking of the proposed bladder gates instead of the existing gates.  I will edit my previous post.

By leaving the existing weir in place, and opening or removing the existing gates, would there be a silt problem?  Wouldn't water flow through the existing gate openings?

By leaving the existing weir in place, and opening or removing the existing gates, would something on or within the dam's structure be in danger of breaking?

I'd like for the smallest amount of money as possible to be spent on Zink Dam.

[Bamboo World]

Today I received an email with the survey results (to date through November 9).

A summary of the votes is in Appendix One.

My seven choices weren't particularly popular with those who responded to the survey.

1. Transportation /  Rebuild the IDL, $63m  (Only 22.8% of the respondents chose my first choice.)  
2. Arts & Culture / National Art Deco Museum, $12m  (28.1% of respondents agreed with me on this choice.)
3. Neighborhood Revitalization / Downtown Sealed Rail Corridors, $5m (Only 19.5% chose this one.)
4. Arts & Culture / Spotlight Theatre Rehabilitation, $4m (27.5% of respondents agreed with me.)    
5. Transportation / Fund to widen sidewalks and install planters on bridges, $1m (25.3% chose this item.)
6. Transportation / Safer School Crossings and Crosswalks, $500k (37.9% agreed with me on this choice -- the highest percentage of my seven choices.)
7. Neighborhood Revitalization / IDL Underpass Illumination & Beautification, $500k (30.1% chose this item.)

My seven choices, ranked in order of respondent popularity:

1. 37.9% -- Transportation / Safer School Crossings and Crosswalks, $500,000.00
2. 30.1% -- Neighborhood Revitalization / IDL Underpass Illumination & Beautification, $500,000.00
3. 28.1% -- Arts & Culture / The Absolutely Fabulous National Art Deco Steampunk Moderne Googie Museum, $12,000,000.00
4. 27.5% -- Arts & Culture / Spotlight Theatre Rehabilitation, a mere $4,000,000.00
5. 25.3% -- Transportation / Fund to widen sidewalks and install planters on bridges, $1,000,000.00
6. 22.8% -- Transportation /  Rebuild the IDL, $63,000,000.00
7. 19.5% -- Neighborhood Revitalization / Downtown Sealed Rail Corridors, $5,000,000.00

I was surprised by some of the rankings by category, particularly the relatively high percentages favoring the permanent fractional penny taxes for public transit, parks & recreation, and public safety.

The Smart Growth Tulsa Coalition appears to be ready to conduct a second survey, as mentioned in the last paragraph of this letter to the mayor and city councilors.

P.S. The survey is still active.  The results described above were updated through yesterday, November 9.

[TheArtist]

I wish they had included our first proposal for the Tulsa Art Deco Museum at 4.5 million.  When you go to the city website list of proposals, its one of the first listed.  

We were all then encouraged to "think big and game changing" so thats what we did and put out our National Art Deco Museum proposal for 12 mill.

Then we were told that the funds were getting tight with all the various proposals (including the public safety component) and that we might want to consider pairing back lol.  

We are still trying to get on the list with something.  I feel like I am trying to nail down a moving target.  I have had discussions with several property owners downtown and there are some very interesting possibilities for what we could do with a smaller budget.  We could pull off a smaller (phase one perhaps) National Art Deco Museum.  With the smaller ask we could still create a solid museum/attraction that would definitely be a good asset to the city and finally begin to really benefit from and utilize to the fullest its well known Art Deco heritage.

There is one building we could purchase and renovate and that has paying tenants in part of it already to help with long term funding, another that we may be able to get 2 floors donated if we do the build out and put in a cafe, another that has wonderful large floor plates that we could rent long term, another that we could "pair up" with the development that will be going into it along with having a space of our own as well.  Can't go onto specifics on here for they are all just talk right now for I can't really begin to negotiate or nail things down, just talk to the owners about possibilities...if we get the funding.  And we don't know how much funding that would be.  It's not a fun place to be lol.  But I have notified some of the city counselors in a little more detail about the conversations I have had and what we have found.

If we got on the list and actually had a chance at the 4.5 mill, then I could go around and really begin digging deeper into the different options to figure out which possibility would be best. 

[Conan71]

I wish they had included our first proposal for the Tulsa Art Deco Museum at 4.5 million.  When you go to the city website list of proposals, its one of the first listed.  

We were all then encouraged to "think big and game changing" so thats what we did and put out our National Art Deco Museum proposal for 12 mill.

Then we were told that the funds were getting tight with all the various proposals (including the public safety component) and that we might want to consider pairing back lol.  

We are still trying to get on the list with something.  I feel like I am trying to nail down a moving target.  I have had discussions with several property owners downtown and there are some very interesting possibilities for what we could do with a smaller budget.  We could pull off a smaller (phase one perhaps) National Art Deco Museum.  With the smaller ask we could still create a solid museum/attraction that would definitely be a good asset to the city and finally begin to really benefit from and utilize to the fullest its well known Art Deco heritage.

There is one building we could purchase and renovate and that has paying tenants in part of it already to help with long term funding, another that we may be able to get 2 floors donated if we do the build out and put in a cafe, another that has wonderful large floor plates that we could rent long term, another that we could "pair up" with the development that will be going into it along with having a space of our own as well.  Can't go onto specifics on here for they are all just talk right now for I can't really begin to negotiate or nail things down, just talk to the owners about possibilities...if we get the funding.  And we don't know how much funding that would be.  It's not a fun place to be lol.  But I have notified some of the city counselors in a little more detail about the conversations I have had and what we have found.

If we got on the list and actually had a chance at the 4.5 mill, then I could go around and really begin digging deeper into the different options to figure out which possibility would be best. 

Keep in mind, SGTC's poll is not binding, it's simply Bill Leighty's way to try and inform or sway the mayor and council.  Councilors encouraged me to keep in touch regarding the proposal I presented on behalf of TUWC to expand Turkey Mountain.  Certainly a poll does help gauge public opinion and might help seed the ballot, but personal communication and follow up will undoubtedly help endear them to your project.  That might also be an opportunity to point out you could do what you need to with a $4.5 million seed.

[Bamboo World]

Using Smart Growth Tulsa Coalition's (SGTC's) summary of votes, I went back to SGTC's budget allocator and started picking the most popular items (based on the 307 respondents with verified emails).

Here's a list of the most popular survey line items, with the cumulative total staying below the $1 billion budget:

1. Permanent Dedicated Public Transit Tax 2/10th %, $200m
2. Permanent Dedicated Parks & Recreation Tax 1/10th %, $100m

(The top two choices account for 30% of the overall budget.)

3. Economic Development / Build free city-wide wi-fi system, $2m
4. Permanent Dedicated Public Safety Tax 2/10th %, $200m

(The top four choices account for slightly more than half of the overall budget.)

Continuing with the next $497,900,000:

5. Arkansas River Development - Rebuild Zink Dam, $75m
6. Transportation / Implement the GO Plan - Bicycle/Pedestrian Master Plan, $15m
7. Arts & Culture / Tulsa Children's Museum Permanent Site, $10m
8. Transportation / Connecting Downtown to the River via improvements to Boulder Ave, Denver Ave, Houston Avenue, $12m
9. Transportation / Phase I - Center of the Universe Inter-modal transit hub and Greenspace connecting the M.B. Brady, M.B. Greenwood, and M.B. Blue Dome Districts with the M.B. CBD, $25m
10. Transportation / Safer School Crossings and Crosswalks, $500k
11. Arts & Culture / PAC Renovation and Expansion, $95m
12. Transportation / Riverside Drive (41st to I-44) resurfacing and improvements, $11m
13. Economic Development / Hospital replacement/Substance Abuse Treatment Program, $400k
14. Tulsa County / Road & Bridge Projects, $62m
15. Transportation / Bike Share Program Implementation, $3m
16. Transportation / Phase I Streetcar - Route to be determined., $57m
17. Parks Sports & Recreation / Expand River Parks and Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness, $42m
18. Arts & Culture / Improve City-County Library Branches, $55m

The total cost of the top eighteen choices in the survey is less than $1 billion.

However, the nineteenth most popular proposal (chosen by 34.9% of respondents), Bigger Better Tulsa Zoo, was a budget buster at $60 million.  So I skipped Bigger Better Tulsa Zoo, and went on to the next most popular line items which stayed within the remaining budget.  I could add six more proposals without exceeding the overall $1 billion budget.  Here are the six, with the percentages of respondents who voted for each:

- Neighborhood Revitalization / Mixed Use Parking Garages Downtown, $22m (34.2% of respondents chose this item.)
- Neighborhood Revitalization / IDL Underpass Illumination & Beautication, $500k (33.2%)
- Arkansas River Development / Levee Repairs, $10m (32.9%)
- Transportation / Close Lanes and Expand Sidewalks along Wide Streets for Restaurant Expansion and Outdoor Seating, $2m (26.1%)
- Transportation / Safewalk in Suburban Acres Neighborhood, $300k (14.3%)
- Parks Sports & Recreation / Trixx Skaters Club, $200k (Only 10.4% of respondents chose this item.)

[TheArtist]

Keep in mind, SGTC's poll is not binding, it's simply Bill Leighty's way to try and inform or sway the mayor and council.  Councilors encouraged me to keep in touch regarding the proposal I presented on behalf of TUWC to expand Turkey Mountain.  Certainly a poll does help gauge public opinion and might help seed the ballot, but personal communication and follow up will undoubtedly help endear them to your project.  That might also be an opportunity to point out you could do what you need to with a $4.5 million seed.

Yea I didn't even vote in the poll and didn't mention it to any of our members or friends to do so either.