Tahlequah council approves consent agenda and approves MOU sending settlement funds to hospital authority; two ordinances taken up on first reading

The Tahlequah City Council met in a special session Friday morning in April 2025 and approved a consent agenda and a memorandum of understanding that will route EOID settlement funds to the Tahlequah Hospital Authority and Northeastern Health Systems, City Administrator Taylor Tannehill said. The council also held first readings on two ordinances: a repeal/correction of a recently passed ordinance and an ordinance to detach a parcel from the city limits.

City Administrator Taylor Tannehill told the council the repeal under consideration corrects an error in a prior ordinance’s legal description that unintentionally included a portion of property. "The ordinance... contained a portion of property that was unintended to be in the legal description," Tannehill said, and the repeal would allow staff to refile a corrected ordinance at a later meeting. That item was presented as a first reading and discussed; no final vote on the corrected ordinance was recorded in the meeting minutes.

On a separate first-reading item, Tannehill said the ordinance detaching property from the city’s corporate limits includes the appropriate legal description and that she had "triple checked the legal description" to ensure it is correct for final passage. Councilors asked no questions during that item; no final passage vote was recorded.

For the memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to EOID settlement funds, Tannehill said the city previously established a task force to consider allowable uses after receiving guidance from the attorney general’s office. "There was about a 15-page document distributed by the attorney general on how these funds can be used," Tannehill said, and many allowable uses fall outside routine city functions. Tannehill said the city is requesting to enter into an agreement so the Tahlequah Hospital Authority, working with Northeastern Health Systems, can administer the funds more directly for eligible purposes.

Tannehill told the council the settlement payments are expected to continue for roughly 13 to 15 more years and that the amount remaining is "over $84,000" to be distributed through the hospital authority. The council made a motion to approve the MOU; the motion passed with recorded yes votes from Councilor Myers, Councilor Baker and Councilor Perry. The transcript records the consent motion and the MOU motion as approved; the names and votes presented in the meeting are recorded below.

The council opened the meeting with a roll call confirming a quorum and approved the consent agenda by voice vote; Councilor Myers, Councilor Berry, Councilor Baker and Councilor Perry were recorded as voting yes on the consent motion. The special meeting adjourned at 9:04 a.m.

Votes at a glance - Consent agenda: Motion to approve consent items — outcome: approved (recorded yes votes: Councilor Myers; Councilor Berry; Councilor Baker; Councilor Perry). Mover/second: not specified in transcript. Details of items on the consent agenda were not specified in the transcript. - Ordinance No. 13-86-20-25 (repeal/correction; referenced correction to Ordinance No. 13-85-20-25): First reading and discussion only; no final action recorded. - Ordinance No. 13-87-20-25 (detachment of property from city limits): First reading and discussion only; no final action recorded. - Memorandum of Understanding to permit distribution of EOID settlement funds through the Tahlequah Hospital Authority and Northeastern Health Systems: Motion to approve passed (recorded yes: Councilor Myers; Councilor Baker; Councilor Perry). Mover/second: not specified. Notes: City Administrator cited attorney general guidance and a task force; estimated remaining funds described as "over $84,000" to be distributed over roughly 13–15 years.

Meeting context The session was short; councilors and the city administrator discussed technical corrections to ordinance legal descriptions and a proposed MOU to channel settlement funds to a local hospital authority rather than retain direct city administration. The two ordinances were presented on first reading, with staff indicating corrected legal descriptions would be filed for final passage at a later meeting. The MOU was approved by recorded voice vote as noted above.