City outlines $3.31 million plan to buy Griffin Soccer Park; oversight board urges funding caution

City staff on July 22 presented a plan to purchase Griffin Soccer Park for $3,306,811, proposing to fund the acquisition primarily from the Norman Forward Griffin Park lease allocation and available capital savings. Kim Kaufman, the city’s budget manager, summarized the financing and said the largest funding source would be the $2,400,000 Griffin Park allocation within the Norman Forward program, of which $500,000 has already been paid in lease payments and would apply to the purchase.

Kaufman told the council that the city would appropriate the remaining $1,900,000 from the Griffin allocation, take $220,000 from savings in the Griffin Soccer Park remodel project and draw $686,811 from the capital fund (projects complete or delayable) to reach the $3,306,811 purchase price. She also reported the Norman Forward fund has a balance of about $9,800,000 and that remaining Norman Forward projects were estimated at roughly $11,000,000 under 2022 estimates; the sales tax that funds Norman Forward is set to wind down in 2031 unless renewed.

Staff recapped the property’s history: a 2014 law authorized the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to sell the larger hospital property; in 2018 the city entered a long‑term lease for Griffin Soccer Park at $80,000 per year (up to 30 years) and the city’s lease payments to date would be applied to any future purchase. Kaufman said the soccer‑park remodel project is substantially complete, with approximately $250,000 in remaining project savings.

Representatives said the Land Trust/Board of Trustees has approved the request to sell the soccer park; the city’s process would move the purchase to closing if council approves appropriation. Citizens Financial Oversight Board members told the council they were “absolutely in favor of acquiring this property” but offered “words of caution,” noting that the 2022 price estimate had been $10.7 million for a larger parcel and that real estate and construction costs have risen since 2022; they also flagged recent sales‑tax trends as a concern for meeting the full slate of Norman Forward projects.

Councilmembers asked how the remaining Norman Forward projects could be completed if the purchase is made now and whether some projects could roll into a future Norman Forward II or be addressed by other bonds. Staff said there is flexibility for neighborhood parks and trail projects that are not site‑specific, and noted the city will continue to collect Norman Forward revenues over the next five years before the tax expires in 2031. No final council appropriation vote was recorded in the conference; staff said the purchase would appear as item 29 on the council agenda and would require formal appropriation action if council votes to buy.

If approved, staff said the purchase would be funded without drawing on general‑fund reserves and would be processed through the capital fund and the Norman Forward allocations; the city intends to close the acquisition through the appropriate trust and city closing process.