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Muskogee council approves estoppel certificate for Ferdinand Technologies amid public questions about county contracts and pre-annexation work
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Summary
The City of Muskogee City Council approved an estoppel certificate related to Ferdinand Technologies LLC's Port of Muskogee project, after a public commenter urged the city to clarify whether the certificate relies on county contracts and noted work was done before annexation.
The City of Muskogee City Council on April 30 approved an estoppel certificate between the city and Ferdinand Technologies LLC related to industrial development at the Port of Muskogee and authorized Mayor Patrick Kale to execute the certificate.
City staff described an estoppel certificate as a document required when property or a business interest is sold to a third-party buyer; the certificate confirms there are no outstanding contractual obligations between the original contracting parties. “The estoppel agreement is typically required when a company or or a property that's for a large amount of money is being sold to a third party buyer besides the original contracting parties,” a staff member explained.
During public comment, Charles Crawford raised concerns about whether the estoppel relies on a county contract rather than a city contract and said the physical work on the site predated annexation into the city. Crawford told the council he did not see Pioneer Trail LLC or Ferdinand Technologies LLC named as contracting parties in documents he reviewed and questioned why a county contract would be presented as a city document. He said the work visible in photographs and drone video was completed in February 2025 before the property was annexed into the city on Feb. 24, and that the estoppel’s $777,000 figure would shift fiscal burden from 68,000 county residents to 37,000 city residents: “And, I speak to that, matter in concern with, there's approximately 68,000 people in the county, and there's, only 37,000 people in the city. So the, the burden of the $777,000 in the estoppel certificate, would be, shifted significantly from 68 to 37.”
Crawford also said the work included a storm sewer adjacent to what he described as “20 Fourth Street” at the boundary between sections 15 and 16 and asked for related documents under the Open Records Act.
Mayor Patrick Kale invited Crawford to meet with the city attorney after the meeting to review his questions. The council then moved, seconded and approved the estoppel certificate by a unanimous roll-call vote. Recorded members voting yes were Mike Brawley, Tom Martindale, Dan Hall, Shirley Hilton Flannery, Tracy Hoose, Jamie Stout, Deputy Mayor Derek Reed and Mayor Patrick Kale.
The council did not amend the estoppel certificate during the meeting and did not read additional contract language into the public record; Crawford requested supplemental documents and an open-records review.
The estoppel approval immediately preceded an executive-session item concerning a possible lawsuit and an annexation petition for property in the John T Griffin Industrial Park.
