Muskogee council approves estoppel certificate for Ferdinand Technologies and authorizes annexation petition

The Muskogee City Council approved an estoppel certificate between the City of Muskogee and Ferdinand Technologies LLC tied to industrial development at the Port of Muskogee and later authorized the city attorney to file a petition to annex property within the John T. Griffin Industrial Park.

City staff told the council the estoppel certificate confirms to a prospective buyer that there are no outstanding contractual obligations between the original contracting parties. “The estoppel agreement is typically required when a company or a property that's for large amount of money is being sold to a third party buyer besides the original contracting parties,” a staff member said during the meeting.

The measures drew public comment and questions about timing and authority. Charles Crawford, a resident who identified himself during public comment, said work on storm sewer infrastructure near the project was completed before the property was annexed into the city and questioned why documents appeared to reference county contracts. “This work was commenced prior to February 23 at 04:40PM,” Crawford said, adding he had photos, videos and drone footage he said showed work in January and February. He also said the contract language referenced Pioneer Trail LLC and Ferdinand Technologies LLC but listed the Muskogee County Board of Commissioners as the contracting party, and he asked that any supplemental documents be made public under the open records act.

In response, the presiding official invited Crawford to meet with the city attorney to review his concerns. “I would invite you to meet with the city attorney after this meeting if you could or sometime in the near future, and she'll be happy to answer your questions,” the presiding official said.

The council voted on the estoppel certificate after public comment. Roll call for that item recorded affirmative votes from Mike Brawley; Tom Martindale; Dan Hall; Shirley Hilton Flannery; Tracy Hoose; Jamie Stout; Deputy Mayor Jerrick Reed; and Mayor Patrick Kale. The council later convened an executive session under Section 307(B)(4), Title 25, Oklahoma Statutes to discuss a potential lawsuit, then voted in open session to authorize the city attorney to file an annexation petition to annex all property located within the John T. Griffin Industrial Park; the roll call on that authorization recorded the same affirmative votes.

The meeting record does not identify who made and seconded the motions by name in the transcript excerpt, and no timeline for the filing or any supplemental documents was given on the record. Crawford told the council the estoppel certificate referenced an amount of $777,000; he said the shift in responsibility from county to city would change how that cost is borne between the county population (which he said is about 68,000) and the city population (which he said is about 37,000). The council did not address those numerical claims on the record during the votes.

The city attorney was authorized to proceed with the annexation petition; council members did not state a filing date during the portion of the meeting captured in the transcript. The presiding official directed staff to follow up with Crawford and the city attorney to answer his questions and to provide any applicable public records upon request.

(Reporting by City Council meeting transcript; quotes and attributions limited to speakers identified in the meeting record.)