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Muskogee council hears questions about data‑center annexations, starts tax‑incentive review process
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Summary
Council held public hearings on three annexation ordinances tied to an industrial park, heard public concern about ownership of a proposed data‑center site, directed staff to provide ownership records and approved a resolution to begin review of a tax‑incentive district, appointing the mayor as the city's representative.
The Muskogee City Council on Feb. 10 opened public hearings on three proposed annexations of parcels in the John T. Griffin Industrial Park and voted to table those ordinances to the council's Feb. 24 meeting while related items proceed.
The ordinances are connected to property described in the petitions as contiguous parcels in Township 14 North, Range 18 East. The council also adopted a resolution to begin the process of evaluating a tax incentive district (TID) and appointed Mayor Patrick Kale to serve as the city's representative and chair of the review committee.
The property owners named in the annexation notices include the Port Authority, Ferdinand Technologies and the Harold C. Fuel Trust. At the public hearing, resident Michael Gregg urged the council to investigate the ultimate ownership of Ferdinand Technologies and reported press accounts tying the entity's parent ownership to YZY Capital and foreign investors. "My concern is having a Chinese Communist Party member owning land and putting a business here," Gregg said. He cited national‑security reporting and urged more due diligence about owners and operational impacts.
City staff responded that the parcel transactions are layered through limited liability companies and related intermediaries. A staff member who addressed the council said Headwaters is the entity the city has worked with and that the port authority repurchased and later sold the property to Headwaters; she said staff would provide documentation showing Ferdinand is associated with Headwaters and would follow up with additional records for council review. "If you'll give us a little bit, we'll provide you with all the information you need to show that Ferdinand is Headwaters, and they own the property," the staff member said.
Separately, the council considered a resolution declaring the city's intent to study creation of one or more tax incentive districts under the Local Development Act. Nate Ellis of the Public Finance Law Group told the council the resolution only starts the review process: it authorizes preparation of a project plan, establishes a review committee that will include representatives of affected taxing jurisdictions, and requires public hearings and planning‑commission review before any district could be created. "This is kind of the start of the process. This does not obligate you to create a tax incentive district," Ellis said.
Council members pressed for clarity about who would sit on and control information presented to the review committee, how the mayor's role as chair would work, and how council members would be kept informed. Several members said citizens already appeared to know details of the project and asked that staff deliver clear documentation at the Feb. 24 meeting. The council voted to create the review committee and to appoint Mayor Patrick Kale as the city's representative and committee chair; council members also requested staff provide ownership records and requested that the review committee include representation from county and education taxing entities as required by statute.
Council members discussed confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements. One council member told colleagues that nondisclosure clauses are taken seriously but said the council needs timely information so members can respond to constituent inquiries. Staff said the review committee meetings will be public and that, where appropriate, the committee will follow the statutory public‑process requirements for tax incentive districts.
The council tabled the three annexation ordinances to Feb. 24 to allow related items to be considered together and to give staff time to gather the ownership documentation requested by council.
Votes at a glance: The council voted unanimously to (1) table annexation ordinances 4248a, 4249a and 4250a to Feb. 24; (2) adopt resolution 3024 to begin preparation of a project plan for a tax incentive district; and (3) appoint Mayor Patrick Kale as the city's representative and chair of the review committee. All roll calls recorded the participating council members voting "yes."
