Jenks City Council: votes at a glance — rezoning, code updates, TIF amendment, condemnation resolution and appointments

The Jenks City Council approved a range of ordinances, appointments and resolutions at its Jan. 21 meeting. Key actions included rezoning a downtown parcel to commercial shopping, code cleanups related to alcohol and offenses, an amendment to a River Entertainment District TIF boundary and a resolution authorizing the city attorney to file an amended petition in an ongoing condemnation case. The council also appointed a member to the Indian Nations Council of Governments board.

Below are the main actions recorded at the meeting. Vote totals are included where they were read aloud in the roll call.

Votes at a glance

- Consent agenda: Council voted to approve the consent agenda by roll call. Recorded votes included “Yes” from Brown, Short, Emmons, Abel, Murray and Mayor Box; the motion carried.

- Appointment to Indian Nations Council of Governments (NCOG): Council members nominated and approved John Brown to serve as the city’s primary representative to the NCOG Board. During discussion Brown indicated he would abstain from voting because he would be the appointee; the meeting record then shows the motion carried and council declared the result in favor of Brown’s appointment.

- Ordinance 1662 (rezoning, JZ25-697): Council approved rezoning parcels at 515 West Aquarium Place from RS-3 (residential single-family) to commercial shopping (CS). Planning staff and the planning commission recommended approval; a member of the public who owns nearby property spoke in support. The council also approved the ordinance’s emergency clause. Recorded roll-call votes on both the ordinance and the emergency clause read aloud show “Yes” by Brown, Short, Emmons, Abel, Murray and Mayor Box.

- Ordinance 1659 (chapter 2 alcohol and related changes to chapter 14): Council approved an ordinance that updates the city code’s alcohol chapter and moves or consolidates certain offenses from chapter 14 into chapter 2; the council also passed the ordinance’s emergency clause. The ordinance was described as a modernization and cleanup to reflect state statutory changes.

- Ordinance 1660 / related chapter 14 amendments (offenses): Council approved a broader set of updates to chapter 14 of the city code to repeal or revise outdated or overbroad criminal-code language. During deliberations, Councilmember Brown asked that several sections be pulled for further review; the council voted to approve the ordinance with the specified sections withheld for additional review. The ordinance and its emergency clause were both approved by the council.

- Ordinance 1661 (River Entertainment District TIF project-area amendment): Council approved a minor amendment to the Jenks River Entertainment District Economic Development Project Plan to correct and clarify legal boundaries for increment district No. 6. The amendment increased the project area by less than 5%, which staff said allows the council to treat the change as a minor amendment per the original TIF ordinance. Council also approved the ordinance’s emergency clause.

- Resolution 857 (condemnation-related action concerning Sparkman Land LLC): After an executive-session discussion concerning ongoing litigation and a pending claim, council returned to open session and approved Resolution 857, declaring the necessity of acquiring a perpetual easement on property owned by Sparkman Land LLC and authorizing the city attorney to file a second amended petition in condemnation proceedings.

How council voted (examples from roll calls in the transcript)

- Multiple roll-call votes were read as “Yes” by Brown, Short, Emmons, Abel, Murray and Mayor Box for the rezoning ordinance and the related emergency clause.

- For the chapter-14 amendments, council approved the package with specific sections pulled for later review; recorded roll-call votes approved both the main ordinance and the emergency clause.

Notes and next steps

- When council set aside individual sections of chapter 14 for further study, members asked legal staff and the police chief to return with suggested language and enforcement guidance in a future meeting.

- Staff said the TIF amendment added less than 5% to the TIF 6 area; the city attorney’s office advised it could be processed as a minor amendment under the existing TIF ordinance. Council action authorized the amendment and related emergency clause.

- On the Sparkman Land condemnation matter the council entered executive session for confidential communications with counsel before voting on a resolution in open session; the transcript shows no votes were taken during the closed session.

The meeting minutes and the finalized ordinance texts listed by ordinance number will be posted to the city’s official records; interested parties should consult those documents for the ordinance language and the list of sections that the council asked to hold for further review.