Nov. 22 -- Attracting young families, promoting civic pride and improving infrastructure are top goals Muskogee City Council members set after envisioning sessions this week.
Council members reached that consensus after meeting Tuesday night and most of Wednesday. The sessions were led by representatives of Oklahoma Municipal Assurance group, which helps cities across the state with professional and leadership development, as well as their insurance needs.
No vote was taken at the sessions.
City Manager Mike Miller said city staff will draft a summary of the sessions to present for a council vote at a Dec. 9 meeting.
"The council will review that and possibly adopt it as our strategic focus," Miller said Wednesday afternoon. "Today was just discussion to bring back detailed notes and detailed strategy points."
Instead of filtering through lists of specific projects, councilors were asked to reach a consensus on the top three or four areas of focus.
They ended up with three:
-- Growth through attracting young families, choosing Muskogee as a place to live, work and play.
-- Building a sense of pride in the community by allocating and establishing resources.
-- Improving water and wastewater systems, roads and city facilities.
Session facilitator Lori Mueller said a city needs housing, jobs and retail to attract young families.
"Those things can all come as a result of this being our focus," Mueller said.
Developing pride in the community was another focus.
Ward 1 Councilor Shirley Hilton-Flanary said residents expressed concern about code enforcement. She said there are not enough workers to enforce city codes.
"They don't have time to go out and ticket people who have five couches in their front yard," Hilton-Flanary said.
Ward 3 Councilor Melody Cranford said residents could be encouraged to have pride in their yards. She recalled knocking on doors in her ward, saying "I have trash bags, I have rakes, I have things, I can help you."
"You drive around Cherokee Elementary now and all the fence lines are clean," Cranford said. "I helped them. I said, 'I will be back Saturday,' and I helped them drag their limbs."
Ward 2 Councilor Dan Hall said the city should focus on updating water and sewer lines over the next five years. Then the city can focus on improving streets and city facilities.
"We've got to get our water and sewer lines in check and commit to a set amount of feet per year," Hall said. "You have to put the water and sewer lines in before you can fix the streets, so you don't have to tear up our streets again."
Miller said the city must upgrade or replace aging city facilities, including City Hall and the public works building, both of which are in poor shape.
Session facilitator Mike Bailey, Bartlesville's city manager, said updated facilities instill a sense of pride in city workers and residents.
Miller said the three goals could help the council decide what goes into a half-cent sales tax election next spring. A 40-member task force is choosing projects to be included in the election, subject to council approval.
"Nothing goes on the ballot unless you say," Miller told council members. "If there are things that are higher priority, this would be a good time to have that discussion."