OK C CIVIC LIFE

Thunder getting new floor

The Oklahoma City Council agreed to pay an estimated $143,700 for a new wooden basketball floor for Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the NBA's Thunder. Connor Sports will make the new floor. Connor supplied the city-owned arena's current floor back in 2014. The company's manufacturing plant is on the Upper Peninsula in northern Michigan.

Of note: The bid six years ago to supply the current floor was $109,670. Proceeds from bonds approved by voters in 2017 will be used to buy the new floor.

Arena digital upgrade on tap

The city council gave the go-ahead for a $2.8 million digital upgrade to the system used to program the Chesapeake Energy Arena's TVs. Final plans are due this month with installation to begin in July. A memo from the city manager says the system includes 900 TV monitors.

Quote of the week

"They're being used a lot."

— Ward 4 Councilman Todd Stone, remarking on the reception the new MAPS 3 Lake Stanley Draper Trail has gotten from the public since opening Oct. 26. The MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory Board agreed last week to terms for closing out construction of two of the trail's three sections. The 13-mile trail was divided into three sections for design and construction. Construction cost was around $10.5 million.

They said it

• "Anything we can do to give these local businesses a fighting chance is good."

— Jane Jenkins, president and chief executive officer of Downtown OKC, commenting on the city council's authorization of $5 million, in addition to $5.9 million previously OK'd, for Oklahoma City's COVID19 small-business relief fund. The sum will be drawn from the $114.3 million granted to the city through the federal CARES Act. For businesses impacted by emergency orders aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus, Jenkins said, "The struggle is real."

• "Sometimes the hardest thing for even a well-intentioned white person to do is just listen."

— From remarks posted on Twitter Saturday by Mayor David Holt. Demonstrators protesting killings of black men by police in Minneapolis and elsewhere gathered and marched through the Plaza District and to police headquarters Saturday evening. "I don't think I've ever been more optimistic," Holt wrote, "that rising generations of white people in this community are recognizing these injustices, talking about them, but most of all, listening."

Tweet of the week

"And for white folks coming, please listen to and follow the lead of

Black organizers. The criticism & fallout lands on them in these situations so take a back seat & listen."

— Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon, in comments ahead of the "We Demand Justice" rally Sunday afternoon in northeast Oklahoma City.

Present/absent

The mayor and all eight city council members attended last week's teleconferenced meeting.

• The council agreed to extend $3 million in taxpayer-funded jobcreation incentives to Costco Wholesale Corp. The company expects to hire 1,044 employees for an office largely devoted to its e-commerce business. Total estimated economic impact is $772 million over the first seven years.

• The council imposed a 180-day moratorium on new applications for zoning changes that would allow billboards, and for related electrical, building or sign permits. The city's comprehensive plan, planOKC, includes provisions for reducing sign clutter.

Calendar

The city council meets at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday for public hearings on 202021 budgets for Police, Fire, Parks, Development Services, and Public Transportation and Parking departments. For information on taking part in the teleconference, find the agenda under the Government tab at okc.gov.