Sand Springs City Council to vote on removing Round Up Club from River City Parks

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The Sand Springs City Council will meet in a regular monthly meeting Monday night at 7:00 p.m. in the City Municipal Building. Immediately following the Council meeting, the Sand Springs Municipal Authority will meet in the same room. Council and Municipal meetings are open to public attendance and commentary.

One item on the Council's Consent Agenda is a recommendation from the Parks Advisory Board to terminate a Use Agreement with the Sand Springs Round Up Club (RUC).

The RUC is a nonprofit organization originally founded northwest of Sand Springs on Shell Creek Road in 1946. It was relocated to River City in 1971 during the administration of City Manager Royce Hunter.

According to the staff report filed with the City Council agenda, "the situation has eroded at the Sand Springs Round Up Club's (rodeo) facility to a point where they are no longer viable." 

"At the October 2016 meeting of the Park's Advisory Board (PAB), all clubs provided reports on their activities. Concerns were raised about the SSRUC's lack of events, attendance, and maintenance. They were asked to 'step it up.'"

"At the April 4, 2017 PAB meeting staff requested a notice to terminate the Use Agreement with the SSRUC. The PAB moved to allow the club approximately 90 additional days (including a big rodeo event on Memorial Day) to show good numbers; statistics, improve maintenance and the overall look of the grounds and more."

"The Memorial Weekend (Andy Downs) rodeo event was uneventful, with 121 counted attendees in the stands and a mere dozen more in the arena."

The Parks Board cited the growing success of other park tenants, most notably the West Side Alliance (WSA) and Sand Springs Soccer Club (SSSC). The annual WSA Cup regularly packs out both River City Parks and the West Bank Sports Complex in Tulsa.

"With near record high use in the park; with WSA Soccer Cup performing at the highest level to date and with requests by SSYFootball leaders and more for additional space the time has come to dedicate the approximate 3 acres of space to future 'higher and best use.' Additionally, the City can no longer support the expenditure of public (taxpayer) dollars to support the club's activities. In the short term, mixed use, multipurpose sports fields are planned there."

The Parks Board voted unanimously to recommend terminating the Use Agreement Contract no later than October 31, 2017. City Council will make the final decision Monday evening.

If the Use Agreement Contract is terminated, the RUC will have to remove all of their property from the facility and the City-owned property will be declared as surplus. Declaring the property as surplus will allow the City to demolish the the facility and auction off any valuable materials.

Other items on the agenda include:

  • Presentation of Mayoral Proclamation to Cheyenne Walden, recognizing her unprecedented success as a Charles Page High School Cross Country runner.
  • Acceptance of a $2 million check from Mike and Pat Case to be applied to the River City Park Improvements Project.
  • Purchase of four Police Pursuit Units for $99,474.00.
  • Appointments to various city boards and commissions.
  • Approval of a complete update to the City Comprehensive Plan.
  • Renaming of City Garden Park as Inez Kirk Garden Park.
  • Renaming of Inez Kirk Soccer Complex as the Roger S. Bush Soccer Complex.
  • Adopting the 2017 Sand Springs Policing Plan.
  • Approval of November 14, 2017 as the election date for the 2017 General Obligation Bond election.