Broken Arrow bond issue election Tuesday

Monday, May 10th 2004, 10:15 am

By: News On 6

Broken Arrow residents vote Tuesday on a $53-million bond package that would pay for a wide variety of public projects. Itâ€™s the biggest proposed bond vote in the city's history.

City leaders say there's a good reason for that. Broken Arrow itself is bigger than it's ever been in history. News on 6 reporter Steve Berg has more.

Broken Arrow native Leon Bagwell remembers a much different Broken Arrow during his childhood in the 30's and 40's. "I remember the horses and wagons parked along Main Street, out in the middle of the street." A horse and wagon wouldn't last long on today's streets. Bagwell says he supports the bond issue. "I think it's a good deal, Broken Arrow needs new streets."

Street improvements by far are the biggest part of the bond package, and with good reason, Broken Arrow has gone from 55,000 people in 1990 to about 85,000 people today. Broken Arrow mayor Richard Carter: "With the population growth in Broken Arrow, we have to keep up with infrastructure, with police and fire protection, and with quality of life issue like parks and improvements to those."

Broken Arrow's bond is split into four parts. Proposition 1 includes a wide variety of road widening and road improvement projects. Proposition 2 would provide money for a new 911 call center, a new fire station, and a new firefighter training center among others. Proposition 3 features a wide variety of parks and recreation improvements, the biggest being a youth football complex. And the bulk of Proposition 4 would pay for a $6.5-million conference center near the new Bass Pro store.

Broken Arrow resident Helen Scott: "If we improve the streets and have more buildings, it will bring more jobs and more things to the city."

Broken Arrow's biggest challenge though doesn't seem to be spurring growth, but keeping up with it. Officials say the new bond package would not raise taxes. Instead it would pick up where existing bonds expire. They also say the city's increasing population creates more tax money without raising the rate.