Litigation continues to cloud bond-funded Oklahoma Turnpike plan

A bond-financed, $5 billion extension of the Oklahoma Turnpike is facing more litigation as both proponents and opponents of the project may return to court.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Board on Tuesday passed a resolution to explore appealing a Cleveland County District Court ruling that found the agency willfully violated the state's Open Meeting Act by failing to disclose the ACCESS (Advancing and Connecting Communities and Economies Safely Statewide) Oklahoma plan on January and February board meeting agendas.

Judge Timothy Olsen also voided project-related actions taken by the board at those meetings. 

Oklahoma Department of Transportation

Millions of dollars in engineering and other contracts were unanimously reapproved by the OTA Board on Tuesday despite pleas by homeowners in the path of the extensions to ditch the plan or at least slow it.

The reapprovals took place even though the Oklahoma Supreme Court has yet to rule on the validity of bonds to initially fund the project.

Stan Ward, an attorney representing property owners in the Open Meeting Act litigation, said OTA had already paid $42 million to contractors as of Nov. 30 and a qui tam lawsuit would be filed "against the individuals who make this decision not to repay the money and against the individuals who received the money."

"We're doing it because everyone that's involved is upset about a process," he told the OTA Board at the meeting. "We were the last people to know of your plan, not the first. "

Eric Lair, OTA's legal counsel, said the Open Meeting Act lawsuit did not seek the invalidation of contracts and Olsen's Dec. 1 ruling only voided the board's approval of agenda items, allowing the board to vote on them again.

The board reapproved $156.12 million in contracts, which includes amounts spent in 2022, according to Wendy Smith, OTA's finance and revenue director. She added contract-related expenditures will be reimbursed with proceeds from yet-to-be-issued bonds.

OTA petitioned the state Supreme Court in August to validate up to $500 million of second senior lien revenue bonds after receiving approval for the debt from the Oklahoma Council of Bond Oversight, which was conditioned on the dismissal or resolution of two lawsuits, including the Open Meeting Act case, in OTA's favor.

"Any conditions of approval by the council related to a specific agenda item must be met prior to the issuance of the bonds approved in that agenda item," according to Alexandra Edwards, Oklahoma's deputy treasurer for debt management.

In December, Olsen dismissed a second lawsuit that challenged the bond financing and building of the turnpike's South Extension, East-West Connector, and Tri-City Connector projects. He ruled the state Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over the validation of OTA bonds. 

Randy Carter, a spokesman for Pike Off OTA, the lead plaintiff in that case, said OTA's board meeting was "well-orchestrated political theater."

"It seems to me that everything was already decided ahead of time and the OTA Board just publicly went through the motions to make it appear legitimate," he said in an email. 

The six-member board is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.