LAWTON – Lawton plans to ask the state for $78 million in loans to cover the cost of updating the wastewater treatment plant, replacing aging water meters, installing new water lines and putting in a new water monitoring system.
The Lawton City Council voted May 10 to file an application for a $45 million loan package from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board through its Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan program. The council also voted to apply for a $33 million loan from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan program.
The resolutions to apply for the loans included provisions allowing the city to borrow money from the Water Resources Board and the Department of Environmental Quality. However, the council had to reconsider those resolutions because only five members were present, and proposals to borrow money require at least six votes to pass.
The council later amended the resolutions, so they were limited to filing the loan applications.
If OWRB approves the $45 million package, about $40 million would finance the first phase of updating the wastewater treatment plant. The city received a $47 million OWRB loan for the project in 2021, but rising construction costs and other expenses have pushed the total price tag to about $60.5 million.
The remaining $5 million of the loan package would cover the cost of replacing about 10,000 Automatic Meter Reading water meters, said Rusty Whisenhunt, director of Public Utilities. He added that the meters, which were installed about 13 years ago, are becoming less accurate in measuring actual water use.
“We’ll start with replacing the ones that have excess water loss on them, so that is a revenue gainer in getting those old meters out,” Whisenhunt said.
The city would have 30 years to retire the $40 million loan and 15 years to pay off the $15 million loan.
The city would use part of the $33 million DEQ loan to cover the cost of installing new water lines along Cache Road from Northwest 67th Street to Fort Sill Boulevard. The remaining funds would be used to install a new computer-operated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition program, known as SCADA, which controls every aspect of the city’s water distribution system.
“Our initial system was built on a Windows XP platform, which is a dead platform,” Whisenhunt said, referring to SCADA. “This brings us a current platform.”
In other business, the council:
- Directed city staff to withhold payment for Stantec Architecture Inc.’s last invoice and dispute charges, using the procedure outlined in Stantec’s contract.
Stantec prepared a conceptual design for a proposed youth indoor sports complex, which the council approved in December 2021. The council also directed staff to negotiate a contract with the Texas-based firm to produce construction documents and keep the project moving forward.
But negotiations stalled, in part because the city and Stantec disagreed about the contract that Stantec wanted to use. The two sides also disagreed on other key issues, including the potential cost of building the complex.
The council voted in March to terminate its professional services agreement with Stantec.
The council discussed the situation in a closed session Tuesday before acting.
- Authorized city staff to work with Lawton Public Schools to facilitate a land transfer of real property and park land.
The council acted after a closed-door session to discuss property appraisal of Lawton Public Schools land for a possible trade.
- Issued a proclamation recognizing Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
- Recognized volunteer Summer Hurleyjacks as the outstanding citizen of the month.