OKLAHOMA CITY – The Duncan Public Utilities Authority and the Walters Public Works Authority will each receive a long-term, low-interest loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to finance capital improvements.
Duncan’s PUA received a 30-year loan of up to $13.52 million to make wastewater treatment plant improvements, including rehabilitation of lift stations, headworks, and treatment processes; and upgrading the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system. Improvements at the water treatment plant will include repairing the clarifier, replacing outdated equipment and filter media, and making additional upgrades. The project also is to include replacing waterlines in key areas and rehabilitating several water towers, building on ongoing improvement efforts supported through the Authority’s existing loans.
State Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, said the loan will help the City of Duncan address its long-term water and wastewater infrastructure needs by modernizing aging equipment, replacing deteriorating waterlines, and address long-overdue maintenance issues.
The Duncan Public Utilities Authority serves more than 9,000 connections in Stephens County, and many parts of its system are more than 35 years old, Duncan City Manager Chris Deal said.
“Reliable water infrastructure is not optional. It is a basic government function and the foundation of every rural and small-town community in Oklahoma,” Sacchieri said. “This investment is a necessary step forward as we confront the serious water and infrastructure challenges facing Stephens County and many communities like it.”
Lori Johnson, chief of the Water Board’s Financial Assistance Division, estimated the loan will save Duncan utility customers more than $4 million in interest expenses compared to traditional borrowing.
The State Loan Program Revenue Bond Loan will be secured with a lien on revenues from the city’s water, sewer, sanitation, and electric systems, along with a 1-cent sales tax.
The Walters PWA was approved to receive a 20-year loan of up to $1.24 million. The funds are to be used to install automated meter-reading units.
The Public Works Authority operates a municipal water system that serves Walters and surrounding areas, providing drinking water through a network of distribution lines and customer meters.
The system’s meters are outdated, no longer track water usage reliably, and are incompatible with modern data-collection technology, leading to billing inaccuracies and reduced system efficiency.
To address those issues, the loan proceeds will finance replacement of the aging mechanical meters with new automated meter reading units, and installation of an advanced metering infrastructure system which transmits real-time data to improve accuracy and operations.
“These upgrades will strengthen leak detection, reduce water loss, and enhance overall service reliability for customers,” Walters City Manager Matt LaFee said.
The state loan will save Walters utility customers an estimated $217,600 in interest expenses compared to traditional financing over the life of the loan, according to Johnson.
The loan will be secured with a lien on the city’s water, sewer, sanitation, and electric systems, and a 3-cent sales tax, the OWRB reported.
“We won’t know the actual interest rates” for the Walters and Duncan loans “until after we sell” a new tranche of bonds in mid-December, Johnson said. Nevertheless, the interest rate “will probably be around 4.8%,” she said. In comparison, the prime rate on Oct. 29 was 7.0%.
Since 1983, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board has approved more than $8.3 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure projects statewide, records reflect.
The OWRB has approved more than 1,250 water/sewer infrastructure loans since 1986 – and only one of those recipients defaulted. “And they continue to pay it off, just slowly,” Johnson said in July.