GPWA receives $16M for wastewater treatment plant

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Guthrie Public Works Authority received approval Tuesday for $16,000,000 in funding from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the Authority’s wastewater infrastructure. Construction of upgrades and improvements to the wastewater system will be financed by the Oklahoma Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).

The Authority will use the funds to construct a new energy efficient sequential batch reactor wastewater treatment plant, a lift station, a flow equalization basin retro fit, an ultra violet disinfection system, a lab building, and new sludge management facilities. These improvements will enable the Authority to treat the wastewater more effectively prior to discharging it into the Cimarron River.

The current facility opened in 1955, and sits near the Cottonwood Creek on Beemer Road. It was updated in 1982 and 2001, but it has reached the end of its design life, and the permit for the facility expires in 2025.

The new facility, with an estimated start of construction set for February 2021, would be constructed near the Cimarron River near Cooksey Road.

With 18 to 24 months to construct, the target completion date is set for January 2023.

Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $1,124,000 over the life of the 20-year loan compared to traditional financing.  The CWSRF loan will be secured with a lien on the revenues of the Authority’s water and sewer systems and a 1.75% sales tax.

“Guthrie would like to express appreciation and we recognize the economic advantages of the Board’s financing programs,” Mayor Steve Gentling said.

The CWSRF program is administered by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board with partial funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The CWSRF program has provided approximately $1.8 billion in water quality loans to provide communities the resources necessary to maintain and improve the infrastructure that protects our valuable water resources statewide.

Since 1983, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board has approved over $4.8 billion in loans and grants for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements throughout Oklahoma.

“We are grateful to State Senator Chuck Hall and State Representatives John Pfeiffer and Garry Mize for their support of our financial assistance programs,” said Julie Cunningham, Executive Director of the OWRB.