The Woodward News

Local News

February 8, 2010

City moves on water project

Woodward City Commissioners took action to move the city’s water field expansion project along during a special meeting Monday night.

The commissioners approved contracting with The Public Finance Law Group P.L.L.C. for bond counsel services in connection with securing financing for the expansion project.

City Manager Alan Riffel told the commissioners “you all are already well familiar with this firm,” as it is the same firm that helped secure funding for the city’s sewer line extension project two years ago.

The Public Finance Law Group will specifically work to secure “a promissory note to coincide with stimulus funds,” to finance the project, which Riffel said will cost “in the neighborhood of $4 million.”

The Woodward Municipal Authority previously engaged Myers Engineering to handle the engineering and construction end of the project, which will include the drilling of six new water wells in the city’s south water field “along with the accompanying pipeline,” Riffel said.

The city commissioners amended the municipal authority’s contract with Myers Engineering Monday night to reflect the addition of “environmental documents that are needed but not included in the original scope of the project.”

The city commissioners also went through the “formality” of adopting a resolution to mark the city’s intent to file an application with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to obtain a loan for the portion of the project that isn’t funded through stimulus dollars from the OWRB State Revolving Fund Program.

Riffel noted this application process will likely take 60 to 90 days because of the added “bureaucracy” accompanying the necessary environmental documents and the use of stimulus funds.

However, he noted that the project is essentially “shovel-ready,” as required to be eligible for stimulus funds, and can begin soon after the application process is completed.

The commissioners addressed one other item during the special meeting Monday evening, approving a short term commercial lease contract between the municipal authority and the Commissioners of the Land Office for water rights through 2011.

It was actually this contract that prompted the special meeting as it was included on the municipal authority’s regular agenda last week, but the wrong agenda had been posted when the city closed early for the Jan. 30 snow storm.

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