Jeff Kaley
WAURIKA — Waurika city officials have decided how to spend the money. The next step is to actually acquire the money.
During a special meeting of the Waurika City Commission and Waurika Public Works Authority Monday night, the commissioners and trustees returned to the topics of outlining future projects in the city’s water and sewer department, and coming up with funding to support those projects.
The projects and the acquisition of funds have been discussed at recent meetings, with the city honing-in on trying to acquire both a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the U.S. Department of Commerce and a Rural Development Loan/Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Office.
A special meeting was held on Jan. 25, during which city officials discussed which source of funding should be used for improvements in the city sewer system and which should be used for a multi-faceted water project. The water project could include drilling new water wells, replacing aging water lines and providing funds the city would use to purchase storage water from Waurika Lake as part of a Waurika Lake Master Conservancy District (WLMCD) sale.
Grant writer Millie Vance is preparing the city’s application for the CDBG, and during Monday’s meeting at City Hall, the commissioners to approved four agenda items that tie into acquiring that grant. They agreed:
- Funds from the proposed $245,000 CDBG would be used for a sewer project.
- To authorize Mehlburger Brawley Inc. to prepare an engineering report for the project, setting a ceiling of $500 as a fee for that report.
- To authorize City Clerk Mark Bryant to go out for bids to procure a firm to provide engineering and administrative services for the project.
- To adopt a Residential Anti-Displacement Plan, which is a requirement of the Department of Commerce and which provides points needed in the process of acquiring a CDBG.
When the commissioners became the trustees for the Waurika Public Works Authority Monday, they agreed funds from a potential Rural Development Loan/Grant would be used to address a list of 15 proposed projects presented during the Jan. 25 meeting.
The proposed projects on the loan/grant list would fall under the umbrella of being the “Rural Development Water Project.”
City officials agreed to apply for a Rural Development Loan/Grant totaling $3,282,200, with the No. 1 priority being participating in a possible sale of storage water by the WLMCD. It’s believed Waurika’s apportionment in such a sale would cost at least $750,000.
“The Waurika Lake Master Conservancy District is still trying to finish the purchase of the storage water at the lake,” City Manager Chuck Brown said. “In a (WLMCD) meeting on January 26th, we found out we still don’t know what the rate on the bonds will be, but it was thought to be less than 5 percent.
“The term will probably be for 25 years and the bonds will be for $25,000,000 or less.
“(The city) has a chance for some [federal] stimulus money to be used, but we want to figure on a worst-case scenario for realistic budgeting. The project manager and their attorney got the approval of the WLMCD to talk to the bond council and the judge to get this finalized.
“I think we are looking at an April or May date to realistically get this [purchase] finished. I’ll let you know as soon as we have updated information, but whatever the cost of the water winds up being, it will be cheap, considering how important it is to get that water.”
The WPWA trustees agreed they need to meet with Ronnie Jones from the USDA Rural Development office to discuss preparation of the city’s application for a Rural Development Loan/Grant. With that in mind, the trustees tabled taking action two agenda items until such a meeting can be held.
They unanimously tabled:
- Hiring or procuring services to prepare an engineering report for the USDA Rural Development Water Project.
- Hiring or procuring services of a firm to prepare an environmental information document for the USDA Rural Development Project.
Following the meeting, Commissioner Scott Cathey further outlined the funding process for the two projects being considered.
“The $245,000 in CDBG funds would be a 100 percent grant. We’d use those funds to repair or replace all three of the sewer lift stations,” he said. “As far as the Rural Development loan/grant goes, we’re still waiting before we become obligated to that.
“We waiting for Rural Development to get back to us and say what percentage will be in the form of a loan and what percentage will be in the form of a grant, and what the terms of the loan will be. If we agree to the terms, we’ll submit an application to Rural Development.
“But as of this time, we’re not obligated to Rural Development for anything.”
