LAWTON – The City Council awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to replace nearly five miles of aged water lines in northwest Lawton, voted to build a new public sewer line to serve an addition along Lee Boulevard in southwest Lawton, and approved construction plans for a sewer line to serve a new chain discount store.
Southwest Water Works, of Oklahoma City, won an $11,347,737 contract to replace about 25,000 linear feet (4.7 miles) of aged 6-, 8-, and 12-inch water mains in an area bounded by Lincoln Avenue and Rogers Lane, Fort Sill Boulevard and Sheridan Road.
Approximately $6.5 million of the project cost will be financed with the proceeds of a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan from the state Department of Environmental Quality, and another DWSRF loan will finance the $4.8 million balance, according to Public Utilities Director Rusty Whisenhunt.
The contractor was allotted 420 calendar days to complete the job after the work order is issued.
A separate contract will be awarded later to replace old water mains between Lincoln Avenue and Cache Road, Sheridan Road and Fort Sill Boulevard, Whisenhunt indicated.
These will be among the 26 miles of new water lines in Lawton already built, under construction, or in the planning and design stage, according to Mayor Stan Booker.
The City Council also approved plans for construction of a sanitary sewer main to serve the Trope’s Addition on the south side of Lee Boulevard between Southwest 24th and Southwest 27th streets.
The 6-inch diameter private sewer main serving that area was installed prior to 1960, “likely in the 1940s,” Whisenhunt said, “but the actual date and who built it are unknown.”
The aged line has failed and is a public health hazard. Consequently, “It became imperative that a new line be installed now,” Whisenhunt informed the city council on June 11.
Accordingly, the council authorized the Sewer System Construction Division in the city’s Public Utilities Department to build 3,133 linear feet (six-tenths of a mile) of bigger 8-inch PVC sewer main, and install several manholes, to serve business in that area, including a Sonic Drive-In.
The project will cost approximately $150,000, which will be financed with funds from the water/ sewer infrastructure allocation in the 2020 Capital Improvements Program, records reflect.
The Trope’s Addition sewer line was brought to the City Council’s attention four and a half years ago.
During the council discussion on Jan. 28, 2020, it was acknowledged that customers served by the sewer main had paid water and sewer fees to the City of Lawton for years. Nevertheless, the line was not dedicated to the public and no utility easement was provided, city staff reported.
Official minutes of the meeting show that city staff indicated the private sewer line serving Blocks 1-8 of the Trope’s subdivision was constructed “sometime in the 1940s using 6-inch concrete pipe.”
Mayor Stan Booker recommended that city staff initiate plans for a proposed improvement district. After a lengthy debate, Councilman Randy Warren made a motion, seconded by former Councilman Jay Burk, to “direct staff to move forward with the possible creation of an improvement district” (as authorized by the Oklahoma Improvement District Act in Title 11, Section 39, of State Statutes).
The sewer main is privately owned “by a number of individuals that are not part of an association,” Whisenhunt told Southwest Ledger.
Had an improvement district been created, the customers served by that particular sewer main would have been responsible for repairing/ replacing the line via assessments against their property over a period of several years.
The city’s Planning Department “tried to work with the individuals to create an improvement district,” Whisenhunt said, but to do so required 50%+1 of the property owners to agree. “That agreement could not be obtained” and therefore the proposed improvement district could not move forward.
The City of Lawton “is not taking ownership of, nor replacing, the private line,” Whisenhunt said. Instead, city crews will install in the rightof- way a new public sanitary sewer main “that will be owned by the City of Lawton just like other sewers” that serve multiple properties.
In a related matter, the City Council approved construction plans for a sanitary sewer line to serve a proposed Dollar General discount store to be built at 7010 Southwest Lee Blvd.
Plans submitted to City Hall for the project call for construction of approximately 243 linear feet of 8-inch sanitary sewer. The line will be constructed along the west side of Southwest Brentwood Boulevard and will be connected to an existing 8-inch sanitary sewer line located on the north side of Brentwood Addition Part 3B.
City staff reviewed the plans and recommended approval subject to one condition: that the developer obtain a permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality to build the sewer line extension.