Lawton plans water main project for Westwin Elements plant

City of Lawton officials are moving forward with local plans to support a cobalt/nickel pilot plant in southwest Lawton.

City Council members will vote today to accept plans and specifications for the first of a two-phase project to install an industrial water main to the 40-acre tract where Westwin Element’s pilot plant will be located, a site on Bishop Road between Southwest 97th and Southwest 112th streets (the site is directly south of the Goodyear plant, south of West Lee Boulevard).

Accepting the plans crafted by Garver LLC for 7,500 feet of 20-inch water main will allow City of Lawton staff to let the project for bids, important for the quick turnaround necessary for the infrastructure project. That 20-inch main is to run along Southwest 97th Street (Goodyear Boulevard) from West Lee Boulevard to Bishop Road, then west on Bishop Road three-fourths of a mile to the southeast corner of the proposed pilot plant site.

Phase II, set for a future date, will be 18,000 feet of water main that will continue on Bishop Road west past Southwest 112th Street, then north to Lee Boulevard before looping back to Southwest 97th Street.

“A very short time frame is required to meet industrial plant completion date,” according to the agenda commentary by Public Utilities Director Rusty Whisenhunt.

Whisenhunt said to expedite Phase I construction, the city is buying 20-inch PVC pipe and 20-inch valves so materials will be ready when the contractor is selected. Bids are to be opened either Nov. 21 or Nov. 28, with the recommended contractor presented to the council for action at its Dec. 5 meeting. Pending approval of a winning contractor Nov. 5, the project’s notice to proceed will be issued Dec. 6, Whisenhunt said on what is expected to be a $2.8 million project that will be funded through Lawton’s allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Phase II will be coming back to the council “in the next few weeks,” city engineers said.

The work is part of an effort to help Westwin Elements meet the March 1, 2024, operational date for its pilot plant, a date specified in the economic incentive agreement that city officials granted the entity earlier this year.

In another infrastructure-related project, design firm EST Inc. will offer an update on the first 10 residential street upgrades designated 10 Wins for the Citizens, an initiative by Mayor Stan Booker to outline street improvement projects that he wants done quickly. In the case of the first “Top 10” list, that work is to be under way by Thanksgiving, under the time frame Booker outlined.

Those first 10 streets were approved by the council in late September, under recommendation of their Streets and Bridges Committee (which will meet Wednesday to outline its third “Top 10” list). The projects were put out for bid almost immediately, and City Engineer Joe Painter said those bids were opened last week. EST is expected to make a presentation on the bids received.