Lawton researching upgrades to School House Slough roads

The roads in School House Slough are a little rough. And City of Lawton officials are committed to making them better.

Members of the Council Engineering Selection Committee agreed this week to ask one of the city’s consulting engineering firms to analyze solutions for the roads in Lake Lawtonka’s largest concession area, then make a recommendation. Members aren’t quite certain what that would be — Committee Chairman George Gill said the City Council’s first priority is paying off the $2.875 million cost to buy the concession’s assets from its former operator — but he and other committee members want discussion on road improvements. Gill, the Ward 4 city councilman and a contractor, suggested oil and chip might be the best and quickest solution to road repairs.

Deputy City Manager Dewayne Burk agreed, saying oil and chip work on those roads would be a gesture of goodwill for those who use and lease space at the concession area.

“People will be seeing something done,” Burk said, calling the city’s decision to upgrade roads “a show of good faith.”

The committee’s recommendation was to amend an existing contract with consulting firm EST, asking its staff to analyze options for road repairs, then make recommendations on what should be done, how quickly and the estimated cost. Gill said oil and chip work should be suitable for the concession area, even though it is located on the banks of Lake Lawtonka. Because the lake is one of the city’s primary sources for raw water, health regulations govern what may be done within a certain distance of the lake’s shoreline.

The City of Lawton has been operating the concession area since Jan. 1, 2023, after long-time concessionaire Kent Waller ended his most recent lease Dec. 31, 2022, after 25 years of operations. While the city staff has been handling activities such as permits and agreements with those who leased camping and boating sites from School House Slough Inc., that staff also is in the midst of negotiating with a new contractor to operate School House Slough’s convenience store and fueling system.

Neither has been operational since Waller’s lease ended, but council members have indicated they want those amenities restored for lake users.