State loan will allow Lawton to move forward with sewer line rehab project

A new loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board will allow the City of Lawton move into the next phase of its citywide sewer rehabilitation project.

The Lawton Water Authority (a function of the City Council) was approved for a $25 million loan this week from the Oklahoma Clean Water State Revolving Fund, administered by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB). The loan is one of several that city officials have secured from state revolving loan funds, in order to make upgrades to its water and sewer infrastructure. Securing the loan means the City of Lawton can begin a project with the full cost covered, with the loan to be repaid via Lawton’s Capital Improvements Program.

Public Utilities Director Rusty Whisenhunt said the loan is covering the cost of sewer line upgrades, in particular the new sewer rehabilitation program set to begin in 2024. The city already has a proven track record of success with citywide sewer infrastructure upgrades: the city’s sewer rehab division is nearing completion on a program created more than 20 years ago to systematically address deteriorating sewer mains and lines across Lawton.

“This is our next round of improvements,” he said, adding the original program is slated for completion this year. “These are lines that have not been addressed.”

Whisenhunt said city officials already have identified projects for the new program, high maintenance lines as well as one lift station at Southwest 6th Street and Belmont Avenue. The program will focus on sewer lines that are “deteriorating to the point that they are falling apart,” he said, adding some will be repaired with a cured-in-place liner and others through pipe-bursting, techniques successfully used in the existing citywide sewer rehab program.

Work will begin this year, Whisenhunt said. City officials intend to begin advertising in August for contractors to do the liner project, with the pipe-bursting project to be advertised in September or October.

That sewer line work will be spread across the city to address deteriorating lines. But, Whisenhunt said he expects some projects to be high on the priority list, to include those similar to repair work needed on a sewer main that caused problems for eastbound traffic on West Gore Boulevard, at Southwest 14th Street, earlier this year when he line (and the traffic lane above it) collapsed.

“We’ve picked some other large diameter lines to prevent those failures,” he said.

The approved loan allows Lawton to prioritize lines with increased sanitary sewer overflows and backups, and those made from “obsolete materials,” OWRB officials said. The loan is centered on replacing 78,000 feet of sewer line, along with associated manholes and service lines, as well as replacement of the south Lawton lift station.

Joe Freeman, chief of the water resources board’s financial assistance division, said Lawton will save an estimated $6,071,600 over the life of its 30-year loan, compared to traditional financing methods. The loan is secured with a lien on the utility revenues generated by the City of Lawton and will be paid via the CIP, the traditional method Lawton has used to fund high-cost sewer and water projects.