Council approves application for rural grant to upgrade septic system at Claremore Regional Airport

The Claremore City Council voted to let Claremore Economic Development apply for a Rural Economic Action Plan grant to support construction of a lagoon system at Claremore Regional Airport, officials said Tuesday.

The matter is significant because the airport’s current residential septic system is inadequate for its building load and prevents additional construction until wastewater capacity is addressed, staff said.

Maggie Dolan, representing Claremore Economic Development, explained that the state "regrant" program applies to areas with populations under 7,000 and that the airport’s population qualifies. She said the grant would reduce part of the fiscal burden for building a lagoon system and that the funds would run through the city as the municipal body with the airport as a public trust beneficiary.

Council members asked about costs and grant size. Dolan said cost estimates range from $1.1 million to $1.9 million depending on site location. On the grant amount, a council member asked, "Is this a match or is this so" and staff answered, "the match you can get out of this is a 100,000." Later staff said the grant award would be "not more than $100,000," and that the remaining funds would have to come from other sources, including potential airport debt service or other matching funds.

On environmental and regulatory risk, staff said the current residential septic "facilitates 98 buildings" and that adding more buildings without upgrading wastewater capacity could violate Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality policies; that constraint is a barrier to the airport’s growth.

After discussion, the council voted by roll call to approve the application. The roll call recorded affirmative votes from Miss Fadden, Erwin, Cottom, Feldman, Long, Rockerhoff and Colby.

The application authorizes staff to pursue grant funding; it does not obligate the city to accept award terms beyond the normal review and appropriation processes. Staff said other funding sources would be needed to cover the remainder of the project if the grant is awarded.