Trustees approve emergency contracts after sewer collapse, plant equipment failures

Oklahoma City — The Oklahoma City Water Utilities Trust on July 15 approved three emergency construction actions to address a sewer line collapse and equipment failures that trustees said required immediate work. The trust voted to approve an emergency purchase to repair a sewer line collapse near the Cowboy Hall of Fame, a staff report showed. Trustees approved the item after a brief presentation; the cost shown in the meeting record was $57,000. Trustees also approved an emergency replacement of chlorination equipment at the Hefner water treatment plant and authorized replacing similar equipment at the Draper plant. Trust members said the Draper equipment was the same age and could be at risk of imminent failure, so both locations will be replaced under the emergency authorization. Finally, trustees approved an extension of temporary pump rentals at the North Canadian Waste Water Treatment Plant. Staff said the permanent replacement pumps will take longer than anticipated to arrive and that the current estimate for delivery is "hopefully late August." That delivery estimate was reported by staff during the discussion. Discussion and approvals were accomplished by motion and vote during the regular trust meeting. Trustees did not identify a cost figure for the chlorination replacements or for the continued rental of the pumps in the public discussion during the meeting. The actions are recorded as emergency contracts to restore and maintain wastewater and treatment plant operations while longer-term replacement equipment and permanent repairs are procured.