City manager: ACOG forwarding GMC Trust water‑connection request to Rep. Cole; consultant estimates about $23 million

City staff told the Tuttle City Council that the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG) is preparing a community project funding request for Congressional consideration that includes a proposed Oklahoma City water connection and storage work for the Grady‑McLean County (GMC) Utility Trust.

The city manager said the package has been submitted to ACOG for forwarding to U.S. Rep. Tom Cole's office as part of the 2025 community project funding process. Staff said the submission on behalf of the GMC Trust initially focused on work to increase storage on the south side of the river and a new connection; the engineering estimate provided by Sullivan and Associates put the cost at about $23 million.

Kenny Sullivan of Sullivan and Associates prepared a letter to Mayor Michael Scalf describing the scope. The letter, read for the record at the meeting, said the project under discussion would bring a larger supply line from Oklahoma City to the GMC Trust: "Phase 2 of the project will bring a larger line from OKC to this new storage and booster site, 7 miles of 24 inches DIP with 4,500 linear feet of river bore, dollars 19,000,000 ... Engineering is about 3 of that, making the total of 23,000,100," the letter states (excerpted as read to the council).

City staff said the portion currently emphasized in the GMC Trust submission is intended to provide near‑term storage capacity to relieve pressure on the existing supply and to enable nighttime filling of a south‑side storage facility; staff also said other communities are preparing companion submissions to ACOG for related regional water work. The manager characterized the filing as preliminary and said ACOG requested general cost estimates rather than engineering plans.

Council members asked whether the submission should have sought a larger, regional project to improve funding prospects. Staff responded that ACOG and participating communities are coordinating multiple project letters; the GMC Trust portion described to the council focuses on the storage/connection work that would directly benefit Tuttle and Blanchard, while additional segments that would serve Goldsby, Washington and other nearby entities were described as part of a broader request being assembled.

No formal council action was recorded on the funding request during the meeting; staff said the packet was being finalized and that support letters and additional documentation were being collected for submission to Washington by the ACOG process.