OKLAHOMA CITY – The Stilwell Area Development Authority (Authority) received approval for $7,975,000 in funding Tuesday from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to improve the Authority’s water infrastructure. Construction of upgrades and improvements to the water system will be financed by the Oklahoma Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), where $800,000 of the loan will be in the form of loan forgiveness, along with $5,018,500 from an OWRB American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) tribal grant, $5,099,500 in Cherokee Nation ARPA tribal matching funds, $1,220,000 from a Cherokee Nation Engineering grant, and $7,000,000 in Indian Health Services funding.
The Authority will utilize the proceeds to construct a five (5) million gallons per day (MGD) new water treatment plant. The construction will include a raw water pump station with three (3) 2.0-MGD pumps and the possiblity to increase capacity by adding a fourth pump, one (1) rapid mix basin, two (2) 2.5-MGD high rate pulsating clarifiers, four (4) 2.0-MGD declining rate cluster filters, four (4) 1.7-MGD high service pumps, two (2) 4.3-MGD backwash sludge pumps, two (2) new 250,000-gallon clearwells, a new chemical feed building with sodium permanganate, polymer, sodium hypochlorite, polyphosphate, and hydroflourosillic acid feed systems. These improvements will provide an adquate supply of drinking water for the customers of the system.
Joe Freeman, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that the Authority’s customers will save an estimated $4,164,600 over the life of the 30-year loan compared to traditional financing. The DWSRF loan will be secured with a lien on the revenue of the Authority’s water system and 90-percent of the electric and a mortgage. Representing the Authority is Shelldon Miggletto, their grant writer. Miggletto shared, “Stilwell thanks the Board for their consideration of this loan request. Four out of five rural water districts in Adair County purchase water from the system. These improvements will directly affect rate payers.”
