Published: June 16, 2009 10:36 am      

Water draws concern

Talk of water, and how to ensure a wet future with it, flowed from the Chickasha City Council Monday.

The council handled a light agenda in less than one hour. And though it did approve a new integrated library computer system and janitorial services for various city facilities, most council members were more interested in what might happen Thursday.

That’s when a group of six or eight citizens, called the Chickasha Future Water Supply Committee, will meet to consider the city’s chances of buying water from Lawton.

The committee, made up of mostly engineers and others who have technical expertise, will meet in special session at 4 p.m. Thursday in the second floor conference room at City Hall, 117 N. 4th Street.

On Monday, the council decided to wait for the Future Water Committee’s recommendation before hiring a company, CDM, to study the chances of purchasing raw water from the City of Lawton.

Chickasha has until 2021 to find another water supply, or the flow will turn into a drip and then air, City Manager Larry Shelton said.

CDM is the same company that did a study to determine how much it would cost for 10 entities to lay lines and tap into water from Sardis Lake in far southeastern Oklahoma. The water would go from Sardis Lake to Oklahoma City and then travel by some 33 miles through 36-inch pipes to reach Chickasha.

Cost projection: a wet $1.6 billion for the combined 10 entities.

Nevertheless, that possible solution isn’t off the table. City officials will continue to consider all options, including the billion dollar Sardis option, because no option can be rejected just yet.

If the city takes any one option off the table now, and it turns out to be its only option later, citizens would be up a dry creek without a paddle or water, Shelton said.

The bottom line is, “You have to have water,” Mayor Gregg Elliott said.

They do, however, hope the Lawton option is less expensive. Shelton said he had talked to the Lawton city manager about the idea, and in turn, the Lawton city manager had mentioned it to his council.

However, Lawton has made no official offer or taken any official action, Shelton said.

Chickasha currently gets all of its water from Fort Cobb, but that contract ends in 2021. Chickasha can extend the contract, but it would likely be on Fort Cobb’s terms, Elliott said.

“The yield at Fort Cobb is already committed with us, Anadarko, Western Farmers, and PSO,” Shelton said.

In other business, the council did decide to:

* Deny a tort claim field by Marieta Luttrell, who is suing the city because it twice buried someone in a cemetery plot she purchased on Dec. 21, 2005 -- and neither time was it her. The plot is next to where her son’s. She’s asking $75,000 for full settlement.

* Deny a tort claim filed by Veda Bush, who is asking for $650 for damages from a sewer backup at her residence.

* Approve entering into an agreement between the City of Chickasha and the Grady County Industrial Authority for jail services. City cost is $33.60 per day for each prisoner detained and cared for in the Grady County Jail. The new agreement begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2010.

* Approve fundraiser activities at the Chickasha Sports Complex. City staff will allow various groups to work the concession stand at the complex to raise funds. It’s happened once, and the city paid the group $750 for its time.

* Accepted a bid of $4,127.80 from AllMed for a fire department training manikin.

* Accepted a bid of $68,738 from The Learning Center (TLC) for library software and hardware needed to operate an integrated system. The purchase makes TLC responsible for all aspects of the library system.