About 30 years ago, a Duncan study predicted growth would expand the city to the north and west regions of its limits. Then, in 2001, another study reinforced the earlier indications.What that meant for the city was a need to upgrade its infrastructure in order to meet the growth of more homes, businesses and people.
On Tuesday, a loan for $5,770,000 was approved and awarded to Duncan Public Utility Authority for the construction of a 2 million-gallon elevated water tower.
The loan was approved by the nine-member Oklahoma Water Resources Board at a meeting held in Oklahoma City and is a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
Duncan Public Works Director Scott Vaughn said there is still red tape that needs to be addressed after the first of the new year.
“It’s a long process and the approval of the loan is another step. Once the red tape is cleared, it will be getting closer to a reality,” he noted Wednesday.
“I do plan to build that thing in 2009,” Vaughn said.
The city owns several acres in the vicinity of the proposed water tower, located approximately 600 feet east of the intersection of Chisholm Trail Parkway and Plato Road.
The water tower design has already been approved and Vaughn said it will allow for a build out of five or six floors where additional city offices could be housed, or even a police or fire substation.
“We took a tour of several storage towers down in Texas, around the Dallas and Fort Worth areas,” he said. One of those was in Watauga, Texas, and it contains four floors of useable space, Vaughn noted.
Vaughn said the growth in that area of Duncan shows the necessity of the water tower if the development is to continue.
Developers are continuing to build and more subdivisions could be on the way.
“We do receive complaints about low water pressure in that area,” he said.
Vaughn said in the event of a major fire, where an excess of water is drawn, pressure is needed. Vaughn said the water tower will be beneficial to the growing area.
“This will address both existing and future demand issues,” he said.
Sens. Anthony Sykes and Don Barrington and Rep. Dennis Johnson made the recommendation to the OWRB for the loan.
The DWSRF loan is made from a joint federal-state program funded by EPA, OWRB and other sources, according to Joe Freeman, chief of the financial assistance program.
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