Council pulls discussion over $32.5 million special election for water improvements
Apr. 28—City councilors pulled discussion of a special election to allow the McAlester Public Works Authority to go into debt to address issues relating to the city's water infrastructure needs — moving the agenda item to the May 11 meeting.
The resolution calls for voters to approve allowing the MPWA to go into debt for $32.5 million to address issues related to water infrastructure in the city of McAlester, with a special election set for July 13, 2021.
McAlester's City Charter requires a vote of the people to approve any expenditures by a municipal beneficiary trust costing in excess of $1 million. The MPWA is operated by members of the McAlester City Council.
The item was on Tuesday's agenda, but was pulled after the city's financial adviser was unable to attend.
Projects are to be based on a report made by Infrastructure Solutions Group, an engineering firm retained by the city to compile a survey of the city's most pressing water-related issues.
The resolution regarding the election states:
"Shall the city be allowed to approve and shall the McAlester Public Works Authority be authorized to incur indebtedness in the original principal amount not to exceed $32,500,000, with said indebtedness secured by a lien and mortgage on the water, sanitary sewer and solid waste disposal facilities serving the city and the revenues therefrom, and a lien on a year-to-year pledge of the revenues derived from a 2 percent sales tax, with said indebtedness used to fund water system improvements, fund debt service reserve, if applicable, and fund certain costs associated with the issuance of said indebtedness?"
Qualified registered voters living within the McAlester city limits would then have the option of voting "yes" for the proposition or "no" against the measure.
Municipal Finance Services in Edmond is a company which has handled some prior financing projects with the city of McAlester.
The Public Finance Law Group in Oklahoma City and the Erwin & Erwin law firm in the city of McAlester are also expected to be involved in the project.
Some improvements to the city's water system are already underway, including the repair and refurbishment of two large clearwells at the McAlester Water Treatment Plant, designed to hold 1 million gallons of treated water each. One of the clearwells had been completely offline prior to the repairs. Once it was repaired and placed online, the other clearwell could be drained and repaired as well.
Other improvements already underway or completed include the laying of new water lines. Another project has been underway to give the city a secondary source of water from Lake Eufaula, in addition to the city' current water supply, which comes from Lake McAlester.
The city of McAlester had major problems with its water supply during the recent February winter storms, when the city lost much of its water supplies due to major city water transmission lines freezing and bursting, problems maintaining water levels in water towers and other issues.
Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.
