It may not be needed, but the City Council took action on Monday to expedite the ongoing water re-use project in the event that a suitable agreement cannot be reached between the City and the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad.
The City’s water re-use project implementation has passed several stages over the past few years —including feasibility studies and financing — but faces a potential hold-up over a property licensing agreement required to construct the necessary infrastructure.
The re-use option
The City began pursuing options to supplement its raw water supply for the next 50-plus years immediately following severe drought conditions in 2001. One of the options is to utilize the City’s treated wastewater to augment the yield of the Caney River during periods of drought, which serves as one of the City’s main water sources, Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen told the council.
“This re-use option has been investigated over the last four years and determined to be safe, reliable and will improve the water quality of the Caney River at the City’s intake location in Johnstone Park,” Lauritsen said.
The council had previously authorized the engineering design and construction of the reuse system, which will consist of a pump station at the wastewater treatment plant and an underground pipeline transporting the water to the Caney River just south of the County Road West 1500 bridge.
The contract
“This pipeline route requires a crossing under the existing South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad,” Lauritsen said. “In early January 2020, City staff sent in the permit application to the railroad for a pipeline crossing. In September 2020, the City received a licensing agreement for this crossing.”
Lauritsen said the railroad has proposed a license form of agreement for a perpetually increasing annual fee in which the railroad retains the right to terminate the license agreement at any time, after which the City would be required to remove the pipeline crossing from the railroad’s right of way.
“The agreement is unacceptable,” he said.
Lauritsen said City staff will counter with a traditional easement crossing with a onetime permit/easement fee, “which is consistent with utility line construction.”
Council action
“In light of the nine months that it took the railroad to provide the current agreement and the time constraints for the construction funding — $750,000 federal grant from the Bureau of Reclamation with the remaining $7.5 million financed with a loan through the Oklahoma Water Resources Board — City staff is requesting council authorization to pursue an easement for the pipeline crossing by eminent domain if negotiations with the railroad either stall or are unsuccessful,” he said.
The council voted 5-0 to authorize the request which includes the engagement of legal assistance, should the filing become necessary.