When are the pools opening for the season?
The opening date for the City-owned Sooner and Frontier swimming pools is tentatively May 29, but the deal isn’t sealed, as they say, until the contract is signed. The City contracts with the Richard Kane YMCA to manage and operate the pools — an agreement that is basically carried over without much change each year. Officials are expected to sign the contract for the upcoming season this week.
Recycle center still closed
Is there any update on the recycle center?
There is no update to share. The City of Bartlesville’s drop-off recycle center, located at 10th Street and Virginia Avenue, remains closed following a fire at Tulsa Recycling and Transfer Center earlier this month. The City transfers recyclable materials dropped off at the local center to TRT for processing, so the City’s center will remain closed until TRT reopens. TRT has not notified the City of a potential opening date.
Water reuse: Construction set to start this fall
What is the status of the water reuse project the City has been working to implement?
The water re-use project implementation has passed several stages over the past few years — including feasibility studies and financing. The system will require the construction/installation of infrastructure that 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. This will allow the City to utilize 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. The project is expected to cost around $8.2 million, which will be funded partially through grant funding but primarily with Water Capital Investment Fees.
The City of Bartlesville currently supplies water to Bartlesville residents as well as the cities of Dewey, Ramona and Ochelata and several rural water districts. Average annual water use for the area is 5-6 millions of gallons of water per day (mgd), with usage spiking as high as 12 mgd during the summer months, and dipping to 3-4 mgd during the winter. Studies how that water re-use could extend available water supply by 4 mgd, which will help meet estimated future water demands of 7.1 mgd by 2035 and 8.4 mgd by 2055, based on a projected 2055 Washington County population of 63,000.
Regarding its current status, City staff is in the final stages of easement negotiations for the pipeline portion of the project. Engineering design is complete and bids will be solicited once the easements have been acquired. Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen says construction is tentatively planned to start this fall with completion targeted for late 2022.
Street sweepers operating as usual
Are the street sweepers still running? I haven’t seen them lately.
Yes, both units are operating as normally scheduled as long as staff is available in the Public Works Department. The machines operate according to a schedule that breaks the city into sections, completing the entire town approximately one time per month, assuming staff availability. Sweeping is also done in response to certain events as needed, such as sanding during ice storms.