TULSA, Okla. — The City of Glenpool is getting $44 million federal dollars for a new wastewater treatment plant.
Leaders and neighbors in the community said this is a major win that comes in just in time.
Garret James and his family have been in this neighborhood three years.
“In the winter time, it gets a pretty bad smell mainly when the Northwind blows…you can really smell it," James said. He lives just a few hundred feet from Glenpool's waste water facility.
Glenpool City Manager told 2 News Thursday the existing facility is on a lagoon system.
“We’ve got one of the last Lagoon systems in Tulsa, one of the last Lagoon systems probably for a city of our size in the state," Tillotson said.
A system he said, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality deemed in need of an upgrade. But upgrading the current lagoon to a mechanical wastewater system came with a price tag of $44 million dollars.
Without federal funding, Tillotson said they would have sought out other alternatives like bond packages, or raising sales taxes on Glenpool residents. However, thanks to the ARPA award they no longer have to do that.
“It will save our taxpayers money. We won’t have to increase tax rates just to pay for a new update," Tillotson said.
All of the funding is for design and construction of the plant and is reimbursement based. This means the city will put the money up front and request reimbursement as portions of the project are completed. Meanwhile, James hopes the upgrades bring relief he and his neighbors want to see.
“I think that it would be great, especially if they can fix the odor problem and you know, update to where it’s new equipment and new uses I guess where it betters the city’s waste, " James said.
Tillotson said the lagoon will be decommissioned, according to federal guidelines. Construction on the new facility is set to begin late 2023 into next year.
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