Oct. 4—Claremore city councilors awarded a $307,683.14 construction contract for the 2022 CDBG Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement project to Stronghand, LLC.

City Engineer Garrett Ball said the project includes adding a mechanical bar screen and an effluent flow meter. The mechanical bar screen will be installed at the Cat Creek lift station at the plant and will pull trash out of the wastewater streams.

"The Cat Creek lift station collects sewer from about half of town at that one point, and then it pumps it to the head of the plant," Ball said. "So, it's got some super big pumps in it and it has a really big line that comes into [the plant]. So, there's times that we get all kinds of big trash that can cause problems with the pumps."

The effluent flow meter will measure the flow leaving the plant going downstream.

"We're required by DEQ to report the flow volume that leaves the plant that's part of the treatment process standards," he said. "There's an existing flow meter device, but it's kind of been hit-and-miss on working, so this will be a lot better way to measure the flow."

Ball said Claremore's Wastewater Treatment Plant pumps between 1.5-3 million gallons on average per day and hasn't been upgraded since the plant expansion and upgrade in 2015.

He said this project will increase reliability of the plant itself and help the department meet the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality standards for treatment and reporting.

The project is funded through the CDBG Small Cities Grant Program, the city and the Cherokee Nation.

The CDBG grant provided $228,000, which the city matched because it was a cost share grant. The Cherokee Nation donated $80,000 toward the project. The total cost of the project is expected to be approximately $536,000.

"In the Cherokee culture we are often reminded that water is life," Cherokee Nation District 14 Councilor Keith Austin said. "We strive to always be good stewards of our water. This holds true for both our fresh water and our waste water. The city of Claremore has shown the dedication to meeting this obligation with these improvements. Unfortunately, with inflation and supply issues, they needed a little help getting across the finish line. I am proud the Cherokee Nation could join together to make it happen."

Ball said they've been preparing for this project for two years and purchased the needed equipment eight months ago.

"The equipment's already there, ready to ready to be installed," he said.

Contractors should be able to complete the project within three to four months with no service disruptions, he said.

"Everything that we're going to have to do will be done out there at the plant," he said.