By Carol Cole
The Norman Transcript
The City of Norman tentatively plans about $31 million in revenue bond issues this fall to fund water projects approved from its recent water hike, said Finance Director Anthony Francisco at a city council study session Tuesday to go over enterprise funds in the fiscal year 2007 preliminary budget.
He bonds would cover several projects, most importantly drilling of 23 water wells from FY 2006 through FY 2009, for the expansion of the city’ water well field to compensate for several wells shut own because of too-high levels of naturally occurring arsenic from the Garber-Wellington aquifer in those areas.
Construction of new wells is slightly behind schedule for this fiscal year, but is expected to be caught up later this summer.
“Hopefully, we’ll have three drilled (by the end of FY 2006 on June 30), and two more by August,” said Utilities Director Ken Komiske.
Six more wells are set to be drilled in FY 2007 five in FY 2008 and six in FY 2009.
Norman has increased its budget for purchase of more water from Oklahoma City, because of the effect of water wells going off-line, Francisco said.
“We’re buying water (from Oklahoma City) earlier than we ever have before,” he said, at a rate of $3.76 per thousand gallons of treated water. “There’s no way around that.”
But if Oklahoma City has an emergency such as a water line break, they do not have to sell water to Norman.
“It’s obviously in their best interest to keep their lines fixed and they do a great job of it,” Francisco said.
Some of the other water projects will include expansion of water line replacement for hot soils, water distribution system improvements, water treatment plant improvements including reduction of taste and odor, an emergency power generator and clarifier rehabilitation.
Water towers would be rehabbed with the first already done this year, and phase one of the raw water line coming from Lake Thunderbird would be replaced.
The revenue bonds would be issued tentatively at a 5.5 percent tax exempt interest rate with a 20 year maturity.
Francisco stressed the budget is preliminary.
“At this point, it becomes the council’s budget,” he said.
Francisco detailed other parts of the enterprise fund budgets to council.
Enterprise funds run the Westwood Park, Norman Water Utility, Norman Wastewater Utilities and Norman Sanitation Utility.
“Theoretically, the customers pay for the full costs of service,” Francisco said about enterprise funds.
The exception would be the Westwood Park fund, which requires some additional funds from the room tax.
But revenues have continued to trend upward, with revenues for this year $4,200 ahead of the same period last year, said Parks Director Jud Foster. "Eac hyear is getting better since we reopened."
nedc@nedcok.com
