Deal could deepen Tinker-OKC ties

Aging water and sewer systems at Tinker Air Force Base would be modernized under an agreement Oklahoma City officials believe could be finalized soon.

The proposal to have Oklahoma City take over water service promises to deepen and strengthen the longstanding relationship between the city and Tinker as the base expands over the next half-century.

Anticipating the deal could be done by Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year, the city council on Tuesday authorized the Water Utilities Trust and the city attorney's office to finalize the draft contract with the federal government.

Jared Stigge, whose firm, Guernsey, has worked on the "municipalization" agreement for much of the past decade, told the council Tinker's water and wastewater systems are, in substantial measure, past their design lifetimes.

Investment of $130 million is necessary over the next 16 years to meet Tinker's needs in coming decades, he said.

Total outlay for upgrades and management is an estimated $300 million over the 50-year life of the agreement, said Chris Browning, the Utilities director and general manager of the trust.

Stigge said the Air Force would pay cash for the needed capital improvements, relieving the need for the trust to borrow, a provision that protects the trust's top bond rating and keeps financing costs low.

Costs to serve Tinker will be segregated, guaranteeing that utility customers will not subsidize Tinker water service, and vice versa, he said.

A bonus is that a good deal of the work redesigning systems and installing pipe will go to local design firms and contractors, Stigge said.

A transition with more than a dozen milestones to meet along the way is expected to take a year.

Oklahoma City would provide common utility services, ranging from engineering to emergency repairs to leak detection.

Browning said Tinker depends on water wells, which the city would operate.

That differs from the broader Oklahoma City water system, which serves about 1.4 million people in the region with surface water stored in six reservoirs.

Water coming down the North Canadian River is impounded at Canton, Overholser and Hefner lakes.

Water from southeastern Oklahoma's McGee Creek and Atoka reservoirs is pumped 100 miles via the Atoka pipeline to Lake Stanley Draper.

Work is nearing completion on an interconnection project to link the northwest- and southeast-side sources.