City receives large grant

by Todd Brooks

There was good news and bad news for the city this past week, both involving city water.

The good news is the city has received a $1 million Oklahoma Resources Board grant. The bad news is a fire early Sunday morning did damage at the water treatment plant on Dr. Pepper Road.

“The grant will go toward dams, spillways and repairs to both water towers,” said Chuck Ralls, city manager.

Fire chief Scooter Bivins said a city worker happened to be driving by the water treatment plant Sunday morning and saw the smoke and called the fire department.

A bucket truck had caught fire in the bay at the plant. Bivins said they were fortunate it was only the bucket truck that caught fire.

“It was all contained around where the truck was,” Bivins said.

While there was no additional fire damage, there was heat damage, including some to the treatment plant itself.

“The water plant is still working fine,” Ralls said.

Ralls said insurance should pay for the damage.

Bivins said the cause of the fire was undetermined, but it is suspected to be electrical. He said items inside the metal toolboxes were saved because they were secured but the rest of the truck was a total loss.