News Staff Writer

The Ponca City Board of Commissioners heard an update Monday night from Bruce Ackerman of the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority.

OMPA is the wholesale power supplier which supplies electricity to Ponca City and 36 other municipal systems. Ackerman said OMPA was celebrating its 25th anniversary and expects to add Orlando and Watonga to its customer list in the next year.

Ackerman said the John W. Turk Jr. power plant in Fulton, Ark., is about one-third completed. OMPA holds a 6.7 percent interest in the 600-megawatt ultra-supercritical coal-fired plant which is expected to be in operation by 2012, he said.

OMPA did a bond refunding in January which resulted in a savings of $11.8 million through 2027, Ackerman said, and another bond refunding is in the works.

He updated commissioners on the Oklahoma Comfort Program which offers energy audits and rebates for the installation of geothermal heat pump systems in residences.

"Energy audits have been done on 30 homes, which is the first step in the process," Ackerman said. "Four geothermal heat pump systems have been installed."

The program was developed by the Geothermal Resources Council, ClimateMasters and OMPA, he said, and is funded with stimulus funds through the Department of Commerce.

Systems must be less than 5.5 tons to qualify for rebates, he said.

"This program is in addition to the WISE rebates," he said. "A property owner could receive as much as $1,800 per ton for installation of a geothermal heat pump system. There also is a tax credit available and the systems will lower heat and cooling costs 30 to 50 percent.

"The systems also lower a city's peaks and lower the city's bills for power from OMPA," he said.

He also discussed the Demand and Energy Efficiency Program for large commercial and industrial customers, which will help reduce peak energy use.

Ackerman said there would be an all-employee training at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 21-22 at Hutchins Memorial on effective communications.

In other business, the city commission held a public hearing on an ordinance amending the city code to adopt the 2009 edition of the Existing International Building Code.

Community Development Director Chris Henderson said in the late 1990s, New Jersey introduced smart codes that lessened the strict enforcement of codes for older and historic buildings.

"The provisions address the typical shortcomings that existing and older buildings have — things that any new construction would have taken care of. It makes older and historic buildings viable for re-use," he said.

There were no comments from the public during the hearing and the code update was approved unanimously.

The commissioners also approved Construction Payment No. 17 to Lambert Construction Co. in the amount of $1,395,550 for construction on the Ponca City Aquatic and Family Center — YMCA.

Assistant City Engineer Mike Chapman updated the commissioners on the progress of construction with several photographs.

Chapman said the construction progress is on track to meet the Oct. 28 deadline for the substantial completion date. After that, the building will be turned over to the YMCA for additional equipment and employee training before it is opened to the public.

At the conclusion of the meeting, commissioners convened as the trustees of the Ponca City Utility Authority.

They approved four contracts for tree and brush trimming for five different areas of Ponca City for the next year.