The City of Newcastle has purchased 14 acres near State Highway 9 and US Highway 62 for an MBR plant they plan to build.
An MBR plant is an aerobic system for treating sewer waste water with oxygen. This type of plant uses membranes with a vacuum system that will pull the water through the membrane and then scour the treatment.
It is considered to be a very clean discharging plant. What comes out of it can be much cleaner than what comes out of the aerobic.
When built, the plant would serve businesses in the SH-9 area of Newcastle, as well as the new Chickasaw Nation-Indian Healthcare Services hospital to be built in Newcastle.
City Council members approved a recommendation by City Manager Kevin Self to make an outright purchase of the property for $7,142 per acre.
Self said, “We thought we would only need five acres, but with that plant at full capacity, five acres would not handle the size of the facility expansion we would need. Our engineer looked at that, and determined we would eventually need 14 acres.”
Mayor Karl Nail said, “This is very beneficial to the landowners there. The City has guaranteed them that part of the capacity will be available to them. This gives them the ability to develop at least a portion of their property with more dense development. It’s really a good deal all around.”
The location is also considered to be ideal because water will gravity flow there.
The Council approved the purchase to be made with the City’s existing fund balance and without any loan proceeds.
