Bryan County Rural Water District No. 2 is having to expand its water plant due to growth in the region and they are seeking grants to help with funding.
Regina Clinton, manager for Rural Water District No. 2, spoke during a recent meeting of Bryan County Commissioners Scott Goad, Tony Simmons and Brandon Carr.
“As you know, we’ve started experiencing a great deal of growth in our district and we’re being forced to expand our water plant and the Choctaws have also asked us to be a back-up water source for the casino,” Clinton said. “So we’re in the process of trying to expand our water treatment plant, rebuild our water substation on Blue River, put in an elevated storage tank and to upgrade water lines.”
According to Clinton, the total cost of the project will be $62,535.000.
“Of course, I’m trying to get every bit of grant money I possibly can,” she said. “The first phase right now is going to be the water storage tank and the line upgrade and that alone is going to be $23 million and we’re just requesting to get your support to apply for the next CDBG (grant) to go towards this project.”
Asked if the water district had any other funding sources, Clinton replied that the Choctaw Nation and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board will be contributing $4.6 million each.
“We’re looking to have to borrow about $30 million,” Clinton said.
Commissioners voted to approve supporting a Spring 2025 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to fund the plant expansion.
In other agenda items during the meeting, the Confederate statue in front of the Bryan County Courthouse that was the subject of protests in the past was discussed during the meeting.
Judy Polson, representing The United Daughters of Confederacy, told commissioners about the history of the statue. She said that in 1912, members began raising money for the statue and they raised enough money to fund it by the end of that year. Polson said UDC was negotiating with the city to put it at an intersection.
“I’m assuming like a roundabout like you see in Europe but anyway, the city didn’t approve it, so when the statue came, they put it in storage for five years,” Polson said. “Well, when the courthouse was completed, they received an invitation to put it on the lawn of the courthouse so that’s when it happened.”
She said there was a large celebration and the name of the local United Daughters of Confederacy chapter is Julia Jackson.
“It was named after the daughter of Stonewall Jackson,” Polson said. “Her neice was here for that celebration, so it was quite a big event and Robert Williams’ mother was a member of this organization.”
Polson also spoke of the controversy of the statue.
“As you know, in the last five years, there’s been a lot of threats to monuments all over the country and here, I know, Sheriff Johnny Christian remembers this because in 2017, Antifa put out a list of 10 monuments across the South that they were coming to destroy and ours was on the list,” Polson said. “Then again, BLM came about two years ago (to protest). In both cases, there was a big support of the law enforcement and the city officials and the community. I’ve never seen so many people walking about with AR-15s.
“So we’ve had tremendous support and I think people in the South maybe understand this statue is like all the other statues just to support the people who fought in all of these wars and that was one of our wars, and other people don’t understand that as well.”
She said UDC only has a few members now and that the organization has projects for veterans. UDC recently collected 80 new baseball caps to donate to the veterans center in Bonham, Texas.
“That is kind of what we’re about and so we would love to see the statue continue but when all of this was going on, I was talking with (then county commissioner) Ron Boyer and he actually met with the BLM people and was successful and I think you did too.”
Simmons said, “It was quite an experience doing all of that but the statue’s still there, though.”
Polson replied that the problem is, the base is deteriorating. During one of the protests, someone donated $2,000 to help fund renovation of the monument, according to Polson.
“We also have a fund in our group of $1,700 that other chapters across Oklahoma have given us because not many people have a statue like that in their town and so they wanted to help us get it preserved. So that’s also available and we would be willing to help fund the work when that time comes.”
No action was taken but it was agreed to see if there is someone who can repair it which may require someone from a bigger city.
“That would be great because we have talked to a lot of people and a lot of people have been afraid to tackle it, I think,” Polson said.
Also in the meeting, commissioners approved designating May 5-7 as Oklahoma Home Community Education (OHCE) Week. Tommie James, Bryan County extension educator, passed out a flyer about the organization and she said there are 34 members in Bryan County who in 2023, donated $2,610 and provided 1,835 volunteer hours. They help with many activities, including 4-H and the Bryan County Free Fair.
Two scholarships in the amount of $700 were recently presented to high school seniors Kor Jo Whitley and Tapley Grace Smiley. OHCE members also make a quilt to raffle which raises funds for the scholarships. Members also donate new and gently used children and adult coats as well as providing many other services in the community.