PROPOSED PLANS FOR RIPLEY

1.      Establish new water system in Town-

Drill new wells

All new piping/ water lines/ new water tower

7/5/2025

Board of Trustees approved a water rate increase. Water rates will increase/decrease yearly based on the construction inflation index.

4/17/2025

West well is back online

3/19/2025

A rate study was performed and will be discussed at the next Town meeting, April 3, 2025.

3/5/2025

We submitted for the SEARCH grant this morning and will be notified in a few weeks if approved!

2/5/2025

We are meeting with Julie Savig from USDA on 2/7/2025 to assist us in applying for a SEARCH grant! This grant can be used to pay for predevelopement costs and activities, preliminary design and engineering analysis, feasability studies, and technical assistance.

1/05/2025

To achieve this goal, The Town will apply for a Grant and Loan through USDA along with some other grants. There are several things we need to do before we successfully apply for this large grant to fix the water infrastructure in Town. We need to do a rate study on our water to determine the percentage the town is making in revenues. We must be making enough revenue to cover all our water costs plus 40%. Expect a rise in water rates very soon. We need an engineering report and a predevelopment plan. These are some criteria I know of so far. There will be many specific needs that can take a long amount of time to accomplish. Some of these are 80/20 grants which means if, and when we are approved- they will cover 80% of the Project and we are responsible for the other 20% of the costs. The 20% can come from the Town and In-Kind Contributions. In-Kind contributions can be other grant moneys/ donations/ loans. This is a very large project and is going to take a lot of time and money. Right now, we are waiting to see if we are eligible for a grant to cover the engineering report expenses and the predevelopment costs. We should know very soon 😊. The smaller projects we have been working on recently have been in areas where we know we have a problem and are trying to keep larger problems from occurring. 90 percent of the time there is a water break, the location is unknown until further investigation. We have made some mistakes when attempting to fix known issues. We have been in contact with some organizations to help us with getting ready for this grant submittal.

The Town has operated on 2 wells for quite some time. In July 2024 one of our wells went down. We had a company come in and drill a new well, but our water samples have not come back successfully clean for that new well so we cannot utilize it, and it is offline. We are still working diligently to get this water safe for drinking, taking samples in to be tested, and working with advice and safety measures from ORWA. We have been operating on the 1 well since. We have had many breaks in Town because of our old and outdated piping. The Town has been fixing leaks as they break and fixing areas where we know could be an issue. We have put in a shut off valve at the water tower so we can close it when there is a leak, so the tower will not drain, getting our water back on quicker when there is an issue.

We have permission from the school to use their land for our new wells once the time comes. These wells will be nearer to the water tower, flowing to the water tower downhill and then downhill into town, so this will help us get water quicker as well.

2.      Sidewalks

We are looking into several infrastructure grants to fund our vision for a nice neighborhood stroll and safe walk to school.

3.      TSET Healthy Incentive Grant

7/72025

This agenda item has been tabled to give more time to decide to change the project description.

7/5/2025

Round Up Club cancelled their lease at the arena. With out a Round Up Club to manage the grant money, The Board will vote at the August 7 meeting to change the project description, and possibly use the funds at Sharum Park in Ripley. Plans for the rodeo grounds are unclear at the moment. The property will be discussed at the August 7 meeting.

5/29/2025

Ripley was granted $10,000 to help with fencing and lighting at the arena on behalf of the Round Up Club

3/11/2025

We submitted for this grant this morning! We will update when we hear something.

2/2/2025

We are working on a grant from TSET- Healthy Incentive Program- along with the Round Up Club Organization to get the Arena grounds back in complete working order to have some events there again!

In January, we got approval on a lot of the specifics for this grant. It is still in the works. The grant period opens on March 3, 2025, and we are very hopeful to have everything finished on our end, apply successfully, and be a recipient for this grant!

4.      School Zone

8/4/2025

School zone on 108/Morton is complete. The Town is working on a plan for a school zone all the way around campus.

3/7/2025

At our March meeting we were approved to add a school zone on Cook Street!

1/5/2025

In November 2024, The Town of Ripley entered an agreement with The Oklahoma Department of Transportation for the installation of Advance School Warning Signs with Flashing Beacons. This project is still a few months out, waiting for paperwork to be finalized.

5. Streets

5/17/2025

Out with the old, in with the new!

Thanks ALL!

3/7/2025

At our March meeting we were approved to buy all new street name signs for Ripley!

7/7/2025

Street work is out for bid.

2/3/2025

At our February 2025 Board meeting we will discuss to be approved to submit the 2025 COEDD REAP grant to fund asphalt overlay on Coyle Street from Cook to Main. EDIT- approved