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Pawhuska Sanitation Director Bill Bruce says the City of Pawhuska needs to upgrade its electric substation.

Bruce told the Pawhuska City Council this week that City of Edmond is changing out its transformer. He said if the City of Pawhuska were to purchase the item, it would cost them anywhere between $625,000 to $725,000 to replace the old transformer.

The cost the City of Edmond gave to Bruce to purchase the transformer the first time was $15,000. Bruce said they dropped the price to $10,000. He apologized for not having better news to share with the Council.

Bruce said the placement of the new transformer will require him and his crew to reconfigure electric lines coming out of the substation. He said his crew can do the relocation of the wires to keep the City of Pawhuska from having to go out and hire a crew that will charge them from materials and labor.

A list of estimates was also provided to the Council. Bruce said it could cost $12,000 to test the transformer where its at in Edmond and to make sure that nothing happened to it during transportation by testing it again upon arrival in Pawhuska. He said it could cost the City $75,000 for foundational work, but added that his crew could do that work in-house to bring the price down. Some other items would have to be priced out at a later date.

The transformer Bruce was looking to replace currently has an oil leak problem. Bruce said he will continue to work towards getting the new transformer from the City of Edmond as recommended by the Pawhuska City Council.