The city council members are also celebrating a 43.87% reduction of the annual debt payment for the proposed project, which is the result of grants, competitive bids and competitive financing, according to city manager Crystal Prentice.
Prentice said the big hurrah is that the city is saving $10.5 million on the new project.
Mayor Roy Srp said that there are many people to thank for getting the project to the groundbreaking stage after many years in the planning stages.
Srp has announced the assistance of federal and state representatives who played a role in bringing grants to Waseca.
The cost of the new project is being reduced by three grants totaling $6,505,050.
The grants include a $505,050 Total Maximum Daily Load grant from the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority, administrator of the program with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; a $2 million Clean Water Revolving Fund American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 base grant; and a $4 million ARRA supplemental grant.
The city will bond for the project in the amount of $9,603,499 and has locked with the interest rate of 2.627% for a 20-year term. The city’s annual debt service payment in 2010 is expected to be $622,782, according to Prentice. At the council meeting on July 7, 2009, the council has unanimously approved the issue and sale of the bond.
In resolutions approved by the city council on June 16, 2009, the treatment facility improvement project was awarded to Robert L. Carr Company with the amount of $10,479,000 and the sanitary sewer improvement project was awarded to S.M. Hentges and Sons, Inc., with the amount of $2,793,963.
Prentice said that with the reduction of project debt the city council can consider during upcoming budget talks whether the sewer fees increased to fund the new facility should be maintained, decreased or eliminated.
