Bredesen Announces First Water and Wastewater Projects to Receive Recovery Act Funding
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 | 05:38am
NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen and Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke announced today that 10 communities and three utility districts have been approved to receive low-interest loans for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements. The funding comes from a combination of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the State Revolving Fund Loan Program. Forty percent of the funding is in the form of principal forgiveness, which does not have to be repaid.
“I’m pleased the Recovery Act is helping critical drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvements in Tennessee move forward,” said Bredesen. “The principal forgiveness provision of the Recovery Act is essentially a grant, which allows us to provide additional relief to local communities during difficult economic times.”
The low-interest loans and principal forgiveness are used to finance the planning, design and construction of water and wastewater facilities. Through this program, communities, utility districts and water and wastewater authorities can obtain loans with lower interest rates than most can obtain through private financing. Interest rates for the loans can vary from zero percent to market rate based on each community’s economic index.
“I am always pleased to see local governments and utility districts access this program to help finance the planning, design and construction of water and wastewater facilities,” said Fyke. “Community investments in our drinking water and wastewater systems are vital to maintaining environmental and public health, and we look forward to working with communities to move forward with these important projects.”
For the calendar year 2009, EPA provided $77 million in Recovery Act funding for the State Revolving Fund Loan Program and the state was not required to provide matching funds. In order to extend Recovery Act funding to a larger group of projects, Tennessee combined it with an equal amount of funding from the existing State Revolving Fund, which by law, cannot be used for another purpose.
The funding order of projects is determined by the SRF Loan Program’s Priority Ranking Lists that rank potential projects according to the severity of their pollution and/or compliance problems or for the protection of public health. Environment and Conservation administers the Recovery Act/State Revolving Fund Loan Program in conjunction with the Tennessee Local Development Authority.
Wastewater loans were announced today for the following recipients:
City of Atoka (Tipton County) – Atoka will receive $2 million for a collection system expansion to include the Blaydes, Faulkner and Strong sewer lines. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $1.2 million loan with an interest rate of 1.44 percent and $800,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Crossville (Cumberland County) – Crossville will receive $5 million for wastewater treatment plant improvements to achieve and maintain compliance with permitted flows. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $3 million loan with an interest rate of 2.88 percent and $2 million in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Goodlettsville (Davidson/Sumner Counties) – Goodlettsville will receive $12.5 million to update approximately 27,000 linear feet of sewer line and for construction of an 8.5 million gallon equalization basin adjacent to the existing Mansker Creek pumping station. This will reduce the amount of infiltration and inflow entering the sewer collection system during rain events and temporarily store excessive flows that reach the pump station, reducing sewage overflows to Mansker Creek. The project will be funded with a 20-year, $7.5 million loan with an interest rate of 2.88 percent and $5 million in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Hallsdale-Powell Utility District (Knox/Union Counties) – The Hallsdale-Powell Utility District will receive $12.15 million for wastewater system improvements consisting of a Willow Creek interceptor replacement project, North Fork interceptor replacement project, Sanitary Sewer rehabilitation Phase II project and Brickey Elementary School outdoor classroom and stormwater mitigation project. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $7.29 million loan with an interest rate of 2.52 percent and $4.86 million in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Hohenwald (Lewis County) – Hohenwald will receive $8.4 million for construction of a two million gallon-per-day lagoon with spray irrigation, pump station and force mains, as well as manholes, to eliminate an existing surface water discharge, infiltration and inflow and non-chronic overflows. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $5.04 million loan with an interest rate of 1.44 percent and $3.36 million in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Kingsport (Hawkins/Sullivan Counties) – Kingsport will receive $2.2 million for Madd Branch stream bank restoration, pump station improvements and wastewater treatment plant improvements to include an ultraviolet disinfection system. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $1.32 million loan with an interest rate of 2.88 percent and $880,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Manchester (Coffee County) – Manchester will receive $12.5 million for wastewater treatment plant upgrades and expansion from 3.4 million gallons per day to 4.3 million gallons per day to maintain compliance with its NPDES permit. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $7.5 million loan with an interest rate of 2.16 percent and $5 million in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Maynardville (Union County) – Maynardville will receive $1.32 million for the installation of automatic read meters and sewer system videotaping, cleaning and mapping. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $792,000 loan with an interest rate of 1.44 percent and $528,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Drinking Water Loans were announced today for the following recipients:
Hallsdale-Powell Utility District (Knox/Union Counties) –Hallsdale-Powell Utility District will receive $2.82 million for water meter connection changeover projects and automatic radio meter replacements. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $1.69 million loan with an interest rate of 2.52 percent and $1.13 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Lafayette (Macon County) –Lafayette will receive $2.77 million for the Lafayette water system to connect to the Hartsville water system via a new water transmission main along Halltown Road and New Harmony Road from the Halltown elevated water tank in Trousdale County to the intersection with Deering Road in Macon County. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $1.66 million loan with an interest rate of 2.16 percent and $1.11 million in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of McMinnville (Warren County) –McMinnville will receive $600,000 for water line replacements along North Chancery and Morford Streets and a pump station upgrade on State Route 56. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $360,000 loan with an interest rate of 1.8 percent and $240,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Ocoee Utility District (Bradley/Polk Counties) –The Ocoee Utility District will receive $1.75 million for waterline extensions in the southeastern and eastern regions of the Ocoee Utility District’s distribution system. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $1.05 million loan with an interest rate of 1.44 percent and $700,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
City of Ripley (Lauderdale County) –Ripley will receive $1 million for water meter replacement. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $600,000 loan with an interest rate of 1.44 percent and $400,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Smith Utility District (Smith County) –The Smith Utility District will receive $300,000 for water meter replacement. This project will be funded with a 20-year, $180,000 loan with an interest rate of 1.44 percent and $120,000 in principal forgiveness that will not have to be repaid.
Additionally, the following traditional wastewater loans were announced today (traditional loans do not include Recovery Act funding or the principal forgiveness provision):
Hallsdale-Powell Utility District (Knox/Union Counties) –A $6.3 million increase to an existing 20-year loan, with an interest rate of 0.82 percent, for increasing the capacity of the Beaver Creek wastewater treatment plant from 5.6 million gallons per day to 9.7 million gallons per day.
City of McMinnville (Warren County) - An $880,000, 20-year loan with an interest rate of 1.8 percent for replacement of approximately 4,000 linear feet of collection system lines and associated manholes along North Chancery Street and the replacement of approximately 500 linear feet of collection system lines and associated manholes along Morford Street.
Additional Recovery Act/State Revolving Fund loans including principal forgiveness will be announced as they are finalized.
Since its inception in 1987, Tennessee’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $1 billion in low-interest loans. Since its inception in 1996, Tennessee’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program has awarded more than $125 million in low-interest loans. Both programs combined award approximately $75 million annually to Tennessee’s local governments for water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
Any local government interested in the SRF Loan Program should contact the State Revolving Fund Loan Program, L&C Tower, 8th Floor, 401 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37243, or call (615) 532-0445. Information about the SRF Loan Program may be found online at www.tn.gov/environment/srf.
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