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City discusses proposed wastewater plant upgrade
Monday, September 15, 2014 - Posted 8:03:57 PM
Minonk City Council members were given an overview of the proposed wastewater treatment plant upgrade by Farnsworth representative Shawn Maurer at the normal Monday night council meeting. City Administrator Gary Brennan told the council in order to start construction by next June, a decision must be made next month on whether or not to proceed with the project.
Maurer said the project has made it through the engineering review and there is no environmental impact from the project. The next step is to post the environmental impact statement for comments. After comments have been addressed, approval will be given to go ahead and apply for an IEPA loan for the project.
The goal is to have the design plan ready for the IEPA by January 15, 2015 and then get approval from the IEPA by June 2015. This will enable construction to start in July or August of 2015 and be finished by the summer of 2016. The first loan payment would then be in 2017.
Maurer said cost of design by the Farnsworth Group is normally 10% of construction cost which will be around $125,000 which is less than the original estimate of $150,000. Construction observation cost are estimated to be $110,000 and the bidding cost will be $10,000. Alderman Russell Ruestman asked why bidding costs are so high to which Maurer replied there is a lot of time spend answering questions from contractors during the bidding process.
Maurer said the upper ceiling for the cost of the wastewater treatment plant upgrade is $2,000,000 and expects 5 to 6 bidders to bid on the project. He expects, however, for the construction cost to be less than the $2,0000,000. The three main areas of improvement in the treatment plant is to install a fine bubbler aeration system, an automatic bar screening and a new lagoon pumping station. The new aeration system will eliminate the need for the existing mechanical system but the old system will be retained for backup. The new system will be more efficient and be less costly to operate.
The proposed new treatment plant has a life of expectancy of 20 years before maintenance and repairs will be required. Maurer said the new plant should last at least 30 years with maintenance.
The council will need to pass an ordinance to allow borrowing money for the project. The City currently has the following payments to make on outstanding loans:
Funding Source |
Maturity Date |
Yearly Payments |
GO Bond |
2023 |
$46,000 |
General Fund |
2016 |
$35,000 |
Minok Community Bank |
2018 |
$5,361 |
IEPA Loan |
2023 |
$26,586 |
IEPA Loan |
2015 |
$10,164 |
City Administrator Gary Brennan said a considerable amount of revenues will be available for repayment of any new IEPA loan with additional revenues available beginning in FY 2013. However, he said municipalities are only granted a certain level of borrowing power. This amount is based on the Total Assessed Valuation as determined by Woodford County. Considering the City's current debt obligations, the City currently has authority to issue only $1,989,901 in additional debt. City Treasurer Steve O'Reilly said he expects Minonk's assessed value to increase by 2016 which will expand the City's borrowing limit.
Maurer said the City does not have to borrow all the money for the
project but can finance part of the project through current
revenue. City Administrator Brennan said the City could finance the project cost through a $10 a month increase in the sewer tax in lieu of borrowing more money. He also said there is money in reserve for the sewer fund that could be used. Mayor Bill Koos said there also is money available in the TIF district to help finance the project since 30% of TIF funds could be use to help finance the project.
City Administrator Brennan said he will make up a chart showing different financing scenarios for the project and present it to the council at the October meeting when the council will then vote on approving the wastewater treatment plan upgrade.
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