The Centralia City Council Monday night began the procedures to seek a $28-million low interest EPA loan to build a new water treatment plant.
City Manger Kory Smith says the 1.81-percent loan would be paid back at $1,633,550 per year over 20 years. He reports their engineer Curry and Associates is currently completing documents to go out for bid.
“At this time, they are finalizing the projects permits, and preparing the project for the bid process. The plant will be located city property less than 3/4 of a mile southwest of the current water treatment plant. This property was purchased in 2005 for water treatment process residue basins which the IEPA regulations required we be added to the treatment process. These basins will be utilized with the new water treatment plant.”
So far the city has no grant money to help reduce the amount of the loan, but Mayor Bryan Kuder hopes that will change.
“We are trying our hardest to get ahold of every cent grant funded, whatever you want to call it, that we can get our hands on. We are petitioning, calling, setting up meetings trying to get as much money as we can so we don’t have to relay the burden on to the consumer. We are trying to get the money that has to come out of our coffers as low as possible.”
The new water plant site three-fourths of a mile southwest of the existing water treatment plant on the north side of Central City has been found to be in compliance by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources with the National Historic Preservation Act and environmental review.
On a related matter, the council approved the third of three licenses needed with the Canadian National Railroad to cross the railroad tracks at Ellis and Prairie Streets with new raw and treated water mains that will serve the plant.
