Thursday, March 28, 2024

Seeks PWTF financing

Bridgeport moves forward on second reservoir

Posted

BRIDGEPORT – Mayor Janet Conklin, Public Works Superintendent Stuart Dezellem and City Clerk/Treasurer Judy Brown held a recent conference with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) regarding the process needed to acquire a parcel of real estate where the city can site a second reservoir.

In a report to the city council June 19, Dezellem told members that the conference call was productive toward the city goal.

Dezellem said the city next needs to find “appropriate in-kind real estate acre-for-acre on a market value comparison” to trade with WDFW.

Dezellem said he contacted a surveyor to begin the process of getting topographic and elevation details to help determine how much area the project will require.

“Our second reservoir needs an overflow elevation of 1,100 feet,” said Dezellem. “Once we get the base elevation just to the south of the current reservoir, we’ll figure out what size tank we need and that will determine how much area we need.”

Dezellem believes two acres will be more than enough to accommodate the second reservoir.

Dezellem said Douglas County also needs to negotiate a property swap with WDFW for a project it has in the works so there is a possibility that the county and city might join efforts to complete both property transactions in one process.

Dezellem next addressed a potential funding source for the reservoir project.
City consulting engineers Gray & Osborne advised Dezellem that the state Public Works Trust Fund (PWTF) is again taking applications for city projects.
Dezellem said PWTF funds are low-interest loans and some of the best money available outside of a grant. That’s why so many small communities like Bridgeport relied on PWTF dollars for infrastructure projects..

“We ended up getting $6 million dollars for a quarter percent interest,” Dezellem said of an earlier PWTF loan.

“In the last two bienniums the legislature robbed those dollars from the Public Works Trust Fund and haven’t been able to fund any projects or even take an application,” Dezellem said.

Dezellem told the council the loan was a budget item and needed council approval to make application for funds to design the second reservoir.

“We’re going to meet the same criteria we met in the previous application,” said Dezellem. “Our average income is below the Douglas County median so I think we would be considered a financially distressed community.”

Dezellem said the interest rate on a five-year loan is .79 percent and 1.58 on five to 20-year money.

Since the reservoir needs to be designed before it can be put out for bid Dezellem recommended the city apply for PWTF money “just to keep this project moving down the road.”

The deadline for what Dezellem called a simple four-question PWTF application is July 12.

In response to a question from Brown about the water-utility fund that would pay back the loan, Dezellem said the account is on sound footing and he expects to see a $1.4 to $1.5 million combined reserve so the city could service the PWTF loan for the second reservoir.

Council member Matthew Schuh made the motion to go forward with the PWTF application to unanimous approval.

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