The Culver Town Council has taken another step toward upgrading its water treatment facility.
During a special meeting on Tuesday night, an ordinance that allows a bond issuance to take place was considered. Culver is in the process of undertaking a $1.6-million upgrade to its water treatment facility. Fees and other expenses put the project in the $2.2-million range.
Town Attorney Jim Clevenger says one of the requirements is to enter into a contract with the Indiana Finance Authority.
“They’re the outfit that administers the state’s drinking water revolving loan program,” says Clevenger. “And it’s a separate multi-page document that is a contract that says ‘we’re going to loan you the money’ but if we do, you’ve got to do certain things, most of which you would have had to have done anyway.”
Bids were awarded for the construction work at the facility along with a separate bid to construct a water holding tank this month.
Culver is working under deadline to receive funding from various resources, including OCRA and the Culver Redevelopment Commission. Still, a 20-year bond schedule sold to the State Revolving Fund, and with the added bonus of a two-percent interest rate, will fund a majority of the project.
The Town continues to debate whether to include alternates such as a storage facility and fluoride in the project scope. Clevenger says the paperwork needs to be in place for a pre-closing meeting next Tuesday.
“There’s one other thing we still have to do, we have to pay a rate ordinance,” says Clevenger. “It’s imperative that we have revenue to pay all of our costs.”
The Culver Town Council will hold a second special meeting on June 15th to consider raising rates for water consumption. The increase is a two part rate rise to help pay for the bonds.
The Town Council suspended the rules and approved all three readings of the water bond ordinance on Tuesday night.
