Explanation
1. BACKGROUND
Need: The Ohio EPA requires this legislation which authorizes the Director of Public Utilities to apply for and execute nine Ohio Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) loan agreements , for construction of nine projects, as described in Section 1 of this Ordinance, under the direction of the Division of Sewerage and Drainage. It is estimated that up to $285 million of construction costs for these projects will be financed through the Ohio Water Pollution Control Loan Fund program in 2010, with the engineering services costs of the projects being paid for through City bond money. The OSIS Augmentation and Relief Sewer (OARS) is the largest of these projects with an estimated construction cost of $264.5 million. This loan program is jointly administered by the Ohio EPA's Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance, and the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA). The WPCLF provides below-market interest rate loans for municipal wastewater treatment improvements. The current rate for WPCLF loans is 3.25 percent.
2. FISCAL IMPACT
Budgeted Amount: There is sufficient budget authority in the 2010 Water & Sewer Systems Operating Funds for application fee expenditures. This loan will be paid off over a 20-year period from water and sewerage system fees (dedicated source of repayment). Water and Sewerage fee increases have been projected and planned in anticipation of this project and loan.
Title
To authorize the Director of Public Utilities to apply for, accept, and enter into nine Ohio Water Pollution Control Loan Fund Agreements with the Ohio Water Development Authority and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to assist in the project financing, for the Division of Sewerage and Drainage; and to designate a dedicated repayment source for the loans.
Body
WHEREAS, in 2010 the Department of Public Utilities is scheduled to submit nine loan applications to the Ohio EPA under the Ohio Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) program to finance, through below-market interest rate loans, the construction costs of nine projects for the Division of Sewerage and Drainage, which financial assistance will be of help in reducing total project costs to the City's sewerage customers; and
WHEREAS, prior to WPLCF loan agreement approval by the OWDA, the WPCLF loan application and loan agreement documents require the City to submit to the Ohio EPA a certified copy of the approved City Council legislation which authorizes the Director of the Public Utilities Department to apply for and subsequently execute the WPCLF loan agreement, and authorizes a dedicated source of loan repayment for the WPCLF agreement; and
WHEREAS, the WPCLF loan agreements authorized by this legislation will finance an estimated $285 million in construction costs, and will be paid for by equal semi-annual payments to the Ohio Water Development Authority according to the terms of these 20-year loan agreements; Now Therefore:
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. That the Director of Public Utilities be, and hereby is, authorized to apply for, accept, and enter into to nine Water Pollution Control Loan Fund Agreements with the Ohio Water Development Authority and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to assist in the financing for the Division of Sewerage and Drainage projects as described below with the estimated construction project costs as follows:
1. CIP No. 650250-100003 - Jackson Pike Wastewater Treatment Plant, Digester Cover Rehabilitation, $1,500,000.00
2. CIP No. 650359-100001 - Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant Sludge Thickening Improvements and Additional Renovations, $1,365,000.00
3. CIP No. 650368-100000 - Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant Corrosion Prevention, $1,000,000.00
4. CIP No. 650375-100002 - Compost Facility, Odor Reduction Improvements, Part 1, $2,108,000.00
5. CIP No. 650510-100032 - Sewer Maintenance Operations Center Materials Storage Addition, $500,000.00
6. CIP No. 650691-100002 - Olentangy Scioto Interceptor Sewer Downtown Odor Control, $5,600,000.00
7. CIP No. 650704-100001 - Olentangy Scioto Interceptor Sewer Augmentation Relief Sewer (OARS), $264,506,000.00
8. CIP No. 650737-100000 - Combined Sewer Overflow Regulator Sluice-Gate Modifications, $4,000,000.00
9. CIP No. 650742-100000 - Berliner Park Sewer Improvements, $3,000,000.00
Section 2. That Water and Sewerage System Service Charges is hereby authorized to be the dedicated source of repayment for all Water Pollution Control Loan Fund Agreements.
Section 3. That this ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest period allowed by law.