Explanation
1. BACKGROUND: The Ohio EPA requires this legislation which authorizes the Director of Public Utilities to apply for and execute up to nineteen (19) Ohio Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) loan agreements totaling approximately $152 million, for construction of nineteen Sanitary and Treatment Engineering Capital Improvement Projects as identified in Section 1., under the direction of the Division of Sewerage and Drainage (DOSD). 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 Loan Fund program provides below-market interest rate loans for municipal wastewater treatment improvements.
2. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION: WPCLF loan applications are now being processed for some of these projects. This authorizing legislation is a requirement for loan approval and must be submitted to the Ohio EPA as a part of each loan application prior to consideration by the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA) board for loan award. For the purpose of keeping projects on schedule, therefore, emergency designation is requested.
3. FISCAL IMPACT: There is sufficient budget authority in the 2016 Sewer Systems Operating Funds for the loan application fee expenditures. These loans will be paid off over a 20-year period from sewerage system fees (dedicated source of repayment). Sewerage system fee increases have been projected and planned in anticipation of these projects and loans.
Title
To authorize the Director of Public Utilities to apply for, accept, and enter into up to nineteen (19) Ohio Water Pollution Control Loan Fund Agreements with the Ohio Water Development Authority and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, for the financing of up to nineteen Division of Sewerage and Drainage Division (DOSD) construction projects; to designate a dedicated source of repayment for the loans; and to declare an emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, in 2016 the Department of Public Utilities is scheduled to prepare loan applications for up to $152 million in financing, for submittal to the Ohio EPA under the Ohio Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) program to finance, through below-market interest rate loans, the construction of up to nineteen Capital Improvements Projects under the Division of Sewerage and Drainage, which said financial assistance may be of help in reducing total project costs to the City's sewerage customers; and
WHEREAS, prior to WPLCF loan agreement approval by the Ohio Water Development Authority, the WPCLF loan application and loan agreement documents require the City to submit to the Ohio EPA a certified copy of approved City Council legislation authorizing the Director of the Public Utilities Department to apply for and subsequently execute said WPCLF agreements, and to authorize a dedicated source of loan repayment for the loans; and
WHEREAS, this legislation must be approved and a certified copy must be submitted to the Ohio EPA prior to the OWDA board's consideration for approval as part of the loan application and loan agreement approval process; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Division of Sewerage and Drainage, Department of Public Utilities, in that it is immediately necessary to authorize the Director of Public Utilities to apply for, accept, and enter into to up to nineteen (19) WPCLF Loan Agreements with the State of Ohio for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, property, and safety; 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 up to nineteen (19) Water Pollution Control Loan Fund Loan Agreements with the Ohio Water Development Authority and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, for the financing of up to nineteen Division of Sewerage and Drainage projects as described with the "not to exceed" construction project costs in parenthesis, below:
1. CIP# 610786-100000 - Clintonville Area Storm Improvements; ($2,875,000.00)
2. CIP# 610788-100000 - Lehnert Farms & Bolton Field Storm Improvements; ($1,150,000.00)
3. CIP# 610792-100002 - Woodward Ave Detention Basin Improvements; ($747,500.00)
4. CIP# 611009-100000 - Terrace & Broad Storm Improvements; ($5,175,000.00)
5. CIP# 650250-100006 - JPWWTP Building Heating Systems Renovations (Design); ($769,350.00)
6. CIP# 650258-100001 - Facilities & Equipment Upgrades for Whittier St Storm Tanks; ($12,687,950.00)
7. CIP# 650259-100003 - JPWWTP Corrosion Prevent & Protection; ($2,971,600.00)
8. CIP# 650367-100005 - SWWTP Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment (CEPT) Site Prep; ($5,750,000.00)
9. CIP# 650404-100043 - 2016 Annual Lining Contract; ($9,200,000.00)
10. CIP# 650491-100002 - Lockbourne Intermodal Subtrunk (LIS) Sewer; ($70,725,000.00)
11. CIP# 650491-100005 - Lockbourne Intermodal Subtrunk (LIS) Air Quality Improvements; ($2,875,000.00)
12. CIP# 650570-100000 - Woodward Ave Sanitary Sewer; ($603,750.00)
13. CIP# 650725-100003 - Alum Creek Trunk (Middle) Rehab Phase B; ($5,750,000.00)
14. CIP# 650739-100000 - Petzinger Rd Sanitary Sewer; ($1,150,000.00)
15. CIP# 650744-100000 - Brimfield Area Sanitary Sewer; ($1,184,500.00)
16. CIP# 650751-100000 - Williams & Castle Roads Pump Station Control Valve Upgrade; ($4,025,000.00)
17. CIP# 650775-100000 - Rickenbacker Area Sanitary Pump Station Improvements; ($356,500.00)
18. CIP# 650870-10000(1-6) - Blueprint Clintonville Integrated Solutions Parts 1-6 (Green Infrastructure); ($15,410,000.00)
19. CIP# 650875-100002 - Blueprint Hilltop Lining Project; ($8,050,000.00)
SECTION 2. That Sewerage System Service Charges are hereby authorized to be the dedicated source of repayment for the Water Pollution Control Loan Fund Loans.
SECTION 3. That the City Auditor is authorized to establish proper project accounting numbers as appropriate.
SECTION 4. That the City Auditor is authorized to make any accounting changes to revise the funding source for all contracts or contract modifications associated with this Ordinance.
SECTION 5. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.