Explanation
1. BACKGROUND: The Ohio EPA requires this legislation which authorizes the Director of Public Utilities to apply for and execute up to twenty-six (26) new Ohio Water Pollution Control Loan Fund (WPCLF) loan agreements totaling approximately $207 Million, for the construction or design of twenty-six Sanitary, Stormwater, 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. FISCAL IMPACT: There is sufficient budget authority in the 2017 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 twenty-six (26) 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 twenty-six Division of Sewerage and Drainage Division construction and design projects; and to designate a dedicated source of repayment for the loans.
Body
WHEREAS, the Department of Public Utilities is scheduled to prepare loan applications for up to $207 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 design or construction of up to twenty-six 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, it has become necessary in the usual daily operation of the Department of Public Utilities to authorize the Director to apply for, accept and enter into a WPCLF loan agreement with Ohio Water Development Authority and submit a copy of this legislation to the Ohio EPA prior to the OWDA board's consideration for approval as part of the loan agreement approval process; 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 twenty-six (26) new 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 twenty-six Division of Sewerage and Drainage projects as described with the "not to exceed" project costs in parenthesis, below:
1. CIP# 610792-100002 - Woodward Ave Detention Basin Improvements; ($800,000)
2. CIP# 611030-100000 - Holton Park & Eureka Ave Green Infrastructure Imps [DESIGN]; ($450,000)
3. CIP# 611035-100000 - SMOC SCADA Modernization at Remote Storm Facilities; ($2,400,000)
4. CIP# 650230-100001 - JPWWTP Primary Clarifiers Electrical Upgrades; ($8,700,000)
5. CIP# 650367-100002 - SWWTP CEPT Preliminary Treatment Project; ($44,400,000)
6. CIP# 650367-100003 - SWWTP CEPT Clarification Project; ($43,700,000)
7. CIP# 650367-100004 - SWWTP CEPT Disinfection Project; ($28,200,000)
8. CIP# 650491-100007 - Intermodal Sanitary Sewer Extension [DESIGN]; ($2,000,000)
9. CIP# 650499-100000 - Upper Scioto West Shaft Improvements; ($2,000,000)
10. CIP# 650700-100000 - Portage Grove Area Sanitary Sewers; ($2,800,000)
11. CIP# 650725-100002 - Alum Creek Trunk (North) & Alum Creek Subtrunk Rehab; ($6,600,000)
12. CIP# 650725-100003 - Alum Creek Trunk (Middle) Rehab Phase C; ($4,200,000)
13. CIP# 650755-100000 - Third Ave CSO Increased Capture and Green Infrastructure; ($3,600,000)
14. CIP# 650776-100000 - SMOC SCADA Modernization at Remote Sanitary Facilities; ($2,000,000)
15. CIP# 650776-100001 - SMOC SCADA Communication Network Modernization; ($4,200,000)
16. CIP# 650870-100001 - Blueprint Clintonville GI Pt. 1 Blenheim/Glencoe; ($7,800,000)
17. CIP# 650870-100002A - Blueprint Clintonville GI Pt.2A Weisheimer/Indian Springs; ($2,400,000)
18. CIP# 650870-100002B - Blueprint Clintonville GI Pt. 2B Weisheimer/Indian Springs; ($4,600,000)
19. CIP# 650870-100003 - Blueprint Clintonville GI Pt. 3 Morse/Dominion; ($4,200,000)
20. CIP# 650870-100004 - Blueprint Clintonville GI Pt. 4 Overbrook/Chatham; ($1,200,000)
21. CIP# 650875-100003 - Blueprint Hilltop 4 Lining; ($8,400,000)
22. CIP# 650875-100004 - Blueprint Fifth by Northwest Lining; ($7,200,000)
23. CIP# 650875-100005 - Blueprint West Franklinton Lining; ($8,400,000)
24. CIP# 650876-110171 - Blueprint Clintonville Sump Pump Project, Phase 2; ($3,600,000)
25. CIP# 650890-100000 - Meeklynn Drive Sanitary Sewers; ($2,400,000)
26. CIP# 650895-100000 - HSTS Elimination Program [DESIGN]; ($600,000)
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 this ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest period allowed by law.