WHITEWATER — The Whitewater Common Council has authorized the city to take out a loan to help pay for sewer improvements in the city, including addressing lead service lines.
The authorization was for up to $1.5 million. Director of Public Works Brad Marquardt told the council Tuesday that the loan approval is a contingency for the project.
“We don’t see us borrowing up to that amount,†Marquardt said.
The overall cost of the project will be about $2.5 million.
If the monies are borrowed, it would be a part of the Wisconsin Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, which has been in place since 1998. It provides financial assistance to municipalities for publicly-owned drinking water infrastructure projects “that are needed to protect public health and achieve or maintain compliance with federal and state regulations relating to water supply,†according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Per the resolution approved, itÃÛèÖÊÓƵ a part of a financial assistance agreement between the DNR, the Department of Administration and each municipality participating in the program.
The $1.5 million would pay for legal, fiscal, engineering and “other†expenses.
If the entire amount is borrowed, the closing date of the loan is in 2035. To pay in full, about $153,000 would be placed on the tax levy in 2026. Eacy year following that, there would be about $152,000 levied. According to the resolution, the amount levied would be irrepealable.
There would be a .25% interest rate over its duration.
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