LAKEPORT, Calif. – The city of Lakeport has received approval for $3.9 million in federal funding to make needed upgrades to its water and sewer systems.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development has approved the funds which include $3,182,000 to be repaid over 40 years at a low interest rate of 1.875 percent and a $750,000 grant, according to Congressman Mike Thompson’s office.
“This money will create jobs and save tax payer money by improving Lakeport’s water infrastructure,” said Thompson. “These are the kinds of smart investments we need to make to get our economy back on track and support our rural communities. I am proud to have worked to help get these funds for Lakeport.”
The USDA funds will cover just under half the estimated $8 million price tag for all of the water and sewer projects the city must complete in order to comply with state regulatory requirements.
The projects include the installation of approximately 2,300 new water meters; a new supervisory control and data acquisition control system; the purchase of the Green Ranch, where two of the city’s drinking water wells are located; sewer pond desludging; recoating water tanks; upsizing of an undersized Main Street sewer line between Clearlake Avenue and Sixth Street; a new water main loop; replacement of the Clear Lake Avenue Sewer Lift Station; and replacement of the sewer main conduit under Highway 29 between Parallel Drive and Bevins Street.
City Manager Margaret Silveira said the city is waiting for the USDA to release the funding.
She said there is still engineering to be completed on the projects – some preliminary work was done for the federal application – so it will be at least a few months before the projects can start.
Silveira said the city expects some of the water and sewer projects will be conducted jointly, as it’s less expensive that way. “They kind of have to go hand in hand,” she said.
The grant and loan from the USDA will be combined with new revenue through rate increases to complete the projects, according to the city.
Last October, the Lakeport City Council voted to double city water and sewer rates over the next five years due to the need that the city said existed to address the condition of the water and sewer facilities.
City officials said the water enterprise funds couldn’t meet bond obligations and the city’s water and sewer systems were running in the red, as Lake County News has reported.
At the time, city Utilities Director Mark Brannigan had said that if the federal funding was approved it could help reduce customers’ bills by several dollars a month.
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