Clay County officials said a meeting went well with USDA on a possible $15 million loan for a new jail.
Clay County Mayor Dale Reagan said the county applied for a $7.5 million loan a few years ago but was unable to use the loan after bids for the jail came in significantly higher than expected. Reagan said even though the loan amount has doubled, he still feels like the county will be approved for the loan.
“Now that we’ve got that taken care of, now we take the next steps and everything so it’s just kind of a step process and everything that we got to go through with, so yeah, I’m positive about but we will just have to see,” Reagan said.
Reagan said the USDA quoted the county a 4.25 percent interest for 40 years. Reagan said in the meeting, the county learned that the interest rate on the loan could be even lower.
“Whatever the interest is at the time the project is finished, and let’s just say it takes two years to get the project done, at that particular time, if that interest rate has come down, that’s what they will honor,” Reagan said. “Hopefully, interest rates will be down somewhat, but if it gets approved, it will be at 4.25 percent. It can’t go any higher, but it can certainly go lower if it happens before the project is closed out.”
Reagan said the USDA took pictures of the potential site located on Cordell Hull Drive, which is across the street from the Clay County Courthouse. Reagan said the USDA is considering county assets and the project itself when deciding whether the county will be approved for the loan.
“They want to make sure that the property here is suitable, the architect and engineering firm are going through some paperwork for USDA,” Reagan said. “There are several different things that they look at and everything, and like I said, hopefully all of that will come back good and we’ll be approved for the loan.”
Reagan said he believes the USDA understands how badly the county needs to build a jail. Reagan said now it is a waiting game, as the USDA did not give a timeline of when the county would hear back about the loan.
