Gainesboro hopeful the town has a better chance of approval on a $10.5 million loan for a new water treatment plant.
Consulting Engineer Nathaniel Greene said the town applied in 2023, but did not make the priority funding list. However, Green said TDEC recently re-ranked the priority list.
“I received an email that said they want to reopen, that we have now been re-ranked for that 2023 ranking, so two years behind, but I guess late is better than never,” Green said, “We have 30 days from right now to submit a bunch of information.”
Green said the $10.5 million loan would be a 30-year term with a 1.3 percent interest rate. Green said of the $10.5 million loan, TDEC is offering $5 million in grant funding.
“You only have to repay $5.5 million, you get $5 million in grant, so we add that together with the funding that we have from the county and you guys to for the intake and the raw waterline and that gets us up to around thirteen point some odd million dollars with $8 million of it being free,” Green said.
Green said that after the submission is completed, TDEC will then conduct a financial sufficiency review to make sure the water rates are in line to be able to afford the loan. Green said that since the town is conducting a water rate study, it presents a stronger case to TDEC that the town can afford the loan.
“I think we put that in the letter, and we let them know that hey, this is being worked on, even if you don’t think that we are not financially sufficient now, there is a plan to get there,” Green said. “Typically, because this is a long-term project, they would allow you a period of time because you are not automatically gonna take on that debt and you are not automatically gonna have to repay it all at once.”
Gainesboro has been in the process of trying to build a new water treatment plant since 2022, rather than upgrading the current facility.
