KIA Approves Three Loans at June Meeting

FRANKFORT, Ky. (6/14/17) — Three loans were recently approved by the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority at the June board meeting held in Frankfort.

Paducah McCracken County Joint Sewer Agency, McCracken County

The authority approved a federally assisted Fund A loan for $9.1 million to construct a 10 million-gallon combined sewer storage tank as the first phase of the Harrison Street project. The loan is repayable over 20 years at an interest rate of 1.75 percent with a .2 percent annual administration fee on the unpaid balance. The project is required under the Paducah McCracken County Joint Sewer Agency’s Long Term Control Plan and consent decree with the Kentucky Division of Water and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The LTCP was approved in October 2016 with an implementation schedule that ends in 2020. Primarily, the tank will take in excess wet weather flows from the Harrison Street Pumping Station. Bids for the project will be opened in March 2018 and construction will begin in May 2018. The utility serves approximately 18,000 residential customers.

Mayfield Electric & Water System, Graves County

The authority approved a Fund B loan for $849,000 repayable over 20 years at a .25 percent interest rate to address clean water and drinking water needed repairs for the system already under construction. Two influent screw pumps at the wastewater treatment plant will be replaced with new pumps that have been in operation since the early 90s and are necessary to continue service to the public. The existing pumps provide lift for approximately 50 percent of the flow going into the wastewater treatment plant and all of the gravity that comes into the plant is carried by these pumps.

Two new water wells will be installed to replace two wells that have been in service since 1953 (a third well was installed in 1990). One of the older wells is pumping sand which leaves only two that are producing water—all three have reached their daily capacity. Failure of a well would require curtailment of usage hindering supply to three systems in Graves County.

The utility supplies water to 4,917 water customers and 4,480 sewer customers. Construction is scheduled for completion in September 2017.

City of Campbellsville, Taylor County

Campbellsville’s application for a Fund F loan in the amount of $6,593,000 to make system-wide improvements to the city’s water supply was approved by the KIA board. The system is plagued with inefficient operations that demand costly maintenance for the only supplier of drinking water for nearly 10,000 customers.

The project includes improvements to the water treatment plant as well as the urban area of the distribution system to upgrade and repair various aging, undersized or inadequate infrastructure throughout the system. The treatment plant portion of the project includes improvements to the mechanical and electrical components of the system including the clarifier filter control console; valve replacements; raw water meter vault improvements; upgrades to the pre-filter chlorination processes; and improvements to two high service pumps to allow an increase of capacity to 3,300 gallons per minute.

The distribution system improvements include the replacement of aging and deteriorated cast iron pipe, some of which were originally installed in the 50s, with six-inch PVC pipe in several areas throughout the city. The heavily corroded pipe is difficult to repair and results in diminished capacity and reduced system pressures during demand periods.

The line replacement will directly improve service for 46 existing underserved customers while hundreds of others will see improved service. Construction is scheduled to start in October of 2017 and be completed a year later.

KIA administers low interest loans for the construction, improvement and acquisition of sanitary sewer and water facilities and other types of infrastructure. Eligibility is based on a strategic project prioritization process and a resource planning list developed jointly with the state's area development districts, the Kentucky Department for Local Government, the Kentucky Division of Water, the Kentucky Rural Water Association and utilities which participate in regional water councils (kia.ky.gov/wris). Each project profile is listed at kia.ky.gov/board and loan programs at kia.ky.gov/loan.

Interest rates are based on the median household income (MHI) in the utility’s service area as compared to Kentucky’s statewide MHI of just over $42,000.