Mt. Vernon Register-News

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February 2, 2010

Loan obtained for city sewer project

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — The city has applied for a $1.1 million low-interest loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to extend sewer lines into areas opened for development by the new overpass/interchange.

City Manager Ron Neibert said the loan will pay for the entire cost of the project.

“When we can borrow money at 2.5 percent interest for 20 years, we borrow all we need for the project,” Neibert said.

According to City Engineer John Porter, the project will include about 6,500 feet of 24-inch sewer line, which will extend the line which ends now in the northeast corner of Lincoln Park, just off Veterans Memorial Drive. The extension will then go under Interstate 57/64 south of the new interchange and go as far west as Wells Bypass.

“Once we get to the point in the South Davidson and Veterans Memorial Drive roadway extension process, we’ll go out to bids to do that portion,” Neibert said.

Three city projects are ready for engineering work, and Neibert and city officials met Tuesday with engineers for preliminary discussions on 34th Street.

“I expect we will have three engineering contracts ready for the council at the next meeting,” Neibert explained. “One will be the Veterans Memorial Drive and South Davidson roadway extension, another for 34th Street and the third for the Times Square Mall water tower.”

At this time, the city is looking at its options for widening South 34th Street, as well as how to address the intersection with Veterans Memorial Drive where the roadway “jogs” east before continuing to Lincoln Park.

During work on the city Comprehensive Plan, the Infrastructure Committee discovered the Times Square Mall water tower had deteriorated to the point of needing replaced due to lack of maintenance. The estimated cost to replace the tower is $1.5 million.

Neibert said the city will continue to use the recent increases in water and sewer rates as well as the diesel tax, restaurant food/beverage tax and the telecommunications tax to pay for infrastructure and capital improvement projects and use the funds to leverage bonding and borrowing capability of the city for the projects.

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