Valdosta force main GEFA loan awarded

Valdosta city PR today, City Receives $36.7 million GEFA Loan to Move Forward with Force Main Project,

The City of Valdosta was awarded a $36.7 million Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loan by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA), on Nov. 14, 2013.

The city will use the low-interest loan to finance the construction of two major pump stations, two minor pump stations, a 6-mile 32-inch and 40-inch force main, a headworks structure with grit removal and bar screens, and a 6-million gallon equalization basin. Wastewater will be gravity fed to the existing site of the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for final treatment and discharged utilizing the existing plant outfall, until the relocation of the plant is completed in November 2015.

Easement Exhibit Context

This project will replace an existing 54-inch gravity sewer main to the current plant, as well as the plant’s existing influent pump station—both of which are highly prone to severe inflow and flooding from the Withlacoochee River during heavy rain events. The project is also expected to remove over 50 percent of sewer flow from Meadowbrook sewer trunk line.

The 1.4 percent, 20-year GEFA loan of $36,781,448 will allow the city to pay for and begin the project construction immediately. The city will retire the loan with SPLOST VII revenue, which comes in one month at a time over the next six years—January 2014 through December 2019.

“The City of Valdosta proactively accelerated this necessary wastewater treatment project by timing the application for the GEFA loan with the SPLOST referendum, shaving several years off the project timeline,” said Utilities Director Henry Hicks. “We have the project designed and ready to bid as we planned, and we’re pleased the timelines all came together.”

Easement Exhibit WWTP

On August 9, 2012, immediately after the city’s final claims appeal to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the relocation of the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant was denied, the Valdosta City Council authorized the contract services for design with Parsons and also applied for the GEFA loan for the construction of this project. Construction is expected to commence in the spring of 2014.

“We are grateful to the GEFA for providing the City of Valdosta with this loan at a great interest rate for this important project,” said Mayor John Gayle. “Their financial resources and continued faith in our ability to repay the loan in full and on time is the reason that the city will be able to complete this project in a timely manner. We certainly recognize the importance of this financing tool and this project.”

GEFA, headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the lead agency for state energy programs; directs the Georgia Land Conservation Program and maintains state-owned fuel storage tanks; and offers financing for reservoir and water supply, water quality, stormwater and solid waste infrastructure. Since 1985, GEFA has approved more than $3 billion in financial commitments to local governments, businesses and nonprofit organizations.

For more information, contact the Public Information Office at (229) 259-3548.

The city’s PR didn’t have any illustrations, but I suppose this is the project it’s about Force Main, EQ Basin, Lift Station and Headworks, and that’s where I got the illustrations I added above.

-jsq