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Yorkville OKs $35M in ‘short-term’ financing for Lake Michigan water project · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Yorkville, Okay's thirty five million dollars in short term financing
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  Speaker 1: for Lake Michigan water project. Written by Joey Weslow. This
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  Speaker 1: article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  Speaker 1: you by Everlett. The City of Yorkville is going ahead
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  Speaker 1: with a thirty five million dollars financing bridge for its
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  Speaker 1: Lake Michigan water project while it awaits a one hundred
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  Speaker 1: seventy million dollars federal loan from the US Environmental Protection Agency.
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  Speaker 1: The City Council unanimously approved the financing on July twenty eighth.
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  Speaker 1: The total project cost for transitioning to Lake Michigan water
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  Speaker 1: is around two hundred and twenty four point four million dollars,
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  Speaker 1: Although the city is waiting to get the final tab
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  Speaker 1: for the project, the DuPage Water Commission is bidding out
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  Speaker 1: the final two legs of the project, which represents around
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  Speaker 1: twenty percent of the project's total cast. According to city documents,
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  Speaker 1: around four hundred million dollars in costs are being shared
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  Speaker 1: by Yorkville, Oswego, and Montgomery to extend pipes to water
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  Speaker 1: mains near Naperville carrying Lake Michigan water. On July ninth,
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  Speaker 1: US Representative Lauren Underwood. D Naperville presented leaders from Yorkville, Oswego,
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  Speaker 1: and Montgomery with just more than one million dollars in
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  Speaker 1: federal funding for water infrastructure upgrades, Yorkville Finance Director Rob
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  Speaker 1: Frederickson said during the July twenty eighth City Council meeting,
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  Speaker 1: the thirty five million dollars debt certificate enables Yorkville to
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  Speaker 1: continue to meet the Depage Water Commission's billing schedule. This
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  Speaker 1: is just a bridge or short term financing. We're still
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  Speaker 1: waiting on the federal government to wrap up the loan,
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  Speaker 1: Frederickson said. He clarified that this is not additional money,
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  Speaker 1: just what has already been approved by the city. He
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  Speaker 1: said the city may use less than the thirty five
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  Speaker 1: million dollars amount. City officials previously said the city's one
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  Speaker 1: hundred seventy million dollars loan from the EPA Water Infrastructure
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  Speaker 1: Finance and Innovation Act Program has been delayed due to
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  Speaker 1: federal staffing shortages and slowdowns. The city was originally intending
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  Speaker 1: to close on the low interest with via loan last fall.
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  Speaker 1: City Administrator bart Olsen said all federal loans nationally have
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  Speaker 1: been impacted According to city documents, the city's loan remains
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  Speaker 1: in the final stages of the federal approval process, including
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  Speaker 1: review by the Office of Management and Budget. City staff
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  Speaker 1: previously said they are working closely with EPA staff to
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  Speaker 1: facilitate completion of the process, but the EPA has yet
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  Speaker 1: to provide a closing date. Fredrickson said the short term
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  Speaker 1: financing should ensure construction work remains on schedule. Lake Michigan
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  Speaker 1: Water is projected to reach Yorkville by the summer of
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight. The city needs to complete all construction
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  Speaker 1: by twenty twenty seven for the project, including on water
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  Speaker 1: mains and new water receiving stations. City council also approved
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  Speaker 1: a fifty million dollars debt certificate in February to help
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  Speaker 1: cover short term costs. Fredrickson said, looking into the third
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  Speaker 1: quarter of twenty twenty six, the city will have to
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  Speaker 1: determine the most appropriate long term financing strategy. He said
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  Speaker 1: this could be through the WIFIA loan, or, if circumspan
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  Speaker 1: stances weren't, through an alternative obligation bond issuance. The city
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  Speaker 1: Council recently approved a reimbursement resolutions that Olsen called a
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  Speaker 1: backup plan for the city should the WIFIA loan delay
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  Speaker 1: extend past the first bills due the resolution permits a
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  Speaker 1: ceiling of two hundred and twenty five million dollars, although
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  Speaker 1: city staff said any future bond issuance would likely be
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  Speaker 1: substantially less. Any future bond issuance would be alternative funding sources,
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  Speaker 1: not additional debt for the project. According to city documents,
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  Speaker 1: this means whatever bonds would be issued to finance a
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  Speaker 1: portion of the project, the WAFAIA loans would be reduced
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  Speaker 1: according outside of the original one hundred and seventy million
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  Speaker 1: dollars With via loan, the city was planning on covering
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  Speaker 1: its remaining costs through the city's bond issuance and loan proceeds.
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  Speaker 1: To help cover these costs, the city recently approved twenty
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  Speaker 1: percent annual water rates over each of the next five years.
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  Speaker 1: Average residential water bills are aimed to double by twenty
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  Speaker 1: thirty to help cover the project's costs. In the wake
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  Speaker 1: of some construction bids coming back higher than expected, Olson
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  Speaker 1: said the city might consider larger water rate increases if
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  Speaker 1: the project's costs balloon. The Lake Michigan Water Project was
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  Speaker 1: deemed necessary to provide the region's growing population a more
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  Speaker 1: reliable source of water because the currently used underground aquifer
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  Speaker 1: is being depleted at an unsustainable rate.