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NEWBERRY ‒ The City of Newberry is moving forward with its wastewater treatment plant expansion. During the Nov. 9 City Commission meeting, Commissioners authorized City Manager Mike New to update the terms and conditions of the existing State Revolving Fund (SRF) grant/loan agreement.

New was also authorized to execute a task order with Woodard and Curran Engineering Consultants to perform the planning and engineering reports required to support a wastewater treatment plant expansion funding application.

Initially, Newberry sought funding to support an analysis to determine the feasibility of development of a regional wastewater treatment system in the lower Santa Fe River and Suwannee River basins. To fund the planning of the Regional Wastewater System, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) agreed to provide the City of Newberry a total of $275,000. Half of that funding, or $137,500, would be funded by FDEP through a grant program and the remaining 50 percent, or $137,500, would be funded through the SRF Loan Program. The City Commission authorized staff to move forward with this application on April 11, 2019 and the SRF documents were executed by FDEP on June 19, 2019.

However, since the execution of the SRF agreement, the planning study process has not moved forward due to lack of consensus on the part of other municipal stakeholders and the onset of the pandemic.

At the Nov. 9 meeting, staff requested that the Commission authorize the revision of the current SRF agreement schedule, the development of the capital facilities plan and the preliminary engineering report. The request was made since the current permit renewal process for the city’s wastewater treatment plant specifies the need for expansion in the next five years.

While the SRF study is focused on a regional plant concept, should that not prove to be feasible or gain support from other municipalities, the facilities plan and preliminary engineering report will provide the same information required to move forward with funding applications for the wastewater treatment plant expansion.

A proposal from Woodard and Curran to perform the required study is projected to cost $225,000. FDEP has again agreed to provide Newberry with the same amount as they agreed to previously, $275,000, with 50 percent, or $137,500, to be funded through a grant program and the remaining 50 percent, or $137,500, to be funded through the SRF Loan Program. This allows $50,000 in contingency funds should any geo-technical or other documentation become necessary to support the study.

The City of Newberry would be responsible for repayment of the SRF loan amount of $137,500 under the terms and conditions of SRF agreement. However, New said the funds would not be due until the project has been completed.

Commissioners unanimously voted to authorize New to revise the agreement with FDEP.

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Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com

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