City gets $24M loan for sewer plant

Shelbyville has received a $24.8 million loan through the State Revolving Fund Loan Program to upgrade and expand the city's wastewater treatment plant.

Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewerage system manager David Crowell said he is very pleased with the announcement and is looking forward to progressing with the project.

The 20-year loan, with an interest rate of 1.78 percent, is administered by the Department of Environment and Conservation for the State of Tennessee.

"We also appreciate the good financing options," Crowell said.

In all, six communities will receive low-interest loans totaling $46,898,498 through the program to fund much-needed water and wastewater construction projects.

Other recipients are the Water Authority of Dickson County and the cities of Lafayette, Livingston, Memphis and Nashville.

"I am pleased to see local governments accessing this important program," said Gov. Phil Bredesen in a news release. "The State Revolving Fund loan program is a tool to help communities address their current infrastructure needs and allow them to prepare for future needs."

"Community investments in our drinking water and wastewater systems are vital to maintaining environmental and public health." Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke said. "These loans will help keep our communities moving forward."

In August, the new treatment plant was given an environmental assessment and a "Finding of No Significant Impact" by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).

Funding for the new plant, designed to handle 6.5 million gallons a day, was approved in July by Shelbyville City Council. The project is estimated to cost around $25 million.

Crowell has said that the existing facility has served its purpose and that the building of the plant is driven by a state commissioner's order.

The current facility has a capacity of 4.9 million gallons a day. It originally handled two million gallons when first constructed in 1957, but was upgraded and expanded extensively in 1977 to meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Water Act requirements.

It was expanded again in 1986 with no increase in design capacity. The sewer system entered into a letter of agreement with TDEC in 1991 to begin a sewer system rehabilitation program and in late 2005, a commissioner's order was issued due to several permit violations.

The violations involved "biochemical oxygen demand limits, total suspended solids limits, fecal coliform limits and settleable solids minimum percent removal limits and overflows in the collection system," TDEC stated.

The power board has already voted to pay for the new facility through customer rate hikes. According to the TDEC report, the current sewer rate was increased by five percent to finance the project.

Twelve acres west of the current facility, extending all the way to Sharpie Way, have already been purchased by the power board for the facility. Crowell said the new plant would be a three-year project and a big improvement for the city's sewer system. The plant will be on the same site and will hopefully eliminate odor problems in the Lane Parkway area.

The SRF Loan Program provides low-interest loans that help communities, utility districts and water authorities finance projects that protect Tennessee's ground and surface waters and public health.

Loans are used to finance the planning, design and construction of water and wastewater facilities. Through the program, communities, utility districts and water authorities can obtain loans with lower interest rates than most can obtain through private financing.

Interest rates for the loans can vary from zero percent to market rate, based on each community's economic index.