The Effingham County Board of Commissioners have been awarded a $10 million loan from the state for water infrastructure projects.
The loan award was announced Tuesday along with a number of other local governments approved by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.
Effingham County’s loan is from the Georgia Fund, a state-funded loan program for water, wastewater, and solid waste infrastructure. Georgia Fund projects include water and sewer lines, treatment plants, pumping stations, wells, water storage tanks, and water meters, as well as new subtitle D landfills, landfill expansions/closures, and landfill methane gas collection systems.
According to a press release from GEFA:
The $10,000,000 Georgia Fund loan will help finance constructing a raw water intake, raw water line, water treatment plant, water main, and an elevated water tank. This project will provide surface water to Effingham, Bryan, and Chatham Counties to reduce the reliance on groundwater. The county will pay no interest on the 40-year loan. The county is eligible for principal forgiveness up to $5,000,000. This loan is part of the state’s investment in surface water infrastructure for coastal Georgia.
The City of Savannah also received a $146,000,000 Georgia Fund loan for financing the update to the the Industrial and Domestic (I and D) Water Plant, repairing the raw water pipeline, and constructing an elevated storage tank and pump stations.
From the GEFA press release:
Due to unprecedented industrial and residential development, the demand for water has significantly increased and continued growth is anticipated. This project will allow the city to remain the primary drinking water supplier to the growing city and region. The city will pay no interest on the 40-year loan. The city is eligible for principal forgiveness up to $73,000,000. This loan is part of the state’s investment in surface water infrastructure for coastal Georgia.
The 40-year loan term exceeds the loan contract maximum outlined on the GEFA website, which states that loans are available “at a low-interest rate for a maximum of 20-years.”
Of the twenty loans approved by GEFA in this phase of funding, only Effingham County and the City of Savannah received loans at 0% interest and for a term beyond 20 years.
Click here to view a list of other project funding approved by GEFA this week.
