GREEN RIVER — The Green River City Council voted 6-1 to approve a city request for a $6.5 million increase to the State Loan and Investment Board’s loan for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Replacement Facility Project.

Council Member Ron Williams was the vote against. He cited concerns of increasing wastewater usage rates for Green River residents. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan is currently at $45.1 million, and if the city is granted the $6.5 million increase from SLIB, the new loan amount will be up to $51.6 million. If the city is awarded the increased loan, the total possible project amount could be up to nearly $58 million.

Williams said he was told that the city was going to try to get grants to help knock down the cost of the project, but that hasn’t happened. While the city was awarded a $6.25 million grant from a portion of the state’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, the rest of the funding has come from loans.

“Looks to me like all we’re doing is knocking that number up,” he said. However, Mayor Pete Rust said the city has made several attempts to get state funding through grants, and will continue to do so.

“There have been multiple letters and multiple meetings for multiple months,” Rust said.

Williams shared worries about low-income and fixed-income households having to deal with the rate increases.

“I’m on a fixed income, I get state retirement … a lot of people out there get social security. They can’t keep paying this,” he said.

The rate increases are calculated from an average use during the winter months. Williams said that while the city is supposed to take the two lowest usage months from November through February, he claimed the city is actually getting rid of the two highest months from October through April and using the average. He said they need to go back to calculating rate increases based on November through February so the water that goes on lawns isn’t being included.

Director of Finance Chris Meats said the rate increases are being done over a 10-year period, so residents don’t have to deal with a sudden increase in one year. The following graph shows projected rate increases for the recent and future fiscal years for households that use 675 cubic feet and 1,000 cubic feet of wastewater a month.

Jessica Maser, Green River resident, said she has been going door to door for the last couple of months as she is running for city council in the upcoming election. She said in her conversations with residents, there is a common concern about rising utility rates. She believes implementing increases in other bills when residents are already struggling with their utility bills is “irresponsible.”

“It’s important for the city council to hear from the people of our city that they’re really struggling to pay bills at current prices,” Maser said.

Rust said there is no one on the city council who doesn’t understand fixed and low-income households’ struggles, and that the city can help direct families to programs that can potentially help them with these issues.

Why Is A Loan Increase Needed?

Currently, the wastewater plant replacement project is halfway done and is on schedule with the construction timeline, which aims to have the project done by late 2025. Additionally, there have been no change orders yet. Director of Public Works Mark Westenskow said that with supply chain issues, however, they could run into issues in the latter half of the project with getting certain equipment. This could result in possible change orders. The requested loan increase would allow them flexibility if issues do arise, he said.

While Williams said it is “ridiculous” to seek a loan for change orders that have not occurred yet, other council members said it would be a good deal considering the terms of the loan. Westenskow said the city only has to pay back what they use, as it is an enterprise fund that operates through reimbursement. If the $6.5 million increase isn’t needed, they will not draw it out and therefore they will not have to pay it back or pay interest on it.

Council Member Gary Killpack also noted that the loan is a 30-year loan and has a .25% interest rate, and they cannot guarantee this low of a rate if they requested funding for change orders later on in the project.

“We need to do it,” Killpack said.

Council Members Sherry Bushman, Mark Shutran and George Jost all spoke about the downsides of not requesting the loan increase, as it would “kick the can down the road”.

“Everything is going up in pricing,” Bushman said. “So, if we can lock in at a percent for “x” amount of years, we’re so far ahead of the game. That’s just the finance world … We can’t keep kicking the can down the road. Water is priceless … we need to make sure it’s clean for the next generation.”

Correction: This article was updated to correct the interest rate of the current loan.