GREEN RIVER– During the Green River City Council meeting Tuesday night, the Green River City Council unanimously approved the acceptance of a $27.6 million loan for the wastewater treatment plant replacement.

Mark Westenskow, Public Works Director, said the city of Green River applied for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loan last year. It was approved on April 16 by the State Lands and Investment board.

The city previously received a $2.4 million CWSRF loan and have used about $1.5 million of that for the design process of the project.

This $27.6 million loan will help cover the construction of the wastewater treatment plant as well as some contingencies, Westenskow said. The full reclamation of the ponds will take years, he said. As the ponds dry out over the years, they will complete much smaller projects on a more regular basis.

City Administrator Reed Clevenger said those projects will mostly be done in house.

The city is responsible for 0.5 percent of the $27.6 million loan, which makes the city’s portion $138,000.

The loan has a combination of a 2.5 percent and zero percent interest rate for 30 years, and the loan must start being payed off one year after the project is completed.

The city continues to look at other state and federal funding options to help cover the cost of the wastewater treatment plant replacement.