Charles Alligood, a Morris Service Authority (MSA) board member, told the Lexington City Council that the MSA received $4,589,000 in principal forgiveness and a $241,000 low-interest loan for a solids-handling and storage rehabilitation project at the MSA wastewater plant. The board is continuing to seek about $15 million more to fully fund the larger plant modernization program.

The principal forgiveness and loan cover a first-phase solids-handling project, Alligood said, and the MSA has contracted engineering for the work. "MSA is fortunate we received a principal forgiveness of almost $5,000,000 ... and so this particular project has to do with the solids handling," Alligood said. He said the engineering loan amount for the solids study is currently about $2,400 (transcript: "that that project is right now about 2.4 a thousand 2.4 thousands, for a loan for doing the engineering work on that"), a figure staff clarified in the meeting as related to the initial engineering loan portion.

Alligood described recent operational problems at the plant that underscore maintenance and supply-chain challenges. The MSA replaced original variable mechanical drives for an oxidation ditch but then experienced failures in the new drives; the replacements were removed and returned to the manufacturer and remain on order. "Manufacturer acknowledged that there were issues ... and so that means there's no redundancy at this time at the plant because everything is in use or sent back," Alligood said. He added that the plant is meeting state water-quality and land-application standards for biosolids despite those issues.

To improve system reliability, the MSA installed redundant level controls and linked alarms to phone alerts after a control failure at the Enfield water tank nearly led to depletion during multiple major leaks earlier in the year. "So 1 failed, 1 still should be working there to do it, and the alarms have been linked into the phones," Alligood said.

Alligood also reported construction and property actions tied to broader water-system upgrades: the Route 11 waterline improvement contract, reported at about $3 million, is signed and construction is expected to start around September–October; and the MSA board authorized purchase of the adjacent McNamara property on Osage Lane to relocate the river water intake to a less flood-prone site, with a sale expected to close on the 14th of the month. "One of the items that's on the list to happen, and we've received money for that ... the property that's immediately adjacent ... became available. And the MSA board authorized the MSA to buy it," Alligood said.

Council members asked for timelines and additional details; Alligood said the solids-handling construction has not yet started and engineering had recently been wrapped up, with anticipated work in the next year. On the replacement drives, he said delivery timing was "unknown." No formal action or vote was taken by council on the MSA report.

The MSA is still evaluating whether to continue land-applying biosolids or to dry and landfill them; Alligood said the board has contracted a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar study to compare options. "The decision has not been made yet on that," he said.

The council thanked Alligood and Marybeth Mandrovic, the MSA board member who accompanied him, for the update. The report laid out funding obtained so far and the operational risks that the MSA staff and board are working to mitigate while pursuing additional capital for the full modernization program.