Finance committee reviews first reading of budget amendment to fund wastewater plant design, OWDA loan work

The Sunbury Finance Committee on July 16 discussed the first reading of 2025 Budget Amendment No. 2, which city staff said would appropriate funds for design and construction administration work on the wastewater treatment plant, pay loan-document fees for a planned OWDA loan and add appropriations for two reimbursable grants and a transfer for the Walnut Street Stabilization project.

Finance staff member Miss Steffit said the largest single appropriation under the amendment is in the sewer fund: about $900,000 to cover pre-construction and construction-administration work. "We have $900,000 in the sewer fund that we need to appropriate for construction on the wastewater treatment plant, construction administration inspections," Steffit said during the meeting. She described the $900,000 as composed of three pieces: approximately $611,000 for Anser/Accenture (construction-inspection services), roughly $270,000 for VerDantis (contract administration), and about $100,000 for preparation of loan documents for OWDA.

The staff explanation emphasized that most construction dollars for the wastewater plant had already been appropriated and that the amendment was intended to capture design, contract-administration and ancillary engineering costs. A staff member clarified construction costs for the plant were just over $31 million for the construction portion and that the city did not borrow the entire project amount; the staff member estimated the borrowed amount at "I think it's $28,000,000 or something like that." The committee asked for exact financing figures and staff said they could provide the precise numbers at a subsequent meeting.

Steffit also told the committee that two previously awarded reimbursable grants94Walnut Street Stabilization and the Safe Streets for All program94were not correctly appropriated for 2025 and must be added so the city can front costs and later seek reimbursement. She said the city paid $239,000 to IronSite for Walnut Street stabilization and that a reimbursement request for that amount had been submitted the same day.

The amendment also includes a $500,000 transfer from the general fund into Fund 701 to cover capital costs on the Walnut Street project. Steffit said, "So you see that $500,000 there. It's going into fund 701, which is expending the money on the next page. So it's not $500,000 times two, it's just the $1,500,000 because one's a transfer."

Committee members asked for greater detail on vendor breakdowns and on amounts still in the sewer fund available for contingencies. Staff said they would prepare a supplemental packet for the council meeting with a vendor-by-vendor breakout and exact borrowing figures. No committee vote was taken on Ordinance: 2025 Budget Amendment No. 2 at the July 16 Finance Committee meeting; Steffit said the ordinance was placed on the council agenda for first reading and that the council conducts three readings before final action.

Ending: The ordinance remains at the first-reading stage. Staff committed to provide a detailed vendor and financing breakout before council action so the public record will show the exact amounts to be appropriated and the final loan terms for the OWDA financing.