Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Belgrade authorizes up to $20 million in water system revenue bonds to begin storage and reliability work
Summary
Council authorized a privately negotiated sale of up to $20 million in water system revenue bonds, reduced from an earlier $30 million plan; staff said roughly $5.2 million will reimburse a land purchase and about $15 million will start design and initial work while other funding options are explored.
The Belgrade City Council adopted Resolution 2025‑29 authorizing issuance of water system revenue bonds via a privately negotiated sale, with staff reporting the bond amount was pared back to $20,000,000 from an earlier $30,000,000 plan to remain within the city's debt capacity.
Staff said bond proceeds would repay $5.2 million used to purchase land and provide roughly $15 million to begin design and initial construction work on water storage and related projects. The city continues exploring additional financing sources and programs such as State Revolving Fund (SRF) loans. Staff emphasized the PER (preliminary engineering report) due in September will clarify next steps, including options such as drilling additional wells (wells 10 and 11), adding generators, or constructing storage tanks estimated at 3,000–5,000 gallons (transcript language on scale described verbally), and sequencing that might push tank construction into later construction seasons.
Council and staff discussed operational concerns including fire‑flow requirements noted by DEQ and the existing contributions of wells 7, 8 and 9 to system capacity; well 9 had underperformed in initial testing and staff reported they had extended drilling and seen yield improvements. Staff said they do not intend to delay the overall program; instead, they will phase work and structure debt accordingly.
The council approved the resolution by voice vote in the meeting transcript. Staff will return with sale terms, detailed financing structures and recommended next steps as the PER and further engineering estimates are completed.
