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Sedro-Woolley accepts $500,000 Department of Ecology loan to finish wastewater facility plan
Summary
The council approved acceptance of a roughly $500,000, 2% Department of Ecology loan to complete the wastewater treatment plant facility plan and enable design work; the funding complements a prior Public Works Board package and city reserves.
Sedro-Woolley — The City Council voted Dec. 17 to accept a Department of Ecology loan of approximately $500,000 at about 2% interest over 20 years to finalize the wastewater treatment plant facility plan and enable immediate design work.
Public works director Bill Bullock told the council the DOE award can reimburse eligible expenses retroactively to July 1, 2024 (the date the city hired engineering firm RH2). He said the facility plan is already more than halfway complete and that the city’s Public Works Board award last spring totaled roughly $750,000 (including about $120,000 in forgivable funds), forming part of a funding mosaic that also will include city reserves and additional grant requests.
"We applied for these funds in October 2024," Bullock said. "They've basically offered us our half‑million dollar loan amount."
Bullock said the city has over $4.5 million in reserves, expects to draw down reserves as part of the local match during construction, and intends to pursue additional grants (including a Federal STAG grant) as part of the financing plan. Council members asked whether the treatment-plant design will include flood-prevention measures; Bullock said yes.
Council moved and approved acceptance of the DOE loan by motion (moved by Councilman Cox, seconded by Councilwoman Diamond); the motion passed on a voice vote. Staff said accepting the loan now allows the city to continue design work without waiting for the next funding cycle.
