Alma City approves notice of intent to issue bonds for wastewater plant upgrades—up to $40M

The Alma City Commission on a voice vote approved a resolution authorizing publication of a notice of intent to issue bonds to reimburse project expenditures for upgrades at the city wastewater treatment plant.

City Manager Eric told commissioners the city has received about $20.5 million in state revolving fund (SRF) funding to date and that the notice preserves the timeline necessary for SRF requirements and to receive bids. "Currently, as we as the board knows, we've received funding for 20.5 million at this point," Eric said, explaining why the commission needed to publish the notice now so there is adequate time between notice and bid openings.

The published notice seeks authority for revenue bonds not to exceed $40 million and proposes an additional capital improvement authorization (approximately $14 million) to cover potential project scopes beyond anticipated SRF support. Staff and the city engineer (Fishbach) told commissioners the project is a top-to-bottom review of the wastewater plant that can be scaled depending on final bids and any additional SRF availability. If SRF funding falls short, staff said the city may need to access the private bond market to fund remaining options.

The commission voted to authorize publication of the notice, which enables at least 45 days of public notice and preserves the city’s ability to finalize financing while bids are procured and reviewed. The resolution as approved does not obligate the city to borrow the entire authorized amount; staff emphasized the city can scale back the work and the borrowing as bids and final funding determinations are made.

Next steps: staff will advertise the notice, receive bids for project work, return with bid evaluations and a recommendation for final action on specific project elements and financing. No numeric roll-call vote counts were recorded in the meeting transcript; motions were approved by voice vote.