Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Drinking Water Meters topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
TLDA approves two drinking-water loans; members debate matching loan terms to meter lifecycle
Summary
The TLDA approved loans for South Pittsburg and Maynardville totaling about $2.00 million and discussed whether 20-year loan terms are appropriate for meter replacement projects given AMI meter lifecycles and staffing impacts.
The Tennessee Local Development Authority on April 20 approved two drinking-water loans recommended by State Revolving Fund staff: a $556,575 request for South Pittsburg and a $1,446,382 request for Maynardville. SRF staff said both loans carry 20-year terms at about 1.99% interest and include principal forgiveness for disadvantaged communities.
Miss Jones, SRF staff, said South Pittsburg's request would include roughly 30% principal forgiveness (about $167,000) and that the repayment principal was $389,602.50. She said South Pittsburg serves about 2,770 customers and that their audit had not been filed timely. For Maynardville, SRF reported 40% principal forgiveness and estimated the repayment principal to be roughly $867,000; staff noted operating revenue and a customer base near 2,700 and that the city's audit was delayed for internal review.
Board members used the item to press staff on a recurring policy question: whether 20-year loan terms are appropriate when the financed equipment (water meters, particularly AMI meters) may have a shorter useful life. Miss Jones described the meters as automatic meter infrastructure (AMI) devices that do not require a person to drive to the property to read the meter: "These are automatic meter AMI meters," she said. SRF staff and members discussed typical life-cycle estimates for AMI meters of about 10 to 20 years and whether loan terms for meter projects should be re-evaluated to better match technology life.
Mayor Bradshaw and Mayor Brown said implementing AMI meters had reduced the need for manual meter-reading work while generally preserving employment for utility staff who were reassigned to other tasks. Comptroller Monpower asked the SRF program to adopt a clearer protocol in the future for probing total project cost, useful life and whether additional local debt might affect repayment capacity.
After discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve both drinking-water loans under the terms described by SRF staff.
