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Canon council moves to secure $45 million wastewater loan as other water projects advance
Summary
Council members were told the village has a $45 million IEPA loan offer for a new wastewater treatment plant with roughly $11.25 million in loan forgiveness and a 1.42% rate; officials warned papers must be returned before Illinois' June 30 fiscal deadline and staff may call a special meeting to sign the documents.
Canon village officials on Tuesday said a long-planned upgrade to the village wastewater treatment plant is poised to move forward after the village submitted bid materials to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and received a near-final financing package.
Steve Gibson, the village administrator, told the council the loan offer is for about $45 million and includes increased loan forgiveness that Gibson said rose from about $6 million to roughly $11.25 million — about one-quarter of the project cost. Gibson said the financing will carry an interest rate around 1.42 percent and that the village will likely have to return signed paperwork to IEPA before the state fiscal year ends June 30.
"We anticipate within the next week, maybe 10 days, that we'll be receiving the loan papers," Gibson said. "We'll have to have council action on those with your approval. Then they will be submitted back to them in processing so they complete it by June 30th."
Gibson said the village will not qualify for additional hardship points that might lower the rate further because IEPA assesses hardship on current rates rather than projected post-project rates. He warned that if the village misses the June 30 deadline, loan forgiveness would drop substantially — from the current level to an amount he said would be about $4.5 million under the next intended-use plan.
The administrator also briefed the council on a related water project: the Rainbow Ridge water-association extension, a proposed roughly 3,700-foot water-main extension south of the conservancy on Knoxville Road. Engineers estimate the extension at about $1.69 million; IEPA has tentatively allocated $457,029 in loan forgiveness under one program but Gibson said the village has not yet confirmed whether additional forgiveness specific to the local project would be available.
Gibson said the village has already amended engineering contracts to add construction engineering for the wastewater project and expects construction engineering work to span about three years. He told the council that, depending on IEPA's paperwork needs, staff may call a special council meeting in the coming days to approve and return the loan documents.
The council took no additional substantive action on either project Tuesday beyond the report; Gibson said staff will return with any required resolutions or loan documents for council approval.
Next steps: staff will review the IEPA loan offer when received, prepare required documents for council action, and — if necessary — call a special meeting to ensure the village meets the state fiscal-year deadline.
