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Ellsworth adopts ordinance to pursue $10 million KDHE loan for wastewater upgrades
Summary
The council adopted Ordinance 3178 authorizing a loan agreement with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for a wastewater treatment project (KWPCRF C20306601). Staff said the loan could be up to $10 million with $2 million eligible for forgiveness; council passed the ordinance by roll call.
The Ellsworth City Council voted to adopt Ordinance 3178, authorizing the execution of a loan agreement with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) under the state Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund to finance a wastewater-treatment project (KWPCRF project number C20306601).
City staff said the loan package and related orders give the mayor authority to sign the final documents. Al, who discussed the loan at length, said loan documents indicated the $10 million program did not automatically include land acquisition and that the city must clarify whether purchase of irrigation land would be eligible. "This loan, $10,000,000, includes land acquisition. But when I went to the loan documents, they were saying that it is this is no land," Al said and reported he had consulted the project engineer and regional staff to confirm eligibility for irrigation land.
Al and other staff described the loan structure as a line of credit from which the city draws as project costs are incurred; interest begins on draws. They noted the package includes roughly $2 million in potential loan forgiveness as part of the KDHE program. Al warned that the city's existing lagoon is aging and that failure to proceed could lead to regulatory consent orders and daily fines. "If we don't do this ... they say, city, here's a consent order," he said, adding the city could lose loan forgiveness if it does not move forward.
Councilor Coates moved to adopt the ordinance; the motion was seconded and the council adopted Ordinance 3178 by roll call. The transcript records the roll call with recorded aye votes and the mayor closed the roll call. No amendment to the ordinance was recorded at the meeting.
Staff said project construction is expected to follow standard state timelines, with loan payments commonly beginning after the project is complete; Al said initial payments may not start until 2027 or 2028 depending on project timing. The council authorized the ordinance and directed staff to finalize loan paperwork and proceed with the project steps required by KDHE.
