City Council approves issuance of revenue bonds for water system upgrades
Published 6:00 am Thursday, March 16, 2023
- Lake Charles City Hall
Three of the ordinances were passed at the council meeting Wednesday.
The city is seeking to secure funds through the Louisiana Department of Health’s General Supplemental Fund, which provides funding to La. municipalities working to update their water systems.
The funding that the city is seeking is low-interest and will have “principal forgiveness as earmarked by the federal grant stipulation,” said Emily McDaniel, Lake Charles director of finance.
The General Supplemental Fund falls under the LDH’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan fund.
For the City of Lake Charles SouthwestWater Plant Project, taxable excess revenue bonds not to exceed $1,400,000 were approved.
This project will facilitate the upgrade and replacement of the chemical feed system at the Southwest Water Treatment Plant.
The George West Water Treatment Plant will be receiving the same upgrades and was also granted revenue bonds, not to exceed $1,400,000.
A total of $2,000,000 in revenue bonds were approved for the Center East Water Plant Project, which will fund the removal and replacement of an existing pressure filter at the Center East Water Treatment Plant.
The ordinance adopted at the meeting on March 1 authorized the issuance of taxable water revenue bonds, not to exceed $20,000,000. These bonds will provide funding for the city’s new Southeast Water Treatment Plant, which will provide 6 million gallons per day.
Included in this project are new water wells, pressure filters, chemical feed systems, ground storage tanks and high-service pumps, said Stacy Dowden, Lake Charles director of public works.
McDaniel stated that the city is currently in the planning and requesting phase to secure LDH funding for these projects.
The city believes “these projects are all investments in our efforts to provide the highest quality of water service to our citizens citywide and further our commitment to hardening our infrastructure as part of our city’s long-term recovery efforts.”
