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Show State loan approval means another sewer bond election by Christopher Smart A low-interest loan from the state to the Snyderville Basin Sewer Improvement Improve-ment District has set the stage for another sewer bond election, according to District Manager Ed Davis. On Tuesday, Nov. 29, the Utah State Water Pollution Control Committee okayed a loan application from the Snyderville district for $4 million. At 7.3 percent interest, the 20-year loan could save the district almost $2 million over what the district would have to pay if a general obligation bond issue was approved by voters, Davis said. The loan, however, is contingent upon public support. If the Snyderville Sewer District cannot raise the additional addi-tional $5 million it needs for the proposed sewer line and treatment plant through a bond election, then those low interest monies will not be forthcoming, Davis said. The Board of Trustees for the Snyderville district will soon choose a date for the bond election, Davis said. He said February was a possibility. He said that a group known as the Park City Clean Water Committee is now circulating a petition calling for another sewer bond election. On Oct. 18, Snyderville Basin voters defeated a similar bond by a small margin. Only 10 percent of the eligible voters participated in that election. Additionally, on Tuesday the state granted the Snyderville district an $85,000 interest-free loan. Davis said that funding will be used to buy bond insurance should the voters approve a general obligation bond issue. That insurance will give the district an A rating, Davis said, which will lower bond interest rates as much as 1.2 percent. Over the 20-year period of the loan it couldsave $960,000, he r.aid. Davis said the combined effect of the state loans would be to save the district over $2.9 million over the 20-year period. If the election takes place in February, it will give Snyderville district voters the chance, once again, to approve the proposed facility to be located on the Silver Creek drainage and a new sewer line from 15th Street and Park Avenue down to the plant site about one mile east of Silver Creek Junction. One of the advantages of the proposed plant is that it can be phased ; in from an initial 12 million gallon-a- day opacity to ar. eventual 4 million gallon-a-day capacity, Davis said. The requested $9 million would fund the construction of the line and the initial 1'2 million gallon-a-day capacity as well as the purchase of the necessary land and installation of roads and utilities, according to Davis. During the wet months of the year, Davis said, the current facilities, located near Jeremy Ranch on the East Canyon drainage, are working well beyond capacity. The loan and bond, if approved, will be retired through fees gathered from new connections, Davis said. He said the board of trustees has taken a stance against levying a tax to pay for the new facilities. Whether or not the bond passes, Davis said, user fees will go up an average of $5 for each connection. Davis said that increase will bring the Snyderville district more in line with statewide averages. The average user fee in the Snyderville district is now about $10 a month. Davis said the defeat of the previous bond could be due to voters' apprehension apprehen-sion over a mill levy. He said that, unlike other bond elections, the passage of a sewer bond would decrease the probability of a mill levy , while its defeat could increase the chances of additional taxes. |