The Board of Public Works of Trenton Municipal Utilities met with members of the Trenton City Council on Tuesday evening at Trenton City Hall to finalize a financing plan for water treatment plant improvements.
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All the members board members were present, Robert Day, Mark Cole, Phil Hoffman and Dr. David Ryan, along with five members of the city council, Jacob Black, Beth Mack, Larry Huffstutter, Chuck Elliott and Ed Spencer. Information was on the financing was provided to the group by Charlie Zitnik of D.A. Davidson Company and Rick McConnell of Gilmore and Bell.
To finance the project the city will issue $3.565 million in certificates of participation which will be locked in for 25 years at an interest rate of 3.98 percent. TMU Director Chad Davis said the base cost was $3 million with five or six alternatives possible. As a part of the project, the utility will finance $355,000 of current debt to save money since the current interest rate on that debt is 5 percent. There will also be approximately $100,000 in capitalized interest with the project.
The project is being undertaken to comply with Environmental Protection Agency and Missouri Department of Natural Resources requirements for disinfection byproducts. The timeline for the project is for design to be completed and submitted to DNR in September with bids to be let in December or January. Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2013 and be completed by March 2014.
TMU has signed an agreement with DNR to be in compliance with disinfection by products regulations by July of 2014. A water rate increase will be required to repay the certificates. Comptroller Rosetta Marsh said a recommendation on new water rates is hoped to be ready by the end of the year.
Zitnik praised the board and council for receiving an A rating on their certificate issuance. He said getting an A rating the first time is exceptional.
“That is due to the great infrastructure and great management of the utility and the city,” he added.
Black commended the long-serving members of the board and council for attaining the good rating.
After discussion, the board approved a resolution and the council approved an ordinance authorizing the issuance of the tax-exempt financing certificates.
Before adjourning, the city council held a joint executive session with the board for legal reasons with no announcement being made following the session. Board member Phil Hoffman shared a letter with councilpersons during the session concerning the future of the board. It appears on Page 4 of today’s newspaper. All the members of the BPW supported the letter.
The council has discussed the make-up of the board and has considered bringing supervision of TMU operations under a committee of the council instead of having a Board of Public Works with members appointed from the public. An Administration Committee meeting of the council has been scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to further discuss the topic.
The board held its regular monthly meeting following the joint meeting with the council and took action on one item. Approved unanimously was the purchase of weigh belt feeder system to deliver lime at the water treatment plant at a cost of $11,607. It was the only bid received and will be purchased from Merrick which has the original equipment in the treatment plant.
In his report, Davis said the utility continues to pump water from the Thompson River into its water reservoirs. Although the river level is low, due to the drought, the water quality is good. He said the reservoirs are full ,which represents a 90-day supply of water, and the utility plans to keep them full as long as they can continue to pump from the river. He added that TMU will also be working on and adding rock to the jetty, which protects the pump station at the river.
He said the North Central Missouri Water Commission at Milan has begun purchasing water to flush their lines, which connect to the Grundy County Public Water Supply District line at the county line. Davis said discussions continue with NCMWC but he anticipates they will begin purchasing approximately 220,000 gallons of water per day in the near future. They have purchased water from TMU in the past which is delivered through the GCPWSD lines.
Davis said that although TMU experienced a peak electric usage on July 25 of 19.376 mw, the Missouri Public Energy Pool experienced its peak of 18.6 mw on July 23 and TMU will be billed based on the MOPEP peak and not the TMU peak.
Board Chairman Robert Day thanked Hoffman and Dr. Ryan for their service to board. Both attended their last meeting Tuesday evening. They had earlier agreed to serve a few months longer while the city council continued to study whether or not to continue with a board of public works in its current form.
The next meeting of the board was tentatively set for Tuesday, Sept. 25, pending action by the city council and the appointment of two new board members to replace Dr. Ryan and Hoffman.