The Louisburg City Council received good news at its Sept. 17 meeting, including more than four million reasons to celebrate.
Laura Gray, an engineer with the firm Larkin Lamp Rynearson, said not only has the facility plan for a new wastewater treatment plant in Louisburg been approved by the state, but the city has qualified for low interest loan funding with principal forgiveness.
“It is estimated this will give you $4.275 million in principal forgiveness,” Gray said. “It is like a grant, but not quite. It is amazing, great news.” Mayor Marty Southard agreed, exclaiming that it was “fantastic.”
The loan forgiveness program could lower the city’s final price tag for the sewer treatment plant by about $4 million, dropping the city’s cost from $12.65 million down to about $8.4 million. If the estimates are realized, the city would not have to increase sewer rates any more to cover the cost of the plant, according to an official with the Kansas Department of Health and Enviroment.
(Read more: The Miami County Republic)