City chasing loans for stormwater projects

The city of Port Angeles is pursuing two Washington State Public Works Trust Fund loans to assist in funding 19-million dollars in Combined Sewer Overflow projects. Applications for one loan in the amount of $885-thousand dollars, and another loan of up to $10-million dollars, have a deadline of May 7th, and the Council authorized the Mayor to apply for the loans. The smaller loan would cover remaining design costs not covered by a previously- obtained design loan. The other, a PTWF construction loan, would cover 10-million dollars of the additional construction cost of the five Phase One projects, Even if the loans are approved, another 3.8-million will be needed in 2008 to fully fund the construction of these five projects. While the interest rate on the PTWF loans is very low, some Council members expressed concern that the city may be getting too far in debt, and in the end, the ratepayers are always stuck with the bill.