Resources board OKs loans, grants
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission approved several million dollars in loans to utilities and government agencies at its May meeting last week.
The Arkansas Department of Correction and Pulaski County government will receive up to $4.4 million in loans for energy efficiency improvements to facilities.
The Department of Correction will receive up to $3.3 million for “conservation projects involving water and maintenance,” including using higher-quality equipment on farmland, according to documents and a presentation compiled by the commission.
Pulaski County will receive up to $1.1 million to make improvements at county buildings, including installing low-flow shower heads and limited-flush toilets at the county jail.
The commission also approved $2.35 million in loans with principal forgiveness for the cities of Wilmar in Drew County and Gould in Lincoln County.
Gould will receive up to $1.6 million to replace meters and pipes that are causing a loss of more than 40 percent of water between the treatment plant and customers’ homes. Wilmar will receive up to $750,000 to get its sewer treatment plant into compliance with an Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality consent administrative order.
Both cities will have to raise customer rates to pay for operational costs, Mark Bennett, commission water development division manager, told the commission’s board.
Additionally, the commission approved:
A loan of up to $216,300 to Flippin in Marion County to examine and repair sewer lines and manholes.
A grant of up to $206,000 and a loan of up to $103,000 to Wilton in Little River County to replace equipment at five sewer lift stations.
A grant of up to $51,500 to Perrytown in Hempstead County to replace pumps and a control panel at a sewer lift station.
A loan of up to $10,300 and a grant of up to $10,300 to Westpoint-Georgetown Special Improvement District in White County to replace broken pumps at the sewer’s pumping stations.
The commission also sent more than $1 million in a loan to the Bayou Meto Irrigation District and up to $300,000 in loans to Eudora in Chicot County for existing water projects.
The commission de-obligated $500,000 that was approved in 2016 for Mountain Pine in Garland County and re-issued a loan of up to $139,050 to the city instead.
The commission approved changing the terms of a $154,500 loan to Fifty-Six in Stone County to lower the interest rate to 2.75 percent over 10 years, if the town establishes and maintains a depreciation reserve fund.