Sale of Rochester bonds funds water projects

More than $6 million in water main improvements throughout Rochester are inching forward as Rochester city council members on Monday, February 12, approved a notice of intent to sell general obligation capital improvement bonds.

The notice of intent serves as a financial milestone in the water project plans, which were were approved in April of 2017. The plans include about $6.2 million in water main improvements through a loan from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) Drinking Water Revolving Fund, which will fund improvements to be completed in five to seven years. Council in April approved a list of projects to be included under the program.

Projects include replacing about 6,000 feet of a water transmission main from the city's water treatment plant to just inside the city's limits, as well as roughly 14,000 feet of distribution lines throughout the city. Distribution mains to be upgraded include locations along South Street, Wesley, Roselawn, Castell, Mahaffy, Walnut, North Helen, Oak and Wilcox.

The projects were identified as part of the city's water and infrastructure capital improvement program through the DEQ's Water Reliability study, which is required under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Under the loan guidelines, the city must pass a resolution of intent to issue and sell general obligation capital improvement bonds, then advertise the intent in the newspaper to allow the public an opportunity to comment. Under the program, the city intends to sell up to $6.2 million in bonds to pay for all or part of the costs of improvements.