CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The Clearlake Oaks County Water District is pursuing federal loans and grants in an effort to upgrade its aging water and sewer systems.
General Manager Matt Bassett said that, altogether, the district is aiming at $7.7 million in low interest loans from the US Department of Agriculture Rural Development for projects on both the water and sewer sides.
USDA Rural Development offers a variety of funding opportunities for upgrading water systems like Clearlake Oaks'. The city of Lakeport also has received several million dollars in grants and loans for its water and sewer systems, as Lake County News has reported.
Bassett said the district has completed environmental and preliminary engineering reports for its application.
USDA gave preliminary approval to the district's funding application, and now the district board needs to make some decisions in order to finish up the application process, Bassett said.
That includes finalizing a list of projects and deciding the final amount that will need to be borrowed, as well as exploring what grants the district could get, he said.
Some of the projects up for consideration include a water clarifier for the sewer system and replacing the district's original, 1960s-era redwood water tanks, according to Bassett.
In order to prepare for the next steps in the process, at its regular Thursday afternoon meeting the district's board unanimously voted to begin negotiations with MC Engineering of Sacramento to handle all engineering for the USDA loan projects.
The board will hold a special meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 1, in the board meeting room at the district headquarters, 12952 Highway 20, to discuss the capital improvement projects – and their estimated costs – to include in the USDA application.
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