Communities in Jefferson and Madison Counties will use interest-free loans for projects that seek to improve drinking water and wastewater systems.
The board of directors of the New York Environmental Facilities Corp. (EFC) on Thursday approved a total of five interest-free loans worth about $28 million.
The EFC announced the loan approvals in a news release distributed on Thursday.
The Town of Sullivan in Madison County will use a $7.7 million loan that refinances a 2012,EFC-issued short-term loan for construction of a wastewater-collection system for the Bridgeport sewer district.
The project extends service to the hamlet of Bridgeport and replaces “faulty” septic systems along Oneida Lake, EFC said.
The community’s projected savings will total $4.3 million with the EFC loan, according to the corporation’s news release.
In addition, the Town of Hounsfield in Jefferson County will use a nearly $2.4 million, long-term loan to refinance a previous EFC loan of $2.8 million.
The loan, along with a $2 million state grant, financed the construction of a new water-distribution system to serve the Town of Hounsfield’s Water District #5.
The new system provides public water for residents who previously used private wells. It also means “improved” service for residents in Hounsfield’s Water Districts #1 and #2, the EFC said.
With the EFC loan, Hounsfield’s projected savings will total $1.3 million, the corporation added.
With interest-free financing “readily available” to smaller communities, New York hopes to “kick-start” projects that financing concerns have “previously delayed,” Matthew Driscoll, EFC president, said in the news release.
“Interest-free loans can be a great incentive for municipalities to move forward on projects that will not only protect the environment but also could spur new opportunities for economic development. With a hardship designation, a community is also eligible to extend this interest-free financing into a long-term loan of up to 30 years,” said Driscoll.
Driscoll is a former mayor of Syracuse.