By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

It’s going to cost $30,260,000 to upgrade the city of Hays’ wastewater treatment plant.

City commissioners voted unanimously Thursday night approving an ordinance authoring a Kansas Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to pay for the project.

City Finance Director Kim Rupp, aided by David Arteberry of George K. Baum & Co., determined the SRF is the best source of funding for the project costs.

Rupp explained to commissioners the city has 20 years to pay back the loan with semi-annual payments.

Rupp expects the interest rate will be locked in at 2.27 percent. The estimated annual payments will be $1,894,312. Estimated total interest will be $7,626,235.

Sewer rates for Hays customers will triple over the next six years to help finance the wastewater plant renovation as well as replacement of aging sewer lines.

The Hays waste water plant was originally constructed in 1953, expanded in 1967, and last improved in the early 1990s. The facility has reached the end of its useful life and more stringent federal and state environmental regulations continue to force the plant to meet lower effluent limits.

HDR Engineering, Inc. was hired in April 2015 to identify improvements and costs for renovating the plant to meet current regulations as well as those regulations anticipated to be promulgated in the next five to ten years.