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It has been a challenging five years negotiating the many political and bureaucratic gates to bring sewer to Cullen Township. Thanks to the support of many, we are now ready to begin construction. We will provide sewer service to well over 1000 existing homes. See our construction update to keep track of our progress. With growth all around, we are proud to have made Pulaski County a better place to live for our many residents needing a sewer solution as well as the many newcomers we will welcome to our community in the years ahead. Here is a brief list of the challenges met to get this far.
Newest Development:
The Clean Water Commission is permitting interim central collection systems for new developments that will soon have access to public sewer. This will alleviate the need for on site septic or lagoon systems and save new home owners the double cost of paying for an on site system only to pay again for sewer hook up and septic system cleanup 3 to 5 years later. This will also ease the pressure on Pulaski County's water table by eliminating many potential on site septic systems during a period of rapid growth.
A Brief History:
Refinanced previously secured bonds at lower interest rates to save the district money and to permit the district to restructure fees to charge owners of unoccupied dwellings a lower availability fee of $9.50 per unit in lieu of the full $29.50 per month. (see Fees)
Secured grants with the help of state and federal representatives totaling almost $5,500,000 (55%) of our $10,000,000 project. Negotiated with state and federal agencies to lower a matching fund requirement from 40% to 10%. This makes it possible to limit monthly fees to $29.50 instead of $45.00 per household. (see Fees)
Acquired, with support of 64% of the public on 2 February 1999, the authority to obtain the additional $4,400,000 needed to complete currently planned projects in the form of a revenue bond at interest rates of approximately 3%, saving the sewer district patrons millions of dollars of interest payments over the life of the bond.
Worked extensively with our engineer to reduce the planned construction time from 5 years to approximately 3 years. (see construction update)
Laid the groundwork to sewer over 1000 additional existing homes and several hundred new homes planned for our area. At the same time, we have worked closely with several local developers to bring waste systems into compliance with state regulations, thus saving homeowners from significant problems regarding their development's non-compliance with those regulations.
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