USDA loans assist Arkansas' waterline project

1/23/2012

The city of Stuttgart, Arkansas, will be utilizing an interim loan on top of a USDA loan from the USDA Rural Development program to fund its waterline replacement, the Stuttgart Daily Leader reports.

USDA loans -  such as the one Stuttgart received for more than $7 million - need to be closed in full, but doing so would trigger a large sum of interest that the town would prefer to avoid. So instead, City Council members are seeking an interim loan from banks in the amount of $3.5 million so it can use the funds in steps.

For step one, the city plans to initiate three upgrades: Waterline replacements, rehabilitating a southern water treatment plant and replacing northern waterlines. It's estimated the process will cost nearly $2 million.

"This will take care of 1,000 water customers," Charles Summerford of Caddo Valley-based Summerford Engineering told the news source. "This is part of the water improvements we have been talking about and it will improve fire protection in those areas."

The move is intended to provide residents with increased water volumes.

"Customers will see more pressure and volume and this will help stop the break up of old lines," Stuttgart Municipal Waterworks director Tommy Lawson explained to the news source in a separate article.