Virginia’s Senate passed a bill Friday to provide $28 million for Lynchburg’s sewer upgrades.
“This is substantial for the city of Lynchburg,” said State Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg,
If the House of Delegates approves the measure, and if the governor signs it, Lynchburg would receive the largest amount of money it has ever gotten at one time for Combined Sewer Overflow, which has been the most expensive capital project in the city’s history.
Newman said he hopes the state money, coupled with Lynchburg’s funds collected through sewer rates, would lead to the city’s release from a federal consent order to stop sewage from flushing into the James River during heavy rains.
The Hill City needs to fix 24 remaining overflow points where stormwater enters the sanitary system. The cost is estimated at $280 million because many of the points are in hard-to-fix locations.
It has closed more than 100 overflow points to date, and spent more than $200 million. Of those funds, about $25 million has been provided by the state, in small chunks, since 1990.
Newman said he didn’t know what Gov. Bob McDonnell’s position is concerning the bond package, which is included in Senate Bill 494. The bill passed through the Senate’s committees and floor with unanimous approval.
It awaits action in the House of Delegates.
The bill would fund sewer upgrades for both Lynchburg and Richmond, and complete the state’s obligation to help the cities pay for combined sewer overflows. The total bond issue would be for $78 million for the two cities.
“If we don’t fast-forward these projects at a time when construction costs are low, we are going to pay a lot more in the out years when construction costs go up,” Newman said.
Interest rates on bond issues “are extremely low right now for projects like this,” he said.
Approval of the bonds would save Lynchburg’s legislators from “nickel and dimeing $2 million every two years from the state of Virginia” through its biennial budget process, Newman said.
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