Work by City Engineers Reduces Project Costs by $1.5 million
On August 23 Redmond City Council awarded JAL Construction the $6.4 million dollar contract for the construction of the Eastside Sewer Interceptor (ESSI) project. The interceptor provides essential infrastructure needed to serve approximately 1,500 acres of industrial land and spur light industrial and manufacturing development in Redmond. The project will install approximately 8,550’ sewer line, from NE 5th/NE Oak parallel to the railroad down to SE Evergreen, with a lateral to the east along Highway 126 ending near the USFS Air Center.
“This City Council has focused very intently on economic development and job creation. Awarding this contract is a major milestone. When the first phase is completed in 2017 Redmond will be better positioned to attract more job and tax generating users on our eastside lands,” states Mayor George Endicott.
Earlier this summer, City of Redmond officials entered into a 30-year Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan with the State of Oregon. The loan provided the financing to build the first phase of the ESSI at an estimated cost of $7,129,500. The term of the loan is 30 years with a 2.29 percent interest and an annual fee of 0.5% of the outstanding loan amount. However, the loan rate was recently reduced to 1.0 percent as a result of the State accepting the City’s Engineering Department successful in-house ESSI project design. This results in an annual savings to the City of $49,500 or approximately $1.5 million over the life of the 30 year loan.
Funding for the project is supported by City of Redmond system development charge revenue.
“We were very happy to find out from DEQ that designing the Eastside Sewer Interceptor with our own staff resulted in a reduction in the interest rate for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan,” comments City Engineer Mike Caccavano. “I am proud that the quality of our work is recognized by regulatory agencies and as a result, we were able save taxpayers more than a million dollars.”
To learn more about the ESSI project, please contact the City of Redmond’s Engineering Department at 541-504-2002 or visit them online at www.ci.redmond.or.us.
