BY CRAIG FREILICH

North Country This Week

POTSDAM -- Grant and loan funding could cover the entire $10.3 million projected cost for the new water and sewer district plan along State Rt. 56 in Potsdam.

In a presentation at the July 9 Potsdam Town Council meeting, Kevin Feuka of consulting firm C2AE told board members that USDA’s Rural Development program will provide grants and loans for the combined estimated water and sewer project cost.

What is truly significant, and unusual because of the proportion, Feuka said, is that the project is eligible for grants from USDA RD amounting to 54% of the total cost. “Over 50% is not usual,” Feuka said. Low-interest loans would cover the rest, if the package gets approved.

The $5.5 million sewer project is eligible for a USDA Rural Development grant of $2.4 million, nearly 45% of the sewer cost, and a low-interest loan of $3.1 million at 2.75% for 38 years.

The $4.8 million water project is eligible for a USDA grant $3.14 million, for 75% percent of the water segment’s cost, and a $1.66 million loan at 2.125% for 38 years.

Feuka said those are better figures than he had anticipated when he began his research. “It exceeded my expectations,” he told the board.

He also said that the local USDA representative who gave him those figures said they “were the most generous grants ever offered” by her in her 11 years on the job.

This is due in part to because many of the existing residential wells in the proposed district along Rt. 56 that would be replaced are dug wells, which are not up to today’s standards but are grandfathered in, and that at least one well out of seven that were tested had a contamination problem. That fact and the loan “poverty rate,” for which the town is eligible, results in a lower rate than it would be otherwise.

Another factor in the project’s favor is the prospect of 200 jobs for the community if motor-maker LC Drives goes ahead with its plan to build a factory across the road from the district that would take advantage of the availability of the new water and sewer services.

Supervisor Ann Carvill explained that a number years ago the board explored the possibility of creating the water and sewer district there as a means of economic development, but found that one of their key conditions, that it would have to be affordable for the residents, could not be met at the time.

But with the new funding opportunities and a the large potential new customer in LC Drives, she and the board agreed Tuesday night to go ahead and await the USDA announcement, and in the meantime to apply for additional funding for both parts of the project from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration and Empire State Development, which if granted could help lower the amount the town would need in loans.

Feuka said that in his discussions with LC Drives, the clear impression they gave him was the company wants very much to build in Potsdam, and would probably go ahead and arrange their own water and sewer facilities if they had to. But the prospect of being able to become a town water and sewer customer makes the plan for their Potsdam site much more favorable.

Feuka said the company’s detailed plans and timeline hold with the company’s intent to open the factory in December 2021 if another major need, acquiring the investment necessary to go forward, is met.