The Atlanta City Council today voted unanimously to issue $750 million in water and wastewater revenue bonds that will allow the Department of Watershed management to continue work on the $4 billion Clean Water Atlanta Program. The resolution authorized the issuance of $750 million in bonds to be used for the capital improvement program that is overhauling the City’s water and sewer infrastructure, partly in response to federal mandates.
“The vote represents a strong endorsement of the Department’s technical and financial expertise and confidence in its continued ability to meet Atlanta’s clean water goals,” Commissioner Rob Hunter said. “We appreciate the vote of confidence on the part of the Council and the financial markets.”
Originally sized at $600 million, the bond issue was increased by $150 million due to an enthusiastic reception by the financial community. This response in current market conditions is a testament to the exceptional performance of the City’s financial team and Watershed’s programs.
Strong market demand also resulted in the City paying a lower yield for the debt it issues, and it gives City officials confidence that they will be able to access the capital markets for funding needs that will arise over the next two years.
Under Clean Water Atlanta, the Department has completed work on the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Consent Decree, negotiated in 1998, and is on track to complete work on the Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) Consent Decree, negotiated a year later, by the 2014 deadline. Under the Clean Water Atlanta Program, the City has:
- constructed two eight-mile-long tunnels – one to help eliminate sanitary sewer overflows in the Nancy Creek Basin and one to capture CSOs in the 9 percent of the City that still relies on combined sewers;
- separated 33 miles of combined sewer pipes in the McDaniel, Stockade and Greensferry sewer basins;
- acquired more than 1,800 acres to protect more than 24 miles of streambanks from development in perpetuity in Atlanta and eight metro area counties; and
- inspected more than 1,200 miles of sewer pipe and rehabilitated more than 300 miles.
Judge Thomas Thrash, the Federal District Court Judge charged with overseeing the City’s compliance with the Consent Decree, has called the work completed to date “remarkable.”
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