By Tim Schmidt Record Managing Editor Warrenton voters overwhelmingly approved $15.5 million bond measure to expand and upgrade the city’s sewer system in Tuesday’s election. According to unofficial results, the bond proposal passed on a vote of 646 to 179 or 78.30 percent in favor to 21.70 percent, opposed. The breakdown by wards was as follows: Ward 1 — yes, 216, no, 71; Ward 2 — yes, 262, no, 74; Ward 3 — yes, 125, no, 25. Of the 52 voters who filled an absentee ballot, 43 were in favor of the bond issue. City officials said the $15.5 million project is needed for infrastructure improvements to adequately transport waste to the treatment facility and for the waste to be effectively treated at the plant. The bonds will fund construction, bond issuance and financing, and reserves. In the weeks leading up to the election, officials emphasized that there was no tax increase associated with issuing the bonds. Had the bond measure failed, the city would have had to finance the improvements through conventional financing at a higher interest rate. That option would have cost the city and taxpayers more and would have lead to higher user fees. “I want to thank (the voters) for their support and confidence in the city, administration, the board and myself,” Mayor Jerry Dyer said. “It certainly is a wiser use of taxpayers’ money to go through the bonding issue. We will be able to borrow money at a much cheaper rate.” Some of the planned improvements include the installation of larger sewer mains parallel to the existing sewer mains, replacement of the Water Street lift station and equipment upgrades at the treatment plant. Officials said the city needed to make the necessary improvements to allow the sewer system to continue to adequately function. The project will be completed in phases, with the first phase expected to start immediately, according to Dyer. The opening phase will cost $9 million of the overall $15.5 million project. That work will consist of the east interceptor line, the Water Street lift station replacement, along with the headworks and controls at the treatment plant. Those had been identified as being the most critical, officials said. Additional phases will be implemented as funding is available for the debt service. “We got the engineers hired,” Dyer said. “We will go back to them and finalize it. Once that gets done, we will start taking bids. The first phase is a big phase.”
Sewer bond issue passes by large margin
