Funding for multiple sewer projects was one of the main items on the agenda for the Athens City Council during its Friday meeting.

The council unanimously approved requirements between the City of Athens and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company to refinance the city’s debt and to increase the line of credit by $10 million to help fund multiple sewer projects.

City Clerk Annette Barnes said the current interest rate on the loan is being dropped to 2.7% from 3.875%.

The difference will allow the city to borrow the additional amount without its current payment changing, with the length of repayment extended by seven years.

Mayor Ronnie Marks commented during the meeting that, according to U.S. census information, Athens is the fastest growing city by percentage in the state of Alabama. Marks said from 2010 to July 1, 2019, Athens grew by 25.1%, compared to 19.5% for Madison and 11.2% for Huntsville.

According to Manager Jimmy Junkin with Water Services at Athens Utilities, more than one of the planned projects will be to cover both the growth Athens has already experienced and further projected expansion in the future.

There are 12-14 projects total that will all be done within the next two-and-a-half years, he said.

“Two of the projects are for sure pointed (at growth),” he said.

The total amount of principal for the sewer projects when including the new loan will be $18,540,000. One major project Junkin mentioned is the Swan Creek sewer infrastructure, which has had issues with groundwater seeping into the line.

“We had a consent order that we got this past year,” he said. “It occurred because of an issue in the Swan Creek line. One of the items we are required to do under the consent order is inflow and infiltration, where groundwater is getting in that is not supposed to be part of the sewer line.”

Junkin said a chunk of the money will go to the next phase of fixing the Swan Creek line.

Another big project is the Canebrake sewer lift station. Junkin said it was the second-largest pump station pumping sewage into the treatment plant.

“We are doing a major renovation to it to allow us to be able to take on a lot of this growth in the east and southeast sides of our community,” he said.

Other projects he mentioned include “big rehab” at the city’s water treatment facility, such as adding new technology that will make remote monitoring easier and adding a sewer line off of U.S. 72 in the southeast area of the city.

“This is all geared to the growth we are being pressured to provide services for,” Junkin said.