DDW-2024-011218

Drinking Water
Board Packet
September 24, 2024
Agenda

195 North 1950 West • Salt Lake City, UT Mailing Address: P.O. Box 144830 • Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4830 Telephone [phone] • Fax [phone] • T.D.D. [phone] www.deq.utah.gov Printed on 100% recycled paper
State of Utah

Drinking Water Board Kristi Bell, Chair Eric Franson, P.E., Vice-Chair Dawn Ramsey Justin Maughan Corinna Harris Jeff Coombs Shazelle Terry Blake Tullis, Ph.D. Kimberly D. Shelley Nathan Lunstad Executive Secretary
SPENCER J. COX Governor DEIDRE HENDERSON Lieutenant Governor
Department of
Environmental Quality

Kimberly D. Shelley Executive Director
DIVISION OF DRINKING WATER Nathan Lunstad, Ph.D., P.E. Director
SUPPLEMENTAL DRINKING WATER BOARD MEETING
September 24, 3:00 PM
Via Zoom Webinar AGENDA
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call – Nathan Lunstad 3. Disclosure for Conflict of Interest

4. Financial Assistance Committee Report A. SRF Applications i. Helper City Additional Funding Request - Allyson Spevak
5. Public Comment Period
6. Open Board Discussion 7. Other

8. Next Board Meeting Date: November 12, 2024 Time: 1:00 PM
Place: Carbon County Commission
751 East 100 North Price Price, UT 84501 9. Adjourn

Agenda Item
4(A)(i)

Helper City
Presented to the Drinking Water Board
September 24, 2024

DRINKING WATER BOARD
BOARD PACKET FOR CONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE

APPLICANT’S REQUEST:

Helper City was authorized an ARPA Grant in the amount of $3,416,000 on August 31, 2022, for
the construction of replacing a transmission line, well and tank rehabilitation, meter replacement
and a new SCADA system. Helper contributed $34,160 towards the project. Since authorization,
the City has chosen not to move forward with well rehabilitation.

Helper City has completed the tank rehabilitation and recently opened bids for the transmission line
replacement; costs for both are higher than originally estimated. There are also additional costs
related to engineering, an interconnection vault, and purchase of water from PRWID during
construction. The new estimated project cost is $4,450,160. Helper City is requesting financial
assistance from the Drinking Water Board to cover the additional costs of $1,000,000.

As part of this project, the City is also requesting to refinance their 2015 DWB Bond (30 years at
0% interest with a current principal balance of $1,712,000) to reduce their annual debt service
($82,000 current annual payment). The total funding requested from the Drinking Water Board
is $2,712,000.

STAFF COMMENTS:

The local MAGI for Helper City is $41,700, which is 81% of the State MAGI. The current average
water bill is $60/ERC, which is 1.73% of the local MAGI. The estimated after project water bill at
full loan would be $81.26/ERC or 2.74% of the local MAGI. Based on the after-project water bill
Helper City qualifies to be considered for additional subsidy.

Option
Loan /
Grant* Loan Grant Term
Interest
Rate
Water
Bill
% Local
MAGI
1 0/100 $2,712,000 $0 39 0% $81.26 2.74%
2 70/30 $2,412,000 $300,000 39 0% $80.61 2.32%
3 50/50 $2,212,000 $500,000 39 0% $80.18 2.31%
*Loan/Grant % based on additional $1 million funding

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

The Drinking Water Board authorize a loan of $2,412,000 for 39 years at 0% interest
and a grant of $300,000 to Helper City.

Helper City
September 24, 2024
Page 2

APPLICANT’S LOCATION:
Helper City is located in Carbon County approximately 7 miles north of Price.

MAP OF APPLICANT’S LOCATION:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The initial scope of the project was to replace 2.4 miles of 8-inch HDPE transmission line from
Fish Creek Springs; 3.5 miles of 10-inch C-900 PVC transmission line from Royal to Helper;
meter replacement and SCADA installation at Royal; rehabilitation of Colton Well; and
rehabilitation of culinary water storage tanks. Transmission line will be installed along Highway
6 a few miles north of Helper, and along Price River about 12 miles northwest of Helper.

Since authorization, the City has chosen not to move forward with well rehabilitation. Also, due
to the remote location of Fish Creek Springs and the decreased yield from those springs, the City
decided to focus efforts on replacing the transmission line between Royal and Helper.

Items for which the additional funding is being requested:
• Additional engineering fees – due to the project being done in various phases, design and
construction services have extended over a longer period of time than originally budgeted
• Increased tank rehabilitation costs – the bids for the tank rehabilitation were higher than
originally estimated and did not include additional costs such as third-party painting
inspection and cathodic protection
• Addition of interconnection vault – an interconnection has been added to the project
which would provide redundancy for Helper City and Price City to deliver water to each
other in emergency circumstances
• Purchase of PRWID water during construction – it is likely that Helper’s transmission
line will be taken out of service during replacement, if so, water will need to be
purchased from PRWID
• Bid alternates and contingencies – additional funding to cover unexpected items and the
potential inclusion of a railroad crossing should the permit be approved
Helper City
September 24, 2024
Page 3

POPULATION GROWTH:
Population is based on Helper’s projections

Year Population Connections
Current 2,135 1,134
2034 2,284 1,144
2044 2,443 1,154

ADDITIONAL FUNDING COST ESTIMATE:

Engineering - Design $150,000
Engineering - CMS $150,000
Construction – Storage $125,000
Construction – Transmission $475,000
Contingency (~10%) $100,000
Refinance 2015 DWB Bond $1,712,000
Total $2,712,000

COST ALLOCATION:

Funding Source

Cost Sharing

Percent of Project
DWB Loan $2,412,000 89%
DWB Grant $300,000 11%
Total $2,712,000 100%

IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE:

DWB Funding Authorization: Sept 2024
Complete Design Aug 2024
DDW Plan Approval: Aug 2024
Advertise for Bids: Aug 2024
Bid Opening: Aug 2024
Loan Closing/Begin construction Nov 2024
Complete Construction: June 2025

Helper City
September 24, 2024
Page 4

CONTACT INFORMATION:

APPLICANT: Helper City
58 South Main Street
Helper, Utah 84526
Telephone: [phone]
PRESIDING OFFICIAL &
CONTACT PERSON: Lenise Peterman, Mayor
58 South Main Street
Helper, Utah 84526
Telephone: [phone]
[e-mail]

TREASURER/RECORDER: Zack Tonc
435-472-5391
[e-mail]

CONSULTING ENGINEER: Lauren Ploeger
Franson Civil Engineers
1276 S 820 E, ste 100
American Fork, Utah 84003
Telephone: [phone]
[e-mail]

CITYATTORNEY: Dominique Kiahtipes
Law Office of Dominique Kiahtipes,
PLLC 850 S Carbon Ave. - PO Box 400
Price, UT 84501
[e-mail]
DRINKING WATER BOARD FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE EVALUATION
SYSTEM NAME:Helper City FUNDING SOURCE:Federal SRF
COUNTY:Carbon
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

70 % Loan & 30 % P.F.
ESTIMATED POPULATION:2,135 NO. OF CONNECTIONS:1134 * SYSTEM RATING:APPROVED
CURRENT AVG WATER BILL:$59.99 *PROJECT TOTAL:$2,712,000
CURRENT % OF AGI:1.73%FINANCIAL PTS:49 LOAN AMOUNT:$2,412,000
ESTIMATED MEDIAN AGI:$41,700 PRINC. FORGIVE.:$300,000
STATE AGI:$51,600 TOTAL REQUEST:$2,712,000
SYSTEM % OF STATE AGI:81%
@ ZERO % @ RBBI EQUIVALENT AFTER REPAYMENT
RATE MKT RATE ANNUAL PAYMENT PENALTY & POINTS
0%4.12%#REF!**0.00%
SYSTEM
ASSUMED LENGTH OF DEBT, YRS:39 39 39 39
ASSUMED NET EFFECTIVE INT. RATE:0.00%4.12%#REF!0.00%
REQUIRED DEBT SERVICE:$61,846.15 $125,329.38 #REF!$61,846.15
*PARTIAL COVERAGE (15%):$0.00 $0.00 #REF!$0.00
*ADD. COVERAGE AND RESERVE (10%):$6,184.62 $12,532.94 #REF!$6,184.62
$59.99 $121.57 #REF!$59.99

O & M + FUNDED DEPRECIATION:$500,467.00 $500,467.00 $500,467.00 $500,467.00
OTHER DEBT + COVERAGE:$481,093.75 $481,093.75 $481,093.75 $481,093.75
REPLACEMENT RESERVE ACCOUNT:$47,359.41 $50,533.57 #REF!$47,359.41
ANNUAL EXPENSES PER CONNECTION:$907.34 $910.14 #REF!$907.34
$1,096,950.93 $1,169,956.63 #REF! $1,096,950.93
TAX REVENUE:$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
RESIDENCE
MONTHLY NEEDED WATER BILL:$80.61 $85.98 #REF!$80.61
% OF ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME:2.32% 2.47% #REF!2.32%

$0
Additional costs related to ARPA project
$0.00
ANNUAL NEW DEBT PER CONNECTION:
TOTAL SYSTEM EXPENSES