RALEIGH — The aging water and sewer infrastructure of the City of Greensboro was addressed at the May 7 meeting of the Local Government Commission.
Nearly $450 million in financing for infrastructure projects were approved by the Local Government Commission (LGC). The breakdown of the financing includes $275 million in bond anticipation notes for water and sewer projects and $175 million in revenue bonds for previous water and sewer projects. An 8.5% increase in water/sewer rates is expected.
Per Greensboro’s Water and Rehabilitation website, “Most of our city’s 3,000-plus miles of water and sewer lines were installed prior to the 1950s. Some were installed before 1910. Our biggest liability is our decaying water and sewer infrastructure.
“If we do not maintain a healthy financial position through rate increases and begin to replace aging water lines, sewer lines, and other essential assets, we will see an uncontrollable increase in water and sewer system failures. The most visible of these failures are water main breaks, sewer line cave-ins, and treatment plant outages.”
Other projects approved by the LGC included:
- Raleigh (Wake County): $320 million in financing; $220 million in bonds to refund previous debts and $100 million for general government projects.
- Baptist Retirement Homes of North Carolina: $86 million in conduit revenue bonds for senior living facilities across several counties.
- Carolina Meadows (Chatham and Orange counties): $85 million in conduit revenue bonds for expansion and renovation of a retirement community.
- Durham (Durham County): $84 million in revenue bonds for water and sewer system improvements, anticipating utility rate increases.
- Buncombe County: $81.5 million in bonds for school facilities, county facility upgrades and vehicle purchases.
- Dare County: $29 million in bonds for various capital projects, including EMS stations and a youth center.
- Village of Bald Head Island (Brunswick County): $13.5 million in general obligation bonds for beach renourishment and erosion control.
- Henderson County: $10.5 million in financing for a new solid waste transfer station bay.
- Southern Pines (Moore County): $7.1 million installment purchase for road construction to support development.
- Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (New Hanover County): $5.1 million revolving loan for water and sewer work.
- Granville County: $3 million installment purchase for a senior services center.
- Newton (Catawba County): $1.9 million installment purchase for equipment.
- Lumberton (Robeson County): $1 million installment purchase to replace City Hall’s HVAC system.
