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08.b MPCA Clean Water Loan Partnership Resolution 11-18-25-101 Staff Report Date of Meeting: November 18, 2025 To: Wastewater Committee Members From: Kyle Morell, City Administrator Re: MPCA Clean Water Partnership Loan Resolution No. 11-18-25-10 ______________________________________________________________________________ Background At the July Work Session, the Council was asked to consider applying for an MPCA Clean Water Partnership Loan (CWPL) on behalf of the Tii Gavo Homeowners Association (HOA). The Association is under a Corrective Action from the MPCA and is not eligible for state grant funding because the wastewater system is privately owned and operated. The Loan program requires the City to apply for the loan on behalf of the HOA and guarantee its repayment. Council directed staff to work with the HOA on the loan application, provided the HOA paid all loan costs. At the September Regular Meeting, staff presented Council with an Agreement, drafted by our City Attorney, between the City and the HOA, outlining each party's roles and responsibilities during our participation in the CWPL Program. The Agreement includes an escrow payment of $1,500 per homeowner to the City to reimburse the City for its costs during the loan application and assessment waiver preparation. The HOA signed the Agreement and paid the required escrow amount within a week of the September meeting, and the City sent in the CWPL application. On October 14, the City received word that its application on behalf of Tii Gavo had been approved and fully funded for $750,000. The City now has 90 days to sign the Loan Agreement, which expires January 6, 2026. My conversations with the MCPA regarding the Loan Agreement have resulted in the approved funding amount increasing to $1,175,000. The HOA’s application consisted of two projects, totaling $1,175,000. They intended to secure funding for the remaining $425,000 in 2026 through a second loan application, once 70% of the original project was completed. The MPCA allowed both funding requests to be included in the original loan application, thus making the assessment waiver cover the full cost of both projects and eliminating the need for a second assessment waiver for the remaining $425,000 once it was secured in 2026. 2 Since the approval notification, the City Attorney has been working to complete title work for all 37 parcels in Tii Gavo and to develop the assessment waiver form. Each parcel will be assessed $35,329.15 over nine years. This amount includes the principal and interest of the loan, plus a $750 fee for the City’s ongoing loan costs during repayment. The assessments will begin in 2026 and end in 2034. The City’s final repayment on the loan is in 2035. The HOA has worked to get all homeowners to sign the assessment forms before the Council's November meeting. The assessment waivers need to be filed with the County by December 1, 2025, to be applied to taxes paid in 2026. We should have all the signed assessment waivers by Tuesday's meeting. If so, we will present the updated Loan Agreement Resolution 11-18-25-10 for the full $1,175,000 to the Council for approval. Once approved, the City is locked into the loan, which will begin repayment in 2029 and finish in 2035. The money collected before repayment begins will be held in an account awaiting disbursement.