Commissioners will meet next Monday at 8 a.m. to accept and finalize the paperwork with USDA, County Manager Tony Brown said.
The county will be applying for a USDA loan of $10,438,000 and a grant of $3,314,000, County Attorney Glynn Rollins said following the meeting.
The interest rate on the 40-year loan is projected to be 1.375 percent and annual payments would be $341,009.
The loan payments would be paid from public utilities revenues and not the county’s general fund, Brown said.
Commissioner Patrick Qualls said after the meeting Monday he would not agree to borrowing the money until the county has the agreements in place.
Weldon’s share of the cost would be $4,753,000.
Town Administrator Mark Macon said Weldon would pay its share from loans, grants and enterprise funds
Brown said if the project goes through, it should not drastically raise county water rates. “It will be a whole lot more efficient,” he said of the system. “If there is an increase it will be very little.”
