At the end of August the Tri-City Regional Sanitary District (TRSD) reported significant progress on Phase 1 of its wastewater collection and treatment system project.

“The project has taken some big steps in the last three weeks,” TRSD civil engineer Mike Krebs said during an August 31 presentation to the Gila County Board of Supervisors. Krebs said 95 percent of district residents and landowners approved of the project, and the district anticipated EPA approval of its Water Quality Management Plan Amendment by the end of September.

The “big steps” included acquiring seed money in the form of a $5.5 million, one percent interest, design and engineering loan from the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA). TRSD bond counsel Tim Stratton said the money would be used to fund Phase 1 design and engineering. “Hopefully we’ll close on that loan in September,” he said.

The estimated total cost of Phase 1 is $28 million, which will be funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development through $16 million in grants and a $12 million loan. Stratton stressed that the $5.5 million WIFA loan was part of the $12 million loan, not in addition to it.

TRSD President Robert Jacques said the district was working closely with BHP to select a site for the water reclamation facility. “We are looking at two sites, and are optimistic about our work with BHP,” he said. “We are also talking with others about backup sites as a contingency.”

Stratton said that, as part of the $5.5 million loan, WIFA earmarked $32,000 as a grant to help address potential issues in preparing a new environmental report for an alternate site.

The district aims to have Phase 1 engineering documents 60 percent complete by July 10, 2022 and 90 percent complete by the end of that August, and send the documents to Rural Development for final approval in September 2022. The district anticipates starting Phase 1 construction on Jan. 20, 2023 with a completion date of Oct. 1, 2024.

As TRSD moves ahead on the project, the deannexation of one neighborhood from the district – Vertical Heights – is complete and that of another, Miami Gardens, is in progress. The TRSD board will hold a public hearing for Miami Gardens residents on Miami Gardens’ deannexation on Sept. 7, 2021, in addition to the board’s regular monthly meeting.