WALDPORT – The state’s economic development agency has forgiven the city of Waldport $372,900 of a $525,000 loan to relocate a water line on the McKinley Slough bridge.
The agency, Business Oregon, notified the city at the end of November that the loan was being forgiven. The city completed the project in 2019.
“The city is grateful to Business Oregon, the Oregon Department of Transportation and the state for the financial assistance to Waldport with this important waterline work brought upon by the slough bridge replacement,” Mayor Greg Holland said in a news release.
The ODOT bridge project forced an unplanned relocation of a city waterline along Highway 34. The work was completed two years ago, but the coronavirus pandemic and changing of city staff resulted in additional time to complete the final paperwork and processing, said City Manager Dann Cutter.
The water line relocation was an unexpected expense and the City Council at the time argued strenuously for assistance, said Cutter “ … and Business Oregon really came through.”
Cutter said the state forgiving 71 percent of the loan meant Waldport avoided an additional 5 percent increase in water rates to pay the full $525,000. Additional savings over the last year allowed Waldport to pay off the remaining loan amount in October, Cutter said.