Commission pledges $500,000 to boost SRF scoring for Westdale school sanitation project

Bill Walers (Regional Wastewater District and ECI) told the commission that the Westdale wastewater project — intended to retire a failing local treatment plant and route flows to Gaston — had advanced to the state SRF scoring process but needed additional local match to reach competitive scoring. Walers said the project’s SRF financing package is about $5.22 million and that a 20% local contribution improves the application’s competitiveness for grant forgiveness.

Walers asked the redevelopment commission to consider up to $500,000 in local commitment that the applicant could present with SRF on March 31. He described the new project team and board as engaged and said the proposed work would protect students and the school campus by removing a nearby treatment plant.

Commissioners discussed funding sources and options to split a pledge across multiple TIFF allocation areas. After questions about timing and project administration, the commission approved a pledge of $500,000 by roll call. Staff said the funding would be documented in a pledge letter for the SRF application and that construction remains scheduled for 2027 given typical design and permitting steps.

Outcome: the pledge is a commitment to include demonstrated local match in the SRF application scoring; it does not itself authorize immediate construction spending, which will follow later budgeting and procurement approvals.