Holly Springs seeks funds for project
A cast iron replacement project that covers the entire city is going too slow. The Holly Springs Board of Aldermen and mayor agreed to apply for a USDA-Rural Development loan to complete the job.
The city has about 32.43 miles of old cast-iron natural gas lines in the ground, said consulting engineer Larry Britt.
A public hearing was held to describe the project, which includes the installation of plastic pipe, and the city’s intentions to seek a loan from Rural Development.
Phase I of the project is replacing cast iron on property east of the Mississippi Central Railroad and Phase 1A of the work is at Salem Bridge. The relocation is being paid for by the Mississippi Department of Transportation, Britt said.
The application to Rural Development will take care of replacing cast iron west of the Mississippi Central Railroad. The project may be done in phases or in one big project depending on what Rural Development wants, Britt said.
The estimated cost of the project is just over $7 million and the city will match that with about $800,000 of its own money. That means the city will borrow about $6.4 million and pay it back in 66 months, Britt said.
Mayor Kelvin Buck said the city has no option – that the regulations requiring the transportation of natural gas in plastic pipe has been in effect for a number of years. They are new industry standards, he said.
Buck called for public comment but no one asked any questions or made comment so the hearing was closed.