Brooklet City Council passed a resolution last week authorizing up to $8.2 million in bonds to finance construction of the first three phases of Brooklet's first real city sewer system.

But the actual amount of the bonds, the interest rate and other specifics have yet to be determined, while the proposal goes through a court procedure. Those specifics are likely to be known in about 45 to 60 days, said Trey Monroe, Atlanta managing director for Stifel Public Finance, the bond underwriter. Then the council would take final action, followed soon by the sale of bonds to banks and other investors that will in effect be lending Brooklet the money long-term. 

"What the resolution does is sets not-to-exceed limits on the amount of bonds to be issued, the $8.2 million; sets the not-to-exceed final maturity, which is 30 years from now; the not-to-exceed interest rate, which is 6 percent, although we'll not be anywhere close to that … ; and sets a maximum annual debt service … of $625,000," Monroe told the mayor and council.

In other words, $625,000 is the maximum Brooklet's city government would commit itself to repay in any one year. 

"We're not near that number either," he said.

That would not be from taxes but from tap fees and monthly service and usage fees paid by sewer customers, he explained.

Monroe spoke during the council's regular meeting the evening of Thursday, July 18, before the passage of what he called the "not-to-exceed parameters resolution." Its purpose was to allow the underwriter and bond attorney to start the bond validation process through Bulloch County Superior Court.

The process usually takes three to four weeks to complete, according to Monroe.

"What (the resolution) does not do is commit you actually issue any bonds at all," he said. "So we will have to come back before the council. … We will then work on finalizing the documents for the bond, preparing an official statement that's used to market the bond."

A credit-rating process will also begin then, before going to market for  the  bonds.

"We're maybe, I think, 45 days or so, 60 days before we could have the final numbers back to you, and then closing and delivering the money happen very fast after that," Monroe said.

The underwriters could speed up or slow down the process, depending on what Brooklet's elected officials need to have happen, he said.

December deadline

"So, you're saying basically September?" Mayor Nicky Gwinnett asked, and Monroe agreed.

"Well, we've got till December," Gwinnett noted.

In February 2022, the city's proposal for what was then projected to be a $4 million sewer system won a $2,031,000 grant from the state of Georgia. That grant came with a deadline of Dec. 31, 2024, for the money to be committed to spending on the project. So at least a portion of the work must be bid out for a construction contract by the end of the year, according to Brooklet's city engineer, Wesley Parker.

"It can be done long before December," said Monroe.

But Matthew Morris, Brooklet's water and sewer consultant, noted that city officials will need bids in hand before approving a contract.

"As a reminder, that December date is going to carry a 30-day bid notice with it, so that would need to hit the streets early November to make the December meeting date," he said. "If it could be sped up, I think that would be best."

Brooklet's elected officials have had Parker working on plans for some type of sewer system for more than three years and have had Morris, who is Springfield's city manager but does independent consulting work, advising them on the project the past year and a half.

Boro connection

By summer 2023 the proposal had evolved to require a connection to Statesboro's wastewater treatment plant, instead of Brooklet attempting to build its own at first.

Last July the Brooklet and Statesboro city councils approved an intergovernmental agreement with a maximum lifespan of 50 years. It states that Brooklet's sewage system is expected to send Statesboro's plant less than 100,000 gallons per day of wastewater at first, not to exceed 300,000 gpd within five years. The agreement also sets out the fees to be paid to Statesboro.

Meanwhile, the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement last summer to allow Brooklet's sewer main to follow a county right of way.

Also by one year ago, the estimated cost to build and connect Brooklet's system, or its first three phases, had reached $6 million. Now the reported estimated for three phases is about $8.5 million, but the city has the $2 million grant to get started, plus however much it borrows through the bond issuance.

Phase 1, to be bid out by the end of this year, will include the installation of a pumping station near downtown Brooklet and a pipeline from there to a manhole along the S&S Greenway Trail near Railroad Bed Road where it will connect to the Statesboro system.

Phase 2 will be a gravity-operated sewer network serving Brooklet's downtown business district. 

Phase 3 will extend from there up to and under U.S. Highway 80, to serve a potential residential subdivision behind the Subway restaurant. This is not the subdivision further up Parker Avenue North for which the council approved a 278-acre annexation plus a zoning change for 26 additional acres, also during last week's meeting. 

Sewer fees to repay

Councilman Bradley Anderson asked if Brooklet would be "leveraging the water-sewer fund" to repay the sewer bonds with interest.

"There's no pledge or security interest in any of the city's property, real property. …," Monroe said. "It's a commitment by the city to set your rates and charges, your fees, at a rate that will sufficiently pay for this debt over the 30 years."

The council's vote approving the preliminary resolution was 5-0, on a motion by Councilman Keith Roughton seconded by Councilwoman Sheila Wentz.