By Clara Osten,
clara@wayneherald.com
Information on the city of Wayne's electric system improvement projects and forgiving a Community Redevelopment Authority (CRA) loan that was used in several ways, including for those building homes in the city were among the topics discussed when the Wayne City Council held a mini retreat on Tuesday.
Retreats are held during months that include five Tuesdays and allow council members the opportunity to discuss topics at greater length. No official decisions are made during these retreats.
Wayne City Administrator Wes Blecke shared with council members a tentative timeline for improvements on electric system improvements and the process of choosing a new company to provide market electricity to the city.
The current contract for providing power to the city will end in December of 2026 and Blecke told the council that he had conversations with three companies who were at one time interested in the city's electric load.
Additional conversations will be held with Dave Peterson with JEO on options moving forward. These will then be brought to the council.
On the topic of electricity, a bid has been received for the circuit switcher and a bid for the transformer was scheduled to be open this week.
A site plan for the new generation station is being completed, with the current plan calling for three Warsila brand dual-fuel generators, totaling just under 28 mega watts of generation.
On the topic of a request from the Wayne Community Redevelopment Authority to forgive their $300,000 loan with the city.
A history of the loan request dates back to 2012 when the Community Development Agency (CDA) was given $160,000 for housing initiates. Money came from the city's Electric Fund. Another $140,000 was lent to the CDA from the Electric Fund.
Discussion was held on how to move forward with the repayment of all or a portion of the money and the best way to move forward in the future in regard to offering housing incentives to those purchasing or building homes.
Also on the retreat agenda was an update on city owned properties. These include the FNBO building, the Old City Hall and a timeline on new City Hall/Police Relocation Project.
Council members also had the opportunity to share with the mayor and city administrator their suggestions for all term planning for the city.
The council's next regularly scheduled meeting will be held Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 5:30 p.m. in council chambers.
