Christmas has come early to the Quad Cities. Today Illinois Governor Pat Quinn came to town to announce the state will provide low interest loans to both Moline and Rock Island for major upgrades to their water and sewer systems.
During a stop at the North Slope Wastewater Treatment Plant in Moline, he said the two projects, costing a total of 54 million dollars, will create nearly 500 jobs.
The governor says since he announced a Clean Water Initiative two years ago, the state of Illinois has helped more than 800 communities finance similar projects.
Greg Swanson, Utilities General Manager for Moline, says his city will spend 44 million dollars to re-build and modernize its North Slope treatment plant. The plant treats wastewater for the north half of the city - about 2 billion gallons per year.
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And he says financing the project through the state will save Moline 8.5 million dollars in interest.
Rock Island will use its 11 million dollar loan to re-build water and sewer lines along 6th Avenue - from 6th to 24th streets.