Bethel lands $3.4M for water — and won't pay most of it back

Bethel is about to pull in $3.38 million for its water system — and the best part is it barely has to pay any of it back. Four state loans up for a council vote come with full forgiveness once the money's spent, meaning the city gets water infrastructure for roughly the cost of a rounding error.

The headline project is nearly $1.9 million to design a water distribution center — the piece that has to come first before the city can pipe water out to nearby subdivisions. In much of Bethel, running water isn't a given; plenty of residents still haul their own. The other three loans keep that system limping along and improving: a new backwash tank at the Bethel Heights treatment plant (where self-haul residents fill up), security upgrades at both plants, and a water haul truck.

The only cost to the city is the state's cut for handling the paperwork — half a percent, about $16,900 across all four. After that, no repayment. The council votes July 14.