TEN SLEEP – The Ten Sleep Town Council held a special meeting Tuesday to approve a resolution seeking $96,000 from the State Loan and Investment Board for an ongoing sewage improvement project.

Previously, the town voted to raise sewer rates by $2, to qualify for a United States Department of Agriculture loan to replace outdated sewer lines and upgrades for the town’s lagoon. When the town failed to qualify for the USDA loan, the council began exploring other options.

According to Mayor Jack Haggerty, the project would cost an estimated $1.271 million, and the USDA only offered a loan of $251,000, to be matched by a town contribution of $231,000 from one-cent sales tax revenue. The annual payment for the town would be $9,584 over 30 years.

With the passage of Tuesday’s resolution, the town will now request the total of $96,000 for a defined “sewer lagoon project” for consideration by the State Loan and Investment Board on Jan. 19 of next year.